Meditation Techniques...

[Mattimo]

Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone would like to share their techniques for meditation.  I try to focus on my breath but I haven't been too successful with that method, as my chest invariably starts to feel heavy and it becomes harder to breathe.  Anyone care to post their experiences?  Thanks.

[lady of the ring]

yes i have encountered the same problem! I found that lifting my legs with the soles of my feet resting on the bed seems to alleviate somewhat - also if I sit and meditate I don't have the problem.
Hope this helps.

Namaste

[Mattimo]

I just thought I would drop this link here to a neat, free and legal book on the fundementals of Zen meditation that I came across: http://rapidshare.de/files/8553737/Fundamentals_of_Zen_Meditation.pdf.html

[gillian]

If the "heavy" chest feeling or breathing problem doesn't seem dangerous then my advice would be to just let it be.  It's not really necessary to be breathing in a particular way to meditate unless you're doing pranayama or some sort of holotropic breathwork.  Breathing is something that the body is able to do unconsciously, it's likely that your awareness of it is just causing some tension.  I'm not sure what type of meditation you're going for but if you're going for a basic awareness meditation just observe it objectively and you'll probably find that the tension will eventually melt.  Just so you don't worry too much it's not uncommon for it to seem like the breath has totally stopped in meditation.  Again I wouldn't think you'd need to worry about it - you'll breathe when you need to.  I've never heard of any being able to physically hold their breath until they passed out!

[Lucid_Learner]

Nice link Mattimo I'll get that eBook, Meditation interests me a lot but I've not really done much of it. Apart from deep relaxation techniques.... if that counts

Peace, LL

[Awakened_Mind]

Check out this technique I posted in a different thread. It was the reason I came to be a projector. It was given to me to cure insomnia, and I ended up waking up one morning out of my body. It will help with meditation as well.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/index.php?topic=24600.0

-AM

[Lucid_Learner]

Thanks for the link AM, what is the most basic meditation technique... obviously they all serve different purposes and then theres all that zen stuff etc...

but like the most basic kind of meditation.. something I could start off with?

All help appreciated. Peace, LL