Meditation advice

[Stracksstory]

I am a total newbie at meditation. I’ve never really gotten a full understanding of what I exactly do during it. It seems like there’s a lot of variations. Can anyone give me a basic shorter meditation exercise? I’m not fully convinced that it will be of help so I want to try it out with something manageable that I can do regularly to get my feet wet and hopefully convince myself that it’s worth the time!

One of my hesitancies with it is that a lot of my TMS symptoms revolve around paying too much attention to bodily sensations. Unfortunately, the idea of being really quiet and sitting still is hard for me.

 

[Mani]

@Rabscuttle

Just focus on your breath mate. Just start slowly. You can slowly increase time. No guided meditation. Check Ben Smith on youtube

 

[Sita]

Try this one:

 

[Rabscuttle]

@Rabscuttle

Just focus on your breath mate. Just start slowly. You can slowly increase time. No guided meditation. Check Ben Smith on youtube

Yeah I think just following your natural breath is a good place to start or honestly to just make the bulk of your practice. I think focusing on spirituality is beneficial- meditating to connect with god, the universe or your higher self. Doesn’t have to be rooted in religion. But you shouldn’t just be meditating with a low level goal like trying to get out of chronic pain. You’re just going to quit when you realize it isn’t that simple.

That said meditation absolutely can be a game changer. Got me out of nihilistic despair and also helped improved my symptoms. And I can especially reflect how useful it is because I mediated every day from December to May and now these past two months have been less consistent. I feel myself reverting to old thought patterns as my meditation practice has taken a back seat to other things. Which is unfortunate but just the nature of living. I’ll get back into it. Meditation is something we should keep with us through our lives. And it should be used as a tool to reflect on how we’re navigating our lives. If once the timer dings and you go right back to your old self and thoughts then adjustments are needed. Of course changes take time.

Just lay down for a minute or two and folllow your natural breath (don’t modify it) and if a thought arises, which they will, acknowledge it and return to the breath. Work your way up to 20-60 minutes ideally. But a minute of committed intentional meditation is better then 20 of you just getting lost in thoughts and getting frustrated. It’s a skill like anything else. The more effort you put in the more quickly you’ll see improvement and results. But there will be good days and bad just try a little each day.

 

[Cactusflower]

@Stracksstory, I too focused on sensations a lot when I first started meditation and that's OK. Slowly you will learn to change that habit, but right now, simply accept that is where you are at, without judging or blaming yourself for doing it.
One of my fears was "breathing wrong" and following a lot of advice for "belly breathing" what changed the entire focus for me was pretending to "follow" the breath.
In through the nose, and follow it down the front of your body into the toes. It doesn't matter if that breath says hello to other sensations as it goes down, if you notice sensations around it. Just draw your mind back to that breath and send it to the toes and if the toes are a place you'd like to unfocus from, then send it to the floor beneath the feet. Take your breath when it's down there and draw it back up the back side of your body. Once again, don't worry if you feel sensations of things you label as a "symptom" along the way, just refocus on the breath as best as you can. Notice if your breath seems to slow down a bit as you breathe. It may, it may not. All you want to do is see if you can begin to observe without judging yourself during this process. See if this method might work for you.

I found that at first, I was hit or miss with re-directing my attention so I decided that one re-direction a session was success, BUT also staying the course of 5 minutes (at first) was a success, OR observing the ways my mind tried to hijack my time (I used to get things like an itchy nose, freezing cold, need to use the bathroom - ANYTHING to keep me from sitting). Keep things light, and if you find you are really resistant, build in a reward after meditation. I used to get a tea after meditating so my mind would see it as a good thing to do.

If you still struggle, you can drop it and eventually come back to it. There are a variety of "pre-gaming" meditation methods you could try that are called "grounding" methods. I had to do these for a few months before meditating, and it worked. I enjoy mildly guided meditation: ones that start with some light guidance to help your body settle, and then a sound bath. Try to see what works best for you: guided, silence, music, whatever.