When you first started...

[~*Sacred*~]

how long were you able to "get" it at a time? Five seconds, one minute?

[green aventurine]

I've been doing "looking at my stomach going in and out" meditation for a little while on and off now. These days I try and get in at least 10 minutes each day. It's impossible to tell but I reckon I'm still lucky if even a minute or two of that is actually "getting" it lol and that's not even a solid minute/two mintues either -- it will be a few seconds here and there etc. Still seems to have positive effects on me though. :)

[sleepycat]

Winged Spirit, what type of meditation are you trying to do?
Drum meditation I can do for a long time; I suck at the "silence your mind" thing.

The thing with meditation is to find something that suits you, and stick with it.

[Toki Wartooth]

I still haven't "gotten it." :lol:

[novimarra]

I guess when I first started daily meditation I couldn't quiet my mind for a nanosecond. Here I am 9 months later and I can get about 1 or 2 minutes of peace. Not much progress, eh?

[Phoenix]

I find guided mediation helps. If I sit there in silence or even with soothing music my mind starts listing off all the things I need to do and I end up more stressed than relaxed.

[darkNight]

I use a variety of methods to shut myself down, so to speak. Now I can get about 5 minutes in.

Methods such as concentrating my senses on one activity, a mantra (for speech of course), rosary (for the tactile sense), even rocking back and forth like the Hebrews and Muslims, swaying helps to keep my body from getting bored.

Then one by one when I am ready, I stop the above processes leading to stillness, works for me (90% of time).

[Pink_sheep]

I guess when I first started daily meditation I couldn't quiet my mind for a nanosecond. Here I am 9 months later and I can get about 1 or 2 minutes of peace. Not much progress, eh?

Progress is progress! :uhhuhuh:

[Corvid]

Guess it depends what you call meditation. I'm A.D.D., stilling my mind is not some thing I'll ever get good at. I have however fond that hard physical and repetitive activity's keep me busy enough with so little mental effort that i can reach a point where my body and mind sort of detach. This is as close to meditation as Ive been able to achieve. Might work for some one out there.

[TheWomanMonster]

I still haven't "gotten it." :lol:

Yup.

Candle meditation is easier for some... easy to just focus on that and move from there.

[Glowy]

I can and draw into myself and shut it all off in seconds flat It came very natural to me. Now, drawing me out to be in a very social situation, I would have to meditate on.

just sitting still and counting to 100 is meditation if you picture each number ( like counting sheep)

The flame, or the water, or even clouds are great ways for me to enter the state.

I have tried to slow my heart rate, and lower my blood pressure. I have some breathing exercises..
I love to meditate, but if it is just for a few minutes in the shower, so be it. To me it is not a long distance race. Just a few seconds or minutes of inner tranquility are amazing.

[MoonSpiral]

When I first started, it was probably only seconds before my mind would start to wander and chatter to itself. As I practiced bringing myself back to "center" when the wandering and mind-chatter started, I could meditate for longer periods. At least sometimes -- not always. I have times when I'm able to be in that state for a nice lengthy period, and times when it's way more difficult for me to stay there.

I've struggled with anxiety problems for many years and I started meditating as a way to reduce my anxiety. Later, meditating became important to me spiritually as well. Focusing on my breath helps me a lot with getting into a meditative state -- even something as simple as just being aware of one breath at a time, or counting each breath. I have some guided meditation CDs I'll sometimes use. I practice Reiki, and I almost always enter a meditative state while I'm giving Reiki, whether it's to myself or others.

Watching waves works great for me -- but I usually only get to the beach once or twice a year, so I can't just rely on waves to help me meditate! But gazing at water in general, like a lake, works well for me, as does gazing at a flame or even just off into space. But I often meditate with my eyes closed the whole time. Whatever works, and for however long it works. Every little bit helps me.