<p>Do you meditate?</p>
<p>Our generation started to bring this practice into daily life during college. Did you learn to meditate in college or around that time? Did you practice meditation? Have you brought it into your life in full adulthood? How has it affected you?</p>
<p>I meditate intermittantly but when I have a good practice going life does seem to smooth out subtley but definitely. How about you?</p>
<p>Is there a right way to meditate? Is it something one needs to “learn?” I’m asking because I honestly don’t know; not to be snarky. :)</p>
<p>To answer your question, I don’t think I meditate. I often have deep thoughts and/or sort through my life during my daily commute. (40 minutes of meandering roads through Maryland horse country.) Sometimes at home I give my brain down time (aka, couch potato time). But, I don’t think either of these qualifies as true meditation. Do they?</p>
<p>I do not meditate. However, I like to be disconnected, do not have cell on me, do not wear headphones in gym, walking. This is my way of “meditation”, just relaxing and let your brain loose without any input from outside. Exercise and having a hobby without any electorinic devices on are definitely very beneficial, clears your head and elevates your mood. other than that I have no idea about meditation.</p>
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<p>Only if you count reading CC as meditation.</p>
<p>I don’t, but I would like to learn. A friend of mine (who works in the same stressful industry) now meditates in the morning for 45 minutes and she says it really helps her handle the workday in a more peaceful state. I googled “how to meditate” and tried it on my own (slowing my breathing, concentrating on an image or word and trying to tune everything else out) but if I do it too late in the day, I fall asleep 
I think the key is to find a time and place where you meditate and it either gets easier or you get more out of it or you do it longer. I feel like with all the distractions of modern life, we are all kind of “ADD” all the time – we focus on things for seconds then we have to focus on something else. Nothing gets our deep attention.</p>
<p>^Dark chocolate for breakfast will accomplish the same. keeps me happy for the rest of the day.</p>
<p>I do self hypnosis, which I feel is a form of meditation. 30 minutes and I’m a new person. Takes me less than 5 to go deep. Been doing it for about 30 years.</p>
<p>Yes. Try to daily for ten minutes.</p>
<p>If everyone meditated and was in bed by 9:30, Big Pharma would go out of business.</p>
<p>No, but I knit. And when I knit I get a sense of utter calm, introspection and peace I imagine people who meditate do. (Unless I drop a stich and have to re-do. Then I’m a little less calm 
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<p>I highly recommend Sharon Salzberg’s book, Real Happiness, for learning how to meditate. There is not necessarily a “right way” to do it; there are different ways and one or more might suit you best.</p>
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<p>Pretty much non-stop. My DH calls it daydreaming but it’s really meditation.</p>
<p>For a Psych class, circa 1978, I wrote a paper (complete with slides! how cutting edge was that!) on my self-titled “Active Meditation” research that claimed pottery, cycling, and swimming are forms of meditation. (I can find the original <em>typed</em> paper if required). LOL.</p>
<p>One of my teachers likes to say that anything done with awareness - walking, sweeping the floor, talking to a friend, simply sitting quietly - is meditation. There are many ways to meditate. The important thing is to find one that can be practiced regularly. </p>
<p>I’ve been meditating for about 7 years now, and what I’ve gained is the ability to create space between something that triggers a reaction and my response to that trigger.</p>
<p>This book is one of the classics of meditation instruction.</p>
<p>[Mindfulness</a> In Plain English](<a href=“http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html]Mindfulness”>http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html)</p>
<p>Vballmom thank you for that link. Wonderful. I know it helps me enormously when I get into a good practice and this will help. Nice to be able to download the pdf in moments for free! Now if I can just get myself to do it for 10 small minutes a day…I want to be able to sit quietly and get emotionally adjusted before and after the day.</p>
<p>I learned Transcendental Meditation many years ago. I’ve never practiced it regularly, but I have discovered that when I am very agitated and upset, if I meditate it can calm me - almost magically. It also helps me go to sleep if I am tired but wakeful.</p>
<p>Vipassana practice sounds wonderful. I would like to start doing it; I think it is a much better approach.</p>
<p>Perhaps people would disagree with me, but tai chi is a moving meditation. Works great although the learning curve is a bit steep. Other benefits such as improving balance and strength are also wonderful.</p>
<p>I have an oil lamp designed by potter June Wink. If you adjust the wick just right the flame dances around the lip of the lamp in a random pattern casting unusual patterns on the walls of a darkened room. That is a great way for me to meditate.
[Spiritual</a> Mentoring as a Story Midwife](<a href=“http://sspiritspace.com/Story_Midwife.html]Spiritual”>http://sspiritspace.com/Story_Midwife.html)</p>
<p>Nope, but I do yoga.</p>