I’m making a better effort to meditate, but I don’t know if I’m doing it right. Focusing on my breathing and releasing thoughts is hard and if I relax too much, I fall asleep.
If you have related issues when meditating, have you found better ways to meditate or alternatives that give you similar results?
Be tolerant of yourself. Acknowledge your fidgeting and wandering thoughts. If you try to fight who you are, you’re not meditating. Notice the fidget, do your best to quiet it, then get back to meditating. Same with random thoughts.
And sometimes it’s just not the right time to meditate. Try again later under different circumstances.
Meditation as sessions of radical self-acceptance has waaaaay more appeal to me than meditation as a method of ascension or escape from my desires and self. This thread might single handedly get me to start meditating lol
Yeah, people who love meditation and try to get others to do it kind of forget that whatever transcendence they’ve experienced is fundamentally rooted in becoming more attumed to themselves.
Which is actually pretty much the definition of irony, I think?
Heck I think “you’ll love & understand yourself more” is probably a better selling point than “you’ll experience a higher level of being.” I think I can understand the former, but the latter is just incomprehensive.
I’d try something else that puts in you in a flow state. I have ADHD, sitting around contemplating nothing has never worked for me.
Try walking through the woods, let go of your thoughts, and try to experience everything happening around you without that experience becoming thought. Empty your mind and be aware of the little noises and movements, the colors and shapes, without
Even with ADHD I’ve found that if you can push past the initial fidgetyness you can get a lot of good value from meditation.
If it’s really out of the question for you, try yoga. It’s basically just meditation + stretching and gives you something to focus your body on in the meantime. There’s a lot of good YouTube videos and creators out there to do it for free on your own time and at your own pace.
I’ll give it another shot. I haven’t given a good try in a while and hey, yoga can’t hurt.
It worked for me better than meditation, but everyone is different. If you do go for it, just make sure that the videos are explicitly marked as for beginners because they can end up trying some intense or weird poses you’re not ready for otherwise. Personally I liked ‘Yoga with Kassandra’ when I was learning, but everyone’s body is different so shop around a bit of she doesn’t vibe with you.
If you’re not used to Yoga lingo:
- Vinyasa(sometimes called by the more general term, Hatha) Yoga is normally what people think of when they think of yoga. It features reasonably quick pose transitions and usually a variety of poses that hit most of your body.
- Yin Yoga is a lot slower and more meditative. It usually involves passively holding poses for 3-5minutes each and is meant to improve flexibility and joint health. The stretches are longer but can be as intense as you want them to be.
- Most others types of yoga are quite a bit more specialized or trendy and you should probably stay away from until you’re sure it’s something you like and want to do.
I was just about to mention Dr. K! The first time I saw meditation that wasn’t just “sit in silence with your eyes closed and clear your mind” was when he had xQc (one of the most ADHD human beings on the planet) do a meditation where he stood up and raised & lowered his arms in sync with his breathing. Really broadened my view of what meditation could look like, since I’d only ever done the “standard” kind and it never really worked for me.
Haven’t seen the video before, but I’ll be sure to give it a listen on my next walk! Dr. K is easily one of the best communicators I’ve ever seen on mental health.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
repeating small phrases or mantras in my mind has helped me to calm the linguistic part of my mind. it doesnt really matter which phrase but it might help if you find it personally meaningful and can find a ‘rhythm’ to think or say the words to. for bodily restlessness consider repetitive or structured full body motions, others have suggested yoga which is likely ideal in a physical health sense, also consider dancing, drumming, or other similar movements as long as you are careful to stretch and avoid repetitive strain injuries etc., plenty of cultures and subcultures have sought altered states of mind through ecstatic practices as well as inhibitory.
I’d never considered a dichotomy of ecstatic and inhibitory practices like that. This is wild because I stim sometimes and dance when nobody is around and I just sort of feel my body at peace while in motion.
I think I’ll look into mantras, though I saw the clear explanation of ‘Aum’ in the YouTube video posted here so I think I may try that first.
Thank you!