Is Meditation Relaxation or Active Mindfulness?
R: When I start meditation, I start concentrating on relaxing my body and focusing on my breath. After a few minutes I seem to be giving away to total relaxation/loss of self. Then a portion of my my mind says “No. Stay awake. Don’t give into any relaxation! Meditation is all about staying awake and mindful!”Once I start doing that, I see that my mind has become a monkey, examining one thought after the other without any relaxation. As a result, I get too panicky, examining and trying to get away from every thought in a self conscious state. Ultimately, what happens is that I get confused. I ask myself, “Should I focus on total relaxation or total mindfulness?” I think I’ve got the practice all mixed up! I seem to be mixing up relaxation meditation with so called mindfulness meditation, in order to find out the “correct technique.”Now, I’d like you to go through what I said carefully and to answer me.What is the correct technique? Which method should I concentrate on? I seem to be mixi
