Meditation / PMR

GabiT · ‎04-09-2014

Hi

I am having anger management issues and I will apply for some help from a professional soon. But I would like to ask whether anybody did Meditation or PMR and had positive results? Can you please share your experiences? Whenever I try meditation, I am not able to sit still. After 6-8 minutes, I became restless and impatient.

Cheers

GT

Jacko777 · ‎05-09-2014

Hi GT,

I have meditated a fair bit and have experienced the frustration of my monkey mind. However, it is the practice of meditation that will bring you benefits, not just the perfection of it. Having a busy mind is WHY we meditate. If you could meditate even just for 6 to 8 minutes per day you will soon see results.

I imagine it is like training for a sport, it could take ages to get your body into peak condition but every time you train you get a bit stronger. Same with meditation. Every time you meditate you are training your mind, no mater how busy it is. The more you do it the easier it becomes and soon you will have a new level of focus.

Sometimes when I am meditating I attach the undesired thoughts to a balloon and let them float away, sometimes I put the thoughts in pigeon holes to be addressed later. I tell myself that this is a time to meditate, i will address the thoughts later.

If you are talking about you actual body being restless, i would just go with it. You are allowed to move, its your meditation. You could try a different position, lay down, or even go into the park and try a meditation with your eyes open.

Keep us posted GT, Love to you.

Jacko777 · ‎05-09-2014

And the positive results...

I have a level of calmness that I never thought possible. I am able to get over negative events much quicker and I am able to stay focused on the positive things in my life. As well as meditation I have had psychological help to address life events and I have researched spirituality. I think it is the conditioning of our mind that gets in the way of our spirit/soul/heart. The mind is a curtain in front of my spirit, with the curtains pulled back we can respond to life instead of react. It has taken me practice and the journey never ends.

GabiT · ‎06-04-2015

Hi

I know it's been a while but I would like to share with the users my experience with meditation after the initial message.

First of all, many thanks for the commentators.

I am still trying meditation but quite honestly, I am not successfully overcoming neither my anger, not may anxiety/depression. But I have learned a lot.

I read couple of books. I strictly recommend Matthieu Ricard's HAPPINESS, written by a former scientist, who is currently a Buddhist monk. He is currently participating scientific research on meditation.

But second one is more important as the author honestly shares his private experience with meditation, anger, depression, and other psychological issues. The book is Jack Kornfield's A PATH WITH HEART. There is even a section on psychotherapy and meditation. In most of the self-help or meditation books, the authors's personnel experiences are hidden: they never have suffered, they never had any issues in concentration etc. But this book is different.

Now, what I am doing is, trying to fix a time for meditation, approximately 20-30 mins/day. I usually prefer walking meditation but there is a huge resistance which I am following the recommendations by Konrflied in order to cope with: what is simply do is if any negative thought comes to my mind, I do not reject it, I name it and accept it. If I feel restless, I name it: "restless... restless..."

I am also trying to find a teacher which is difficult in my current situation. (In the latter book, there are also many warnings against the teachers.)

Now what is happening inside me is, I feel I switched on some of the buttons which trigger insight which helps me and my therapist to understand the depth of my issues. Now the next step is trying the find out what really is behind those issues, the real, deep issues. I will share time to time my experience here. If there are others, please share your experiences with me.

Cheers

GT

BKYTH · ‎06-04-2015

Its good that you have persisted in your practice. Both the people you mention are experienced meditators - Those authors who do not mention their personal issues have suffered (suffering in life is not optional) and everyone who meditates has to reestablish a state of concentration each day. I have never had a teacher but from time to time I go on retreats at various Buddhist centres such as Wat Buddha Dhamma which is in a state forest near Wisemans Ferry. There are many such places. There are some in the Blue Mountains. You could contact the Sydney Buddhist Centre to get information about those that you may be able to access. Two teachers I would highly recommend are the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and the Venerable Ajahn Chah who practices Theravada Buddhism. You can watch or download their teachings on YouTube. Thoughts are just thoughts. They are not negative or positive. Resistence is just resistence, restlessness just restlessness. I suggest you examine everything you read. The Buddha taught that one should examine everything including his own teachings and not just follow in his footsteps. I hope your time with your therapist is fruitful and that you make further posts. Philip.