Mindfulness meditation frustration

Lots of people discuss mindfulness meditation and how beneficial it can be.    But how often are the other meditation styles discussed and used?  As much as we love mindfulness meditation, sometimes it just doesn’t help.  We are not interested in being mindful or grounded in the present. No when we’re struggling with understanding which reality (past/present/flashback/nightmare/daydream) we are in at the moment.

Our goal is to ALL BE IN THE SAME MOMENT AT THE SAME TIME

It’s rather disorienting and confusing for the host not knowing when she is in the outside world.

In moments like this, something hat attracts everyone’s attention and pulls us together helps more than anything else.  What can do that?  A different kind of meditation called visualization sometimes helps us.  Maybe it could be called mindfulness since the focus is on recreating every detail of the object in our mind?  But our visualizations are based on imaginary places, not real ones, and use all of our senses, so not sure either way.

Our preferred visualization is always tree or earth-related.  Something about trees feels especially safe, comforting, and grounding.

But anything can be used for the visualization.

The Visualization practice

We learned a variation of this meditation from the hotline volunteers.  You can do this alone or with a partner or in a group.

In a quiet, safe space

    Sit or lie down in a comfortable position

    Breathe deep and slow – inhale, pause, exhale – 3-4 times

    Close your eyes

    Breathe in for count of 5, then out for count of 5

    Notice the sensations and/or thoughts passing through

    Continue breathing deep and slow

 

Imagine a tree in front of you

Notice the trunk

    What color?

    How old or young?

    How big/small, skinny/thick?

    What shape is the trunk?

    What does the bark look, feel, smell, sound like?

Notice the branches and leaves

    What do you see?  Shapes, sizes, colors, textures..

    What do you hear?

    How do the branches and leaves feel?

    Do the branches and leaves have a scent?  Can you describe it

Notice the ground under the trunk

    Is the ground solid?  muddy?  grassy?  sandy?

    How does it feel, smell, sound?

    What colors?

Imagine you can see under the ground

    What do the roots look like?

    How long or short?

    How thick or thin?

    How strong or weak?

Observe all around the tree

    Is there anyone or anything near by?

    Describe what your observe

Breathe in for a count of 5, pause for a count of 5, then breathe out for a count of 5

Breathe deep and slow – inhale, pause, exhale – 3-4 times

Notice how you feel – stress levels, sensations in your body/mind, feelings you’re experiencing

When ready, open your eyes

We hope this visualization can be a tool in your toolbox to help you when other strategies are less than helpful.

Thanks for reading