How many of you have tried meditation?

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I'm just curious about who all has tried any type of meditation (mindfulness or anything else) or even Buddhism (whether religious or pragmatic/secular). It really helps me to feel happier and control my anxiety. Anyone else? If you haven't tried it, I think you might consider it! There is a book actually (that I only just found out about and haven't read myself) called Asperger's Syndrome and Mindfulness, which would be good for Aspies, I imagine especially, but maybe also others on the spectrum. I found that mindfulness meditation by itself wasn't that helpful until I learned about the mindfulness philosophy and the Buddhist philosophy behind it. Then I began incorporating other types of meditation in. It has just been helpful.

I have. It's great.

Mindfulness helps with:

anxiety (how can you worry about something if you are focusing on what you are experiencing in the present moment?)

clumsiness/lack of coordination

time management/productiveness

depression (I can snap out of depressive thought loops instead of getting caught in them)

energy

Formal meditation helps me to stay mindful.

I have tried it a few times but I can't seem to quite get how to actually do it. I don't get the relaxing or grounding results that people say you get.

It's great.

I had a hard time doing it until I learned to do it as part of tae kwon do. Incorporating meditation with patterned physical activity made it work. Tai Chi is also good for meditation.

It's a very good non-chemical way of dealing with anxiety.

It is awesome when you practice regularly. I always mean to get back into it, but get sidetracked.

I meditate on sound. Close my eyes and listen to every subtle sound going on (I do this at night so that the sounds don't include rude noise like leaf blowers) - the rustling of leaves, the distant sound of a train, the sound of silence, of my own breathing, whatever is happening. It seems to clear my mind and relax my body, I usually fall asleep during it.

One of my favorite things to do is what I call "bath tub meditation." I turn off the bathroom lights, lie down in a full tub of warm water, close my eyes, and just listen to my breathing for about 30 minutes. This has healed me so many times. I usually exit the tub feeling like I just napped for several hours.

I also love the "body scan" meditation that I follow from an audio CD. For this one I always lie down completely flat, motionless, and relaxed on my bed, then simply follow the narrator's instructions.

I also like to start each of these meditation sessions with a menthol cough drop in my mouth (which melts during the course of each session). The menthol brings a cool sensation to the mouth, throat, and lungs, improving the breathing experience.

I have tried it many times, and I still don't get it. How am I supposed to feel if I succeed at it?

I've used it a few times, and the results are pretty hit and miss

I have.

I haven't made the time to do it regularly for any length of time for quite a while now, but I do take a moment here and there to just breathe and centre myself.

I enjoyed the free guided audio meditation lessons here: http://www.freemeditation.com/

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I love buddhism/zen philosophy, and meditation is really good. Need to do it more often- good reminder ^_^

I also enjoyed stoic philosophy.

I had a Chinese psychiatrist back when I was 19 and having issues.

He taught me meditation and finding my Zen place. It has been a lifesaver.

More recently I have learned about mindfulness - and I think that's great too.

I'm another WP member with an Eastern outlook on life, including regular meditation. It's kept me sane.

Meditation is something I've been into on and off my whole life but when I went into hospital for depression and alcoholism, meditation and mindfulness was a part of our CBT therapy sessions. I have now been mediating for a long time. It's not always a successful session but I've become very good at clearing my mind of all thoughts and to not be disturbed by external elements.

I've found if I meditate through the day, I don't need as much sleep at night (not that I need much anyway).

You can get some wonderful meditation apps for your phone including meditation music and timers.

Meditation transformed my stress levels.

It's hard to learn to do, but is guaranteed to produce results, and is one of the psychological interventions with the most effective evidential profile. Go onto PubMed, and look for free at all the healthcare settings it has been tested in. The evidence is overwhelming.

Change that - it is easy to learn to do; it is hard to commit to doing it, and not just give up, declaring yourself 'special', 'unable' or beyond help.

I now teach it.

Some thoughts about accessing meditation pathways, and their different advantages and disadvantages:

1. Secular pathways - MIND workshops, local groups, university counselling services, mindfulness meetings etc. Advantages: free of religious baggage. Disadvantages: often mindfulness in the abstract is all they offer - they don't offer a plan of what to do with your mind once you've found it. They're often time limited (ie, fixed-length courses). They're not that inspirational (you're likely to be meeting in a backroom at the local library or community centre, not a nice building with a cafe and a restaurant and nice art and lots of light).

2. Buddhist pathways
2a. Tibetan-inspired pathways. Advantages: they offer basic mindfulness meditations, but also meditations on really practical things, like being at work, being angry, arguing with folk, being jealous. Lots of support and practical guidance. They're cheap. They're ongoing. Disadvantages: come with quite a lot of ritual and some of your basic common-or-garden religious BS (who's in, who's out, what happens after you die, etc.).
2b. South-Asian (Thai, Vietnamese etc.) and Japanese (Za-Zen) inspired pathways. Advantages: very little religious baggage (no stand up, sit down, say this, do that, etc.). Disadvantages: quite intellectual and theoretical; often not that applicable in everyday life. Rely on self motivation a lot - you're left thinking problems through, rather than getting practical advice. In this style, you focus most of all on breathing and calming the mind - very good, but not much good when you're having an Aspie moment and need a strategy for dealing with it, I found.

Having tried them all, I went for 2b because it's cheap, practical, and ongoing - and I just ignore all the ritual stuff. They're happy with me ignoring it - they let me teach some of their classes. That's how relaxed they are!

I haven't followed one particular system, but I have done a lot of things like yoga and ceremonial magick which require mindfulness, as well as breathwork and actual meditation. All of these have helped me stay on top of my reactions, open up to self-knowledge, and function more effectively in every way.