Meditation Exercises
I am doing some research for personal reasons on meditation as I’ve really been struggling to keep myself together in certain places lately … I thought I’d share some of what I learned on my lunch break and my own personal notes attached to them.
My favorite thing I read included a bit about eating meditations to keep yourself aware of your eating habits. I struggle with always feeling like I need to clean my plate and so being aware that it’s okay to leave food on a plate is something I am trying to become more aware of.
Another one that I have been doing for a while now and is one of the most basic meditation exercises that you can do is easy. You should try it on your own!
Silently repeat a word, sound, prayer, or phrase as a mental “focus”. You may close your eyes if you like, or focus your gaze on an object. I use “direction” as it’s a line from a quote I love: You will go in the direction you are facing.
Disregard distracting thoughts or concerns about how well you’re doing. Any time your attention drifts, simply say, “Oh, well” to yourself and return to silently repeating your focus word or phrase. This has been one of the harder parts for me, and I can’t deal with “oh well,” so I go with keeping the “direction” idea in mind thinking more in the lines of “this is not the direction you want to face,” and straighten myself out.
Now, slowly relax your muscles, moving your attention gradually from your face to your feet. Breathe easily and naturally while using your focal device for 10 to 20 minutes. After you finish, sit quietly for a minute or so with your eyes closed. After you open your eyes, wait another minute before standing up. I started with two to three minutes because the idea of 10 minutes was incredibly daunting to me. If you can only do it for a few minutes, it’s a way to get started and you may eventually need to block out a half an hour or so to do this technique just because you want to!
If you only have a minute or so, try this exercise that my pain therapist told me about.
sit back in a chair, on the floor, wherever you can relax
breath in through your nose as deeply as you can feeling your stomach swell (as this is diaphragmatic breathing)
exhale immediately (don’t hold this breath in) expelling all the breath from your lungs and making your stomach flat again
once all of the air is out, hold your breath for seven counts (you will not pass out, this is a way of making your body recognize that you are not really in a fight-or-flight situation and it will help you relax)
as you are breathing out, remember to let your body sink deeper into whatever you are sitting or standing on and try hard to only concentrate on your breather
In short: breathe in, breathe out, one-two-three-four-five-six-seven, breathe in
February 6th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
I’m finding that guided imagery and meditation are really helping me with my sleep issues. I like the suggestion you posted in here and want to start to incorporate mediation time into my day besides in bed as I fall asleep…if I can just get Charlie to turn down the Xbox360!
Thanks for the good info.
February 6th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Hey Sar,
It’s the other Sar. Good topic to read today. I didn’t tell you but I’m back in intensive outpatient therapy. I go to the hospital everyday, to help keep me from going back in longterm. Today was MINDFULNESS MEDITATION DAY. I have a hard time with it. I usually, cry, get scared, have strong reactions, etc. Most of the class is great and loves it. Basically, instead of ignoring our thoughts, we accept them and let them pass. We go back to out breathing if we get distracted, etc. It teaches us to be “alone” with ourselves, which is crucial for panic. Keep up the good posts!
OK, off to go read more.