Mindfulness... Meditation... Tai Chi...

[xareon]

This is a question for all of you who practice mindfulness/meditation. I want to introduce my girlfriend to meditation, I understand meditation and being mindfull but I often fail at practicing mindfulness and I cannot truly explain it or how to achieve it to someone else very well. I know that my girlfriend has a very "western" way of thinking ie "if I can't see it I'm not sure I believe in it" and I know that there are probably a lot of feelings from her past that she does not really want to drudge up, so i want to ease her into meditation a little at a time... help her see the healing there is in it, and eventually get into more advanced disciplines such as tai chi and tantra.

What sort of class would you suggest taking first to ease her into meditation... Do yoga classes really delve into mindfulness? I would think they do since mindfulness is the essense of it, but have you experienced yoga teachers who were less concerned about mindfulness? Should I start off with something else? What do you think?

Thx,
Tennyson

[Kiechi]

Mindfulness... Meditation... Tai Chi... Bullshit.

[misombra]

aaaah shit we got a fruitbat in the house!

i'm just messin with you...

anyway, one of my boyfriends did this exercise with me and it was awesome

we sat facing each other in lotus position. he led me through a meditation. he told me to close my eyes and think about every part of my body one at a time from the tip of my toes to the top of my head.

it was great. i'll never forget it.

[Clifton]

that stuffs mad relaxing, if nothing else..just convince her its a good way to relax herself, after trying once she will see that

[xareon]

Kiechi:
Nay sayer! LOL... I never thought much of meditation nor did I understand it untill about a year ago and when I did finally understand it... I got a whole new understanding to the word enlightenment. If you want to pass it off as nothing I don't care, it's only your loss, but actually the question was not directed at you, it was directed at those who practice mindfulness, and understand what power there is in knowing what is going on inside your head instead of just ignoring it.

misombra:
You have just gotten a taste of what is possable through meditation, its just the very tip of the ice berg so to speak. Through meditation you can reach a state of extasy more powerful than any drug. I used to smoke pot before I found meditation, but after a while there really wasn't any use to keep smoking because I felt 100 times better just meditating than getting high. And if you really enjoy sex... tantra is... seriously the best thing in the world, it adds a whole new dimension to sex.

Clifton:
Thx for your advice... its true I should just have her go through a guided meditation like misobra was describing. Hopefully, though, I can get some help from a teacher who is more competent at describing just exactly what meditation is... because thats really tough... its like describing the color blue to someone who is blind. And you're right, it is relaxing, however, its much more than that... I think healing is the #1 reason to learn about meditation, facing your subconsious mind, and eventually your heart, and ultimately your demons.