Thatās a great idea! Iāve thoight about making my own meditation pillow and it seems like now is a good time to at least design it 
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@BrightBear Great way to explain it & I agree with you, @jessica72ā¦ whoaā¦ 1 thing at a time. So maybe try short guided meditations that gradually get longer that are specifically for racing thoughts, acknowledging, & letting them pass without getting anxious. Donāt get attached to the thought just let it sort of float by. BrightBear explained it much better. Then work from there. Donāt get caught up in every aspect of meditating practice. If you are listening to guided meditations & they want you to visualize they will let you know what to focus on through the meditation. There is nothing else that you have to do my friend! Start short & gradually work your way to longer amounts of time. I started at 3 minutes & guidedā¦ I still use guided but I can sit for up to about 25 minutes. (if there is no one home with me 
)
I think I am going to continue my āChallengeā on Insight Timer for this one & use the short meditations with the Root Chakra meditations & then use a couple of daysā experiences for my entry to this challenge. 
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About 3 weeks ago I started the shower meditation. Tomorrow will be 7 days on @SilverBearās challenge and part of it is meditation. I started last Friday and meditated with essential oils in a diffuser. On Saturday I made a special candle for my meditation. I started out in the shower before her challenge. My brain had already learned to stop my racing thoughts, or at least slow them down. So, if you are having problems meditating turn on your shower or bath to lukewarm water. Get in there and close your eyes and imagine you are somewhere else. Any place that you would be relaxed and happy to be. Donāt let outside thoughts come in. This is how I started out to get rid of the brain chatter. Itās a baby step, but itās a step.
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Thank you so much @Ostara! I never thought to put those together that way. I have stood in the shower with warm water on my pain or tension spots, but never thought to use it as way to stop thoughts. Iām going to try this next time Iām having a cleansing/spa(ish)ā¦ (heavy on the ish), shower. I usually play cleansing music from Woke Nation when Iām having a good cleasing shower.
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Hello dears
Meditation is difficult for me to do, to actively and yet not actively sit and do something yet nothing 
for a few minutes.
But I might have cracked it. Most mornings before work I do a spot of yoga. Literally 12 to 15 minutes with about 12 or so simple poses. I follow instruction from an app I downloaded ('cause letās face itā¦ I donāt know what Iām doing) and for those 15 minutes I concentrate on doing the poses, to get them right and find that, well, I stop thinking about other things.
So for a few minutes, most days, my mind is cleared, I concentrate on breathing and I shed a few calories.
So even though what Iām doing is probably not technically Meditation, I find it to be something I can do with the benefits of Meditation but not the struggle.
What are your thoughts?
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Hooray! 
Loving that enthusiasm 
This made me laugh 
- I completely understand this feeling. When I had to meditate at the temple it was for hours at a time, early in the morning- very tough for someone new to meditation! For the first week or so (when I wasnāt struggling to keep myself awake lol) I would count the floorboards or visualize shapes in the woodwork (practice for future tea leaf readings maybe? )
Iām glad you found the meditation key that works for you, Garnet- audio books, guided, meditations and music are blessings! 
It seems talent runs in the family- I know you enjoy your crafting, and it looks your sister is amazingly talented too! That is a gorgeous work of art. The blue colors are so soothing and relaxing 
Thank you for sharing this piece, Martje!
That is a beautiful bit of meditation wisdom, BrightBear 
What a fun idea to design your own meditation pillow! 
If I ever did Iād have to make a few pillows lol. I like to use pillow combos- a larger floor cushion and then a pillow between the knees when sitting seiza-style. I have a tough time sitting criss-cross (and full lotus is a far off dream for me and my legs ) but pillows under each knee make a world of difference 
Good luck with your designing- let us know how it goes!
Sounds like a plan! Good luck with everything, Siofra- looking forward to hearing about your meditation work this week- enjoy it! 
You have been putting in quality time and effort to build up your meditation practice- and it looks like you are seeing some amazing results! This is a huge step, Ostara, congrats to you for how far youāve come on your meditation journey
Oh, I definitely consider yoga to be a form of meditation! Feeling the flow of energy through your body, learning to relax, concentrating on breathing and movement in wholesome ways- yoga is a great way to soothe the mind and body 
Iāve tried a few yoga classes but I always found the energy of the groups to be kind of cold and almost competitive, which- as someone who is not flexible at all and a beginner to yoga- caused way more stress than it got rid off 
I love the idea of building time for a personal yoga session into your day- good for you, Holly! It sounds like taking the time to go through your set of poses helps you to free your mind of outside stress and enjoy being in the present moment. Thatās a big success in my book- great work! 
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Yes Siofra that is right, I talk about centimeters because thatās our measuring system. But these are the same ones And thank you for moving the post 
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Today i decided i needed to resort my libing space as my desk with all my work n study stuff was in my bedroom. And my altar stuff was all squisged in one section not leaving much room to do anything without doing ontop of laptop or moving stuff each time. So i reorganised the oversized desk that i dont need n takes up alot of space in a small apartment, but it was donated to me so at least it was a deskā¦ but i wanted to make use of tge space n since i dont eat at my table i made it into my work n study space n made the entire desk as an altar and meditation space. Ive got all my oracle n tarot n rune cards in slotsat side plus their guide books i moved all my pagan /witchy stuff that might like to have and organised into a nice setup giving a balance of nature, deity objects, crystals and candles. Ive put my deity candlrs tgat not out for today in a drawer so they arent getting dusty between use. Im excited xause it means that i can do a variety of medirations at my desk and its all set up so that i can see what i got to work with. I do have orher resourxes in the desk drawer like extra tealights incence balloons etc but yeahim happy with thw set up. I even tipped the rest of the beach sand i collected from a trip did to beach into the front of the tray so i can do a form of a zen garden but with rocks n shells. I might even get a different tray that can get out n really go to town with a zen garden. Or just go get a zen garden lol i tried onve but 3 or so weeks later and it hadnt even left the warehouse in America n i am in australia so i was worried i wasnt going to ever get it. So i just cancellef the order n got refund deciding id have to find one in a store bit yet to see one. Though id love to make my own n just get the trees n rocks n little rakes etc and collect more beach sand to bring in ocean energy. But anyways heres my altar/ meditation space. Its in 3 photos as the desk is kinda partitioned into 3 sections. Ill try upload in order from left to right and are all on one desk /space.
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You did a beautiful job @Phoenix_Fire. I turned my sonās old bedroom into my witchy room. The desk that I have is tiny so I am always rearranging things and have literally journaled on top of the laptop. I have a small round table for an altar in the middle of the room. It seems that I am always reorganizing trying to get everything just right.
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This is what Iām thinking so far but i just have to figure out the logistics I was thinking maybe crochet it but that would take a lot of work, extra work for the inside, too. Maybe I can make one with fabric and stuff it, though thatās a lot of stuffingā¦ 
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I struggle with some of those very same things. I used to believe that meditation was a clearing of thoughts and that my mind would be empty, blank.
I begin to focus on my breathing listening to The Sounds around me to become president which helps a lot. my visualization and creativity has been lacking ans causes me not to do spell work 
I tend to overthink things a lot so i have started a couple of the video courses that Spell8 has and they are amazing.
Be encouraged and keep doing what you doing youāre definitely in the right place
You Are Not Alone
With love times 3
Sea_Star
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I have done some astral travel but it seems to be on accident. Iāve done some sleep and some while awake.
I want to be able to do it intentionally go where I want to go rather than just appear somewhere. Donāt get me wrong im typically where I need to be but I would like to have more control over it.
Are there any suggestions that you may have for me?
With times 3
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Hello everyone,
#selflove #meditation #journaling
This just happened when I was journaling and is 100% the result of my meditation efforts over the past year. I started taking it seriously and really committed to it. And today my brain/spirit/what have you totally corrected me and stopped that negative self-talk while journaling! I am so grateful. It has taken a lifetime to get here. THIS is Magick yāall I donāt know what else to say lol.
My journal handwriting can be a bit sloppy so hereās what that says in case you canāt read it: āā¦ essential to make changes and choices in love life. - HA! What Love life? JK I am love.ā
#goosebumps #yeahijokewithmyself #sloppyhandwriting #todayisagoodday #icecube #iknowthatsnotthenameofthesong
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And I forgot to share the actual response to the challenge because I was so excited about that lolā¦
When I meditate I use whatever magick is speaking to me that day. Sometimes itās all hands on deck and Iāve got the crystals, the grids, the candles, the oils, the sounds, the herbs, the Elements, you name it! Then other days, itās all I can do to make it through 5 minutes and try to call my mind back to stillness.
I think that no matter what youāre doing, youāre doing it right becauseā¦ youāre doing it! Just keep doing it and youāll keep unlocking treasures within yourself.
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@sea Iāve heard from others that weightlessness, such as floating in water, can help. It certainly took me there, my first intentional astral travel was during meditation in my hot tub!
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I love this challenge!! I meditate daily anyway so I decided to dip my toes into chakra opening/balancing mediations.
First up, I performed a pendulum reading with my higher self to check in on the state of each chakra. I showed my pendulum the response I wanted for the possible states (open, partially blocked, fully blocked, unbalanced). Then I set about asking my higher self to show me the state of each chakra, starting with the root working up to the crown. I paid attention to swing size as well as a large swing would indicate high or large amounts of energy while a small swing would be the opposite.
I received that my heart chakra is open, balanced, and full of energy. My sacral and crown chakras are open and balanced but have very low energy. My throat chakra had an imbalance of high energy level while my root had an imbalance of a low energy level. My third eye chakra was partially blocked but has high energy. My solar plexus chakra is completely blocked.
With this knowledge, I started with a Solar Plexus opening meditation. To set the mood, I put cinnamon in my diffuser, turned the tv off, and put on some music at 182 hz, which is said to be the frequency to help awaken the solar plexus. I prefer to lay in savasana for my mediations so I āassumed the positionā. I then placed a piece of honey calcite on my abdomen in the location of the solar plexus.
I then went through my normal start of my practice: 3-5 slow, deep breaths with a gentle gaze. On the last exhale, I close my eyes. For this meditation, I envisioned that I had a water wheel inside me at the place of my solar plexus. I imagined energy from the universe filling the area above and pouring into the buckets on the wheel, slowly making it to begin turning. As this continues, I start repeating affirmations in my mind:
- I stand in my personal power.
- I am ambitious and capable.
- I have the courage to create positive change in my life.
- I forgive myself for past mistakes and learn from them.
I said each one three times. I then released my focus and let my mind go where it needed to. This was a total of about 15 minutes, which is my normal meditation length.
Once complete, I did a few seated back twists and then asked my pendulum for the state of my solar plexus chakra. It is now not fully blocked but not open either. This I knew as it takes more than a single session to fix blockades and imbalances.
Iām excited to incorporate this into my meditation practice. Iām going to focus on awakening/balancing a single chakra a day.
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@Amaris_Bane I have been learning more in-depth about the chakra system(s) & after being through the shadows & then revisiting them, as an empath learning to separate my energy from others & not attach to others, I figured out that I can work with energy & the subject of chakras was a course in my crystal healing program & they all work with each other so, I started learning & reading. 
Based on the things that I have going on, I have been working on my root chakra. I am doing something similar with a meditation 
each day, I set aside 2 weeks to learn & work with my root chakra. Sunday I will move to my Sacral.
I never realized how many of us work with energy or chakras on a regular basis in our practices! Iām very excited to learn about chakras & energy work with others at the same time at all levels of practice!
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Iāve seen patterns for some lovely crochet floor poofs. Maybe you could chest and by the pillow form and just crochet a cover!
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