Notes on Meditation

My therapist was a mature Austrian lady with an accent..
(Very appropriate - I’d read all about Freud - the undisputed father of psychoanalysis.)

I’ll jump very quickly to the meditational methods she suggested.
“David - I want you to hold an image, a favourite picture - can you do that?”
I didn’t want to because that involved a thought process. I wanted freedom from thought - I have always thought too much!

“Okay - then can you imagine a loving purple light shining down on you?”
(She was a lovely if deeply religious lady, so I sussed out where her benevolent light came from, and I did not have her faith.)

‘Oh dear? - can you just help me to find a state of peace, a place of safety?’

There are innumerable ways of approaching a meditative state, so allow nobody to tell you that your method is wrong.
I have to smile.
I had gone to a highly esteemed meditational guru, only to tell her what I didn’t want, and exactly what I did want.

A good therapist knows that the client/patient usually has the seeds of their own healing within them.
She listened to me, believed in me, and we got there in the end.


In ‘No thought" methods, "the practitioner is fully alert, aware, and in control of their faculties but does not experience any unwanted thought activity."


If you want to achieve a state of meditation you need to be committed to truly ‘wanting’ it.
It will not happen on an impersonal experimental level.
(ie - might as well give it a go etc...)
You need to be committed to the prize.

The prize for me is being able to reach what I think off as ‘a place of safety.’ A haven.
A place where my pulse rate is slow, my blood pressure is low, my breathing is so shallow as to be almost imperceptible, and I am virtually untroubled by my noise, and eventually unaware of it.

I imagine the words:
Deep - with each out breath, and -er, with every in breath.
Deep-er....deep-er....deep-er.....deep-er...etc.

If this is not working for you, I can suggest another method for reaching a hypnotic state.

With your mouth open ask your diaphragm to promote panting, just as expectant mother’s are encouraged to do at anti-natal classes.
Pant rapidly for a few seconds.
When your oxygen level is full the panting will stop automatically.
You will now be breathing very shallowly if at all.
Do not listen to your sounds.
They are just there.
Drift off into a lovely meditational doze.

This takes practice for some people.
I came to it quite naturally.
My therapist said I soaked it up like a sponge.
I hope it can help you folks.

Dave x
Jazzer

 

Amazing meditation this morning.

I always meditate in a lovely warm bath using the method outlined above.
I sensed that I went very deep - breathing was minimal and involuntary - barely changing the breath in my mouth.

Forty five minutes later, as I re-emerged to full consciousness I quickly became aware that the water was stone cold.
I had not even noticed.

Not as impressive as walking on a bed of nails perhaps, but significant none the less.

Dave x
Jazzer

 

When meditating at this level you may or may not be aware of your sounds.
Even so - you are practicing the experience of Tinnitus without any emotional response.

‘It’s there - so what,’ - becomes the ideal.
Several times throughout the day you will obviously become aware of your sounds, but may have no emotional response to it.

 

On no account grind your teeth.
Bruxism (teeth grinding) is always death to relaxation.

** How to cure Bruxism.

INTRODUCTION.

Bruxism results from stress held in the mouth.
It is a fighting response to tension and anxiety.
It feeds both of these aspects.
Unfortunately, I have to tell you that relaxation of mind and body is not possible with that response.
So you have to address this sooner or later.
It is relatively easy to correct this problem, however.
Given that we have Tinnitus, relaxation and meditation are still possible.


——————————————————-

** How to approach deep relaxation.

METHOD.
Sit quietly in your chair,
Assume the demeanour of a baby.
With your lips closed, allow your jaw to hang comfortably loose, your teeth apart.
Breath through the nose.
Allow the inside of your mouth to relax and go quite quite soft.
Allow your throat to soften.
Become aware that your tongue is now floating in water.
Just continue with your gentle breathing.
Rest easily with your soft mouth and hanging jaw.
Practice this several times a day, to undo your former habit of teeth grinding.

—————————————————————-

COMMENTS.
*(As a habit for life, try to become aware of where your tongue is - it should always be floating gently in water, never pushed up against the roof of your mouth.
Check on your tongue, to start with, several times a day.
Become a ‘Soft Mouth - Jaw Hanger.’
It will very soon become a habit, so much so that you will not clench your teeth even when sleeping!
Teeth should close only when eating!)

I had TMJ for years, until I saw an amazing psychotherapist who taught me to be a
“SM-JH” in just one session.
I stayed with her for a couple of years to learn meditation also. (Some more tricks.)
I promise you, I have not ‘shut my gob’ once in 26 years!

(....bet that didn’t surprise you....?)

Dave x
Jazzer

 

Hi my friend,

I’ve been having a go at meditation. I am not a natural like you, but am committed to developing this practice.

I have a question, when I was lying on my back, I fell asleep, so I decided to sit up on the advice of some practitioners. When I am sitting up, can I close my eyes? I find that more relaxing than keeping them open. Any advice? Advice in general is more than welcome.

Thanks Jazzer,
Kind regards and hugs... DL

 

Hi DL - buddy - sitting up is fine.
Eyes closed is good to avoid visual distractions.
Do not control your breathing rate - your diaphragm is doing that for you now.
Just become a witness to your breathing.
Make sure that your mouth is closed, but that your teeth (jaws) are apart.

Perhaps I can answer your query more fully later on - I have to go out now, and didn’t want to leave you just hanging there bud.
Sometimes I also fall asleep - sleep is a bonus anyway - but it works best when I don’t.
We are experiencing ‘T’ in a relaxed mode.

Well done for persevering Danny.
Dave x
Jazzer

 

Thanks... xxx

 

Funny how well meditation works isn’t it @Michael Leigh?

Quite amazing really x

 

One more note on the way I meditate.

There are of course countless ways to approach meditation.
You could say that no one way is definitive.
If your method achieves the required result, then you’ve cracked it, as the expression goes.

My current method is to suspend breathing.
It is not the same thing as controlled breathing.
It depends on the total relaxation of the abdomen and consequently the diaphragm.
One can go for long periods of time without taking a breath at all.

Here is a clue:



Dave x
Jazzer