www.meditationoasis.com
www.themeditationpodcast.com
These are the links to the guided meditations I listen to every day on my iPod.
They are completely free.
Thought that maybe there'd be some folks out there who were interested in meditation but didn't know where to start.
Well.......this is where I started.
And I thought I'd share my experience with them.
The effects weren't immediate, but they slowly continue forward toward progress.
Mary Maddux at meditation oasis has a very pleasant voice and focuses on awareness which I personally recommend. I think us MD'rs tend to lose touch with ourselves.
She also stresses the point that there is "NO WRONG WAY" to meditate!!!! I put personal emphasis on this as an ADHD'r, as it is very easy to get frustrated if you're trying too hard.
The meditation podcast with the Sterns is focused more on goal specific meditations. Things like healing and life and attitude perspectives.
They also use binaural beat technology which are rapid beats set at a certain pitches that encourage the brain to sleep, relax, concentrate, ect......depending on the effect desired, so they recommend using headphones.
If you can't use headphones for whatever reason, still listen to it anyway... 'cause there ain't no wrong way to do it! :)
They average about 20 minutes long but they have longer and shorter ones depending on your schedule.
I listen to one or two episodes first thing in the morning with my coffee and cigarettes.
Sometimes I sit and go at it like the Dalai Lama, but mostly I just sit and fidget. Doesn't really matter.
I whole heartedly believe that even though my conscious mind may wander, criticize, and doubt, my unconscious mind is alert and focused.
I am having some success with this approach.
I then listen to a few more while I go about my morning business.(I work nights) Trying to follow along the best I can, but don't sweat it if can't.
In the evening I listen to one more just before I go to sleep.
The two things in therapy I've learned that have been the most influential for my meditations are the "body scan" and " letting go" of self-criticisms and doubt.
The "body scan" is pretty simple. Before meditation or when I'm stressed and anxious, I bring my attention to the major muscle groups of my body one at a time and notice which ones are tense.
I then push my belly out when I inhale and relax the tensed muscles.
This takes just a few seconds.
It usually ends up being the stomach(shallow breathing), the neck, and shoulders.
But for me, the most important ones are the facial muscles. Don't know why, but it is.
"Letting go" takes some practice. But if you're like me and have Bi-Polar, ADHD or have some other disorder that interrupts your state of mind, then it is well worth your time to learn and practice it.
It involves being patient with yourself and not getting angry when you make a mistake or relapse into DDs while meditating. It also involves acknowledging the self- criticism and doubt and just doing it anyway.
This will help with and be reenforced by the meditations.
In the "colorful" language of my people it means: "F*** it! Doin s*** half- a** is better than doin nuth'n".
I repeat this mantra when I can't do things the way I want to do them or begin to worry about whether I'm doing them the right way.
This is how I developed and continue developing my meditation habits and practices.
Anyway, this is my approach to meditation and it works for me. I hope you can find something useful out of all this and get your own thing going.