Meditation

I've been curious about meditation for a long time but have never really given it a serious try and it's always been a case of giving it a go one day then forgetting all about it the next.

The last few days I've had a bit of a go at it again, nothing too serious just mainly when lying in bed trying to sleep. I know that's not necessarily the way to do it and it's not meant to get you to sleep but it seemed a good way at practicing the art or quieting the mind and believe me it is an art!

My mind it seems will not be quiet. I always knew that I think too much and that my head is always full of thoughts but I never knew to what extent until I focused my attention on it.

In fact I think it's got worse over the last few years. It's gone from a healthy curiosity to a constant barrage of chatter which includes questions, statements, jokes, quotes and just about anything else you can think of.

I was lying in bed in the early hours of this morning trying to get back to sleep after being woken by thunder and I decided to have a go at quietening my thoughts. Well, I think the best way to describe it is if you imagine a child constantly talking and asking questions when you're trying to sleep. You ask them gently to "go to sleep now", they stop for merely a few seconds then off they go again, you ask them again to "go to sleep now" and again the effect lasts a few seconds.

On and on this goes, over and over, the harder I try the more tense I get and it goes round in a vicious circle. I wonder what affect this must have on me mentally and physically. I can't possibly relax with that going on and all the times that I have sat down to 'relax' I have merely been sitting down.

I am really going to give meditation a serious try starting today and I believe that it can do nothing but good because lets face it it's bloody noisy in here...