How you started out meditating?

[kyuuei]

Super hippy thing they gave us for de-stressing during school, I thought it was kind of cool especially for people who suck at meditating or think they want to--but lack time. There is literally a 1 minute meditation regimen on there.

http://scrubsmag.com/scrubs-meditation-tool/

Which made me ask the question, what techniques/tools/tips did anyone who has been meditating on a consistent basis use to get started?

 

[johnnyyukon]

There's lots of good guided mp3 meditations out there. Look at iTunes podcasts, there should be tons of free ones.

Either lay down on your bed and turn off your phone, or sit in the most comfortable position possible with your spine as straight as possible (but don't strain).

Pzizz is this really cool app/software that's pretty cheap that I use all the time, and I heard about it because apparently Google employees use it in these sleep pods for little "naps." (I've always felt working at Google is probably like working at Charlie's Chocolate Factory)

Local groups often do meditation sittings at yoga studios if you're fortunate enough to have that around. Having instruction is ALWAYS preferable than trying to teach yourself.

If you ever want to go hardcore like I did a couple times, you can go to a free (donation based) 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat. http://www.dhamma.org/ However, this is one of the most insane/helpful/profound/difficult experiences of my entire life. So maybe keep it in your back pocket for now.

But yeah, just starting, look for guided mp3s. I don't know any right off the top of my head, but you'll find some.

 

[Odi et Amo]

One day, I decided that I was sick of the buzzing-mind feeling and decided that every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday I was going to sit in my dark attic and not come out until I was becalmed. The meditation equivalent of quitting drugs cold turkey. I learned a ton about myself just sitting there, struggling, drafty and cold and damp and coated in a grimy sheen of cobweb, but after awhile it all clicked. I did find out that I cannot meditate with my eyes open, which is heterodox, and that at first I could not meditate to music or sound. I guess meditation is so intensely personal that you have to figure out for yourself what works.

 

[skylights]

I started by concentrating on watching a candle flame. I've always been captivated by fire so that was a good way to start quieting my mind.

I also really like "guided meditations", where someone else walks you through it.

 

[Mole]

Meditating Amid the Fountains

I have found a marvellous way to meditate.

From where I write there are nine fountains, all within easy walking distance.

Each of these nine fountains was designed by an artist and funded by the Commonwealth.

The fountains vary considerably from a cataract, to a small creek between boulders, to high art, and the most elegant of pools, culminating in a fountain 500 feet high.

So I enter the meditative state and walk between each of the nine fountains.

I flow like the water in the fountains. I become a cataract in front of the Treasury. I expand into the Molonglo Valley like the fountain in front of our New Parliament House. I curl around the warm boulders in front of the West Wing. And I become like the most elegant fountain in the world in front of the High Court. And then there are more ponds and pools and high art, finally taking my breath away with the Captain Cook Memorial fountain, jetting white and beautiful 500 feet into the deep blue sky.