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**Nightmare** · 04-02-2006, 10:54 AM

In meditation there is no failure, only feedback.
Meditation helps you to improve your health, your life and your achievements in many ways. On the other hand the technique of Meditation requires from you, discipline, practice and patience. Most of us are not used to silence, being alone, sitting still for long periods of time and being directly confronted with our own body and mind. Meditating enriches your life, but it takes some time to get used to it. Just like with sports and study we must master the
technique and we pass through several stages. You become more alert and more attentive and the result is that you do not only experience the pleasant aspects of life more intensely, but also the things you used to hide away or the things you used to run away from. Fortunately this is just an ordinary and temporary stage and most people do not experience any problems when they start to Meditate. If you do experience problems when you are Meditating, try to accept them. Think of the words: what you resist persists. View the discomforts as a challenge that help you to
deepen your Meditations instead of destroying them. Many of the experiences can give you important messages about your body and your mind. View every problem as a challenge or as a message that you still have to learn something.
Of course I advise you to use your common sense in dealing with your problems and if the discomforts really become too big you should stop in time or take things a bit easier. I have summed up the most frequent discomforts.
Sleepiness
The idea of Meditating is that at the same time we are relaxed and alert. But it often happens that as a result of being so relaxed people fall asleep or have to fight sleep. In the first place you should ask yourself where your fatigue comes from. If you do not get enough sleep or you are very tired as a result of a busy week, we advise you to take a nap and catch up on your sleeping. We are not tired for nothing. In other cases you had better just continue Meditating. Be aware of the possibility of falling asleep and after some
time you will experience that it occurs less and less frequently that you get sleepy during a Meditation. It may help to Meditate in a sitting position instead of a lying position and to keep your eyes open during a Meditation. If you should ever feel very sleepy or musty in the morning or after your work you should try to take a cold shower before your Meditation. Works miracles!
Boredom
For many people it is not so easy to do nothing at all. Ask yourself if you are really bored or if just your mind is bored. In fact also boredom is nothing more or less than a thought or a feeling. If you get bored during a Meditation you are not in the NOW and the best way to deal with this is acting as if you discover a thought and then return to your object of Meditation. Just as you do with many insight Meditations you can also give the idea of being bored a name. Look at how your body reacts when you are bored and make it a challenge. It sounds simple, but we know it is difficult. Still we advise you to view your boredom in this way. Experience shows that the more often you Meditate the less often you will experience boredom.
Restlessness
Many people say that they are not patient enough to Meditate. The paradox is that these are exactly the sort of people that need to Meditate, especially when they feel restless. First of all it is important to know that at the beginning of a Meditation the mind is often still very restless. During the first few minutes we are really tested by our mind with thoughts like: I am not
in the mood for it, today is not such a good day, there are problems at my work or in my private life, what am I going to do after my Meditation, etcetera. After five to ten minutes you will discover that your mind becomes more and
more calm and clear. This means that we must not give up and trust that after some time our difficulties will be over. If once in a while there are really great problems with Meditating because you have an over-active mind you
should first of all consider switching over to a simpler Meditation technique that is more concentration oriented. Another solution is making your restlessness a challenge. You can observe thoughts, give them a name, and observe the reactions of your body to restlessness. Accept your restlessness. It is all part of the game and if you begin to fight it or to resist it, things will only get worse. Maybe your restlessness gives you the message that you should
finally tackle a certain problem, conflict or situation in your life. If you are able to turn your irritation about your restlessness into a challenge, you will see that your restlessness often becomes less.
When your body feels aches
When you are Meditating it is in general good to resist the first impulse to change your posture as a reaction to physical aches. We turn our attention to the feeling of the ache and try to welcome it as a challenge instead of a discomfort. It gives us a chance to observe our automatic reactions and the process of being distracted and getting irritated. Observe how our body and our
mind react to each other. Learn to accept the discomforts and learn to remain relaxed in spite of them. If you accept the pain it changes its character and its identity. If you really have to, you may change your posture. But do this with full awareness. In general most people who start Meditating suffer from physical discomforts in their back, their legs and their knees. The tips that you can find on this page may then be a bit hard to put into practice because we still have so little experience with Meditating. In such cases you should not make things too hard for yourself and if necessary you can Meditate
on a chair or a cushion. Be sure that as soon as you start to Meditate more often most of the aches will disappear after a while. If you experience a worsening of aches, injuries or other physical complaints that you already had before you started to Meditate , that is not strange. The relaxation reaction has the side-effect that the body will produce fewer natural pain-killers. Our sharpened awareness and presence also result in a situation where we
experience everything more acutely, including aches. It is all part of the game and it helps us to listen to our body more attentively, to accept things better and to be able to undertake action.
When thoughts are painful When during Meditations there are always very painful thoughts entering your mind this can be extremely unpleasant. When we are Meditating we suppress the things that we do not want to see, know or feel less and less. Sometimes these suppressed thoughts come to the surface when we are Meditating. This is often only a temporary problem and it often stimulates us to learn how to deal with these thoughts and how to solve these problems. View this process of Meditating as having a tooth drawn out. Sometimes painful, but when it is over the pain is gone. We use the observing of our thoughts during our Meditations as a way of looking at our pain without getting totally absorbed by it. You
can observe painful thoughts, give them a name and observe the reactions of your body. Accept the thoughts and use this temporary pain to soften the continuous pain. If you can turn the perspective of being carried away by the painful thoughts into a challenge, you will see that your restlessness becomes less. Unfortunately we have to make one important side-note. For 95% of all
people Meditating is useful or at least not harmful. But people that suffer from schizophrenia or other serious mental diseases should be careful with Meditation. There is a danger that people that suffer from this kind of diseases will get even more entangled in their own inner reality as a result of Meditating and that Meditating can worsen the sickly behaviour. We advise these people not to Meditate, to consult a doctor or to Meditate only under very professional supervision.
Uncontrolled muscle movements and spasms
It sometimes happens that when we are very relaxed we experience vibrations, spastic movements and the trembling of muscles or parts of the body. In such cases we look a little like a swan that after a fight kicks the tension and energy off its body with its wings. In general this is fine and not something that you should worry about. When it is over you may experience a feeling of liberation or total relaxation. Let the movements happen and do not try to
control them. If you should experience it as very unpleasant, slow down a little and if necessary stop the Meditation session.
Visions and other sensations
If during your Meditation you should experience visions, a trance experience or other sensations, that is often a sign that your concentration is deepening. But do not forget: during Meditations you are supposed to be awake, alert, focussed and relaxed. Visions and experiences where your mind leaves your body are called Makyo in zen. Let the feelings pass away, observe them, accept
them but do not be carried away by them. Physical sensations like twinklings in your skin, noise and rumbling in your stomach are signs of relaxation because when you are very relaxed the blood supply in these areas increases.

04-02-2006, 10:54 AM	#6 (permalink)
Nightmare Golden Poster ++ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The deep south Nightmare is a glorious beacon of light!! My Mood:	What to do in the case of difficulties In meditation there is no failure, only feedback. Meditation helps you to improve your health, your life and your achievements in many ways. On the other hand the technique of Meditation requires from you, discipline, practice and patience. Most of us are not used to silence, being alone, sitting still for long periods of time and being directly confronted with our own body and mind. Meditating enriches your life, but it takes some time to get used to it. Just like with sports and study we must master the technique and we pass through several stages. You become more alert and more attentive and the result is that you do not only experience the pleasant aspects of life more intensely, but also the things you used to hide away or the things you used to run away from. Fortunately this is just an ordinary and temporary stage and most people do not experience any problems when they start to Meditate. If you do experience problems when you are Meditating, try to accept them. Think of the words: what you resist persists. View the discomforts as a challenge that help you to deepen your Meditations instead of destroying them. Many of the experiences can give you important messages about your body and your mind. View every problem as a challenge or as a message that you still have to learn something. Of course I advise you to use your common sense in dealing with your problems and if the discomforts really become too big you should stop in time or take things a bit easier. I have summed up the most frequent discomforts. Sleepiness The idea of Meditating is that at the same time we are relaxed and alert. But it often happens that as a result of being so relaxed people fall asleep or have to fight sleep. In the first place you should ask yourself where your fatigue comes from. If you do not get enough sleep or you are very tired as a result of a busy week, we advise you to take a nap and catch up on your sleeping. We are not tired for nothing. In other cases you had better just continue Meditating. Be aware of the possibility of falling asleep and after some time you will experience that it occurs less and less frequently that you get sleepy during a Meditation. It may help to Meditate in a sitting position instead of a lying position and to keep your eyes open during a Meditation. If you should ever feel very sleepy or musty in the morning or after your work you should try to take a cold shower before your Meditation. Works miracles! Boredom For many people it is not so easy to do nothing at all. Ask yourself if you are really bored or if just your mind is bored. In fact also boredom is nothing more or less than a thought or a feeling. If you get bored during a Meditation you are not in the NOW and the best way to deal with this is acting as if you discover a thought and then return to your object of Meditation. Just as you do with many insight Meditations you can also give the idea of being bored a name. Look at how your body reacts when you are bored and make it a challenge. It sounds simple, but we know it is difficult. Still we advise you to view your boredom in this way. Experience shows that the more often you Meditate the less often you will experience boredom. Restlessness Many people say that they are not patient enough to Meditate. The paradox is that these are exactly the sort of people that need to Meditate, especially when they feel restless. First of all it is important to know that at the beginning of a Meditation the mind is often still very restless. During the first few minutes we are really tested by our mind with thoughts like: I am not in the mood for it, today is not such a good day, there are problems at my work or in my private life, what am I going to do after my Meditation, etcetera. After five to ten minutes you will discover that your mind becomes more and more calm and clear. This means that we must not give up and trust that after some time our difficulties will be over. If once in a while there are really great problems with Meditating because you have an over-active mind you should first of all consider switching over to a simpler Meditation technique that is more concentration oriented. Another solution is making your restlessness a challenge. You can observe thoughts, give them a name, and observe the reactions of your body to restlessness. Accept your restlessness. It is all part of the game and if you begin to fight it or to resist it, things will only get worse. Maybe your restlessness gives you the message that you should finally tackle a certain problem, conflict or situation in your life. If you are able to turn your irritation about your restlessness into a challenge, you will see that your restlessness often becomes less. When your body feels aches When you are Meditating it is in general good to resist the first impulse to change your posture as a reaction to physical aches. We turn our attention to the feeling of the ache and try to welcome it as a challenge instead of a discomfort. It gives us a chance to observe our automatic reactions and the process of being distracted and getting irritated. Observe how our body and our mind react to each other. Learn to accept the discomforts and learn to remain relaxed in spite of them. If you accept the pain it changes its character and its identity. If you really have to, you may change your posture. But do this with full awareness. In general most people who start Meditating suffer from physical discomforts in their back, their legs and their knees. The tips that you can find on this page may then be a bit hard to put into practice because we still have so little experience with Meditating. In such cases you should not make things too hard for yourself and if necessary you can Meditate on a chair or a cushion. Be sure that as soon as you start to Meditate more often most of the aches will disappear after a while. If you experience a worsening of aches, injuries or other physical complaints that you already had before you started to Meditate , that is not strange. The relaxation reaction has the side-effect that the body will produce fewer natural pain-killers. Our sharpened awareness and presence also result in a situation where we experience everything more acutely, including aches. It is all part of the game and it helps us to listen to our body more attentively, to accept things better and to be able to undertake action. When thoughts are painful When during Meditations there are always very painful thoughts entering your mind this can be extremely unpleasant. When we are Meditating we suppress the things that we do not want to see, know or feel less and less. Sometimes these suppressed thoughts come to the surface when we are Meditating. This is often only a temporary problem and it often stimulates us to learn how to deal with these thoughts and how to solve these problems. View this process of Meditating as having a tooth drawn out. Sometimes painful, but when it is over the pain is gone. We use the observing of our thoughts during our Meditations as a way of looking at our pain without getting totally absorbed by it. You can observe painful thoughts, give them a name and observe the reactions of your body. Accept the thoughts and use this temporary pain to soften the continuous pain. If you can turn the perspective of being carried away by the painful thoughts into a challenge, you will see that your restlessness becomes less. Unfortunately we have to make one important side-note. For 95% of all people Meditating is useful or at least not harmful. But people that suffer from schizophrenia or other serious mental diseases should be careful with Meditation. There is a danger that people that suffer from this kind of diseases will get even more entangled in their own inner reality as a result of Meditating and that Meditating can worsen the sickly behaviour. We advise these people not to Meditate, to consult a doctor or to Meditate only under very professional supervision. Uncontrolled muscle movements and spasms It sometimes happens that when we are very relaxed we experience vibrations, spastic movements and the trembling of muscles or parts of the body. In such cases we look a little like a swan that after a fight kicks the tension and energy off its body with its wings. In general this is fine and not something that you should worry about. When it is over you may experience a feeling of liberation or total relaxation. Let the movements happen and do not try to control them. If you should experience it as very unpleasant, slow down a little and if necessary stop the Meditation session. Visions and other sensations If during your Meditation you should experience visions, a trance experience or other sensations, that is often a sign that your concentration is deepening. But do not forget: during Meditations you are supposed to be awake, alert, focussed and relaxed. Visions and experiences where your mind leaves your body are called Makyo in zen. Let the feelings pass away, observe them, accept them but do not be carried away by them. Physical sensations like twinklings in your skin, noise and rumbling in your stomach are signs of relaxation because when you are very relaxed the blood supply in these areas increases.