This meditation is very relaxing, and is good for calming the mind and reducing stress.


This is a fairly well known meditation. Sit or lie with your body in a comfortable position. The room should be either dark or the lighting dim. If this is not possible, make sure your face faces away from the light. The room should also be quiet.

Now tighten all the muscles of your body, and fix your gaze on a spot straight ahead. Slowly begin to count down from hundred to zero - at the same time, begin to completely relax the muscles of your body, starting with your toes and moving upwards - first relax your toes, then the feet, then the calves, the thighs, stomach and back, arms, etc. - all the time, while you're doing this, continue to count down from 100 to 0. When the muscles of your face are relaxed (and of course, by this time, your whole body is relaxed as well), gently close your eyes. Now your body is completely relaxed

Now, with your eyes closed, imagine yourself in a crowded place, full of people, full of bright, glaring lights and loud noises. Imagine yourself going down an escalator, leaving the 'plane' of the noise behind. The next 'level' the escalator comes to is quieter - there are less people, less lights, less noise. You leave this plane behind too, and continue to move down on the escalator. The next level you come to is even quieter - there is hardly anyone about, not much noise at all, and the lights are positively dim.

You continue to move down, level by level, until you come to a point where it is perfectly dark, perfectly quiet, and you are completely alone. There is nothing in the universe now but you - in a sense, at this point, you ARE the universe - YOUR universe. You lie down on a bed (you don't see it, you just know it's there) - it is so comfortable, you are so calm and relaxed, so detached from everything, just a calm, calm being resting in the center of darkness, at the center of the universe. There is nothing but you.

Remain this way for some time. Feel peace. Then, when you are ready to 'leave', 'get on the escalator' and rise again to the level of light and noise and indeed, the level of life The meditation is complete.


I trust this will be useful to someone. It is very good for reducing stress and calming the mind.

 

 

 

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That was a nice meditation course. I haven't meditated much ,.. but whatever little i did , I generally meditate listening to audio tapes. I would try it today ..

I actually , try and bring my eyeballs close to each other , in a sense, i try to get the illusion that both of my eyeballs are on the same point. Since, we get involved doing this, i guess , we forget other things ,. This technique helps me a lot to refrain from getting distracted.


Some of the Alan watts audio tapes ,were excellent. So, for beginners i guess it would help a lot .



http://www.learningmeditation.com/ has lots of useful stuff for people who want to start meditation. Especially , there is a section called The Meditation Room . It has few some audio lessons, which aid meditation.

If you need to know what could be achieved through meditation, this page might help .. What can be achieved through meditation ??

 

 

 

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Fascinating.

Here's another - it's a Chinese meditation, and used to focus the 'Chi' energy - in Japanese this is called the Ki (Japanese is used in my Ryu, so I'll use Japanese terms, if any).


Most eastern martial arts believe in the Ki, an energy that flows through and binds all living and non-living things in the universe. An example of Ki in everyday life is when someone stares at the back of your head, and you 'feel' the glance and turn around, almost as if the touch was physical. This is an example of Ki energy. The purpose of the meditation below is to calm the mind, enhance focus, and help develop your control over the Ki.



To do this meditation, sit comfortably cross-legged on the floor, or simply sit in a chair, with your hands resting on your knees, and your body relaxed. Concentrate and focus your whole mind on your breathing.

Breathe deeply. There is a technique to this breathing, and you must do it correctly.

Breathe in through your nose, in TWO inward breaths, drawing the air down into your stomach, down into the Tai-ten (a point two inches below your navel.) The Chinese believe that the universe passes through and interfaces with your body at this point.
Hold the breath here for two heartbeats.
Now breath out through your mouth, in TWO outward breaths.

Your stomach should move when you breathe in this way, not your chest.

Focus your mind on your breathing, and on the Tai-ten - imagine a point of brilliant light focusing in your Tai-ten.. then imagine that light traveling up into your skull and back to the Tai-ten. Similarly imagine it traveling down each arm to your very fingertips, and back, imagine it traveling down your legs to your toes, and back. Lastly just focus on the light in the Tai-Ten, and concentrate on breathing correctly.

Do this exercise for as long as you wish, or for at least 30 breath-cycles. You should do this exercise at least once a day, at a time convenient to you.

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hmm, nice - wish I could add some here, but not quite my field. The Ki meditation was interesting. Would you know any meditation to alter mental states - kind of make a person more confident, etc.

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Ellen, there IS a meditation I know that removes inhibitions when threatened by a hostile situation. You know, many people have a tendency to freeze when confronted by a bad situation. This meditation helps channel that fear into action in times of danger, so that you don't FREEZE, you ACT. I can put it up if anyone's interested.

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nice refference I guess we must share it here.. I hope you wouldn't mind to share a meditation that helps to overcome fear when it comes to danger situation, who knows it might be usefull for everyone here in Trap17 (who read it offcourse)

I wrote some articles (note for my self ) I'd like to share it too, but I guess I will need some time to translate it in English ( I wrote it in my origin language.. Indonesian. ) so will u execuse me for a while

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Would DEFINITELY be interested in what you have, Irdix

And I'll put up the post on meditations to overcome fear in dangerous situations in a day or two as well. Am really interested in what you might have to add, so post it when you can

Take care.

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I actually , try and bring my eyeballs close to each other , in a sense, i try to get the illusion that both of my eyeballs are on the same point. Since, we get involved doing this, i guess , we forget other things ,. This technique helps me a lot to refrain from getting distracted.

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