The Noble Pagan Forums - The Journey

I find a lot of information about my own journey comes to me through dreams and 'other means' that just make me sound like a lunatic. And for those of you that can't take hints-- even from dreams can probably relate when I say 'I don't get it till I'm in the middle of it!' and then its kind of like....well F#@^!

I never get the message till I'm knee high in whatever I was suppose to get the memo about-- its like a delay understanding and you just go "How the hell did I miss that?". Well for me, its simply because I don't listen closely enough to my Higher Self and ignore my intuition because I doubt myself too much. Furthermore you'd think that because I recognize these problems, I'd change it somehow...but no. You see, I'm a really stubborn woman. Fiery...stubborn...headstrong and ill tempered-- and recognizing these characteristics of my personality is apart of this glorious journey! Recognizing the good and bad within yourself helps you recognize whats in your personal arsenal that will later assist or hinder you in your trials and experiences.

Meditation is something I really enjoy doing but I struggle with it. My mind is so hard to empty out, shut up and get to focus. Its like trying to get a three year old to sit still when there is too much stimulation around them.

So here is what I do and I encourage those that can't find themselves able to 'settle down' to meditate, to try this.

1. Find a quiet spot to sit or lay down in. For those that do Yoga, Child's Pose is excellent for this.

2. Light a single candle to focus on (optional)

3. Listen to soft, repetitive music-- such as chants, or ambient relaxation music.

Now if you're using the candle I really suggest repetitive music to accompany as it will act as something to help enforce the focus. Breathing in deeply a few times and exhaling all that tension, allow yourself to slowly fall away. Its OK if your mind wanders a bit, but bring it back to a focus-- the candle, the pulse of the music, the drumming of your heart. You will start to notice that the candle flame will take on a 'pulse' that will match the music or match the tempo in your mind.

Do this for five minutes. No more. When you can get through five minutes without even noticing the time, move it up to ten, then 15..etc...

A lot of people have this misconception that when one meditates, you'll get it right the first time and you'll do it for HOURS! Truth be told-- we're just TOO busy to spend hours in meditation everyday, we've too much to think about everyday and if you can get 5 minutes of mental silence/peace-- that'll go a LONG way.




Lately I've been considering Buddhism. I really enjoy a lot of its peaceful philosophies and the goal of oneness-- transcendence above the self. But I realize I'm far too aggressive...sometimes too angry. So right now my active goal is to turn my anger into drops of water on a back of feathers.


The journey is ever changing, ever challenging.

Does anyone have any experiences to share, or suggestions?

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It might be worth looking at mindfulness based cognitive therapy too - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for starters.

This is basically the meditation part of Buddhism without any of the philosophical or metaphysical parts, so it's aimed more to a general audience rather than for anyone exploring a particular path. It's pitched as a stress reduction tool, and some of the guided meditations are very good, especially if your mind is like a tornado in a post-it factory like mine.

This is what i'm currently listening to:
http://shop.soundstrue.com/shop.soun...s%20Meditation

Some interesting stuff in there, I'm working through another of Zinn's books as well.

I just wanted to say thanks for sharing, the information u both offered were very helpful to me.

Yes awesome info I'm really struggling with the mental part of meditation. While being fairly level headed i seem to work my brain into a tornadic frenzy of thought whenever i have time to myself. I can be totally phsyically relaxed but brain is running at 3 mill. Messes with sleeping to.

Tip one...no matter how hard it may seem, learn to trust your intuition. I still question it a little bit, but what I have found it seems to be other/multiple people(s) emotions, energies etc screaming out for attention and my intuition gets a lil confused... (Just not knowing how to separate them and/or which one belongs to whom.) This is one of the hardest things I have learned to do, and it has helped tremendously.

I have dabbled a little bit in yoga, it sure helps with my back. I use music to help calm me down. I have been working on keep my mind quiet. It will run at million miles an hour if I let it. This seems to be a lot harder than learning to trust your intuition, so keep working on it. Or at least pick one to focus on then move onto the next phase.

I am not entirely sure which path or faith per se that I am going down or leaning towards. I am very much eclectic in all areas of my life, unfortunately I haven't had much time to work on my path as I would like. I have to get job situation corrected and/or changed because that is taking every bit of energy and patience I have. Nature is at the very core of my path....and to work with and learn for nature. I have been working with energies and learning to calm my mind so that animals are comfortable with me. Plus, I think this will help with mediation.

It sounds like you are very much like me..headstrong, stubborn etc etc etc...i do get "angry" but I honestly think it is more frustration than anything else. I found a couple books that have helped me too. They could be called self help books, but I as I read them some of them are religious..open/unbiased seek your own path under tones...

Green Spirituality: Reflections on Belonging to a World beyond myself by Veronica Ray.

Inner Simplicity by Elaine St. James. (I think you would like this one. She gives tips on how to simplify life and she talks about finding your path. This book helped me find myself again, slowing down, how to slow the mind down.)

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff. by Richard Carlson, PH.D (I haven't finished this one yet, it has a lot of little life lessons. One thing that turned me off from Buddhism..more like I thought I could never do...was to not have negative thoughts, and/or angry thoughts towards people that pissed me off (as in the person that cut you off, rude to you, the ones that think they are so much better than you etc etc etc.) Plus he talks about how to curb those thoughts, he has a lot of other life lessons to honestly help anyone with their life and/or their paths. One thing that he suggested too, look at people as they are all enlightened and you are the only one that isn't. Learn from them. Ask yourself, what do these people have to teach you. (This has helped me not get so frustrated at the point that anger starts to creep in.)

The latter two books have helped me check my thoughts, un-clutter my mind and I have been able to empty it. One thing that I picked up, was it is ok to be "bored"...get rid of all the stimuli, it's ok to do nothing. This is has been very helpful for me.

I have found that if I can get outside, be with nature..away from people if I can. This helps me recharge. Being near water, and if I can sit near a tree to help ground me.

I hope this helps a little bit. I didn't mean to write a novel =P....I am still working on this too, hope you find what you are looking for too. =D

*hugs*

I do a lot of meditation but with mental visualization. it really helps me focus and find what I'm looking for or what I need to see.

As far as intuition goes, I've got a lot of that...however I don't listen to it 50% of the time because I'm stubborn and don't want to be right.

The information you guys have provided is excellent. I don't think you could ever say "Yup, this is exactly what to do!" because everyone is different and luckily, there are various ways to practice meditation until you find your meditative 'groove'.

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