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Words or pictures popping up when medidating
slowmichael
Explorer
I have started meditating for about 40 minutes every day and consider myself as a beginner.
I have thoughts and situations that i dislike and my first reaction when i am not meditating is to push them away by seeking something to do, thinking of other things , whatever.
So it is clear that is not what i should do whilst medidating, i should welcome whatever arises watch it an let it go, return to following my breath.
Well what happens often that at the end af an inhalation a words pops out of my mind that has something to do with the situation that i dislike. Sometimes that same word pops out at the end of each inhalation for 10 inhalations or more.
What happens then is that i judge the inhalations without the pops as good practice and the ones with the word poping up as bad practice!
What's happening?
I guess that whilst meditating i am still trying to avoid disturbing toughts and situations. What helps is thinking just before the moment the word pops out , let it pop out accept it. In my opinion this is still a subtle way of avoiding it!
Slowmichael
I have thoughts and situations that i dislike and my first reaction when i am not meditating is to push them away by seeking something to do, thinking of other things , whatever.
So it is clear that is not what i should do whilst medidating, i should welcome whatever arises watch it an let it go, return to following my breath.
Well what happens often that at the end af an inhalation a words pops out of my mind that has something to do with the situation that i dislike. Sometimes that same word pops out at the end of each inhalation for 10 inhalations or more.
What happens then is that i judge the inhalations without the pops as good practice and the ones with the word poping up as bad practice!
What's happening?
I guess that whilst meditating i am still trying to avoid disturbing toughts and situations. What helps is thinking just before the moment the word pops out , let it pop out accept it. In my opinion this is still a subtle way of avoiding it!
Slowmichael
0
Comments
1. Good posture
2. Eyes open
3. Staring at wall
Whatever happens in your mind doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you try to stop thoughts or let them happen, it doesn't matter if you focus on the breath or not.
Just let what be, be.
I agree with all of this, except personally I think I'd find it too distracting having my eyes open - still definitely worth a try though.
I think you're being a little too hard on yourself. In my own experience (which is probably quite limited compared to others here), deliberately trying to avoid thoughts just makes them more likely to push their way through to the surface. (I also don't think it's actually a good idea to try to push thoughts away anyway - maybe it's something you need to deal with?) But it seems to me that you have a good way of dealing with these thoughts during meditation already - to let it pop out and accept it.
But anyway this has turned out a little longer than I intended. Basically - what appleorange said.
Maybe two sessions of 15-20 minutes may be more beneficial.
Even with a focus (such as anger) for your meditation, that rogue elephant mind can easily roam within a couple of minutes.
Check out this Buddhist Meditation video series. This one is the introduction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7a9Ur2x0o
Kind wishes,
Dazzle
.
I am a perfectionist so i have a tendency to be hard on myself. I also set high goals so yes 40 minutes for a beginner is probably to long.
I have a tendency to dive realy deep in to sports, well al kind of activities.
I used to have this with sports i did a lot of bicycling and i had this goal of training very hard for 3 or 4 times a week each training 2 hours. In reality i did not have enough time but i did it, i had to do it. At the end i became sick ..... too much fatigue!!!
So one of the reasons i started medidating is to learn how to not be so demanding not so perfectionistic.
OK today i tried some mini 30 second meditations. Before i started i talked to myself saying things like: hey Michel when i am going to start i will focus on my breath and well let come what comes, don't judge and if you judge something then see it and return to the breathing. After all a word popping up for a fraction of a second even if it is always the same word is in itself no problem. It is judging that this is not good that's the problem not te word!
Well those mini meditations, i would say they wen't well but then i realise that this again judging something that should not be done when speaking about meditation.
Oh my god for a very judgemental person like me it is complicated. I have still a long way to go.
You're doing fine, just keep going
Slowmichael
Don't worry about it. Just observe the word and return to the breath. It might help you to "label" the thought.
P
Good advice here from others ... start with short sessions. My teacher suggests as short as 5 minutes to start.
BECAUSE meditation is TRAINING THE MIND. If your sessions are too long for your current skill level, your mind will have more opportunity to learn to ramble when you are on your meditation seat ... and what you will be reinforcing/learning, is the rambling. This will make it harder to develop meditative focus.
So keep it short so you can keep it "sweet", lengthening your sessions as your focus improves.