Hey Mariposita,

Just wanted to pass along my experiences with meditation so far (I am a beginner as well) and say that I agree with you, sitting and trying to think about nothing at all is really difficult. Two things have worked for me better. One, I joined a meditation group this summer when I was vacationing in the town where I grew up (very sad to leave the group and haven’t found anything comparable yet here at home). I found that being able to follow someone else’s voice and doing some visualizing was much easier for me than simply trying to sit and keep bringing my attention away from my thoughts and back to my breath. Now, I am so new to all of this and full of so many questions myself that I can’t say that guided meditations are just as effective and bring the benefits of silent meditation (opinions from the more advanced people?), but I figure the experiences were better than nothing and I always left the sessions feeling pretty good and relaxed. There are tons of guided meditations available on youtube for you to check out if you have not done so already.

The second thing I have done that works more effectively for me than sitting on the mat, is having a mindful shower. Instead of focussing on my breath, I focus on the sensations in my body as I go through my routine and gently push any outside thoughts away. This works really well for me because I am not distracted by the itch on my leg, but rather am quite focussed on my body and yet keeping my thoughts at bay. I don’t think it really matters what you focus on as long as you keep bringing your attention back. I have also read about mindful eating and mindful walking, but I like the shower best because if you are really focussed the sensations are so pleasurable. Who doesn’t like a nice long, hot shower? I’ve never done it in the bath, but I imagine that would work exceptionally well as well. The nice thing about the shower is that it’s not an exceptionally long time to try to concentrate. It’s as short or as long as you want to make it (as long as you don’t run out of hot water! lol). I figure for me, I will start with this baby step and then when I have mastered it, I might be ready for a longer, silent session on the mat.

Hope you found this helpful…best of luck!