Question
Hello. I am a volunteer in the Buddhists category, but I have never been very good with meditation. I can usually sit for a few minutes, but become discouraged when I constantly become unfocused. Should I try to find a teacher? The only problem with that is I have no idea where I could find one. I haven't seen much progress as far as contolling my wandering mind, though I do feel more at peace afterwards. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Amber
Answer
Hi Amber!
Trying to find a meditation teacher, let alone a good one, can be a toughie! A lot depends on where you live - if you're near a large city, it's usually much easier than if you're out in the country.
Becoming discouraged is also par for the course with meditation. Perhaps it's the nature of the meditation exercises that you're practicing. There are so many possible ones to choose from, that you should probably try a few others (or a few DOZEN others:>) until you find one that "sits" with you.
Have you tried counting breaths? Visualizations? Single-point meditations (where you look at one thing, like a rose, and explore every tiny piece of it)? Tried mantras, or chanting? Even everyday chores like washing dishes or doing laundry can become meditations when you look at them the right way.
As you can see, this can be a huge topic, so it would be best if you could find a local teacher. Failing that, try searching for some on-line meditation instruction. I'm planning on offering that in the future, but haven't got the bugs ironed out yet, so I'll have to meditate on a solution :>)
Hope this helped!
Be Well,
Phil
