What Meditation Is Really Like for Many in the Beginning

[sjoes006]

Peaople explain meditation and many ways, often, "a quieting of the mind" by Easterners. But in more real terms to us in the west they mean quieting of the ego in Freud terms. The guy that's piloting the ship convincing us he's who we are when really he's just a pirate and we're his captive on our own boat.

As a person who was born a wiggle wiggle worm and can't sit still do nothing for long meditation was always a fat NO to me. Until I was told by a physical therapist to start taking yoga to balance my muscles after completed a marathon as a novice couch potato who up and decided to run 10 then 18 hours a week for 3 months in prep.

I knew my PT was correct and wanted to be a better runner so I took dozens of different yoga classes and style in one month. Hated some, really hated some and then loved others.

So my first experience with meditation was at a candle light yoga right before bed time where they work you pretty hard then have you

lay in a dead weight pose perhaps with a brick for 5-10 minutes to just relax your mind and body. And they had a live artist sing an emotional song. Comfort, touching, belonging, pain. These thoughts you bury about the day to day come rising to the surface.

I left feeling ready for bed and better inner peace but full knowledge and discomfort with what my outsituation was and knew it had to change.

The stiff shoulders, the pulling through, the walling off, I now knew what in my life was causing these stress.

One of the Best Meditation Benefits is Emotional Release

You see, when you meditate you begin to access your subconscious mind. It is the part of you that you are not aware of in your everyday existence, but what goes on in there affects you greatly.

It is in the subconscious mind that we hold many of our attitudes, memories and beliefs that have accumulated over the years. Often these are hidden from our conscious mind, but they are there none-the-less. It's actually the biggest part of who you as a being and how you interact with other people. People like others who are real and not deceitful. Those whose ego is acting in complete contradiction of their true self come off as untrustworthy because they don't trust themselves.

A lot of this "stuff' in the subconscious mind has an emotion attached to it. When we meditate and dip into the subconscious, we can experience the many emotions that are hiding below the surface.

This can create a lot of discomfort - not quite what you were expecting when you began meditating! And this happened to me in a big way, and from my very first meditation.

"Meditation Benefits? But I Feel Terrible!"

Many people have the perception that as soon as they embark on their meditation journey they will feel wonderful - inner peace and serenity will abound! Well, it probably won't be that way in the beginning.

Over time you will experience these benefits, and many more, if you meditate regularly. But initially, meditation can involve a lot of upheaval as those parts of you that are blocking your inner peace and happiness come to the surface to be released.

This means that there will be times when meditation feels very uncomfortable and you may experience a lot of unpleasant emotions.

You may feel very sad for no particular reason, and find yourself crying at the drop of a hat. You may get irritable, anxious, angry, snappy - but you don't know why. You may feel a tremendous sense of grief, or a thousand other types of emotion.

This is all very normal. In fact, it is highly beneficial, for when you experience such emotional release you know you are healing yourself.

It's a voice that the conductor of our daily drama doesn't want to deal with because we have schedules, goals, priorities.

It's easy to get stuck on what seems like a productive bit self defeating path of prosperity.

Meditation is grounding. It's spending 15'minutes every few days or everyday to actually listen to your body and mind about how it feels of the events of late and future.

The ego is good with the right now in this very split second of a moment. But the inner self is better at knowing what will make you happy long term.

[apexalpha]

Meditation have really helped me in getting rid of stress its basically sitting not thinking and doing deep breathing then as you progress you can combine it with yoga to untension muscle throw in scientific benefits like lowering blood pressure so why not get into it.

[apexalpha]

Thnx 4 MH

[Anonymous]

I love meditation, it feels relaxed

[Aizou]

Good take. You went over valid points, like in the beginning how you felt and referred to the feelings. The ultimate goal of meditation is not to control your emotions, but to free your self from your emotion's control. :)

[sjoes006]

Exactly. It's a self awareness or
Emotional detox. The emotions come to the surface then leave or are dealt with rationally by the ego.

[SteppingOnRoses]

is starting with breathing exercises, for 10 mins, everyday, a good idea?

As a way to start off on meditation?

[sjoes006]

Sure, even 5 minutes if you want to start try it on your own. Their is also guided meditation and apps for it as well.

My practice until recently has been followed by an amount of physical workout of exercise that forces me to focus on my body and shut the ego part of my mind off. Not all the time after running but if I'm able to enter flow, which I do in any good run, I meditate afterward for however long I like limiting it to an hour with a timer.

More advanced ashtanga yoga requires a lot of you to make sure your balanced through every movement so you have to dedicate 100% of your consciousness to the present and your body. It's easy to meditate once you awaken to body and bring energy in.

I'm also learning Kundalini Yoga finally which is a form of physically preparing to body for meditation by breathing in positive energy and expel the bad. The idea is you clean out the Chakras leading to Kundalini (pelvis) so you have a positive awakening clean of baggage.

[TheUsername27]

I don't fully understand it even though it sounds very basic. Do i literally sit down and procrastinate about ''events of late and future''... because i do that way too much. I thought it was trying to think of absolutely nothing and trying to fully relax your mind and body.

[Waffles731]

I have a hard time meditating due to my adhd, but I do try

[Truthatanycost]

Have you tried guided meditation? following the voice may be easier than silence and the inner chatter you get when doing it yourself.

[sjoes006]

Me too bro. That's why I never even could try until intense you session in candlelight before bed.

You've given your complete attention to either yoga flow or holding poses that aren't easy to hold. You're breathing in and out and pretty much in a meditative state if you are actually holding the posss. Blood
Is flowing better than it ever has all throughout your
body and mind. And your tired and concentrated on HOW YOU MIND AND BODY FEEL.

I really think music helps but also if the instructor simply asks you during that meditative time to reflect on your day, how it went and let it go.

Things you blame yourself for don't matter or become more clear meaning it wasn't your choice in the first place. Other time you realize you wronged someone or just that you're not having a good day a work today because you are stressed and need to turn it around.

[oddwaffle]

Eh? I don't feel anything. Meditation just give me time to think. Remember that statue about the naked guy thinking? Yeah, kinda like that.

[Infynis]

Is there a way to get the reverse effect? I'd like less control over my emotions.

[BaileyisDarcy]

... why the hell would you want that?

[Infynis]

@BaileyisDarcy I'm extremely emotionally repressed. I don't deeply enjoy things, I don't love anyone, not even family, I don't know what it's like to be motivated by anger, it's hard for me to build good friendships, and while I can easily read people and understand what they're feeling, I can't truly empathise, or be moved by their feelings. I do things because I know they're right, not because I feel they're right. I don't enjoy music. I don't connect to places or significant items in the way people love their childhood home or a necklace given to them by a love interest.
In short, I don't think I feel fully alive.

[TatyanaTheEmpress]

Very good mytake, excellent points, I love meditation.

[orphan]

lets meditate together