There are many styles and approaches in the philosophy of meditation, some are more traditional and others not so much. Consequently, it does not mean that if you had a bad experience in the past that all your experiences will be the same. In fact, I strongly encourage you to try different methods, in order to discover which one is more suitable for you.
Not all meditation techniques are the same and below are some comments I often hear from those enquiring about DeRose Meditation, having tried other approaches without much success.
“Meditation is not for me.”
This is a very natural and frequent response that is totally understandable. If you have found meditation “boring”, passive and without stimulation, almost to the point where you have even fallen asleep, then you may not have been practising the style of technique suitable for you. Meditation is a dynamic exercise and powerful tool for your brain. If it is done properly, you will in fact feel inspired at the end of the session.
“Closing my eyes and doing nothing makes me more anxious.”
It is not a well-established practice in meditation to just start by doing this. Before sitting to meditate, you should practise several other techniques to ‘prepare’ your brain and body to focus and to awaken a specific state of mind.
The most frequently used of these pre-meditation techniques is breathwork.
“I used a meditation app and didn’t like it.”
Using an app to meditate may feel a bit cold for some. In such cases, an instructor can play a key role, a real person whose eyes you can look into and seek immediate guidance from in real-time.
Meditation is developed in a hierarchical system, where a practitioner can always obtain advice from a more experienced teacher. Unfortunately, meditation apps can not necessarily provide this mechanism. Therefore, if you are using an app, see it as the step to accessing meditation. However, if you wish to evolve further, it may be more effective for you to join a meditation school or obtain appropriate guidance from an expert.