Meditation

I had once heard that praying is you talking to god and meditation is god talking to you. Or one could say that praying is god listening to you while meditation is you listening to god. Never fully understood this until I began practicing meditation.

Having a chronic illness of any kind is very stressful. Some turn to their god in a religious setting. Some turn to alcohol and drugs. Others turn to loved ones, friends and family. When I was an adolescent counselor I would advise my clients to find positive ways to dispel anger and ease stress. Sports or some form of physical activity, religion, music, etc.

Before Meniere's (and before I developed an allergy to chlorine) I used to swim to relive stress, or take long walks or longer drives and enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the mountains. Since I could no longer participate in these things, I began looking at other ways to reduce stress and vanquish anger. My attention turned toward meditative practices.

I found some great guided meditations to use for letting go of things and finding the peace within me. I still use these when I need deep meditation. A little more than a year ago, I began the practice of listening to meditative music every morning while conducting my morning routine. My focus was askew, however. I was trying to focus on one area of my being, my heart.

My heart has been closed off for so long I felt I really needed to work on it. I never used the words 'love' and 'family'. This helped for a few weeks, but soon I began to feel even worse than before. After my break last fall where I wanted to end things, I finally figured out what was wrong. I needed to focus on all aspects, not just one.

For the last several months I have been listening to three to four hours of meditative music every morning. I focus each morning on a different chakra. Sunday begins with the Root and I finish on Saturday with the Crown chakra. After these finish, if I do not have a gig to DJ, I will play all my meditative music while I write and carry on with my day.

About a month ago, I read that even if you can't do a focused meditation, just listening to meditative music and sounds can have the same effect. It was then that I realized how I had been helping myself all these months. I have actually re-added the word 'love' to my vocabulary and have used it often when talking to my most intimate friends.

Every Shabbat, I keep in my own way. I usually do more focused meditations after my meditative music and attend an online healing meditation. When stress is even more copious, I do a focused meditation, usually the letting go meditation and bring myself back to center and balanced. I have finally found the peace within that is needed to really help me get through those more difficult days fighting this dragon.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's stories and how meditation has helped them.

 

Cjbeau, You can find all kinds of guided meditations for free on YouTube. When I really need deep meditation I use some I got by Michele Bernhardt. Not sure if her stuff is still available. Even if you just listen to meditative music while tending things, it helps. Finding a quiet place where you can listen and have mindful breathing would be great, even for 10 minutes at a time. When I balance myself I use one that I downloaded from YouTube which is no longer available. Search YouTube and find out what works for you. Feel free to PM me if you want to ask more specific questions. You can download many things from YouTube onto your computer and even play it with your MP3 player, tablet or smartphone.