Which metitation to start with

I have read a bit about meditation and I'm looking to start. However, there seem to be different forms of meditation and I'm not sure which one I should do. One of them is where you take deep breaths and concentrate on your breathing, but then there is another form, called "mindfulness meditation" where you just relax and allow thoughts to enter your mind and take note of them but don't focus on them or something like that. What is the difference between the benefits of these and which one would be better to start with?

 

Hi Shadix and welcome to the community

All techniques whether mantra, focus on the breath, contemplation of a koan, or any other, are simply techniques to reach a meditative state… to read more please click on the following link...

http://www.project-meditation.org/c...nciples-meditation-entrainment.html#post12298

Look forward to hearing how you progress and wish you much peace and joy

 

Thanks for the info. I've started meditating by breathing deeply in and out and trying to focus on nothing except that, but I am not sure if it is working. I am not sure what it's supposed to feel like, but I don't find myself feeling relaxed or anything. My mind eventually wanders to something else. Is breathing deeply through your nose then out through your mouth the proper way to do it? Or are the breaths not supposed to be too deep? Does anybody have any other tips?

 

Ok, so today I tried meditating by focusing on this little piece of something which was on the ground in front of me. I did not do the deep breathing thing like before and this seemed easier to focus on than my breath, but I'm not sure. Would this be a good way to go about it or is the breathing a necessary part? If so, is the breath supposed to be deep or just natural?

 

I missed your initial post (perhaps it was awaiting approval from the moderators when I looked).

Wherever you learnt that breathing meditation is about taking deep breaths... throw that book (or website or whatever) away; that's not how to meditate on the breath.

If you focus on controlling your breathing, either to take deep breaths, or to take regular rythmic breaths etc. then you are not letting your physical body breath naturally, and this will effect your physiology, essentially manifesting itself as discomfort, lightheadedness etc.

Breathing meditation is one of the techniques that comes up frequently on these forums, and is one of the ones that still surprises me as being one of the most mis-taught meditation techniques around. To meditate on the breath simply requires you allowing your body to breath naturally, whether that involves deep breaths, shallow breaths, pauses in breathing, fast or slow breaths etc. just as your body wants to do at any given time; whilst you simply observe the breathing taking place, not concerning yourself as to how the breathing is going, just that the breath is there, flowing as it wants. The meditation comes about because your awareness is placed on something that is singular and non-important and that you don't have to focus on and try and control; and this takes your awareness away from becoming attached to thoughts, which themselves will be naturally arises and passing by.

The moment you start focusing hard on things and trying to control things, you are not meditating, you are just 'thinking' about it.

Your focusing on a little piece of something on the ground was certainly an improvement by the sounds of it, and that is an objective meditation, though sometimes the eyes can tire of trying to remain open and looking in a single direction (again, it's trying to force the physical body to do something).

With the "mindfulness meditation" you mentioned in the first post, this can come under different names, such as mantra meditation, transcendental meditation etc. and is the type of meditation taught by Michael on the free "Discover Meditation" CD's you can download from the link at the top of these forums. With a mantra, which is just repeated internally as it pleases, you are bypassing the need to put your awareness on anything physical or straining your physical body to do anything that it doesn't naturally want to do. The mantra is just a 'sound' (to use that term loosely) that the awareness places itself on, and draws itself away from the flow of thoughts.

As Polly says, all techniques are just a means of reaching a meditative state. Unfortunately, not all "teachers" or authors teach the techniques correctly or, it seems, fully understand how to meditate. Personally I've come across some very good teachers, and conversely I've come across some very bad teachers.

Hugs
Giles

 

Ok so I guess I maybe misinterpreted what I read about focusing on breath. Another question I have is, is it better to close your eyes or keep them open? I've read that its recommended to keep your eyes open but also that its better to keep them closed.

 

Do what feels right for you.

Typically, keeping eyes open means that you may get visual distractions. Though many people try and force themselves to keep their eyes closed causing them to strain their eye muscles. Just let your eyelids relax and close naturally.

 

and how do you know when to move on?
ive been counting breath for 2 month now (reached 30 minutes a day).
how do i choose my next meditation?
do i just add another one to the breath count?
do i replace them?

thanks!!