Resting The Mind

Witchy Wisdom
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Meditation is a huge part of my practice.

Although I love doing spellwork, manifestation, etc… with all my jars, plants and other witchy stuff, there are times where I just need to ‘be’. Nothing fancy. Just BE.

It is a very challenging part of my practice, to just ‘be’ as I am not very good at it! My brain wanders…and never shuts down…but that is OK. I accept those moments, recognize them, but then return to my breath.

Even writing this, in the back of my brain I am thinking about the dishes I still need to clean…LOL.

Sometimes we all need to take just a few moments to rest the mind. Give the mind permission to chillax a bit. Do you meditate? Do you find it challenging or do you enjoy it?

Feel free to come back to this guided meditation at any moment when you feel you need to calm down a bit.

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I struggle with resting the mind always! I’ve tried a bunch of different methods but I think I trick myself into the mindset that once I am distracted in my meditation, that I’ve “ruined” it.

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Not ruined! Just acknowledge and be OK with it and try to settle back it. Acknowledge with no judgement and return to the breath. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I’m the same! My mind is always on, “On switch.” Especially when I’m just trying to get to sleep. Need practice on shutting it down. Also when doing spell work, gets hard to keep my mind from wandering. Have to constantly check it and NOT, let other thoughts in.

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I am the same way. I have anxiety brain…so it’s a huge struggle for me.

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Anxiety brain! That !&$^@%? stopped me from living my life for such a long time - lockdown was just normal :joy: as getting to sleep was pretty awful as well (thanks anxiety) I decided to try sleep meditation using an app called ‘Relax Melodies’ - it was the only thing that would send me to sleep so I’d use it every night, and again if I woke up to get back to sleep.
Thanks to doing that consistently I’m now finding it so easy to transition into ‘normal’ meditation. It’s like my brain just goes ‘right, time to shh’ something I thought was impossible.
I’d highly recommend sleep meditation for anyone with anxiety :pray:t3: :pray:t3: :pray:t3:
I love meditating- it’s one of the absolute highlights of every day, those few minutes of peace where nothing else matters except that moment that you’re in - everything else just drifts away… :heart_eyes:

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I use an app every night too! HA! Damn brain! lol

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Where would we be without them eh? :sweat_smile:
Which one are you using (if you don’t mind sharing)? I’d love to check it out if I can! It’s good to mix things up occasionally :joy:
(plus you always have the best recommendations :heart_eyes:)

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Thanks for the tips @SilverBear!! Beautiful video and very good music as usual!!

Not at all! This is the very Buddhist concept of “monkey mind”! :monkey:

Your mind has been working this way without you realizing it for your entire life. It has spent almost 100% of the time in this default mode of jumping from one thing to another, creating thoughts, finding distractions, and not focusing.

You weren’t aware of this behavior until you started trying to watch your breath for a while. Now that you are aware of it, you realize how annoying our very own mind can be! Does it make sense for you to overcome a lifetime of habits by just sitting for a few sessions? :person_in_lotus_position: :clock1:

This has always been the case, you are just becoming aware of it! Now that you are aware of it, focus on letting it go. Go ahead and meditate. And when your mind wanders, don’t get angry, mad, sad, depressed, or frustrated.

Your mind is simply doing what it has always done for your entire life. It’s going to be a while before you can sit with focus on your breath for an extended period.

Like Laurie said, bring your attention back to your breath and stay on it for as long as you can or until your mind begins to wander again. Then when you realize your mind has wandered, bring your attention back, gently. That’s the correct way to meditate.

One more thing: The goal of meditation is not to silence your thoughts! Thoughts will always be there. What’s important is that the majority of your attention is on your breath. The thoughts are just clouds :cloud: passing by overhead. You don’t have to ignore them, but don’t “feed” them with attention either.

Keep trying and you will succeed! :muscle:

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So relaxing to listen to this video- and your advice is so reassuring too! This is a great resource for everyone practicing meditation and a very helpful guide :blush:. Thanks so much for sharing, @SilverBear! :heart:

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I use one that’s called Natures Sounds. It has many to choose from, but I always pick the mountain forest preset sound. It’s basically just night sounds with a very tiny amount of music in the background. It’s so calming to me to hear the birds and the nature sounds.

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Thank you so much! I love meditation :sparkling_heart: it’s my escape in this nonsense world I live in.

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The method of meditation for me requires that I lie down. I know this is against the norm since it makes one more prone to falling asleep; for me however, this actually works as it forces me to relax, contemplate (not drift or make the mental list of what needs to be done the following hours or days). I place my Super Seven crystal on the brow and call to the directions and the associated elements (in order like casting a circle) From there I very quickly am able to literally get into a dimensional black hole where nothing exists and go one from there to where I want to be.
This is just my experience and am always willing to learn new methods- yours sounds fantastic! :slight_smile:

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@Durga, yes I completely get it that too! I sometimes do like to lay down to meditate. Its more relaxing for me when I’m trying to let go. Only time I meditate sitting down is by the altar-whether on my chair or on the floor. Since my altar is portable.

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This sounds lovely, @Durga! The most important part of meditation is in the mind- I think it’s absolutely fine to sit, stand, or lay down while meditating. When I was doing an internship at a Buddhist temple, we would alternate between sitting and walking meditations :woman_in_lotus_position::walking_woman: . Whatever makes you the most comfortable and relaxed, in order to really get into a meditative state! Happy meditating :blush:

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Yoga nidra is done lying down. I had a difficult time with it, because the class I took was an HOUR! Oh my…anxiety brain expected to sit still for an hour! LOL It was challenging.

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