Link to nature meditations
These videos are designed to ease the way into the meditative state.
By gradually shifting your attention from the obvious to the more subtle happenings, you become exceptionally attentive and alert.
Start by noticing the sounds, like the crackling of the fire, the flowing of the river, the falling of the rain, or the singing of the birds.
Once your awareness has become accustomed to observing the sounds that are going on, begin to direct your attention to your bodily sensations.
This may be your breath, your heartbeat or the tingling of your nerves.
When your awareness has also become accustomed to this, direct it to your thoughts. Listen to them as if they were the sound of a river or birds chirping.
River & Bird Sound - 15 min Meditation
Crackling Fire - 60 min Meditation
Falling Rain Sound - 60 min Meditation
Meditation
(Alan Watts)
Meditation is a way to get in touch with reality.
In order to do this, it is necessary to stop constantly talking to yourself internally.
When we stop talking to ourselves, we realize our deep connection with all the things that are happening around us.
Our thoughts stop separating us from our surroundings.
We find ourselves in an eternal now without past or future.
HOW TO STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF?
To stop the constant self-talk, one has to realize that i’s futile to control your thoughts. You can’t stop them by force.
They happen to you the same way as your heart beats, and you cannot stop your heart by force either, nor should you.
Accept that there is nothing you can do to stop your thoughts and let them run freely.
Just observe them as you would listen to someone speak.
If you can observe them without letting them carry you away, your thoughts will slowly quiet down.
When silence comes, you will begin to see the world unfiltered for what it really is.
Guide TO MEDITATion
Listen to all the sounds that are going on as if they were music.
Gradually, you shift your attention from the easily perceived happenings (e.g. sounds) to the more subtle happenings.
When your perception is sufficiently sharpened, start listening to your thoughts as if they were sounds.
It is helpful to be genuinely interested in what is happening in the present moment. Then it’s easier to stay focused.
In the second part, Alan Watts emphasizes the importance of the breath.
While meditating, observe your breath without trying to control it.
Let it flow on its own.
While observing your breath, try to be present without worrying about the future and the progress you’re making.
What DOES AWAKENING MEAN?
(Eckhart Tolle)
Awakening is the simple fact of recognizing your own inner voice that speaks to you.
A large part of unhappiness comes from repetitive, unnecessary and negative thoughts.
Recognizing these undesirable patterns of mental activity is the first step to better mental health.
If you observe your inner voice closely, you will notice something curious: Your body reacts to negative thoughts with real emotions.
This is because it can’t distinguish between a thought and an actual event.
Try to put a distance between you and your thoughts by recognizing that there is an awareness behind your thoughts.
This can lessen the effects of negative thoughts on your body (such as anxiety or fear).
The Importance Of Observing
(J. krishnamurti)
When we stop talking to ourselves, we can clearly see what is going on inside us psychologically.
This is what J.K. calls the art of listening.
The unfiltered view of things inside and outside.
This is only possible when we stop talking to ourselves.
Because as a famous quote by Alan Watts says: “… if you talk all the time you will never hear what anybody else has to say…“.
Like the art of listening, the art of seeing is acting without talking to oneself.
If you want to see things unfiltered, you can’t approach them with your previous opinions and memories.
True seeing means seeing clearly, without the distortion that comes from the constant chatter of the mind.
True learning is not just the accumulation of knowledge as we are used to, but learning from yourself by experiencing what is going on inside you.
This learning must happen without the distortion of thought.
You have to really look at your problem and stay with it without getting carried away by your thoughts.
Just like real listening and seeing, you can learn and experience without distorting the real problem and being distracted by thoughts.
Observe your thoughts, feelings, behavior and therefore your entire psyche!
In doing so, realize that what you see is the same psychological structure that every human being possesses.
All humans share the same psychology:
The same loneliness, fear, sadness, pain and so on.
I find the possibility of observing all of humanity by looking inside oneself incredibly inspiring and motivating.
Motivating in the sense that it allows us to have a better understanding of the person next to us, a deeper understanding of humanity as a whole, and to use that understanding to make the world a better place.