Everything Under the Moon

I'm trying to learn how to meditate. And am basically looking for some pointers. I was thinking about trying a few things in conjunction. Such as paying attention to the breathing, and also the various audio technology such as Holosync. I've also heard of the positions such as the lotus, for aligning the chakras and making the flow of breath more pronounced. I'm sure the best thing to do, is to just do it regularly. After all, even idiots can learn by repetition.

I was also wondering if there was a certain stone/gem that is good for focusing, or mediatation in general. And also if it would be helpful to enchant it?

I've had trouble meditating in the past, I have trouble getting my mind to focus on one thing at a time. I like to multitask, I read more than a few books at a time and so on. On those rare occasions when I do focus, it is a very good feeling, almost euphoric and grounded at the same time.

There are all kinds of options.

For example, you can use a repetitive beat for meditation, like drumming used for shamanic journeys. That can create vivid meditational states as well as being useful for shamanic journeys. Michael Harner has a nice set of possibilities... I really like his singing bowl "drumming" cd for meditation of this type.

Also, it may help to have something interesting but relaxing to look at when you meditate. Something like spiderweb jasper, Braciated Jasper, Picasso jasper, Ocean Jasper, or similar, something big enough to be a hand full. I would look on ebay for such a thing, and as an added bonus jasper is usually a reasonably priced stone.

The nice thing about Braciated Jasper is that it's a red jasper which has nice grounding qualities as well as helping one to meditate. Try one of these jaspers that appeal to you and hold a smokey quartz or white quartz in the active hand, and that will also help to control your nervous energy.

Aquamarine, celestite, jet, and onyx can also help. You don't have to use all of them, just get small samples and see which stones feel tingly or have that "buy me" feeling, then find the larger sample to work with for meditation purposes.

Also, you may want to try meditating on a candle flame, or do active visual meditations (ie. visualization), or maybe even try tai chi, which is a form of movement meditation. Some people even find that vigorous dance to music without lyrics, such as what you might find at a rave, can also in itself be a kind of meditation. A friend of mine meditates while chopping wood... but he's a marine so I guess that makes sense. Another friend meditates while she knits. It's a much more flexible medium than one thinks.

Slow down, you want to use meditation to calm and clear your mind, don't try to do 5 things at once in your meditation. Sit cross legged on the floor breath in and out, try for three sets of 10 breaths without your mind wandering, that is really all you have to do to start, why make it so complicated? If you want a visualization, think of energy at the base of the spine, as you breath in energy flows up the back to the top of your head, as you exhale energy flows down thru the front of your body, make the wheel of energy of flow smoothly with your breath without pause between breath in and out. You need to create and find a still point for your mind, this is your base before you add a lot of visualization and background. Sometimes when you truly can't calm down walking meditation, repetitive activities or tai chi can be helpful, but you truly don't need any props, you don't need to spend any money, all you need is yourself and as you practice it will become easier to calm your mind, and it will become easier to breath in breath out and access that still point at any stressful time during the day when you may need to refer to it.

I've always had trouble with meditation myself, but there are a couple of things I've tried that have brought me success.

1. Find a place that's comfortable, but not so comfortable you fall asleep easily.

2. Find out whether you work better while focusing on something, like a mantra, a crystal, a color, etc, or whether you find it easier to just clear your mind.

3. Try different techniques, see what works for you. Start out with a small amount of time and work your way up by setting goals for yourself.

4. Have fun with it! Don't take yourself too seriously, just relax and go with the flow. If you make it into a chore you won't want to do it, so just find what you enjoy. The more you do it, the easier it will become.

I find that sometimes I like having a focus when my mind won't quiet down, and other times it's easier when there's nothing to focus on. Clear quartz is good if you want something to use as a focus, it's very versatile and easy to work with, and can be used for almost any purpose. It's also very cheap and easy to find. I hope that helps you some. Good luck!