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    Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

    For quite a while now I've been trying to improve my methods of meditation. I may be doing it wrong, or I may not have a spiritual bone in my body.

    I don't feel any different when I ground and center. When I meditate, I don't feel anything different, other than my body going a little numb. Others I know have visions, hear sounds, smell things ... I know I'm still in my room, see nothing, feel no presences. I'm told I know when I'll feel it, but currently, I'm feeling nothing and it's leaving me doubtful of my practices. I'm considering that I'm either the defective pagan around here, or there's something that I'm not getting.

    #2
    Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

    Meditation is a skill and can be a tricky one at that. I know a girl who, in what seems like a blink of an eye, can drop into such a deep state that you'd think she was dead. Myself, I usually only acheive a somewhat uneasy state in that any sudden noise, loud or quiet, pulls me right back out. I've resorted to wearing headphones to counterract that. Do you use any sound or incense or anything to help carry you away? What's your process?
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      #3
      Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

      What type of meditation are you doing?

      In Buddhist and Taoist meditation, seeing visions, hearing sounds, smelling things, etc. is an indication that you are doing it wrong, or they are something to get past so you can get down to the real work.
      Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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        #4
        Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

        The type of meditation I'm doing is fairly simple. After looking at a hodge podge of different sites and articles to help with meditation (most of them being vague with what to do), what I do is what my "mentor" at the time did.
        Sit on bed, close eyes, try to empty the mind. It ... Doesn't exactly work for me, but I can't think of any other way. I've tried audio but it only distracts me, and I'm not exactly in the right community to have the freedom to meditate outside.

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          #5
          Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

          If you're trying to go for emptiness, don't fret, that takes time and practice. My husband used to practice buddhist meditation and he always described it like being on a pond. Every thought would create ripples, but if you just let those ripples fade out you'll eventually have the emptiness you're seeking. Don't fight it, just roll with it and expect not to get there for the first few attempts. Thoughts come, so let them, but let them go just as quickly.
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            #6
            Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

            Have you tried breath meditation? Focusing on the breath has been used in many different traditions. Simply noting that you are breathing in and breathing out is useful. Trying to empty your mind can do the opposite if that is your goal. The mind will always have thoughts. Even if you go hours without a single thought, eventually it will start thinking again. Thats the nature of the mind. You need to befriend your mind. You can also just simply feel your body. You can start with your hands and feet and work to different body parts. It helps to root you.

            If still you are having trouble why dont you try a galdor (chant) or mantra? Mantras are simple ancient syllables that invoke the divine within you. Mantras are used to calm the mind. Im not sure what tradition you practice, but you could easily substitute the mantra for the name of a deity. For example if you worship Cernunnos you can silently say Cernuuuuuunos. Or if you worship Thor you could say silently Thuuuuunor. Or if you just want old school sanskrit mantras you can try the powerful OM NAMAH SHIVAYA or even simply OM.

            Good luck dont get discouraged

            Ong Thung Thunoraya Nama

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              #7
              Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

              Honestly, what I'm going for is projection and communication with spirit animals /totems / gods / et cetera. I'm not sure if I'll ever reach it with the lack of success I'm getting.

              consciousness -- Thanks! I'll consider using the Sanskrit, as I have yet to find a god to focus on. I appreciate it.

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                #8
                Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                Try this - it's a pretty basic beginning mediation, but it sets the tone for everything you do afterwards.

                1. Sit, with your back straight.

                2. Close your eyes, but (with eyes closed) look down along your nose (with your eyes closed, you will see a color change).

                3. Teeth together, and tongue loosely against the roof of the mouth (this keeps you from getting dry mouth).

                4. Inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. Do this deeply and slowly. You should not (unless you have a cold) hear your breath. If you do, ease up a little.

                5. Mentally focus on your breathing by counting breaths. Inhale - exhale = 1. Repeat. When you get to four, start over again at one.

                6. DO NOT try to control your thoughts, or force emptiness into your mind. When you find yourself mentally wondering, getting distracted, etc., or you find that you've counted breaths up to 99 instead of 4, do not get angry, upset, annoyed, or imagine that you are a crappy meditator. Forgive yourself, and just settle in, go back to 1, and keep going.


                It is not possible to control your thoughts, nor is it possible to force emptiness on your mind. Trying to do so puts you in conflict with your own brain functioning, and you waste energy fighting against yourself. What you can do, and what this mediation is teaching you to do, is let thoughts go...

                Do this 10 - 15 minutes every day, and, in about a week or so you will notice the difference. In a year, it will be second nature to you.

                Best wishes.
                Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                  #9
                  Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                  The only thing I would say about the chanting is that it naturally causes vibration of your body and breath. This will not relax you in the same sense as what Corbin mentioned. Chanting, although it vibrates your entire body, keeps you in your head because the central part of a chant comes from the throat and the vibration of the throat vibrates your head (and heart), specifically 'your third eye' thus your pineal gland, so you are literally in your head. Just relaxing the body and mind will enable you communication with your guides, but remember, let them come to you. You may not need gods and guides and may be better with just yourself, maybe that is why you have had bad luck in reaching them.

                  Feeling nothing in meditation is a great thing, it means your mind and perceptions are shut off. If you notice you close your eyes and open them 10, 20, 30 minutes later, felt nothing during the meditation, than you probably just zoned out, and zoning out means you just emptied yourself, the whole point of meditation. On the other hand, focusing on anything during meditation negates the entire process. Focus on feeling causes mind-desires that slow your progress, focusing on not focusing does the same thing. If you feel you need to set an intention before meditation, do so, but upon meditation, just meditate. Allow yourself not to exist, if you know what I mean. Be empty, feel the body and let your thoughts and sensations run, jump, play, explode and settle all on their own. All you need to do is remain relaxed. If you need to move, laugh, sneeze, cough, cry, itch, do it. These may not always seem like it, but physical sensations and 'outbursts' (twitching, farting, etc) during meditation and energy work, especially deep meditation concentrated work, are necessary releases, not distractions. If you do not allow your body to move through the sensations, you are creating mental and energetic blockages. Basically, don't try to sit through the pain or uncomfortable sensations, release them, then return to your meditation in a relaxed state.

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                    #10
                    Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                    Basically what I try to do during meditation (which also stems over into anxiety relief) is that when a thought comes to me, like say, I have to pay a bill or something, I don't consciously think to my self "don't think about paying that bill." Rather, I acknowledge the thought, kind of like just saying "okay" and don't dwell on it. Later, another thought will come, and I just let those pass through. So I think it's helpful not to get upset if you find yourself "thinking" but rather just don't put any thought into thinking, if that makes any sense.

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                      #11
                      Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                      For me, i use a sort of detached meditation, i keep my surface thoughts going and wandering about, but under that i seal myself off and just meditate quietly, letting my.. automati reactions be jjust that, inside it, i do a sort of controlled breathing method.

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                        #12
                        Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                        I've written quite a bit on meditation and have my own practice with it. I find that Western people have this impression that we have to "stop thinking", which is alarmingly difficult. In most areas of the world where mediation is part of daily life and average religious practice you don't actually stop thinking, but rather go into a state of pointed focus. A mantra or galdr was mentioned, which is one way to focus, using an image or a picture is another way to focus, and I believe breathing was also mentioned which is another form of focus.

                        Meditation and astral travel, or communion with Spirit guides, are different things. People may have encounters when they go into meditation, but more often than not Spirits, Gods, animals, and so on, are met through trance states or astral traveling, which is a different process than meditation.

                        What I always tell my students is to remember that it is called a meditation "practice" because it requires you to do just that.

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                          #13
                          Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                          I want to second what Phoenix LeFae said above and add my two cents.

                          Meditation is a means to an end, not the end goal itself. There are a hundred different ways to meditate, and a hundred different reasons why we meditate. You can see from this thread the varied ways that people have of meditating and even some of the differences of 'reason' behind them. It takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. It takes experimentation. What position cramps your legs up less, or doesn't make you fall asleep. Do you need to tilt your hips forward so that you can sit straight without straining your back, so that you can open up your lungs and relax about your breathing. Do you need a candle to focus on, or breath work, or scent to help your brain relax. Are you going for relaxation or an altered state of consciousness. I'm not punctuating these with question marks because they're rhetorical and I don't expect you to answer them, I'm just demonstrating that it's a complex and subtle art.

                          1) First, look at position. That actually does matter, in my experience. If your leg cramps up then you'll only be able to focus on that. If you fall asleep then obviously you're not getting anywhere (unless meditation to counter insomnia was the goal, which it is for some people). If you're too curled over that it's a struggle to slow and deepen your breathing down then you probably wont get far. If you've straightened your back out to the point that it hurts you likewise wont get far. Sitting on a chair on a cushion so that a) your butt doesn't hurt, and b) your knees are lower than your hips seems to be the most comfortable for most people when first starting out. Knees lower than the hips helps with keeping your back straight without effort. A straight back (ie not being curled and hunched over) helps the breathing become easier, which helps with the slowing and deepening of the breath. I'm not talking about the fancy stuff here... that's advanced positioning. You don't want to try a full lotus with hand positions in your first few years of meditating because it takes a long time and lots of practice to be limber enough for that.

                          2) Then relax the body. Don't worry about the mind, just relax the body. There are a trillion different 'relax the body' meditations that mostly boil down to a variation of two techniques: either visualising the tension leaving the muscles, or tensing and releasing one muscle group at at time until you've done them all. Sometimes this step is HARD. We tend to fill our lives up with so much stress and tension that relaxing is tricky, or sometimes painful. It can take a single session or many weeks to get past this step, depending on who you are. Relaxing the body makes it less likely to have cramps or twitches that will distract you later on.

                          3) Eliminate distractions and time constraints. Or maybe this should be first? lol. Close the door, shut the cat out, put your phone in the other room. If you need to do your chores first so that you don't spend half an hour worrying about the fact that you've not fed the dog yet, then do so. If you're worried that you have to leave for work in exactly 15.8 minutes and you still haven't put your shoes on then maybe you should pick another time to try.

                          4) Do you need tools to help you out? Music can be relaxing or distracting. Scent can be relaxing or distracting. Depends on who you are. I don't know anyone who prefers to meditate with all the lights on, so usually turning them off helps most people. Scent works in two ways... either by actual aromatherapy where you're using essential oils or real incense to relax the brain and body, or (real or perfumed) incense that cues into your ritual mind-frame and helps to kick-start the altered state of consciousness. Music... it's not just any old music that you should use, but the new age relaxing meditation music like what they play at new age stores. Rammstein is probably not going to help meditation, though it could possibly be a good trance-inducer. lol Visual tools such as a candle can help - focus on the candle flame then close your eyes and visualise it internally - or mandalas for example. Galdr or chanting as has been mentioned already, except that I would argue that galdr is actually a trance method rather than a meditation method, others may or may not agree. Breath work has been mentioned and can be either meditative or trance, depending on the style you use. Guided meditations are another good tool for a lot of people - either buy pre-recorded ones or record yourself reading one out or have someone read it to you. Some people also find moving meditations more helpful - yoga, pilates and tai chi can be considered forms of moving meditation.

                          5) Once you're there, what are you trying to achieve? Meditation is good for relaxation and inner contemplation. Meditation is also good for Innerworld travel, which is what most guided meditations are. The key word there is 'inner'. Meditation is a primarily internal process and keys us into primarily internal processes. Either that or it's a step on the road to some other altered state of consciousness - for example some people get into trance via meditation and it's actually the trance that is allowing them to have the external communications or the transcendental experience. Sometimes deities and entities will approach us during meditation, because it is actually changing our stated of consciousness and making us more receptive. Others require you to come to them, and that doesn't normally happen in meditation.

                          6) Do you actually need a different style of consciousness altering technique to get you what you want? Do you need to try trance? Do you need to try ecstatic trance? Drumming, pain, repetitive movement, some 'moving meditation', dance, galdr and chanting, rhythmic music etc etc are all trance techniques rather than meditation and the goal there is not to relax and focus your mind, but (for most neo-pagans) to allow your astral body to disconnect from your physical body. Some people can drop into trance via meditation, but it's less common. Trance is actually a great deal more complicated than that and there are trance states for all sorts of states of consciousness both external and internal (it's more varied than meditation) but most Western neo-pagans want trance for journeying or communication with guides. Of course, sometimes trance just gets us to the Innerworlds but at a different level than meditation. Some people never get past relaxation with meditation, but can access their Innerworlds and deep contemplation via trance.

                          Now... totems and animal guides. This is a whole other discussion in and of itself, but basically my advice is work through the suggestions everyone has made in this thread and get your meditation practice straight. Then think about whether meditation is actually what you need to be doing to meet your guides. Some transient animal guides are met via guided meditation, and this is the most common form that you'll find in books about animal guides. Actual primary totems are less likely to be found in guided meditations - they are either instinctively known already or manifest in other ways. Animal guides are often the guides that do come to us in Innerworlds work, because they are helping with internal processes and growth, and thus can be accessed via mediation. Spirit guides can go either way, and sometimes require external travel and trance methods rather than meditation.

                          Anyway... that was more that two cents, wasn't it? lol

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                            #14
                            Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                            The best thing to do before doing meditation is to smoke weed.My Friend named "Q"Smokes weed before he go meditate.It was very amazing and it helps here to get more connected he says.

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                              #15
                              Re: Meditation: Doing It Wrong?

                              Originally posted by ouroboros View Post
                              For quite a while now I've been trying to improve my methods of meditation. I may be doing it wrong, or I may not have a spiritual bone in my body.

                              I don't feel any different when I ground and center. When I meditate, I don't feel anything different, other than my body going a little numb. Others I know have visions, hear sounds, smell things ... I know I'm still in my room, see nothing, feel no presences. I'm told I know when I'll feel it, but currently, I'm feeling nothing and it's leaving me doubtful of my practices. I'm considering that I'm either the defective pagan around here, or there's something that I'm not getting.
                              What do you do when you try to meditate? Do you listen to drumming or other soothing music? No music? Is it quite where you are? I get distracted easily, so I try to have some calming music or drumming playing in the background. Something that I can concentrate on. What do you do with your breathing? In my personal experience, if I'm not breathing right, I can't really "let go". Another thing the music helps with. If it's slow drumming, I can sync my breathing in and out with the drums. I take long deep breaths.

                              (Sorry if this has already been said or suggested. I haven't read the whole thread. XD)

                              Originally posted by Wizards View Post
                              The best thing to do before doing meditation is to smoke weed.My Friend named "Q"Smokes weed before he go meditate.It was very amazing and it helps here to get more connected he says.
                              I can't speak for everyone, but in my personal opinion, being in an altered state because of smoking pot has only given the illusion of actually connecting with the divine. I have never gotten anything beneficial out of meditating while high. Just my personal experience, though.
                              �Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.�
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