Relaxation and Silence

[Immortal4life]

In modern times, more and more, we are finding that the practice of meditation has considerable benefits. As a result, interest in meditation has grown.

 

2 of the most fundamental and important skills to achieve in the practice of meditation are Relaxation and Silence.

 

Here is a site explaning these 2 states-

http://www.scienceofbeing.net/Relaxation_Silence.html

 

I will talk a little bit about it, and try to add my own personal view on these 2 practices. My words may not be "ultimately correct" or "correct for you", but I will try to give some bonus pointers in addition to the description on the site linked above based on what I have found works for me. The first pointer is I will say that this must be a meditation where the mind is used gently and passively, where strong use of the will is not used.

 

The point of Relaxation is to enter a state of receptivity. Only when you are fully relaxed physically, mentally, and emotionally can you truly be in a state of rest. When you are relaxed you are in a state of being that is receptive to the universe and it's energies. All your energy centers and cells are in a state of receptivity. As I mentioned in my pointer earlier, to enter a state of Relaxation, you again can not use strong will power. The mind is a very tricky thing. If you try to use the will to relax tension in your body or mind, it will not work. You will end up strengthening the blockage or tense area. The mind will create tension, when you want the opposite effect.

 

Instead the mind must be used to sort of allow the Relaxation to come, and penetrate tension. Allow any tense parts of the body to let go, but do not use the mind to make them let go. Ultimately feel a general relaxation of the whole body and every cell of the body. Feel comfortable, physically at ease, and mentally and emotionally feel a sense of peace, rest, and calm.

 

When you have relaxed and opened your body, mind, and emotions, and feel you can sustain that, you have entered a state of Relaxation. From there you can enter the state of Silence. A state where there are no impulses, no desires, and no thoughts. But again, my pointer is that you must use the mind passively, to allow this state to come, you can not force it through will power. Use the mind to let it come gently.

 

When you have attained Relaxation and Silence, you can move on to establishing Mental Contact with Universal Life Energy-

http://www.scienceofbeing.net/The_Mental_Contact.html

Edited January 18, 2011 by Immortal4life

[phore]

I find that it helps to be in an environment that mirrors the quality that you wish to experience in meditation.

I like to meditate out in a field surrounded by birds, crystals, plant life, and some hot yerba mate.

 

Here i sit and forget all of my daily worries and try to cultivate purity within.

 

Relaxation and silence are fundamental to my meditation practice. Energy flows more freely through a relaxed body.

Silence is to the mind as relaxation is to the body.

[Immortal4life]

I find that it helps to be in an environment that mirrors the quality that you wish to experience in meditation.

I like to meditate out in a field surrounded by birds, crystals, plant life, and some hot yerba mate.

 

Here i sit and forget all of my daily worries and try to cultivate purity within.

 

That is definitely the best way to practice. To get completely into it, in complete harmony with the environment.

 

I would add though, that if you became very skilled, you could enter states of Relaxation and Silence even in a noisy room.

 

Relaxation and silence are fundamental to my meditation practice. Energy flows more freely through a relaxed body.

Silence is to the mind as relaxation is to the body.

 

That is definitely one way of looking at it.

 

Another way to look at Silence perhaps could be, that it is a deeper level, a deeper state, of mental and physical Relaxation.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Immortal4life

[phore]

if you relax and silence enough you can enter the trance state. This is a state characterized by theta brain waves, heightened dmt presence in the brain, and a dream like quality of awareness. Meditation combined with yoga, qigong, and self-hypnosis, is the easiest way to get there. Once your there you will want to make an anchor to get back (nlp technique)

 

Its a great place to explore the deeper more subtle layers of awareness.

[Immortal4life]

Yes modern science has found many things about meditation, and one is that it can affect and alter brain waves. Very deep states of Silence are indeed desirable.

 

However, I would add to potentially be wary of losing awareness too much. There should always be a clear, bright, awareness within the silence or emptyness. Too much mantra, or too much hypnosis can dull the mind. Always be careful not to get too lost into a trance or go into a sleep state.

[Cat Pillar]

I find it very difficult to relax most of the time, at least to any deep degree. Usually the most I can accomplish is a sort of surface-level relaxation...I'm not particularly discomfited, but I know there are tensions all throughout my body. When meditating I can go a little deeper into relaxation, but I'm starting to think I should be adding a physical relaxation technique at the beginning of my practice. Are there any that you would recommend?

[Immortal4life]

Yeah I will make a thread about more physical methods in the future. I'm not convinced that is the problem. I think the problem is in your mind. Relax, soften, passify the mind in Silence. Be patient, and actually do it. Make progress consistently and gradually.

[phore]

My mind has yielded all of the conscious thinking ability to my kundalini at the moment and through the trance state i have trained myself to use it for its imagination/ visionary capacity. The key is to develop the quality of lucidity, which is spiritual awareness.

 

The relaxation exercises i use are as follows:

starting at the feet begin deep relaxation. Then slowly move up through the individual parts of the body, until you have deeply relaxed your entire body. Then you can wash waves of relaxation over yourself until you get as deep as you want to go.

I try to relax a little more each day.

 

The mind is perfectly capable of functioning in the theta state, it just takes some getting acclimatized to.

Edited January 18, 2011 by phore

[Cat Pillar]

Immortal4life - I can see how you could be right. I do practice meditation every day for at least half an hour, so I have managed to be consistent so far.

 

phore - my kundalini is as dormant as a doormat right now. The way you relax your body, do you start by tightening the muscles up, and then relaxing them?

 

Rainbow_Vein - thank you for the recommendation! The prices seem very reasonable so I'll be looking more into these. Looks worth a shot.

[phore]

phore - my kundalini is as dormant as a doormat right now. The way you relax your body, do you start by tightening the muscles up, and then relaxing them?

 

I tighten and relax, or breath out tension breath in relaxation, or just let go of tension and relax. I like to switch little things up every now and then just to keep freshness in the meditation.

[Otis]

I find it very difficult to relax most of the time, at least to any deep degree. Usually the most I can accomplish is a sort of surface-level relaxation...I'm not particularly discomfited, but I know there are tensions all throughout my body. When meditating I can go a little deeper into relaxation, but I'm starting to think I should be adding a physical relaxation technique at the beginning of my practice. Are there any that you would recommend?

I love the steam room at my Y. It's like hitting the "reset" button on my muscles, a great way to ease tension. 15 minutes goes a long ways. Not necessarily as part of your meditation (altho' why not meditate in the steam room? - I do), but at least an accompaniment, to surrender more of the physical tension. Stretching in the steam room = double bonus relaxation points!

[Immortal4life]

I can only speak from my own experience and in general terms, everyone is different. I just know that a lot of people spend so much time obsessing, and having trouble releasing tension, when the tension is coming from the mind, and they need to relax the mind.

 

Tense and release methods, sometimes they can be effective.

 

If anyone wants to try the methods in the OP, they do not include tensing and releasing, and I would not recommend using any tension.

Edited January 19, 2011 by Immortal4life

[Cat Pillar]

Otis,

 

That does sound like a great way to relax!

[Immortal4life]

Has anyone tried the methods in the OP? I've done them both already today. They seem basic, and simple....but they are fundamental and effective.

Edited January 19, 2011 by Immortal4life

[Immortal4life]

Otis,

 

That does sound like a great way to relax!

 

[phore]

Has anyone tried the methods in the OP? I've done them both already today. They seem basic, and simple....but they are fundamental and effective.

yup yup

[Immortal4life]

yup yup

 

 

And again today!

[Immortal4life]

I practiced these 2 methods again today. Whatever else I may do in the day, and whatever other practices I have, I still try to do these every day.

[Gerard]

...When meditating I can go a little deeper into relaxation, but I'm starting to think I should be adding a physical relaxation technique at the beginning of my practice. Are there any that you would recommend?

 

Walking meditation done extra slow and focusing on each single aspect of your gait makin and also making sure you progressively increase the walking time until you reach one hour. Each segment of your walking meditation session should be immediately followed by a sitting meditation component with an identical time length as he. You can start by doing one hour a day until you reach twenty per day.

Edited January 22, 2011 by Gerard

[Immortal4life]

Yes there are many methods of practicing meditation. Sitting, standing, laying, or walking etc.

 

Some people also consider Tai chi and Qi Gong forms to be a type of moving meditation as well.

[Cat Pillar]

Hello Gerard,

 

Walking meditation done extra slow and focusing on each single aspect of your gait makin and also making sure you progressively increase the walking time until you reach one hour. Each segment of your walking meditation session should be immediately followed by a sitting meditation component with an identical time length as he. You can start by doing one hour a day until you reach twenty per day.

 

I've never tried walking meditation before. I'll have to see if I can add that to my practice...although, getting it to an hour with an additional hour of sitting meditation would require I cut my nightly sleep allotment to 4 hours, so I doubt I can do that...at least, for now.

[torus693]

another word for relaxed is neutral or neutrality.

The mind has difficulty conceiving of how to relax

because the mind is polarized and so always subject

to resistance -it attempts to achieve a relaxed state

with effort. Neutrality and effort are opposites

so tension arises when the minds attention is placed on the

body. No mind is no state. No state is where the body come from

and returns to. The body without mind falls very quickly into

Deeply Relaxed. It's easier to learn and remember the state of

being "neutral" than it is to relax and in a state of neutrality

relaxations is only an effect

 

nothing to pay attention to

Edited January 24, 2011 by torus693

[Immortal4life]

I basically agree with that, the mind is a very tricky thing.

[Immortal4life]

Anyone who was interested in the Star Exercise, I would also recommend practicing Relaxation and Silence as explained in the links in the OP of this thread.

[Aetherous]

another word for relaxed is neutral or neutrality.

The mind has difficulty conceiving of how to relax

because the mind is polarized and so always subject

to resistance -it attempts to achieve a relaxed state

with effort. Neutrality and effort are opposites

so tension arises when the minds attention is placed on the

body. No mind is no state. No state is where the body come from

and returns to. The body without mind falls very quickly into

Deeply Relaxed. It's easier to learn and remember the state of

being "neutral" than it is to relax and in a state of neutrality

relaxations is only an effect

 

nothing to pay attention to

 

I like this.