Does anyone meditate? What do you do, set up, listen to, whatever? Do people find the idea of meditating intimidating?
Yes, I am a long time meditator (is that even a word?!
).
I began doing short sessions of breathing exercises years ago, then tried to just not think about anything while sitting still. I moved on to guided imagery CDs, Yoga Nidra, Kundalini Yoga, chanting, subliminal CDs & DVDs, brain wave CDs, and eventually Japa Mala. Now I do a mix of Yoga Nidra, Yoga, and now that I am a 2nd degree Reiki practitioner, I do a self-healing Reiki session almost every night.
I would recommend checking into Ana Brett & Ravi Singh's brand new DVD called Meditation. You can get it at
www.raviana.com or at
www.amazon.com - be sure to check out reviews for details, it truly is delightful with short segments you can string into longer sessions if you like! I pre-ordered it and have been using it almost every day since I received it. They also have many fabulous Kundalini Yoga DVDs each with various meditations and/or chants. For Yoga Nidra I highly recommend (also on
www.amazon.com) Swami Janakananda's Experience Yoga Nidra CD. It is the best I have ever found. For the most beautiful mala beads with suggestions of chants/meditations/affirmations I recommend
www.yogabasics.com/japamalabeads/ I have also found knitting and crocheting to be very similar to a good meditation session, you can get lost in the repetitions of stitches if doing an easy project.
When I first started it was
very hard for me to sit still and not have my mind wander. Once I got into the practice of meditating regularly, I feel like I cannot maintain my sanity without it. It took a few years of regular practice to be able to meditate for longer than 40 mintues. I don't do that often since I just don't have the time to, but I do fit in at least 10 minutes of meditation with a 30 minute Reiki session in the evening.
