photo credit: bolandrotor

What I have personally gotten from my dalliances into meditation is that, if I do it with reasonable regularity, I’m less anxious and more alert. Also, during the meditation itself, I remember little things I’ve forgotten in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I also generally feel quite pleasant, like sort of a warm post-orgasmic contentment. Lastly, I’m able to explore old memories with much clarity and feel a greater appreciation for life and people, which compensates for the built-up misanthropy gained through a day of dealing with people. Meditation (or a less loaded name for it: self-hypnosis) isn’t all that different from mild psychedelics.

Position: My personal preference is lying on my back in bed. Only works when not too tired, or you’ll fall asleep half-way. It is a misconception that meditation requires the lotus position. Any position works.

Breathing: 4 seconds (out) -4 (hold) – 4 (in) – 4 (hold). Variations are plenty.

Next do a round of your senses:

1. Hearing. – Identify every sound. In a quiet room you’ll probably start noticing it isn’t all that quiet.
2. Vision. – If you close your eyes, stay alert, don’t fall asleep. If you keep them opened, relax your eyelids and concentrate on an interesting point. Notice shapes, depth, colours, texture.
3. Smell. - Feel the air as you breathe, and any smell it may have.
4. Taste. – Probably not much of that going on.
5. Touch. – What is your body touching? Feel the pressure and fabrics.
Also, what is the temperature like? How is your sense of balance? These too are sensory impressions.

Don’t take too long, lest you fall asleep. Now for the most important part (and the part which hints at the hypnosis in self-hypnosis), relax each part of your body separately. For example, for each body part imagine it being warm and heavy and linger on that for a little bit.

This should be exceedingly relaxing.

Now you’re ready to do whatever. You can pretend your thoughts physically entering your right ear and exiting through the left, which is one way of bringing thoughts to a stop. For extra relaxation you can imagine a ball of yellow energy very slowly making its way from your crotch upwards, becoming ever more red and large and fierce, then releasing it back onto the whole of your body when it reaches your crown. You can find endless suggestions and techniques on other websites, depending on what you’d like to accomplish.