The Student Room Group
I have found it is good for sleeping- you can get podcasts of guided meditation- try 'the meditiation podcast' (stick it into google) where you can download them for free. They are really good sound quality, actually, and supposedly has some sort of special rhythm or something to help you relax... either way, puts me to sleep! I rarely finish the whole thing.
ok.. sounds interesting.. is it just music or speech? im downloading it anyway and i'll give it a go tonight!
I really just use meditation so I can think crystal clearly and solve problems that would usually be difficult if I was for instance, sitting at my computer desk. It's just really about relaxing to the point where you could fall asleep.
*listens to the medication podcast*

thats not going to work.. their voices are annoying! would be good without them talking, as the music underneath is gorgeously ambient.
SoundDevastation
*listens to the medication podcast*

thats not going to work.. their voices are annoying! would be good without them talking, as the music underneath is gorgeously ambient.

I do find the womans voice a little annoying, but I don't mind the man.... I think you can get the music seperatly... its called the nine lives of a healer from memory.
why don't you just go into your bedroom and lie down with the lights off?

just totally relax and try not to fall asleep
ive tried.. my mind is crazy at this time of night and it just jumps from one thing to another to another no matter how much i try to calm down and relax.... i find relaxing really hard.
I find that rolling a string of beads between my fingers really helps me relax, and get meditative. If you like, you can even try reciting a mantra. Religious connotations aside, the repetetiveness really helps. I've found this really helpful when I was having panic attacks, trying to get to sleep, calming exam nerves and even averting car sickness.
i put some music on last nigt.. Stars of the Lid, nice and ambient. It did help, though i did listen to the whole 70 mins of it, i fell asleep shortly after. I tried to remain still and become absorbed in the music but i found my mind drifting again :frown:
Reply 10
One thing I try and do sometimes when my mind is all over the place when trying to sleep is to imagine a little white square and just focus on it. Try not to let any other thoughts come into your head. Its bloody hard but when I look back on it in the morning I realise I cant remember much past the first few minutes of trying to do this.

As far as I'm aware meditation should be done in silence though. Focus on your breathing and keeping it constant and rhythmic. Its hard because you can get loads of random thoughts into your head but the trick is to notice that they are creeping in and go back to focusing on breathing/little white box.

That box takes up half my energy though, you wouldnt think its so hard just imagining one simple 2d object and stop it from constantly changing shape/thinking of other things etc.
Reply 11
SoundDevastation
i put some music on last nigt.. Stars of the Lid, nice and ambient. It did help, though i did listen to the whole 70 mins of it, i fell asleep shortly after. I tried to remain still and become absorbed in the music but i found my mind drifting again :frown:

Something that helps when you want to get absorbed in the music is to listen really hard to every tiny little part of it. Notice when a new layer is added or when something is building up to something else. Even ambient music can be incredibly complex. I dont know if that helps.
Have you tried pranayama? It's where you sit as still as possible and focus on making your breathing slower and deeper (without straining your lungs). Try and focus all your attention on your breathing - count how many seconds you breath in and out for as you breath if it helps.
Been doing this for about 20 minutes a day for a few months now and I'm amazed at how well it's worked at reducing my anxiety. I'm finding it a lot easier to dismiss irrational/negative thoughts because of the concentration exercises.
I do a chinese technique to music whereby I sit, close my eyes and touch my thumb with my index finger, imagining that there's a butterfly between my fingers. After a while I move onto the next finger. I haven't got the music with me at uni and I'm really missing the technique as it was so useful. It really helped me forget about my problems and relax my body.
I had pretty bad insomnia over the summer and read about a technique that works, roughly, as follows: think of all the colours of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Then think of something of each colour. So start with red; think of, say, a rose and picture it in incredible detail, the touch of petals, the smell, the way the folds of the flower work together etc. Then move on to orange. Imagine, say, a proper basketball with the textured surface and the grey lines running across it and its firmness etc. Spend time on each; don't rush it. I think the idea is that it tires out your brain thinking of such intricacies. I never got past yellow before falling asleep.... :wink:
Another breathing technique my doctor told me, practice breathing in and out slowly and evenly, say two second in, and two seconds out. Then try increasing to three seconds in, three seconds out. Then try three seconds in, four seconds out, and so on.

Gradually increase the exhalation time, whilst keeping the inhalation shorter.
Reply 16
God, meditation annoys the total crap out of me. I literally do not have the patience to do it. When my minds jumping all over the place before bed i put on my headphones and go into fantasy land where good things happen :smile: when my daydreams become odd and weird things happen that i'm not in control of then I know i'm nearly asleep, or have drifted off already and take the headphones out...Snow Patrol is surprisingly good at sending me to sleep :smile:
I love meditation :biggrin: Just have to look at my sig to see that.

My Dad is excelent at opening a pathway to meditation and my family and I often do it as a family thing. As well as a toll for relaxing you would be surprised at what can appear in your mind when it completely open.
Reply 18
I tend to practice Japanese meditation when I feel the need. You basically manage your breathing, deliereatey relaxing and empty your mind. Cant say I've noticed any difference though!
Reply 19
Meditation is really a complicated but very interesting topic. Insomnia and anxiety seems to be possible to overcome with meditation practice. The free downloadable meditactics DVD must be like the most complete guide to meditation ever.. Amazing. The videotrailer gives a nice overview.
(Google the word "meditactics" to get to their homepage.)

There is a lot of great research being done on meditation nowadays. Will be interesting to see how it evolves..