[Bit]

Am I bad? Oh yes, I am bad... didn't go to the post office, and didn't make it back in here either. Thanks for leaving the light on for me. :sheepish look:

Meditation techniques... I've tried so many---and failed so many. Sheesh. I am a DISMAL DISMAL failure at "emptying" my mind. I can hold a visualization for a while if it's complicated enough to be interesting, but contemplating nothing? SHEESH before you know it there'll be a laundry list of stuff to do scrolling through my head... or I'll be off on some fantasy or other.

Many years ago I learned what used to be called Silva Mind Control. It is a wholly benign magical system (shhhh! don't tell THEM, they think it's not magic!) that teaches guided meditations and strong visualizations, and everything is based on achieving specific brain wave patterns. Now two caveats--if you click the link, Jack Canfield will shout at you --you might wanna scroll down and turn his volume off--and the Method is Christian-based. I had forgotten about that because it didn't used to emphasize it, and also because I was a Christian when I was first introduced to it, so I wouldn't have noticed.

Anyhow, obligatory disclaimers aside, Silva Mind Control taught me relaxation techniques and creative visualization; I still use the countdown to get down to the Alpha Level and I still walk out of the base level onto a wooded path that leads to one of my sacred spaces. So when I absolutely cannot get calm and centered, I close my eyes, take three deep slow breaths, and start counting from ten to one very slowly with my breathing.

I've just re-read your post again Jenn, and it occurs to me that maybe I'm not answering your real question... is your question how do I meditate? Or is it how do I work? Because they aren't the same for me unless I'm desperate to get grounded. Normally, I get grounded either by pushing my energy down into the earth--and I may do that frequently during the course of any day--or by touching Gryph, because he and I ground each other naturally.

How I work is different. I send energy--in the same sort of way that I push my own energy around, lol--anyhow, I send energy into the Universe or to another person. If someone needs healing, comfort, love, I send it to them using the same "push" feeling or sometimes (if they're farther away) a "throw" feeling. If I'm praying, I send the energy to Goddess or God or to the Universe.

There are lots of other ways to work, but this is the way I work right now.