RE: Help with Mindfulness Mediation, Please :)
Meditation is really just a "slowing down" of the thinking processes and/or a "letting go" of worries/ anxieties - with the added benefit of "loosening" our attachments to ego-identity.
It's a way to both relax/ release built up tensions and to take a moment to see things from a fresh perspective, since it tends to clear your mind with continued practice.
I don't know if you're after specific suggestions for how to meditate or practice "mindfulness", but, if you are:
1.) a lot of people practice observing their breath (inhales and exhales) as a form of meditation and it works well for them.
2.) I don't get great results from suggestion #1, myself. I achieve more calmness and clarity of mind by instead placing my hand on my heart and focusing my attention on the sensation of the heart region of my chest, where my hand(s) rest.
In any case, the point is to become more aware of processes outside of your daily thinking habits/ routine - to both "expand" your awareness and lessen the strength of your thoughts over how you feel.
I thinkI can give that a go just find it hard to empty my mind, I know it will take practise but this at least gives me a head start thank you :)
You don't empty your mind. You just let the thoughts come and go. It is regular meditation and entering that state that helps to reduce the normal flood of thoughts but it is never about emptying your mind.
It is about focus on breathing and accepting what does and doesn't come.
If you try to empty your mind by suppressing thoughts that will actually make them more intense. I think of meditation as like unclogging the mind and dealing with a lot of things that are just below your everyday consciousness.
You know those joke cans full of worms that jump out when you pull the lid of? That is what the mind is like in modern life. It is filled up with all kinds of repressed junk which we push down and don't actually deal with.
Meditation helps to clear that out but it is a constant process like exercise because the can is constantly being filled up with the lid being put back on.
Ok think I have got it. Concentrate on your breathing let the thoughts come but don't focus on them is that right. Start doing a minute at a time slowly increasing the time...
Yes that is right. If you want some guided meditations I have some MP3s somewhere which I can send you links to download. These tend to be longer though 25-40 mins which can be intimidating when you are starting out.
I would like the links but think 25 minutes is a few months off as yet. But I will get there.