Meditation

Anyone find meditation on a daily basis helps?  I used to meditate and really need to get back to it...I found that I slept better, my day went more normally, and I ate more consistently healthy..well I can't relate all of that to it but I did think it helped...any thoughts?

I don't meditate but I do read.  I think the two are reasonably similar.... shutting off other thoughts, reducing the heart-rate, providing relaxing calm and quiet....  Maybe if you haven't got the opportunity to meditate you could read instead?

I think meditation is key to my weight loss. I actually do a LOT of yoga/ pilates and I find that I meditate before and after the work out. This works for several reasons. 1, it helps me calm down before my workout and relax and focus on my breathing. 2, after the workout it lets the work out seep into my muscles and lets them relax for a little bit. It could be all in my head, but I feel like the relaxation after the workout helps it to last longer hahaha!

great points.  I read last night that meditation can really help a runner as well.

I wish I could figure out a way to slow down and meditate.  As far as my knowledge goes, meditation is a seemingless non physical activity, that is quite, calming and you enjoy?   Is there a better definition that you guys have for it?

 

I love it..it really helps with stress which make me over eat and crave bad foods. I stopped to doing it last Fall and I hit 202 pounds very quickly as I felt the stress, junk and fast food craving was uncontrollable.

But at yoga class they do it after each class for a few minutes..I also have tapes which talk you into a peaceful place.   I listen to them when I go to bed.  But with all my weight loss these past three months I have no problem sleeping.  lol

So I have to do it during the day because it does make things so much easier.  After the crash in the economy I really needed this.

FYI: There is a "do nothing meditation" which I was taught by a Buddhist two years ago.  You just sit in silence, in a lotus position and close your eyes and think of nothing...for 30 minutes!!...then you stand and walk, stopping every few minutes if you suddenly connect. 

I found this very hard to connect to as my mind was thinking so many otehr things...but now it works...you actually go into a trance of sorts and feel very rested and calm when you come out of it.  And it is so easy to do!

 

I do it about three times a week or as needed...if I feel the food cravings come back...I do more...  lol

 

 

That sounds like a great way to meditate.  I've often for 20 minutes just repeated a phrase or name like "Jesus" in my head with the first syllable as I breathe in and the last syllable out as I breathe out.  That's been easier for me I think than just thinking of nothing but your idea sounds interesting as well.  I've heard of walking meditation where you walk and think a phrase or nothing as you take slow paces.

The best definition of meditation I've heard is - Focused Attention. It is something that can be done in a formal practice and is very useful as you live through your day.

I meditate formally each morning - more often than not. After yoga I use a series of focused attention techniques to get to where I become still and find the joy of not-doing for a while. Even if I don't get all the way there, the benefit of a calm mind stays with me throughout the day.

Usually I begin with following my breath and noticing it at different places along each inhalation and exhalation. Sometimes I need to do this in a more structured way first before I can just observe so I watch it for a time at each spot along the way - nostrils, sinus cavity, top of the throat, etc all the way to the very lowest part of the diaphragm. If I am particularly settled I sometimes think the word Peace or I breathe and think Slower, Deeper, Quieter, and more Regular. When thoughts that are either past or future oriented intrude I often mentally put them in a box and store them in a part of my mind that I choose not to look at. I've also swept away the clutter that is up there. I've also had success imaging those thoughts in word balloons that just float away. There are thousands of ways to meditate so you have to find what works - there's lots of books and tapes with suggestions.

The present time mindfulness of meditation is very useful to me as I lose weight as it encourages me to purposefully select the lowest calorie foods available to me at the time and keeps me from freaking out about food in the past or future.

I apologize for double posting but I sometimes use a great internet meditation room and thought you might like it -

http://www.meditationcenter.com/

You can learn a lot about meditation and sign up for a 21 day tip of the day. They really do stop sending you anything after 21 days too.

Oh, and Gijane, you are sure right when you said that reading can be meditative. I also use Sudoku as a means to focus my mind and bring it to now when it is all over the planet. Same with other books, you are reading mindfully if you read all the words and think about what you are reading. Sometimes I find that I skip around and am re-reading the same sentence over and over - definitely not meditative reading!!

It's amazing how much of the time we live in the past or future but so rarely in the present!

It's amazing how much of the time we live in the past or future but so rarely in the present!

 too true, thanks for the link

 

I do find that meditation helps.  Getting healthy is the whole nine yards for me.  Not just body alone, but body, mind, and spirit.  meditation helps with my stress, my depression, and simply my general well being.

Thanks for the link and the advice from everyone.  I really think it's never too early or too often to meditate! 

I've received some great advice.  Anyone else have any specifics as to how they meditate, how long, etc.????