HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

With the veil being at it's thinnest now, I have been feeling a push from my spirits to get back on track with meditation, and I just have a few questions for anyone who may be more experienced.

1. When I meditate, I have a bad habit of envisioning myself in third person as if I'm watching myself on tv. I almost NEVER see things in first person perspective during meditation and I was wondering if this is normal or "right". I've asked my dragon companion and she says not to worry about it but I still have my doubts. Does anyone else have this "problem".

2. When I start to get into a meditative trance, I don't always envision myself walking through a door way or similar. I kind of just...appear in a forest or an open field and I travel forward to meet my spirit companions. Also, the scenery is almost always different. One day I'll envision a dense forest, the next a lavender field, then maybe a graveyard or something. Should I try to focus on just one type of scenery when I meditate as a kind of anchor point? And should I make it a habit to walk through a door way to focus myself?

3. Sometimes during meditation I lose all sense of envisioning and end up in just a kind of darkness (almost like sleep) but I'm still conscious and I can hear different voices and know something is going on but I can't remember it when I get out of the trance. Has anyone had an experience like this and does anyone know how to either avoid this or remember what's going on? How do I get my "Sight" back and keep up my visualization?

I think that's all my questions for now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially on question 1.

Thank you all!

Mmmm.

1. This depends on your preference, and the purpose. Some would say first person or third person perspective is okay. There are astral projection practitioners (from other forums) who recommended first person perspective more, as it promotes realism and subjectivity. One example, during dreams, we most likely wouldn't realize it's a dream when it is in first person perspective. Third person perspective ob the other hand is beneficial due to its objectivity.

2. It could be beneficial to have single place(s) we can go to during the journeying. E.g.:
http://www.creepyhollows.com/phpBB3/topic59363.html
http://www.creepyhollows.com/phpBB3/topic70077.html

3. This, not sure. It sounds like a transition phase from awake to trance and vice versa. One example is when we wake up from dream. Assuming you still retain kinetic sense, have you tried sinking deeper or floating higher? Or try energy working, or chanting mantra, prayer etc. and see if there's any effect on the surrounding?

This is all very helpful Darkwing! As always, I appreciate your help. )
I haven't tried sinking or floating but I can definitely keep it in mind for next time! Do you have any reference on how I should do energy working while meditating? That's a fairly new concept for me. Also, when chanting mantras, should it be out loud or in my head, or does it not matter? I find it difficult to get into that meditative trance when I speak out loud.

No problem : )

Mm energy working, something like chakra working or qigong, try it during that transition phase and see if there's any change in that darkness.

Chanting mantra, it may depend on your preference and situation. Some people find it working when chanted out loud, others in silent. Some situation may not allowed you to chant out loud. But to do it silently, it may be beneficial to get used to the out loud one first, so that we know the vibration, the intonation, the pronunciation etc.

I'm interested on why you consider it a "bad habit". What is your goal for meditation?

I have found that the best mantra's are the ones that are mine. My mother tongue will always hold more purpose to me, (than something I have googled or heard the meaning of, with a few exceptions maybe). I exhale while I say it, I usually start saying it out loud, there's studies that show that your words can hold more meaning and are more suggestive if they are said out loud. The mantra I'm working on atm consists of four things I am distancing myself from. I say these things on an exhale, inhaling in between bringing my focus on to the next one and focusing on distancing myself from them one by one on each exhale, sort of letting them go along my breath, maybe even pushing them a tiny bit further. So four breath cycles on focusing on things I'm distancing myself and then as I inhale a bit bigger I say what I am moving towards to and I take another inhale towards it if I feel like it. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes I get to a trance like state where I'm not sure if I'm saying the words anymore but the focus on the meaning of them strengthens cycle after cycle: four breath cycles that distance me from what I'm letting go of when exhaling, and one or two to bring me closer to where I'm trying to be.

Now the way I've been doing this distances myself from myself and brings me closer to the force, väki, now, united consciousness, god, chi, whatever it is you call it and I intentionally distance my sense of self from my body. But you can reverse it. And I have. So you can ground yourself to your body with the same technique if you wish to do so. (I'm interested why, though?) Just reverse it. It's easier, at least for me, if you choose an anchor via which you ground. I like heat, so either a Sauna and some hot steam, or swimming when it's cold enough, or rolling in the snow. It's a feeling your body takes note of and then I just lean on that I focus on feeling the cold, or heat and steam, or the snow melting on my skin.

Balance works really well too, you can try different positions, best is one where you can stay a while but can't relax completely. I love a balancing board, or a rocking chair could work, or a swing? Or maybe just throw a ball from hand to hand, feel the weight as you catch it and feel every muscle as you throw it back to the other, again and again and again. Anything that gives a little movement or sensation in your body. And now the trick is you don't let yourself "get used to it" as it's use to doing, but try and focus instead on deepening the sensation, relishing in it and holding on to it. Choose whatever feels good to you. When you get the hang of it, you can just lay down and feel your body be, but the anchor thing helps if you have trouble staying grounded within.

With every breath in you bring yourself closer to that anchor try to focus just on your body, how it fills with air, and every breath out you let go of everything outside of your body bringing yourself closer to it and a bit further from everything else. There's lot's of room to play around, there are so many different ways of feeling what it's like to be within your own physical manifestation. If you have more accurate targets for your practice, mantras are really great to guide you towards that intention, it's weird when the timer goes off and the words have melted into one with the purpose they have for you and you have no idea if they are even being said out loud.