Meditation

What is meditation..

Tapas, when I was a kid for me meditation was saying Om namah shivaya.. preferably on a hill top J now that I am meditating for a few years I am a bit more clear about meditation but I went thru a lot of confusion .. so making it a bit clear for you.

When u look at meditation u find a few distinct kinds of practices being callled meditation

Relaxation meditations-. Guided meditations or u can do this yourself.. your progressively relax urself completely like shavasana.. Great for de stressing, insomnia. Best to start off with, makes u feel really good and cozy.. u can sleep with a mmmmm after few such.

Losing yourself in music is also a kind of meditation.

Concentration meditations - Concentrating on your breath, concentrating on a image – visualizing a flower or locale.. this will need bit of mind control. I would recommend trying this once in a way but sticking to relaxation meditations until u get used to sitting quietly for 20 mins before attempting these… usually better done without a tape. Concentrating on breath din work for me. I like visualization, It can be fun but it’s a bit of work. ( its not work if it is guided, but if it is guided I wud consider it as relaxation meditation and not concentrating one)

Chanting - I cudnt progress with chanting. BTW this is the om namah shivaya meditation. I can keep chanting and keep thinking thoughts in the background. Din work for me

Concentrating or watching ur thoughts: very very good exersice, in my opinion this watching thoughts should go on 24/7 rather than for 20 mins.. I would consider this advanced.. try it for fun,u can do this probably after 2-3 months of guided meditations.

Concentration can be on the inside like above or it can be outside.. u just listen to every sound u can hear and every sensation u can feel ( Vipassana) I liked this also, again its work, difficult.

Other types

Enhancing energy body /chakra meditations – if you are not into all this, ignore leave it. ( I have a few relaxing chakra meditation tho I wud put that in category 1 rather than this.)

Trance and hynopsis meditations – similar to Guided relaxation meditations, but they have binural beats which take u into ur brain into deep alpha state. many times u dont remember what the tape was about untill after a point.

Dance meditation – yes recommended by even sri sri.. J lose yourself in dance and let ur body move to the music ; din we feel the bliss in Athena? ;)

Affirmation meditations – again very good effect, I love louise hay..This is if u have a goal and want to full fill it. Affirmations are really powerful.

Dynamic meditations by Osho – like whrilling etc.. I tried them but found them very weird not for me, you can google them if u are interested.

If you are the organized and disciplined kinds stick to one meditation if u are like me I found it easier to switch between different kinds and trying out.. that kept my interest and helped me make this a habit.

You may ask – what are the benefits..

People say they are calmer more peaceful etc etc, for me I do it for the sake of doing it, I like meditating.. I cannot positively vouch for the positive effects meditation has had on my personality…it has made me a bit less worldly less ambitious less stressed ..mmm what else…and I have other spiritual interests in meditation ( in which there is definite progress J) which will not interest you. :-P

After discontinuing meditation for 2 months I realize very clearly what the benefits of meditation were. I am clearly more irritable and less peaceful, more restless. Meditation and Pranayama is very very useful in keeping the peace of mind. but u may not feel it that much then.

if you are a beginner try “Deep & Slow Energy Meditation ” from

http://ananga.net/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=3
i like ananga sivyers music and voice, really soothing.

you can check out the below websites for loads of meditation

http://www.jetcityorange.com/meditation/
bramhanada is good if you have some experience with meditation. It takes you to relaxed state real fast but you need to listen a few times before u feel the effect.

http://download.meditation.org.au/
they have a mediation class and loads of music and guided meditation downloads.

double_induction by Hypnotica is also great for relaxaion.
http://www.hypnotica.org/privatedownloads.htm

My meditation history

Stage I – before 2006
1) visulisation
buddha statues or a flower or a scenary
2) listening to all the sounds with out missing any from the far away truck to the fan.
3) concentate on breathing
4) on namah shivaya and Om chanting

1 and 2 used to work well.

Stage II – 2006
listening to Tibetan Om mani padme hum
visualisation with it in medows, in himalays.
flute and some music tapes ?

Stage III- 2007 August onwards

almsot always with head phones, much more regular than ever before
Binual beats – bramha nada
Ananga sliver relaxation tapes
double induction – hypnotica

2008 – almost daily meditation
the above +
Loving kindness
white light
twin heart ( very rarely )
flute music, tibetan bowls.

Stage IV – april 2008
brain weiss meditation
medtation in yoga class, without aids
buddist chanting
Zencast
Started having automatic movements and saw colors. I think this is new stage of my meditation.

Now -2009-2010
Two years hence I had hoped to see lot of progress, but I am still there.. I have automatic movements and see colors. I have started twin heart meditaiton- it is very powerful but I find it hard to do everyday. I need to get used to it. too much energy pouring down. but the effect is really immense. I tried a lot of meditaitons which promote OBE but no success. :) I didnt really persevere in one style so dont blame it.

Now I feel I am better off without music, but it helps to start off.

The reason to start off this is I wanted to make a list of all the varied kind of meditations I have done. I heard that it is not safe to mix up different techniques. But to begin with I found it helped to vary to build up habbit. Dont think it harmed me.
And basically upstill now they are all the same thing, 1) concentrate on one thing or other chanting visulatisation, sound, breathing etc
2) biaural beats which acts on the brain directly to bring it to alpha states
3) hypnosis -combination of 1 and 2?

I am planin to start trying
Osho meditations – dynamic and chakra meditations ( tried and didnt like it )