Okay, so one of my goals this month is to do some meditation.  But how to achieve this when my mind will skip through the tulips or invent stories or hash over the daily ‘stuff’ when I try?  That is why I don’t do meditation.  My mind is just too busy.

Now many sites and books on meditation say to think of a word or picture in your mind and meditate on that.  Well, my mind goes on one of those wikipedia hopping things.  You know how you will start with the word and then that makes you think of something funny from the other day, and then last week how this happened, and oh crap did I make that bill payment online ? Yeah – that’s from my head.

The solution I am going to try and invite anyone else who has trouble with the errant thoughts is meditating with an object.  I guess this is sort of like turning on a TV in front of a child -where they  stop whatever they are doing and become laser (vapidly) focused on the tube.

For a newbie like me, I need a concrete object to focus on in my hot little hands.  This object can be anything, but it should be something that you like to look at, and probably something you can hold in your hands for an extended period of time.  Some have suggested a piece of fruit. For me it can’t be food, because I would likely  eat it on accident.

This is the object I chose.

This is heavy handmade glass bowl which I quite like to look at.

This is my plan to start with meditation.

• Find a quiet part of the house.  Not the bedroom, because I will probably just lay down and get tired. Sitting rather than lying down.
• Try for a consistent time.  I am going with the evening so that work and exercise is finished and that won’t distract me thinking it needs to get done.
• Keep the lights on, again so I don’t get tired.
• Concentrate on my object, turning it over in my hands and studying it.  I am going to remind myself to focus on the object and not let my mind wander.
• I am not putting a timer on or anything for meditating.  I am just going to do it for short periods of time that I feel comfortable without falling asleep or getting irritated (which usually happens for some reason).
• I will do this a few times a week.  More if I feel like it, but I am not pressuring myself to zen out.

Note – I am not focusing so much on my breathing because I actually breathe quite well.  Since I was a musician for many years, focused breathing was something I practiced and is a habit that is very easy for me to do.  I guess at least that is one less hurdle to go over.  I would suggest that others practice breathing while concentrating on the object.

So.  We shall see where this leads over the month.

source

Anyone else going to give this a try?