Meditation?

[Deleted]

Has anyone tried any sort of guided meditation?

I am feeling a bit anxious and lost lately I suppose. I am sure I am also struck by the usual year end reflectiveness.

I've tried yoga but it is a bit more physically exerting than I prefer. I saw also that a Buddhist temple here does instructional meditation that sounded appealing (I am not Buddhist, but certainly interested in learning something new and the temple seems to be very open to those who are not practicing Buddhists.)

I'd love to hear what experiences people have had.

[mbcdefg]

I do yoga once a week, and I like the meditation they do at the end. The guy leading the current class doesn't say anything, but I used to take a class with a woman who did a guided meditation and said similar things to this:

youtu.be/UNmUjGap6Oc

[casmgn]

DH practices zen Buddhism, but zen meditation isn't guided. He gets a lot out of it though. He found a local group that meets once a week.

I would check out that buddhist temple. Buddhism is really about a way of living and thinking, it isn't really a religion.

[catsarecute]

I use Meditation Oasis. It is under Podcasts on iTunes. There are a variety of topics and they are excellent. I used them every night when I was going through a stressful time and couldn't sleep.

[limey]

I've done guided meditation before and found it very relaxing.

Some yoga studios have classes like this. They might also be called restorative yoga, depending on the studio.

[Deleted]

That definitely gives me a place to start.

[Deleted]

I have an app on my phone called Simply Being that is a guided meditation but I rarely use it. When I meditate I typically set a quiet timer on my phone so I don't lose track of time and just focus on my breath. Other thoughts will creep into my head and I envision them as balloons on strings, and I cut the strings and let them float away and gently tell them they are unwanted.

Guided meditation is a great place to start as well, especially if sitting in the quiet listening to your breathing feels odd to you at first (it certainly did to me). Unfortunately I just never found one I loved which is why I do what I do now.

[Deleted]

If you decide to give yoga another shot, look for a restorative, gentle, or hatha class. Classes just labelled "yoga" tend to be more fitness based.

[heliocentric]

I want to get more into it, as well.

I have a meditation app on my phone (Android). I also have a few CDs/DVDs from Gaiam (Rodney Yee, I think).

Check out talks by Jon Kabat Zinn or read the book Meditation Secrets for Women. I like the book because it isn't just focused on sitting still. It gives lots of options for meditating, things to focus on, etc.

[lys]

I am a guided medication failure.
Square breathing technique works for me