meditation/concentration

[negligent]

ok, i've always wanted to get into meditation to help my concentration, but i cant seem to get rid of my inner chitter chat and random thoughts, its like i cant think of just 1 thing, even when i read books, i'll be reading and then i'll read something and i'll start thinking of that one thing i read and just expand on it, while i continue reading, and then i get near the bottom of the page and i realize i dont remember anything i just read on that page except for up until the 1 thing i read and expanded my thoughts on

is there anyway to help increase my focus and concentration? or do i just have ADD or something, because i'd really like to be able to focus/concentrate on just 1 thing, i'm kinda starting a spiritual journey to find my inner self and inner peace and understanding, and this is a big obstacle for me

[rssnstyle89]

hell yeah, it takes discipline and time tho. try and concentrate on your breathing... take progressively deeper breaths and concentrate on your heart rate afterwards.. not gonna work over night tho

[Palmer Eldritch]

meditation, for me at least, works by connecting at least two senses into one. I've found it is with this forced synesthesia that I can achieve a state of reception and awareness without language. I don't really follow any school of meditation, I've tried figuring out how my consciousness reacts to certain stimuli instead. schools of meditation are just guides anyway and not forced rituals.

So this is pretty much the same method, just in a few variations. Get a visual object to focus on, a statue of the Buddha for example and just follow its curves and feel the details with your eyes. touch through vision. Another choice would be to listen to droning but calming music and envision a flame that flickers to the beat and melody. vision through hearing. If your somewhere where theres no music, you always have your heart beat you can practice anticipating and manipulating. That'd be touch through hearing I suppose. Last you could exercise at the same time as envisioning the ways energy might vary its flow in different poses. vision through touch. Yoga can work very well for centering the mind especially when the body is restless.

For me these combinations of senses bring an emptiness of intellect. Not rejecting ideas, but absorbing every idea without discrimination like a sponge in their raw form. Unfortunately, mediation is one of those things that is very individual in which are the best methods of practice and its really hard to give good meditation advice that will definitely work. Because there's an actual physical affect on the brain from meditation (or lack there of) some people's brains will be more receptive in their normal way, others will have to jump through a lot of hoops to get their brain to do what they want.

Discipline is the key for any method you choose to follow because what you do specifically is irrelevant to the goal. if you get distracted, just go back to your exercise. eventually those events of distraction will become less frequent. Experiment, don't just try to blank your mind. It shouldn't be serious business but play. try doing crazy things like heating up your body or give yourself goosebumps, maybe envision yourself in the room your in from outside your body in various angles. It could be that its impossible to do those kinds of things, but its the willpower thats important. having active control over your brain in absurd ways will eventually allow for very good control in mundane ways.

I hope thats understandable and helpful, I am baked as fuck right now... I'm sure others will have other, better ideas that might work too. Stay clean Neg, let your brain make its own drugs!