Am I the only one that can't meditate?

Am I the only one that can't meditate? I try to let go of thoughts but another pops up immediately after

Give yourself 5 minutes or so when in a completely relaxed state to let your mind wander the gradually draw your concentration to watching your breathing. Then when wandering thoughts creep in try the goldfish bowl trick.

It takes a lot of practice and discipline for some people.
.

[BigJohn]

What helped me to meditate was doing 'walking meditations'.

[Unseeking Seeker]

There’s a trick to it. Don’t fight thought, don’t try to suppress it or sublimate it even by concentration. Instead, when the thought appears, look at it with astonishment! It shouldn’t be there but it is! A strange vibration of foreign origin! Look at it nonchalantly with childlike curiosity and wonderment.

Once we relinquish our ‘ownership’ of the thought that manifests, it recedes, since we no longer feed it. In time, we get to a stage where we can rest in thought rested stillness.

[Miss Hepburn]

No, you are not the only one.
When we let the horses out of the corral all day to wonder all over...we
can't expect to whistle and they all come running back.
It helps to practice Thought Control throughout the day.
Hope these help. Sure, helped me over a decade ago!
First thing I thought was, "What? Thought control?" Lol!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201304/become-the-ceo-your-own-brain-in-six-easy-steps

http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/s...ental-control/

https://www.healthline.com/health/me...trol-your-mind
https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-our-thoughts/
https://www.tonyrobbins.com/how-to-f...rol-your-mind/

[Native spirit]

One of the best ways is to do the third eye meditation ,concentrate on the third eye if you find your mind wanders just bring it back to the third eye,
the more you do it you will find you dont need to concentrate on the eye as much


Namaste

[Traveler]

Try listening to meditation music that has sounds of nature and imagine yourself in that place. I have an old CD by David and Steve Gordon called "Out of the Mist." It's positively lovely. Piano music with the sounds of water and birds. When I play that music, I imagine myself walking in a peaceful forest along a babbling brook, listening to the birds. And I often fall asleep listening to it. It's on youtube, if you'd like to listen to it. And you can buy the music online, if you love it and want to put get the CD or download it to your computer or phone,

https://youtu.be/poL-Iwfa5LA

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by traceyacey12

Am I the only one that can't meditate? I try to let go of thoughts but another pops up immediately after

You are not the only one. This is the nature of the mind. It is not until we try to stop thinking that we discover how little control we have over our thoughts.

If we let our thoughts run free all day then it is very hard to then sit down and switch off the mental chatter. Using a simple mantra during the day can help to keep the mind occupied and our awareness centred.

Another approach is to rest in the space between the disappearance of one thought and the arising of the next thought. Be present and stop the next thought from arising. With practice this interval of emptiness becomes longer.

Patanjali defines Yoga as the stopping of the fluctuations of the mind. When we consider the thousands of books written about Yoga, it all comes down to this one sentence.

Peace

thanks everyone for your suggestions! very helpful. do you think just listening to water sounds is good for meditation? I'm trying to use what's on Spotify and I like the sound of water :)

[BigJohn]

Sure!

But then, I go 'crazy' around water.