Meditation/Prayer

I'm looking to get into meditation (or some alternate form involving prayer as I am loosely Christian)
Just curious as to if you guys had any methods that you liked or felt worked for you?
Such as when you did it, how long, or any special techniques

>loosely Christian
>not lifting for Jesus
the fucks wrong with you OP?

try the prayer of gratitude. start small, and gradually zoom out into the bigger things of this universe and your experience of it. It will change the way mentality real quick mate.

Rev 3:16

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

Don't be lukewarm OP

20mins a day, or 20mins morning and evening, Mindfulness (google/youtube it).
Start by observing the physical sensations at the nostrils due to the tickling of the air as you breath. Do only this for 20 minutes. Let only the pure, unbiased, scientific observation of the sensation of your breath at your nostrils fill you whole mind/attention/awareness.
First thing you'll notice is that this is impossible.
Within seconds your attention will be pulled away into a thought: a memory of the past ("I shouldn't have said that... If I was to redo it I'd have said...") or a fantasy of the future ("and then I'll meet her in Europe and we'll get married...") or some images or monologues, perhaps the replying of a film you watched recently, or of the ideas being discussed here.
Notice that you are caught up in thought, this is the real Step One. Notice you are not observing your breath.
Now let that thought/image/etc float away, let is fade into nothingness, as you gently, subtly, effortlessly let your attention fall back to the sensations of the breath at the nostrils, this is Step Two. Have self-compassion, do not judge yourself for getting lost in thought, for this is the natural state of the mind; just smile to yourself "oh me, I did it again, lol, back to the breath".
Step Three is the complete, thoughtless observation of the breath (again). Study it, notice the patterns, feel where in your nose it tickles, where is it warm/cold/moist/dry/fast/slow/vibrating/pulling/pushing etc. Be in a state of relaxed fascination, completely at ease and aware.
And you'll be caught up in thought once again, repeat the process for the 20 minutes.

After let's say a week you'll see benefits, and you'll notice patterns.
>cont.

>cont.

>Practice makes perfect
Being in a state of relaxed awareness during meditation overflows into your day to day.
You'll come out of anger or sadness etc. quicker as you notice you are in them, let them go, and return to the breath in the present moment.

You'll notice the patterns of the thoughts that fill your mind.
maybe you think about some topics a lot and wish to not do so, and some practically never but want to more.
You'll notice which thoughts lead to what feelings, such as self-critique leading to sadness, or judgment of others leading to anger. You'll notice it in the body first, then the mind.

You'll realize that YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. Thoughts are something that happen TO you, You only can control how you react to them: "attachment" to them - thinking they are real and valuable and that You thought them up on purpose because you care about them... Or "detachment" from them - they are just your subconscious mind trying to help you out by suggesting what you should be doing next / what problem to next solve.
>"Thank you subconscious, I'll take it from here"

Download Headspace app user

This is great advice. If you cannot find a place to close your eyes and focus on your breath, I recommend lighting a candle and focusing on the flame. It can help to have some sort of visual aid if you are having a hard time. Practice makes perfect though. Try some breathing exercises as well.

>loosely Christian
Read Kierkegaard, I say this in complete seriousness
As for meditation vipassana can be beneficial to anyone looking to become more attuned to the world and themselves, look up Mindfulness In Plain English, there's a pdf somewhere and it explains the simple method very well for beginners.
If you get deeper into Christianity contemplative meditation can be very powerful but it's hard. Do look into it though, it doesn't always do much for me but the greatest "breakthroughs" I've had were through it.

I do meditation as part of martial arts.
First you focus inward and lightly compress your mind in the waist area to build up energy and focus. Then you hold this while expanding your mind through the body and limbs to open up your circulation.
Third is to inhale and compress the diaphragms or area around the naval slowly then exhale and relax to build internal strength.
You can do this seated or standing for best results.