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Erratic mind remedy - needed urgently!
I hope your all well and safe wherever you are, I again need your help.
Im generally a person who tends to be able to do five things at the same time and get them all done - its this one personality trait that has lead to so much hassle for me at work (because i naturally end up overworking and doing that little bit more) and home. Im currently between jobs so i'm having a blissful time studying buddhism and meditating and detoxing from my last job and more i think about where my life keeps going off a track is because of this one damn flaw!!
This sort of five things at the same time is transferring into my meditation. As well its like my mind does not clear because i start drifting off on a huge topic and then its like my mind is running like 100 mph like it used to in my burnt out days - what do you do to clear your mind? Im adding in some yoga breathing techinques which usually help me switch off but all seems to be failing now!
do any of you do a pre-mediation routine that helps you to clear your mind?
Im generally a person who tends to be able to do five things at the same time and get them all done - its this one personality trait that has lead to so much hassle for me at work (because i naturally end up overworking and doing that little bit more) and home. Im currently between jobs so i'm having a blissful time studying buddhism and meditating and detoxing from my last job and more i think about where my life keeps going off a track is because of this one damn flaw!!
This sort of five things at the same time is transferring into my meditation. As well its like my mind does not clear because i start drifting off on a huge topic and then its like my mind is running like 100 mph like it used to in my burnt out days - what do you do to clear your mind? Im adding in some yoga breathing techinques which usually help me switch off but all seems to be failing now!
do any of you do a pre-mediation routine that helps you to clear your mind?
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Example: I was reading up on tibetan buddhism and when off on this weird trail ending up on a pure land prayer website so i just stopped then. During meditation im totally unable to switch off from what i had read about Tara and then this pure land prayer website and im drifting off in thought.
maybe i need dark quite room and nothing else.
Forget the breath. Focus on your senses (sound, bodily sensations, smell, taste, and sight if you want). If you notice you're not paying attention to any of them, pay attention! You'll be hopping around until you can multitask this too, and when you do get a handle on it you'll be really paying attention to your mind at work. If you can't focus on all of them at the same time, that's okay too! The real work will be the re-focusing on each one as you realize that you've lost it (just like meditation with the breath).
That's just something to try.
Now its like the habits which were so quickly erased are coming back. Cloud I will try that as i think that maybe the best thing to try before i adapt anything.
SherabDorje, Im thinking to condense my practice i think your right as im walking up early in the morning and thinking about something instantly like the calmthat used to be in my mind first thing has gone. Im thinking to keep the refuge where it is and the mantra and maybe slow it down with the meditation. If that works for you im going to give it a try!
Maybe what happened is the calm state you originally achieved became so familiar, so routine, that your mind decided to liven things up. For variety, try a meditation where, after doing your initial breathing technique, you do a visualization. You can visualize an image of the Buddha, and focus on visualizing every detail, or you can visualize a calm place where you like to go that's calming (somewhere in nature; the beach works for me). Visualize everything about this place, and bring all your senses into play: smell, touch (feel the sun or the breeze on your skin), sound, everything. And just dwell in it for as long as you can. Sometimes it's necessary to out-maneuver the mind by changing the object of one's focus.
No seriously if you try to be anywhere than where you are it will just cause further agitation, or alternatively dullness which is also unpleasant. You have some idea that you are having the wrong experience. Just notice this idea and get curious about it. Is it accurate perception?
Try doing some loving kindness, do some contemplation to set your intention and give you inspiration.
Then do some walking meditation for like 10 minutes.
Then, when you sit, keep your mind active by doing things like: Counting the breath, then paying attention to the length of the in breath and length of the out breath, then mentally connect the in breath with the out breath so that you can study the whole breath and detect its changing qualities.
If you can do all that, you should be in a good concentrated state.
Once you are there, you want to maintain it. I recommend mental noting of phenomena as it arises. "thinking" or "worrying" or "feeling".
If you've found that your mind has wandered off for a long period, make a note of how long it has been gone for and how powerful that experience was. Also, pay attention how strong the urge was to wander.
I don't want to say too much because if you read lots of different advice from lots of different people then that might just contribute to more erratic-mindedness.
I will say this though: Have you ever tried walking meditation?
Metta,
Guy
Sometimes I can just sit still and meditate, but that usually is in the morning when I am already calm.
Sometimes I need some exercise to calm me down.
I used to do a lot of self-reflection while walking. Not exactly meditating, but it helped a lot.
I did take a time out and for a week or so and I noticed this huge calm return when I restarted meditation again, I guess im not going to over analyze what im supposed to get out of meditation all the time - But i did notice myself start to feel stressed out when i stopped meditation, which was interestingly odd!
take care everyone!
It sounds to me that you expect instant results, and when you don't get them your feeling as if something is wrong, asking yourself "why can't I still my mind", "why can't I concentrate". Well all I can say is that by doing this you are in fact giving energy to the thoughts that appear in your mind instead of just acknowledging that they are there and accepting them without judging if you want them there or not. I know from personal experience that it is better to just accept the thoughts, and indeed turn them into your meditation, be aware how they form, how they relate to each other and how they dissolve. Ask yourself "Is the stress that I am experiencing by not being able to calm the mind due to me clinging onto the notion that my mind should be calm ?"
Metta to all sentient beings