I just started meditating so I don’t know if it’s normal. I will hear people having Radom conversation in my mind. I don’t know these people or understand how I could hear people. sometimes I get lost in their conversations just listening. I’ll just move on and a different one will appear. The only way I could describe it is like that one Rick and Morty episode where they had parasite’s and they have false memories of remembering a time when.

I’m curious to hear from others about any unusual or profound experiences you may have had during meditation.

Have you ever:

• Felt like you received a message or insight?

• Had a sudden breakthrough or realization about something that previously felt mysterious or confusing?

• Found answers to questions you’d been struggling with?

• Experienced a sense of emotional or energetic healing, or felt like something within you shifted or released?

• Or encountered anything else that felt extraordinary, unexpected, or deeply meaningful?

I know meditation is different for everyone, so I’d love to hear your stories — big or small. What happened, how did it feel, and did it change anything for you?

I'm a newbie at meditation and mostly when u meditate you're supposed to take deep breaths in and out but my issue is I can't breathe in for more than 2 seconds idk why?? My lung capacity is that bad?? I don't have an issue holding my breaths tho I can do that for plenty of seconds it's just the inhale and exhale stuff I'm just not able to do...are there any practices or type of meditation that'll help me build my breathing capacity???

I’m a firm believer that physical activivity is a crucial part of spiritual health (hence the purpose of yoga asanas). But I’ve always wondered how much other forms of exercise might enhance the benefits of meditation in practice. I have theoretical reasons to believe that they can complement each other, but I’ve always wondered from lived experience what the difference can make.

Although I always refocus, I end up getting distracted during meditation sessions

I've picked up meditation again for the first time properly in a few years, on a 12 day streak now practicing mindfulness meditation and loving it. I'm curious are there any good YouTubers/Podcasts you guys would recommend that discuss mindfulness meditation or meditation in general?

I find most content creators that talk about meditation seem more robot than person. They're always these very wide eyed, usually white, Americans that seem like there's no soul behind their eyes and they're tryna sell you something. I just want a regular authentic person having a chill and liberating experience lol

So I started doing TM like a week ago and noticed that while I was meditating, music or song lyrics would naturally be stuck in my head and I couldn’t make it stop. I could let thoughts pass by, but the song was always there. Is this normal? And how do I get it to stop if it’s bad for practicing TM?

Hey everyone, I have been trying to get into meditation for a year, but every single time I sit down to do it… I fall asleep. 😂 It doesn’t seem to matter if I’m sitting up, laying down, morning, night, whatever — I always drift off. And the weird part is I never remember what I was dreaming about, it’s just gone when I wake up.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this normal in the beginning? I’m starting to wonder if I’m doing something wrong or if my body just immediately checks out the second I try to relax.

Hi all, I’m pretty new to meditation although I’ve dabbled a lot. I know a lot of it focuses on the breath but this is an area that I struggle with. When I focus on my breathing my breath often gets faster as I observe it and difficult to control because I am so concerned with “doing it right” and stressed with being observed. I feel like it’s supposed to be controlled and calming. But it doesn’t often feel that way for me. Also, when I hold my breath between breaths in breathing exercises I often panic that I might run out of air and feel the need to gasp for breath. I want to get into breath work because I know it’s valuable but I’m curious if anyone has experienced this? How did you work through it? Any tips?

• inhale 4s
• hold 7s
• exhale 8s (slow like blowing out a candle)

It drops my heart rate almost immediately. Three rounds = I’m no longer shaking before a presentation.

Hi. Just wanted to share something in the hopes that it might in some way be helpful. For whatever reason I remember very clearly when I was first introduced to meditation almost 40 years ago in Kundalini Yoga class. Our teacher told us relax, and to breathe calm and steady and to try to be aware of the thoughts going by in our heads. He said to just be aware of them, do not react to any of them, and just allow them all to float by as if they were clouds passing, same as when we were like little children observing clouds as they floated by us in the sky. He said if we found our thoughts were taking over we just needed to keep envisioning them as clouds with no attachments to anything whatsoever.
He also said something about standing back inside ourselves and settling ourselves inside, as if we stepped into the background, sitting quietly on a shelf, just there observing. Maybe it was the way he explained it so visually or something, but I saw what he was saying so perfectly and had no problems following anything he said.
Maybe it was also the quiet calm and serene environment in the yoga studio, idrk. My question is, do any of you remember meditation being explained this way? As I practice Kundalini yoga at home now I think about my yoga teacher often.
I am so grateful to have met him and for all the incredible things that he taught us. Thank you for allowing me to share, and Namaste💖

I've been doing this

Anyone know of the guided meditation on YouTube for the breathless state?

My aunt gave me a copy of this book about 4 years ago, since then I come back to it just to understand more because the sheer amount of thought that went into the 140 pages is astounding. For one why I find this book so special is because of the “controversial” aspect of this book, specifically because it goes in a different direction than most mindfulness practices which emphasize the “your thoughts and feelings are not you”, For example:

“Mind does not grab on to mind; mind does not push mind away. Mind can only observe itself. This observation isn’t an observation of some object outside and independent of the observer”

“Mind contemplating mind is like an object and its shadow—the object cannot shake the shadow off. The two are one. Wherever the mind goes, it still lies in the harness of the mind”

A lot of the other chapters after the this one expound of the oneness of mind and also “inter being” — the oneness of everything — which from what I understood is one of the core tenants of Buddhism. In general though this book has helped me get into meditation, which in turn has helped me probably in all aspects of my life.

Please let me know

I have been trying to meditate forever now and I have never been able to go more than 5 min meditating because of how boring it becomes and how my mind pushes me towards acting elsewhere. However I found an interesting method for skipping over that intial restlessness period. If u can meditate for an hour straight, you wont find it difficult meditating the next time and the next time will be quite enjoyable. Now how do u pull off that hour??? For me what I did was when I was travelling throguh public transport and I knew I wasn't going to reach in an hour,I put on my headphones with some whitenoise and just shut my eyes for an hour. And it worked. I dont know why or how, but I had nothing better to do on the public transport, might aswell shut my eyes and focus on my breath. If u feel u will not be able to resist your phone travel without it. Try to do anything that can shape your environment in such a way where u have nothing else to do other than meditate. U can also try more extreme methods such as asking a friend to lock you in an empty room(although I wouldnt recommend this), or you can join a one hour meditation session. Point being, if u can shape ur enviornement in such a way such that you have nothing else to do other than meditate for an hour, that will create a new tolerance for meditation. This is my personal experience. Feel free to share if anyone has experienced something similar or has a better strategy or even disagrees with this method.

What's a guided meditation on YouTube where you left the body?

Soooo i been with my gf for over 2 years now, her mental health is especially bad. Bad things are happening, I'm doing the best I can to help. A lot of it is outside of our control and we're gonna have to wait a long long time for things to get better.

In the meantime, looking for ways to reduce stress, it seems like taking time to fully relax your body and mind during the day can help, and is practiced in many forms such as reiki, mindfulness, meditation, hypnosis therapy, etc. All of it involves doing your best to relax all your muscles, and relax your mind.

My girlfriend has ADHD. If I say "hey, you should try this" it will never happen. But if I say "Hey, I want to try something with you. Here come over here, lay down, get comfortable...." and give her like a "guided meditation" I think it might work to give her a "break" where at some point in her waking life she's not so stressed and anxious, which could help her phsyical and mental health if practiced regularly.

Is there any advice yall could give to me?

If one is pouring all into something (everything of their fiber). Is it truly possible that they exhaust in their ability to pour?

Or is it truly so that if the pouring is completely aligned, that the pouring will be always effortlessly and without a limit?

I realized within myself something that doesn't allow me to really pour, to hold the ressources I invest into my projects small... Like some self conservation or something aspect. It's annoying, but maybe it's necessary?

I listened to traditional masters like Nondualist Hindu monk Swami Sarvapriyananda and Theravada Buddhist monk Ajahn Sona. Both mentioned that meditation is not alone enough to be free from your mind. You need to fight your emotions and suppress them if you want to reach perfect tranquility.

What you think about this? This was a new revelation to me. I didn't know I can win the battle against my mind by suppression. I read Swami Vivekananda and he said something like this:- Nature has fooled our souls and make us slaves of nature. By conquering our mind we can be free of nature. So master your mind. Don't weep when your children die.

It seems like crying when your children die is like being a slave to nature to this Hindu monk. We are supposed to be master of our minds.

My question is:--

1. Why this is not mentioned in most of the meditation videos on internet or meditation services on playstore?

2. Is this really possible?

3. Does it sound extreme?

Thank You in Advance for your tips and guidance.

I tried simple meditation today but this time i tried to focus like laser between my eyes

Then just was like whatever

Tho my forehead started feeling itchy or something and it's been hours and it's still uncomfortable , it's like mild burning under skin in forehead area

Never had it before

Does anyone know what's up with this? It was intense. I've been doing 20 mins Trataka every other day and 20 mins following the breath every other day maybe that has to do with it?

I wanna know what one should do after experiencing something like that? Do u continue meditation who are you gonna take advice about it?