I hope it's in the appropiate forum...

Hey there. I recently (re)started meditating and I was just wondering if anybody else on Subeta does it. If you do, why do you do it? Is it just to calm yourself or do you do it for spiritual purposes? I'd also like to know the process. What do you think of/focus on?

Whenever I look it up on google, I see standard meditations where you just close your eyes and think of nothing. But my meditations are never really like that. I like to think I have a very colourful meditation world. It's kind of split into certain sceneries. For example, when I want to peace my mind I "visit" a lovely lilly pad lake, or if I want to "pray" I go to this beautiful shrine surrounded by the most wonderful rose garden you can imagine. Or if I just want to let go and feel free, I ride a white horse through the plains, or leap the mountains alongside a snow leopard. I find this personal world of mine to immerse me even more into the meditation and make it more profound.

On the other hand I know it may sound weird...xD But each to his own?^^

But anyway. Yeah. What's your style?

I think a mod can move this to Chit-Chat since this isn't a debate. :)

I feel like meditation can be whatever you want it to be. If thinking of certain things can calm you down and give you a sense of peace then I would certainly consider that meditation. As for myself, when I listen to music and close my eyes concentrating solely on the sounds I feel like I'm mediating. Sometimes I have images in my mind to follow the music but sometimes I don't. This exercise calms me down quite effectively and gives me a feeling of inner peace and happiness. Whatever works.

I've done guided meditation at the end of exercise and yoga classes and the instructor always has the class visualize something. Emptying your mind is different from thinking of nothing.

moving to the advice subforum in chit-chat as this doesn't really seem like it's debate forum material.

Thank you.

And sorry. I didn't really know what cetegory it would fit in. >.>

i've only meditated once before, and it was in my art class back in grade 7. it was before our state's standardized testing, a very stressful time, so our art teacher decided she'd go through a meditating session with all of us.

it started by folding all the tables against the walls, and we all laid down on the cool, albeit hard tiled floor, and she flicked the lights off and shut the blinds so it was comfortably dark. she played a soothing ambient piece, and in a calm, low voice, repeated the steps for the meditation. it began with us closing our eyes and relaxing all of our muscles, focusing specifically on each areas of muscle and feeling them relax - beginning with our toes - and gradually working up our legs, our torso, our arms, and then our neck and head. we'd then clear our minds, focusing on the rhythm of the ambient track, gradually drifting into a trance-like state.

i recall envisioning a world that was a rolling grassland, with perfect mountain scenery on one horizon, an oak forest on another, with a single large oak near this graceful stream that cut through the plains. it was perfect, and i remember walking around in the grass and sitting on a smooth rock and sunning myself, with a companion black-and-white calico nearby.

it was beautiful, and it immensely helped my concentration and left me in a relaxed, content state - that of one just waking up after the perfect night of rest. the only thing i'd change was lying on a tiled floor, i'd probably prefer a yoga mat or a mattress, haha.