Spirituality, Meditation, Prayer?

[saj]

hey so I was wondering anyone into spirituality, meditating or prayer?

I do try to pray and I find prayer helps me sometimes with discipling myself

whenever I try to meditate I tend to hyperventilate and get panic attacks

for those of you know are into mindfulness and meditation do you have any tips?

Also I hear conflicting things, some people say it's about quieting the mind and some say it's about observing the thoughts, is there any that's better or is it just personal preferences?

Sorry for my ignorance I'm just not clued up

 

[H4nk]

For me
Prayer is a conversation. I'm "speaking" but I am also listening. Always be ready to listen is my idea of Paul's "pray without ceasing"
Meditation to me is more like sitting still which doesn't happen often. My mind is like a gaggle of squirrels released on a highway

 

[rbscebu]

I meditate for at least 30 minutes every morning. I completely void my mind of all extraneous thoughts. It calms me for the rest of the day. No hyperventilating or panic attacks either before, during or after.

Spoiler: Answer

The gentlemanly art of straight razor shaving.

​

 

[saj]

For me
Prayer is a conversation. I'm "speaking" but I am also listening. Always be ready to listen is my idea of Paul's "pray without ceasing"
Meditation to me is more like sitting still which doesn't happen often. My mind is like a gaggle of squirrels released on a highway

Yea I need to learn to slow my brain down as I'm always million miles per hour tbh, really need to learn a way of helping to cope with it and calm it down a bit

 

[silverlifter]

whenever I try to meditate I tend to hyperventilate and get panic attacks

for those of you know are into mindfulness and meditation do you have any tips?

Start with a guided meditation. 10 minutes a day. There are plenty of options, some of them quite good. Once you get the basics down, you can go your own way.

 

[Crisp Rat]

Meditation helps me feel balanced and able to handle life's ups and downs. I can tell a difference when I've been neglecting to do it. In meditating helps me to think less of trying to clear my mind and more just letting go, if that makes sense. I also practice the Wim Hof method.

Breathwork is powerful. I would recommend finding a breathing pattern that calms you and will keep you from hyperventilating.

 

[ADudeAndHisDogs]

Prayer. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner.

 

[Mempho]

I recommend a 3 or 4 day retreat at a Benedictine monastery. It doesn't matter what your faith is. After even a brief immersion you'll find it much easier to find your own personal place of peace.

 

[mrlandpirate]

guided meditation works for me helps me center myself and calms my mind

 

[Mempho]

I want to know how @FarmerTan achieves inner serenity.

 

[magoo75]

I also prefer guided meditation. Probably its best for beginners. Tried self meditation many times over the years and for me , I have not had much success with it. Don’t have the patience to stay with it. You have to slow your breath down , not increase it , or breathe to deeply. I made the mistake of taking long deep breaths, which I believe is wrong. There is a saying in A.A. “ move a muscle change a thought “ this can work for anxiety and other mental problems.

 

[KeenDogg]

I want to know how @FarmerTan achieves inner serenity.

Watching "It's a Wonderful life" and picking on ole Keendogg, true story doggone!

 

[Dominic]

I recommend a 3 or 4 day retreat at a Benedictine monastery. It doesn't matter what your faith is. After even a brief immersion you'll find it much easier to find your own personal place of peace.

Clear Creek monastery is a great place.

 

[Ravenonrock]

There is a tree I hug in my backyard. I love that tree.

 

[Cal]

Also I hear conflicting things, some people say it's about quieting the mind and some say it's about observing the thoughts, is there any that's better or is it just personal preferences?

I suspect there are millions of ways to meditate. And, just like shaving, what suits one person may be hell for another.

It's always great to experiment.

Here's one for you to try:

Unconditional Body Awareness
Sit comfortably (back straight) in a warm, quiet room. Close your eyes and pay attention ONLY to any physical sensation you feel/notice. If there's more than one sensation, focus gently (i.e. be aware) of the strongest one. It doesn't matter if the sensation is pleasant or unpleasant, simply be aware of it unconditionally until a stronger sensation arrives — then move to that one... and so on.

Don't like or dislike that sensation, simply be aware of it. It's there for a reason. You won't know the reason but your heart will thank you for noticing (and being with) it.

See if you can do that comfortably for five minutes. If you're successful and feel better/calmer after your small session... continue your practice and increase the time gradually up to a maximum of 20 minutes (15 minutes would probably be the optimum).

Of course, If you don't like the idea of that experiment, don't do it.

 

[Dominic]

I pray the rosary every day. It’s a meditation on the life of Jesus and the holy family.

There are four sets of mysteries to the holy rosary: the joyful mysteries, the sorrowful mysteries, the glorious mysteries, and Pope John Paul II introduced the luminous mysteries.

I will use the joyful mysteries in my example. A mystery is an event in the life of Christ. The joyful mysteries are 1) the annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary, 2) Mary's visitation to Elizabeth, 3) the nativity of Jesus, 4) the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple, and 5) the finding of young Jesus in the temple.

There are five decades on a rosary. A decade has one Our Father and 10 Hail Marys. You announce the mystery and then pray the Our Father. While praying the following 10 Hail Marys, you meditate on that particular mystery. So you would say, "the third joyful mystery is the nativity" then pray the Our Father, then meditate on or ponder the nativity of Jesus while you pray out loud 10 Hail Marys. The 10 Hail Marys are like a timer. Once you say 10, you move on to the next mystery.

To assist in keeping focused, there’s a thing called a scriptural rosary (you can find them online). That’s when you read one verse with each Hail Mary; the verse comes from a passage of scripture corresponding to the mystery on which you’re meditating. If your mind wanders while praying the rosary, don’t worry. Everyone’s mind wanders during prayer. Just refocus once you realize it.

Catholic meditation isn‘t like eastern meditation. It’s not about emptying your mind or anything like that. It’s more about filling it with God. Jesus said to His apostles, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid“ (John 14:27).

 

[magoo75]

I have used the rosary at a time of anxiety, and found it did help me through a trying time period.

 

[hydro-magic]

Cardio is my meditation time. It used to be running but that's getting too hard on my aging joints to do every day now so it's usually an elliptical machine these days. Just concentrating on my heart rate and breathing. One foot in front of the other. Pushing myself forward. Not bouncing up and down. Feet hitting the ground softly. Using the big muscles, not the small ones. Head up, shoulders back. Filling the lungs up all the way. It's just as good for your mind as it is for your body.

 

[FarmerTan]

I want to know how @FarmerTan achieves inner serenity.

You my friend will be the second person to know!

I actually think I am at my most relaxed state of mind when all is chaos around me.

I TRY to NEVER be angry. Anger kills.

Breathing I have found is key. When I do get anxious, I try to do what I call "rolling breathing": long, slow inhalation, hold for an equal time, long slow exhalation, hold again. I do not practice this nearly often enough.

I used to do self hypnosis, to aid in falling asleep, starting by mentally relaxing my toes, feet, ankles, etc....all the way up to my scalp. But I have not had to do that much at all for years.

I need a "better" prayer schedule, as in not being hurried, and reciting to the Father a grocery list of "needs and desires" - as He already knows before we ask. I need to be MUCH better at practicing the being "still, and knowing that He is God." In other words, I have the same problem in talking to the Father as I do in talking on B and B!


Ha! Aren't you sorry you asked!

 

[old_school]

Noobie at meditating, since March, love it. So some noobie ideas. Breathing patterns that hold or are have odd periods increase my pulse. Very much a YMMV thing I'm sure. I inhale (nose) and take twice as long to exhale (mouth) with no holding period in between. Started 4 counts in and 8 out, after a week or so the rhythm is established and counting is not needed. There's a physiological reason for this pattern, and another explanation here.

Not sure i will ever tame the monkey mind. The best beginning instruction of meditation I've heard (more than one place) is to view your intervening thoughts as drifting clouds. Observe them non-judgmentally and return your attention to your homebase, ie breath or a sensation as @Cal suggests. In that respect meditation is both observing and calming since you are creating an objective moment by observing your thinking you can choose to allow the thoughts to drift instead of engage them and return to your calm. HTH