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How is your meditation practice going? (Let's Discuss)
Not doing well at all. Started again after almost 5 years. My wife betrayed me greatly, led to divorce, and I never got over it. Lost control of my strength, the precepts, etc. So I've been trying to get all of it back recently. But meditation? Wow! Is that ever going poorly. My monkey mind is violent and erratic, digging up memories and emotions I was trying to rid myself of. I realize it will take time, but this is so painful.
Listen, can I just say that the monkey brain will kinda be that way at the beginning...for me, I still kinda have to deal with it for the first 15 mins of most meditation practice...but after the 15mins, it gets easier and thoughts will come but they are feathers compare to the initial 15.
I have only been practicing for a few months so hang in there. Love the pain, hold it, breathe into it, and watch it. Like the breath, emotions and thoughts have a rise and fall momentum.
Glad to see you here. After some practice you will find it easier to let go of the past and be greatful for it, because it has put youhere.
@Lady_Alison The same with me. I find the monkey mind starts to get a bit quieter after 15 minutes or so. I have extended my evening meditation to 35 minutes now because it takes 15 minutes to "warm up" due to all the mental chatter.
I've been having trouble getting myself to meditate lately. Too many distractions. I just got a new smart phone that I can't stop messing with. I just recently bought a nice video card for my computer, so I'm playing a lot of videogames. There have also been a lot of social events recently. And when I do find myself idle, I'm feeling so tired from other activities that I think meditation would be fruitless.
Maybe by my act of writing this down and posting it, I'll think about it more and make more of an effort to meditate.
@weighted ... I downloaded the timer app for my phone, as you suggested to @still_learning . Worked great.
On top of that, I had a very focused and serene meditation that flew by fast. I only put 10 minutes on the timer, as the last couple of sessions were real struggles emotionally. Last night, I could have gone for 30.
Thich Nhat Hanh said if you're not getting joy out of your meditation practice, you're not doing it right, so I must not be doing it right because the joy is seldom at best. Do I need to just meditate for a lot longer to get a joyful experience?
Comments
I have only been practicing for a few months so hang in there. Love the pain, hold it, breathe into it, and watch it. Like the breath, emotions and thoughts have a rise and fall momentum.
Glad to see you here. After some practice you will find it easier to let go of the past and be greatful for it, because it has put youhere.
Maybe by my act of writing this down and posting it, I'll think about it more and make more of an effort to meditate.
@weighted ... I downloaded the timer app for my phone, as you suggested to @still_learning . Worked great.
On top of that, I had a very focused and serene meditation that flew by fast. I only put 10 minutes on the timer, as the last couple of sessions were real struggles emotionally. Last night, I could have gone for 30.