When the going gets rough!

[NSB]

I have not meditated for a couple of weeks now. Maybe even 3 or 4.

I was going well, too, was noticing some conductivity in that the perineum / 3rd eye seemed to be making a subtle connection.

The reason I stopped is that outer conditions got very upsetting. I didn't bother meditating because I knew that I would just sit there and worry through it. Also I used meditation time to try and solve the problem.

Has anyone got a mental trick to overcome this next time it crops up?

I'm pretty good at being unattached and non-dramatic, but this was a major disturbance, and my ex husband with whom I have two children is going to give me an opportunity to practise this again, I just know it.

Yes, I did "Byron Katie" it, and while I can be completely OK with him being himself, I cannot be OK with the chaos he can make in my life. Or can he? I have learnt some practical details lately that may create some useful boundaries. But in the meantime, how have people successfully kept up a meaningful practise when something in your world seems very wrong and threatening, when you are actually being abused???

[Shanti]

quote:Originally posted by NSB

because I knew that I would just sit there and worry through it. Also I used meditation time to try and solve the problem.

Any time you realize you are doing this, just go back to the mantra. The entire practice may be thoughts... thoughts... thoughts... and one or two seconds of mantra... but that is the process. Meditation is not about perfection/bliss/relaxation... it is about purifying, touching the stillness even if for a fraction of a second. The moment between realizing you are caught up in thoughts and going back to the mantra, you touch the stillness... this stillness is the real us... in meditation we dip, dip dip into this stillness. This stillness has the answers. We can do Katie or go to a therapist or try and find answers by thinking, but the real answers will come from the stillness within. One way to reach this is to meditate. So even if it feels like it was a waste of 20 min sitting in meditation, don't listen to the mind's evaluation of this. If you managed to go back to the mantra a few times, you have a successful meditation.

So keep it up NSB. Keep up your meditation twice a day, 20 min no matter what your mind tries to convince you of. It is working.

Katie works better as our access to inner silence increases. So don't let anything keep you from the 20 min twice a day of "i am"ing.

[Panthau]

Hi NSB,

My 2 cents:
Whichever thoughts come up, whatever happens, all that i need to do to solve it, is to be here and let it happen.

Atb,
Pan

[Clear White Light]

Hi NSB,

If we wait for a time where our mind seems "ready" for meditation, then we will surely never be able to establish a daily practice.  It is OK if the mind is in turmoil.  What is more important is your ability to observe it.  No matter how divided your mind becomes, you can still practice meditation.  There is no trick to overcoming this problem, except to realize that all thoughts are basically the same.  The mind is continuously creating stories and dialogues about our lives that do not reflect reality.  Whether you are distracted by "good" thoughts, or "bad" thoughts, the problem remains.  Eventually we have to learn to create some distance between the activities of our minds, and our sense of self.

[NSB]

Thanks for all the good advice. I haven't applied it to my life yet, but I will!

I have been irregular in my practises for years, on and off, and I would love to overcome this tendency. This thread has helped me to realise that I had a belief that the mind has to "feel like" doing meditation.

Thank you for your input!