Meditation

[Jasper FIelds]

Reading through posts in the forum, I see several people mention meditation (some practicing daily). I am hoping to learn a few things about meditation in relation to AS. If you do it...

• Can you describe your process?
• When and how frequently?
• What are you doing to motivate yourself?
• How is it impacting your life?
• Do you have a resources to share?

I know that's a lot, but anything you can share would be appreciated.

Thanks!
JF

 

[Wooaspie]

When I started meditating I found the hardest thing to do was stop thinking. I know so many people that have the same trouble. I found that there are stages of meditating and being able to sit and meditate with a clear mind is only part of it. I would try and sit down and meditate and most of the time I was fighting away my thoughts. This was a mistake. My goal was to obtain clarity throughout the day and by fighting off my thoughts I was just putting them on hold. By putting them on hold they would keep circling in my head throughout the day. So I wasn't obtaining the clarity. So I started to do the opposite. In the morning I would sit down and instead of trying to clear my mind I would let my thoughts come through. When I did this I was letting my brain do its job, working out thoughts processing information etc. as I kept doing this I wasn't carrying around those blocked thoughts all day. I was more conscious and clear throughout the day. I think it's a common misconception that we need to be free of thought when we meditate. Although it is a result after enough time of meditating on our thoughts, that we become free of thought. I read that our thoughts are like water and the mind is a dam. If we keep holding our thoughts back eventually they start spilling over. Dams have spillways that let water out slowly so it doesn't overflow, this is like meditation, taking the time to open up the spillways. Hope this helps. I practice meditation everyday, feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

 

[Warmheart]

I do Zen sitting meditation in the style of Thich Nhat Hanh.

Why do I do it/How has it impacted my life?
I sit because I have ASD, and with it, lots of strong emotions, (anxiety especially) and stress beyond what normal people have.
The stress causes shutdowns, which means I am often "not present" in my life. Meditation of this style
1. Transforms difficult emotions into peace, and
2. Re-balances me, easing stress, allowing me to come out of shutdowns quicker and thus be more present in my life
As an aside, two other goodies:
3. Restores a more balanced, positive perspective, and
4. Makes it easier for me to just roll with things and go with the flow when life causes changes and rough bumps (something really tough to do with my ASD)

How is sitting meditation done?
Easily! Everything about it is easy. You cannot fail, screw up, or goof it up in any way. Everything you need to meditate well is already inside you.
To begin:
Set your phone, watch, over timer, or stopwatch to 20 minutes. (10, if you are just new at this)
Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit, with TV and telephone off.
Sit, and relax your body. Close your eyes if you like.
Clear your mind of thought. (Don't worry, having thoughts is normal. Even skilled meditators of many years have this "Beginner's Mind/Monkey MInd." The trick: When a thought enters your mind...... notice it calmly.... then let it go. No worries. It is said "It is fine to allow a thought to enter as we meditate.... just do not serve it tea." We simply let any thought that comes, go.
Pay gentle attention to your breathing.
Just continue to follow your breathing. Relax, you are doing everything right.
In..... and out..... in..... and out....
"Breathing in, I am at peace." (say in your mind as you breathe inwards)
"Breathing out, I smile" (say in your mind as you breathe outwards.
"I am in the present moment" (Say in your mind as you breathe in)
"I know this is a wonderful moment." (say in your mind as you breathe outwards.
Soon, you will make things even easier, by shortening it:
"I am at peace" (as you breathe in)
"I smile" (as you breathe out)
"Present moment" (as you breathe in )
"Wonderful moment." (as you breathe out.
Soon, you will be feeling more calm and at peace. You can stop this mantra at any time, and just listen to your breathing, if you like. Intrusive thoughts don't bother us in the least. We notice them,.... and then calmly let them go. Everything is alright.

What happens: At first, we try reeeeeally hard! This is funny, because meditation is about relaxing-- and we already have everything we need inside us to meditate comfortably, even if we have normally busy thoughts and worry. Everything will be just fine.
Eventually, if we meditate regularly (20 minutes per day is best, if we can ), meditation becomes a kick-butt, "right now remedy" for when we're falling apart with anxiety or anger. How is this possible? Meditating invites another form of energy to come in and be present. This form of energy, meditation energy, tenderly transforms our anger or anxiety into peace. The energy of meditation is soft, but powerful.
I always start my session, if I am upset, by greeting the emotion with a tolerant, here-we-go-again grin in my mind's voice: "Hello, anger. I see you there." Naming the strong emotion is good, denying I have anger would be denying my human-ness. My meditation will bring an energy to come care for that strong emotion, and transform it into peace.

I have used sitting meditation in my doctor's waitingroom, following a romantic break-up, and when something truly upset me. I can practice on the bus, while washing dishes, etc.

Resources to share:

"Peace is Every Step" and "Our True Home", both by Thich Nhat Hanh. These are easy, fun, light, gentle mindfulness guides, and there is help to begin meditating in them too, I believe.

Peace, and bows.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Right now "meditating" means "kid and husband are asleep and I can go vegetate with some music". While some have the free time and resources to make it an almost exhilarating and spiritual experience (I have a few times in the past, I felt wonderfully refreshed afterward), these days the most I can hope for is relieving about half the tension in my ribcage.

 

[Jasper FIelds]

Warmheart - I can not thank you enough. This is wonderful to read and gives me an " I can do this" motivation. So much of what you said resonates with how I'm doing and what I want in my life. Very grateful.

Wooaspie - I love the "Dams have spillways" image, it's perfect.

Asheskyler - I so know this struggle of how to carve out time for yourself and taking what you can get.

 

[On the Inside]

I practiced Vipassana meditation for a number of years before I was diagnosed. I was able to meditate most every day and do hour long group sits once a week, as well as frequent all day sits our group facilitated. I was the most at peace with myself I had ever been during this time, even though from an outside observer's point of view I was living a rather bleak and lonely life. It was an intense interest of mine.

My life got too busy when I tried to "grow up" and become more of an adult, and I stopped meditating and practicing yoga. Needless to say, I got way over stressed, and had lots of shutdowns, meltdowns, chaos. After a few years I sought the help of a therapist which led to my eventual diagnosis.

I have been trying to regain my discipline to meditate as often as I can, I know that it will help me tremendously, but it has been difficult. I keep trying though, as even if I only manage to meditate for 20 minutes once or twice a week, I am seeing benefits of more clarity and acceptance.

The technique consists of calming and centering the mind first by observing your breathing, concentrating specifically on the air passing in the nostrils, then out. After 10-20 minutes of this you progress to a step by step awareness of sensations from head to toes and back again, while experiencing thoughts, emotions, feelings come and go. If your mind wanders away from your sensations, you gently guide yourself back to where you left off, letting whatever it was that led you astray fade off.

I try to sit for a half hour or so, as often as I can. I can also meditate in small sessions while sitting on buses, waiting rooms, or a quiet place at work.

I would encourage you to try some form of meditation, it is very helpful.

 

[Spiller]

A Buddhist meditation I was taught, Mindfulness of Breathing, very similar to Warmheart and On the Inside..
Sit comfortably and relax for a few minutes, allow thoughts to come and go for a bit, then push them away when you're ready.. be aware of your breath entering and leaving your nostrils, then just slowly become aware of its passage into your upper chest, then into your abdomen.. your conciousness will follow it down and you enter a state of non-thought..
It took me about two weeks of practice to get it and I find it lasts, unchecked, for about an hour; some people set a quiet alarm to go off after 20 minutes or so, I just prefer to let it take its natural course.
It eases my anxiety hugely.. when I'm having a tough time of things, I may tend to forget to do it, but my body always remembers after a few days, it wants that feeling of calmness

 

[Warmheart]

A really great trick to try: When meditating, gently rest the end of your tongue on your upper palate behind your upper front teeth. Don't worry, you can't do it "wrong." Do this any way you like. Just softly relax the end of your tongue on the palate behind your upper teeth. (You're trying it now, aren't you? )
This connects two important acupuncture/acupressure points along meridians. It enhances chi flow and really amps up the feelings of meditation.

 

[Spiller]

A really great trick to try

This connects two important acupuncture/acupressure points along meridians.

Putting your feet flat on the floor and holding your hands together loosely helps also as it completes an energy circuit too.

 

[Jasper FIelds]

(You're trying it now, aren't you? )

You caught me!