Dec 02 2006
How do you meditate for relaxation? what is the proper way?
Laura? *TEAM EDWARD* asked:
how can I meditate the right way?
not for religious reasons, but for relaxation and spiritual reasons.
how can I meditate the right way?
not for religious reasons, but for relaxation and spiritual reasons.
thanks 
6 Responses to “How do you meditate for relaxation? what is the proper way?”
Make sure everything is completly silent… close yo u eyes (laying down or sitting w/e u prefer)… take deep breathes in and out try to clear ur mind from all the stress and tension… think of a happy place and find ur inner peace!..works for me
A quiet room warm room no distractions, a comfortable seating position, maybe a few candles.Get a book on yoga that will explain everything you want to know, it’s not all about exercise.
I do this every night before I go to bed. I have set up a cozy home in my imagination. It is surrounded by a field of wildflowers and long grasses. It is always breezy there and sunny and the perfect temperature. I visit my ‘home’ and relax under a tree or pick flowers or curl up by the fireplace in my home.
Really you can create anyplace you would love - your perfect place. Close your eyes, leave your current surroundings and visit it whenever you would like! Yes it sounds silly and crazy but hey - IT WORKS!!
I have a very hard time just thinking of nothing. My brain is always going, so I figure I would at least give it something peacefull to do.
Simply create a strong focus on YOURSELF.
In a lotus-seating -(this is crucial so that your circulatory and breathing systems an best flow with the meditative-process.
Close your eyes to isolate yourself from the running stresses around you.
Imagine yourself in a location of PEACE AND HARMONY.
ENVISION that everything is RIGHT at the moment.
BREATHE, feeling your diaghram dropping and your stomach swelling with the light you inhale through the nose.
Exhale all the bad-feelings away from you - out to space from your mouth.
Repeat this process as often as possible.
Personally, I think relaxation comes from peace within yourself. I always find that reading Psalms in the bible is always best. Try Psalm 37 and 91.
well there are tons of different meditative techniques and styles.
you can do seated meditation, standing meditation, laying meditation, moving meditation like yoga and taichi.
i’ll assume that you’re refering to seated meditation.
there are different sitting positions as well.
the traditional position is full lotus which is where the legs are crossed and each foot is on the opposite thigh.
this can be a bit difficult for some people since it requires a bit of stretching in the knees and legs.
if you prefer you can start with half lotus which is legs crossed with one foot on the floor and the other foot on the opposite thigh (in kindergarted they used to call it criss-cross apple sauce).
in either lotus position it is necessary to have some type of cussion under your butt like a pillow or a rolled up towel or sweater. this is necessary to bring the spine up and help it stay straight.
in yoga meditation there are several different ways to place your hands during meditation. these are referred to as mudras. there’s a lot of them so i won’t go over theme here. for now you can simply cup your hands and place one on top of the other in your lap. or you can place your hands on your knees open side up.
in zen meditation you make a circle with your hands where your right-hand fingers are resting on your left-hand fingers and the tips of your thumbs are lightly touching.
next is the body. you want to place your arms lightly at your side. not too sloppy and not too stiff. you can imagine that you’ve got an egg in your arm pit. you don’t want to drop it but you also don’t want to break it. very very very important is your posture. you want your spine to be straight at all times. in order to do this you tuck your chin in just a little bit so that you’re looking straight forward and you imagine that there’s a string on the top and middle of your hard. then you imagine as if someone is pulling your head up by the string (while keeping your chin lightly tucked in).
it seems like too much attention to body but that’s actually a huge part of meditation. your body and mind aren’t seperate. where one goes the other will follow. if your body is too rigid/stiff your mind will not be able to relax. if your body is too loose and sloppy your mind will be lazy and your emotions and imagination will take control of your mind. usually if one is meditating and they’re mind starts to wander they will notice that their body has also started to get too loose.
don’t think i forgot about the mind.
in zen meditation (which is called zazen) you count the breath, each in and out is one. once you reach ten you start over. there’s another type of zen meditation called shikantaza where you don’t count the breath you simply observe it, but this is a bit harder.
if you’re trying to do it more for relaxation you can practice with visualizations and gathas (sounds like this is more what you’re looking for). gathas are lines that you say with each breath.
here’s some examples:
Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain
Breathing out, I feel solid.
Breathing in, I feel myself as still water.
Breathing out, I reflect things as they are.
Breathing in, I see myself as space.
Breathing out, I feel free.
Of course there are several more visualization and concentration techniques and styles.
to search for more of them you can search:
tibetan buddhism
vipassana
yoga meditation
chakra visualization
qigong