DORÉ

Meditation is becoming the new yoga I think. However, what a lot of people assume is that it should be relaxing and easy to shut off your brain, but meditation actually takes work, just like training for a marathon. Consistency and commitment are key, as well as acceptance that you aren’t going to attain stress-free nirvana overnight. I’ve been taking very baby steps this year towards mindfulness, by way of body scanning, breathing exercises and the like, and it is difficult enough!

There are apps like Calm that help you with meditation! I always wanted to meditate, but have the same problem you do, and just yesterday a friend of mine said I should try it with this, at least at the beggining. I did it one time, and it helped me a lot. It is a guided meditation, so it´s easy for begginers and they aren´t very long if you dont want them to be. You can set them to be for example, 10 minutes long. Hope it helps you!
Kisses from Argentina

I’m a fan of Gabby Bernstein’s meditation practice :)

God no, i do not meditate nor i ever intend to. My father, like a true child of hippie culture, meditated(and did Yoga) every single day for decades( his meditating hour was a staple of my childhood), and continued to do it even when everyone thought he was weird and out of fashion. And guess what, it did not make him one bit more enlighted, less stressed or more considerate to others. So forgive me if my bullshit detector starts blaring when everyone is jumping another “spiritual” bandwagon.

Take a Vipassana 10-day course anywhere near you. It is completely life-changing (for the better).

I love meditation — I try to meditate at least twice a week

http://hashtagliz.com

Oui mais bon, il y a quelques chose de cocasse à ce que la méditation devienne à la mode alors qu’on continue à être bombardé, et se bombarder soi-même de “nouvelles” la plupart du temps sans intérêt par tout un tas de canaux informatiques.
Pour celles qui voudraient essayer, je trouve que c’est plus facile de découvrir cette activité un jour de fatigue physique. Notre niveau d’excitation étant plus bas, c’est plus simple. Le risque étant, dans ces cas-là, et comme au yoga, de s’endormir tellement on arrive bien à se déconnecter !

There was a study recently which showed how the brain moved before and after meditation and well, before it was like fireworks so unpredictable and unstable and after it showed how the brain moved at a slower pace. I read about this study only this week and since yesterday I have committed to doing meditation at least by doing so for 10 minutes before anything else in the morning. I absolutely believe that this is something that we all need to center ourselves before we are off doing a million things at once which let’s face it we often do…I look forward to becoming a bit more focused!

http://www.milkandvelvet.com

Je pense que chacun a des moyens différents de se concentrer et se recentrer. La méditation c’est trop non productif pour moi. Ce que j’aime depuis l’enfance et qui me transporte ailleurs, calme mon rythme, développe ma présence en moi et sur Terre, c’est dessiner ou danser.
Pour d’autres c’est faire du sport individuel, d’endurance, Pour d’autres c’est observer la nature etc.
Je trouve que se recentrer est essentiel. Mais pratiquer tous la même chose est un effet mouton (je pense à vos questions du type est ce qu’on devrait TOUS pratiquer etc…). C’est plus efficace pour soi de trouver ce qui convient à soi même.

There is much merit in finding time to sit quietly and focus on breathing. It is sometimes very hard to do but with time and practice can spill over to times you aren’t quiet in that you learn to observe and monitor your own thoughts. Sometimes for me certain types of work, when I lose myself so completely I become unaware of the world around me are meditative experiences as well. The event in Central Park sounds like it could be a powerful experience if everyone can be quiet and put phones aside. It is interesting that suggestions for helping with meditations involve apps. You have written before eloquently about our connection to phones. Perhaps the Big Quiet is time to take a break from that too.

Accidental Icon
http://www.accidentalicon.com

There are different kinds of meditation… breathing is meant to be only the preliminary practice, to cool down the agitated mind, (which is actually not so easy)!
Definitely, a 10 days of Vipassana retreat with Goenka organization is a MOST, the best trip in the world, in our inner vastness, a revelation!
Furthermore, meditation helps to realize that the world we perceive is not as real as it seems, an other revelation, and what a release!
By the way, nothing new here, thousands of years of human experience!

Meditiation is nothing but stopping. Attention to stopping.

I just started meditating about a month ago. I use the headspace app, and love it. I do it first thing in the morning, I have a really stressful job and I find myself better able to tackle issues and it is easier to relax when I get home. I heard somewhere that through scientific studies it was found that by far the three best things things you can do for yourself, body and mind, are to exercise, read, and meditate.