TeenHelp
Get Advice Quick Ask Support Forums Today's Posts Chat Room

Get Advice Connect with TeenHelp Resources
HelpLINK Chat and Live Help Facebook     Twitter     Tumblr     Instagram    Safety Zone
   Hotlines
   Alternatives
   Calendar


You are not registered or have not logged in
Hello guest! (Not a guest? Log in above!) As a guest you can submit help requests, create and reply to Forum posts, join our Chat Room and read our range of articles & resources. By registering you will be able to get fully involved in our community and enjoy features such as connect with members worldwide, add friends & send messages, express yourself through a Blog, find others with similar interests in Social Groups, post pictures and links, set up a profile and more! Signing up is free, anonymous and will only take a few moments, so click here to register now!



Meditation and Yoga This forum is for all sorts of relaxation exercises whether meditation, yoga, tai chi or something else entirely.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread
  (#1 (permalink)) Old
Ennui. Offline
Living the dream.

TeenHelp Veteran
*************
 
Ennui.'s Avatar
 
Name: Dez
Age: 27
Gender: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Pronouns: She/They
Location: Connecticut, USA

Posts: 20,021
Points: 172,204, Level: 59
Points: 172,204, Level: 59 Points: 172,204, Level: 59 Points: 172,204, Level: 59
Blog Entries: 171
Join Date: November 16th 2010

Meditation is hard for me - can't visualize - July 4th 2021, 12:05 AM

Mindful meditation is supposed to be this great thing, but a lot of the ones I've seen use guided imagery. I can't imagine I'm walking in a beach or am in some peaceful forest or anything because... I can't really form mental images in my mind all that well. What else do y'all do?


Do you ever get a little bit tired of life
Like you're not really happy but you don't wanna die
Like you're hanging by a thread but you gotta survive
'Cause you gotta survive
  (#2 (permalink)) Old
Rivière Offline
Par la rivière
I've been here a while
********
 
Rivière's Avatar
 
Name: Sarah
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Location: Wales, UK.

Posts: 1,902
Points: 46,505, Level: 31
Points: 46,505, Level: 31 Points: 46,505, Level: 31 Points: 46,505, Level: 31
Join Date: June 7th 2013

Re: Meditation is hard for me - can't visualize - July 4th 2021, 09:51 PM

To be honest I'm quite similar. I find it hard to imagine anywhere but in my bed. When I went to a stress and depression management course at the hospital, they taught us to practice mindfulness by listening to the sounds around us. Another technique on top of that was to place one hand on the chest, and the other on the diaphragm and see which rises first. Apparently when we're born, we breath first from the diaphragm, and then the lungs (which sounds backwards to me but hey ho). By focusing on seeing which rises first, we can determine how to control our breathing.

Personally I tend to just lie there and sometimes when it's so dark, I see those weird funny colours in my eyes sometimes (kind of like when you press on your eyes too much and it looks weird) and focus on the patterns generated by it.
  (#3 (permalink)) Old
Celyn Offline
~One Skittles Minion~

Jeez, get a life!
***********
 
Celyn's Avatar
 
Name: Holly
Gender: Female
Pronouns: She/Her
Location: Wales

Posts: 6,485
Points: 57,622, Level: 34
Points: 57,622, Level: 34 Points: 57,622, Level: 34 Points: 57,622, Level: 34
Blog Entries: 4
Join Date: June 16th 2009

Re: Meditation is hard for me - can't visualize - July 6th 2021, 02:26 PM

I can't form images in my mind very well either. I tend to either use a memory of walking along the beach/countryside, or I might get a picture up on my laptop and look at that while doing guided meditation. Otherwise, I tend to do the breathing exercise that Sarah said above or do body scan meditations which focus on the sensations in your body, as opposed to doing guided imagery meditations.


Mentoring and Support Team Leader | Click here to volunteer
  (#4 (permalink)) Old
DeletedAccount81
Guest
 
DeletedAccount81's Avatar
Edit avatar
 

Posts: n/a

Re: Meditation is hard for me - can't visualize - July 8th 2021, 04:03 PM

Guided meditation is difficult for me, I can't form mental images in my mind either; and listening to any form of auditory guide is tough. I try the breathing exercise and it helps, but it doesn't exactly do what people claim it does 100%. I really just focus on other things instead that doesn't require sitting still, forming images, or listening to an auditory guide.

I do stretching, but not yoga; instead, I do what I've learnt in physical therapy and fitness classes.

I do light easy reading as well, but nothing that forces your brain to work in overdrive or anything like that.
  (#5 (permalink)) Old
Ennui. Offline
Living the dream.

TeenHelp Veteran
*************
 
Ennui.'s Avatar
 
Name: Dez
Age: 27
Gender: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Pronouns: She/They
Location: Connecticut, USA

Posts: 20,021
Points: 172,204, Level: 59
Points: 172,204, Level: 59 Points: 172,204, Level: 59 Points: 172,204, Level: 59
Blog Entries: 171
Join Date: November 16th 2010

Re: Meditation is hard for me - can't visualize - July 10th 2021, 02:18 AM

I'm so glad that it doesn't seem to be uncommon to be unable to form mental images (ha, I typoed it as illnesses) in your mind either! I'll try those.
What types of stretching do you do? I can't really do yoga either because positions that require me to lay flat or invert my head trigger headaches.


Do you ever get a little bit tired of life
Like you're not really happy but you don't wanna die
Like you're hanging by a thread but you gotta survive
'Cause you gotta survive
  (#6 (permalink)) Old
NeuroBeautiful Offline
Please call that story back.
I've been here a while
********
 
NeuroBeautiful's Avatar
 
Name: Violet
Gender: Other
Location: Koolibah tree

Posts: 1,421
Points: 29,446, Level: 24
Points: 29,446, Level: 24 Points: 29,446, Level: 24 Points: 29,446, Level: 24
Blog Entries: 702
Join Date: May 12th 2016

Re: Meditation is hard for me - can't visualize - July 12th 2021, 10:19 AM

I used to be in a group called "Mindfulness in Everything You Do" I liked it because it felt realistic and manageable which is what I needed at the time. I won't say I can't visualize but I don't get only peaceful images either (hello intrusive thoughts in the form of images )

We did things like taking a single potato chip and noticing what we see and feel about it before putting it into our mouth and using our senses while eating it. We also chose objects around the room so it wasn't conjuring images in our mind's eye. It was noticing the chosen object and describing it using observations and not emotional interpretations.


~Show Yourself
Step Into Your Power~

~Grow Yourself,
Into Something New~
1 user(s) liked this post or found it helpful.
Closed Thread

Bookmarks

Tags
hard, meditation, visualize

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


 
User Infomation
Your Avatar

Latest Articles & News
- by Rob
- by Rob

Advertisement



All material copyright ©1998-2024, TeenHelp.
Terms | Legal | Privacy | Conduct | Complaints | Mobile

Powered by vBulletin®.
Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search engine optimization by vBSEO.
Theme developed in association with vBStyles.