Ok we know we should meditate don’t we? I know I ought to (isn’t ought to much nicer than “should”) I think so anyway). There are so many benefits, it helps health and well being on a mental and physical level, clearer thinking, less anxiety, good oxygenation etc . Despite this and the fact that we know it can be as simple as a few minutes a day of being peaceful and mindful we don’t seem to get around to it. By that I mean I don’t. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy yoga, the mindfulness gives you a sort of moving meditation (although of course you ought to be meditating in your asana practice too…not always happening here though.) Tai Chi and probably knitting provide a similar benefit but still, we should be comfortable with being still and quiet in the mind.
It can be hard. I have tried on and off over many years to establish a regular meditation routine but it seems to slip away from me unnoticed until the monkey chatter in the mind becomes overwhelming and I start again. The last few days I have had chattering mind due to the fact we are moving (not to the house, gee get with the program I am moving to Hobart CBD now! Yes I know how quickly plans change but this deal is done!) and popping out of bed before I am awake to check on the baby (always fine) or see if it is time for an early morning Yoga class (not for another three hours- go back to bed woman!).
It can be hard to get back to sleep so I have resurrected something a thing I used to use when our first son was a baby but had forgotten it. Listening to audio which helps your brain waves get into Theta pattern (bear with me here) which is apparently what your brain does when you are meditating. The advantage here is you can just pop in your headphones and lie down and away you go. I have uploaded mine to my mp3 player now and keeping it next to the bed it has worked like a charm. Even if I need a nap (realllly need a nap, you know- eyes hanging out of the head tired) listening to one of these tracks (around 24mins runtime) is amazingly refreshing. I have Yoga Nidra as well but they seem to take a lot of concentration whereas there is benefit in these tracks as long as you are listening through stereo headphones, you don’t even need to breathe in special way or clear your mind.
You may have seen advertisements for similar things. It’s called Brain entraining I believe. It’s a thing. One product was heavily advertised in the late 90’s/early 00’s promising to have you meditating deeper than a Zen Monk and offering a sample CD. I tried the sample Cd which had sort of bells bonging in your ears and subliminal brain wave altering messages. It seemed to work quite well and I felt very refreshed but I was stuck on the price Which is around $180 USD. I would want to be pretty convinced for that money. Instead I found a cheaper substitute from Imramma Institute which offered a CD for meditating (or lying down and listening- do not drive whilst listening, OK?) and a couple of CDs for focusing whilst concentration (which I suppose I should really listen to at some stage in my life, like maybe when I am writing instead of checking Twitter all the time!) They cost $30 altogether.
So anyway, years down the track I have them on the mp3 playera pair of $1.85 and I am revisiting the whole thing. So far so good, I am not going to pretend it is a deep spiritual experience akin to years of meditating but I would like to bet that if I had my brain waves monitored you would find at least some of the claims are true; the time flies too, you know when you close your eyes and it feels like a second later but you have been asleep for hours- just like that. The rest leaves me much more refreshed than normal naps too. I am amazed that when I am so tired I literally feel sick and cannot go on I listen to one of the Insight tracks (which just sound like rain by the way, no bonging bells). Such good results for a reasonable price. WHY ISN’T EVERYONE LISTENING TO THIS? Maybe it is because the claims sound unlikely? Too much? I don’t know- they sound more realistic than many of the magazine diets to me and lots of people go for them! Ah well. I am interested to see that the Immramma Institute are offering audio to increase your intuition and problem solving.
I haven’t examined the science yet but the Insight audio has and is yielding good results for me. Maybe I will listen to the focus audio when I am writing and working and see how that goes and report back!
It probably warrants some more in-depth exploration really. It looks like there might be quite a few different products from different places online. I will check this out too.
Oh and you ought to be meditating!
Have you tried any shortcuts to quieting your mind? What have you found that works for you?
The Dull Roar Philosophy 