Question #148 Transcendence
Jake is in Mexico with limited access to the world wide webs so he asked me to post this question on his behalf:
Have you ever tried meditation?
If so, what was it like? If not, what do you do to relax?
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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12 comments:
I actually work with a meditation teacher at my kundalini studio about twice a week and it's the most difficult thing I've ever tried. I'm supposed to practice at home but I never do. Yoga classes are infinitely relaxing and long train rides (trains, not subways) are kinda meditative for me.
I can't figure out how to meditate. I can either concentrate or relax but trying to do both at the same time is hard for me. I drink chamomile tea to get nice though.
I have never been able to do it. I definately lack whatever zen-like quality you need to properly meditate.
I like to nap though; and I'm really great at it. I can nap pretty much anywhere anytime.
I used to meditate a lot in highschool, but I'm not sure if I was doing it right, or if I was just stoned/ bored.
I could really do with some meditation in my life now; the closest I get is when I'm stressed and up early... or when I'm hungover and need air.. and I watch the sunrise over the bridge, from my roof.
I remember doing some meditating exercises in high as part of my drama-related (theater, not baby-mamas & whatnot) activities. I´m not positive I did it right (which seems to be a theme), like maybe I was just falling asleep.
In college, I took a couple of tai-chi classes, which is supposed to be kinda like meditating but I was also being instructed at the same time so I doubt that counts. Probably of all the things I´ve done, swimming a mile´s worht of laps in a pool is probably the closest I got to a true medidative state.
What I do these days to relax is listen to podcasts in my iPod while playijng Tetris on my phone. I think the future has gone beyond the past and come back around the the future.
I meditate once in the morning (after a cup of coffee), once in the afternoon (after lunch) and several more times daily, especially if I have eaten a lot of jalapenos. It's a transitory meditation, but I usually close my eyes and visualize Phil's face. Then I check my handiwork to see how close I came to reproducing it in the bowl.
I took a yoga class once. It was relaxing I suppose, but I almost fell asleep. I'm not sure if that's the point of it or not?
To relax I take a bath or play video games. I know this is weird too, but I also go to the cemetery by my house to relax if I have a lot on my mind. It's one of the largest in the country and it's really beautiful. It's the closest thing to countryside a girl from LA has. I always see deer or watch squirrels run around. It's on a massive hill too, so you get a view of all of LA on a clear day. It's just really quiet and nice there, save the mourners and stuff.
Sonia
i pluck random notes on my guitar for hours at a time...probably closest i come...i usually think of lots of things and concentrate on nothing in particular
I have never been good at achieving a state of meditation, but I do remember going up my parents had a narrated audio tape called "Wise ways to a Healthy Back" (or something just like that). On a couple occasion I laid down and followed the tapes exercises and stretches, followed by the mandatory 8 minutes of relaxation with eyes closed. That was probably the closed I remember to meditating. I have to admit there is something about having your back in shape that makes day to day like much more comfortable.
The secret to meditiation is in the breathing. Sit in a comfortable seated position and focus on just your breathing. Try and make a soud at the back of your throat thats similar to the ocean. Try and fill your lower abdomen, then your bottom ribs, then your top, then your chest center up to your throat. Focusing like this until you are lost.
Yoga aids in this tremendously, that is what yoga is all about. Releasing tension in the mind and body for sound meditation.
I like to call it stretchy church.
Meditaion is the opposite of relaxing for me. If I think too much about my breathing, I start to panic and feel like maybe I'm breathing too fast or too slow and then I start to feel like I'm hyperventilating and have to start counting to 4 over and over to make sure I'm breathing at the correct speed and eventually the counting calms me down and I stop paying attention to my breathing.
I recently started doing oragami on my lunchbreaks at work. It's very soothing.
playing music is like meditating.
there was that one time i tried it while watching the lights on 101 in burlingame from high atop the sheraton. i lost a few hours that time - is that just a nap?
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