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Regarding the OM mantra - I was taught to think if it and actually pronounce it as three sounds A-U-M (that's something like "ah-oo-m" in English), your throat progressively closes from the very open "aaah" to the more closed "oo" until you reach the nasal "m", at the end of which you can close your mouth and feel the vibrations of the sound in your mandible, teeth, lips...The length changes as well - a is short, u a bit longer and m the longest. You can play with it and see which version you like...
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Hey guys! May I join in?
I used to meditate back when I did yoga, about 2 years ago. Lately I've been thinking about getting back to both, but I'm a procrastinator
So yeah, I just found out about the meditation challenge and I'm in!Comment
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Yay! The more the merrier!
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On my way to do the meditation challenge day one right now.
Posting it before so I hold myself accountable and have to to do it.
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Morning. Day 1 done last night.
day 2 just done. Personally I found the little beep during the equal breathing a touch sharp and kept makibg me jump a bit.
really keen to try the mantra meditation as I havent done any of that.
happy sitting Bees. XComment
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mochalette (who has turned into a jack russell puppy!) makes a good point Peterpan - I'm sorry if I came over as condescending there, it wasn't my interntion, and I apologise.
I should really have said that those things work for me. And they do! I've found it very useful to think of meditation more as a physical than a mental exercise. There's a section in the Willpower Instinct book: "Being Bad at Meditation Is Good For Self-Control" where she argues that, "being "bad" at meditation is exactly what makes the practice effective".... "just practise coming back to the breath [or other focus I suppose] again and again".
I did my Day 1 last night: just a 5-minute breath count. It was OK. I did it at the end of the day because of rushing around during the day. Wandering mind (!) indeed! But it feels nice.
Thank you for the omming tips - I've never tried any chanting or audible meditations so that'll be interesting! I'm hoping to do what I had started - a 5-minute daily sit - and add what we do here as an extra.
Welcome Nebulae! Happy sitting, Rathgar! Hope you enjoyed your sit, mochalette!
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I am pinning this thread to the top of the section as our official Meditation Room
And I'll be joining you guys if you'll have me!
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Good luck all of you doing the challenge! I'd join in, but am already doing Headspace Take 10. I've got to pick the time that works for me and my partner, so we've been skipping a lot. However, it's been working quite well, turns out that while I struggle to fall asleep with ruminative worry, I have no problem at all when it comes to thinking about nothing or concentrating on my breath. The only thing that can be distracting is when we need to exhale through the mouth loudly, and we're sitting too close together, and someone hasn't brushed their teeth or had been eating onions
So yeah, need to pick the time carefully.
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colinclean no worries.
As the youngest meditator here all advices are good.
Also I am doing my own investigations, web, YouTube and TEDComment
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colinclean
I love that idea of being bad at meditation is good for self control! Meditating last night became a challenge around the 3.5 or 4 minute mark (I didn’t check the time) because the apartment above me started walking around and then my roommate was making noise. So. I started getting distracted and antsy. Which then makes it hard to calm my mind and body because all of a sudden I’m uncomfortable in my position etc.
(Also. That’s my baby puppers. He’s 10 out of 10 a good boi. And is a Jack Russel, Beagle, Britney Spaniel, and Chihuahua mix).
Rathgar
My mediations usually center around equal breathing meditation. I personally use my Apple Watch’s “Breath” feature which vibrates when to breath in and out. I haven’t used another equal breathing app or anything. There might be an app or even a YouTube video that does it without the beep?
neilarey
Of course you are welcome to join us! And thanks for giving us a room. Us Bees are so lucky!
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I go to Yoga 4X a week and meditate before the actual class. I get there 1/2 an hour earlier so I can limber into the lotus pose, nearing class I'll switch to sieza/hero pose. Other days I'll do tai chi standing meditation horse stance, it's like sitting on an invisible stool. Stand like this for 15 minutes.
I only focus on the breath but sometimes use a mantra such as om mani padme hum or om namah shivaya.
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Thanks colinclean!
mochalette, there's an app for Android, called Paced Breathing, it offers visual, audio and haptic clues, you can customise your breathing patterns, disable audio, etc. I don't know if it's available for iOS/what is available for iOS.
I did day one this morning, but I don't usually have time in the morning, so I'm rescheduling it for the sake of consistency.
It's amazing how, even though I only live with my parents, I can't go 5 minutes without getting interrupted
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Meditation Challenge, Day 2
=1 minute equal breathing
=5 minutes meditation
Hoping to do a longer session later, but this will do for now.Comment
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Day 2 done for me too. That's the first time I've done equal breathing with a clock so that was interesting.
All the better for it!
It'd be an honour, neilarey, thank you for joining us!
He looks a great little fella, mochalette!
That looks fun, thinman. When I did a tai qi couse we did a little bit of meditating in each session - the first time I ever meditated in a group (I think I read somewhere that it improves average length of time of meditation, a sort of team effect). We did some in yoga too, I think a yin or iyengar pose.
mochalette mentioned moving meditations and I think some qi gong sequences could be described that way.
Be mindful everyone! Om. . .Comment
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