distractions

[nirmal]

Hi everybody,

I am new to AYP and been practicing only one month after a hiatus from practicing DM in 2004.

My problem is distractions, either from a next door neighbor´s weed eater to one from one or both of my 9yo twin sons. After the interruption I try to resume my meditation but it is rather shocking how upset I get! Two totally different ends of rhe spectrum!

Any suggestions will help.

love and light,
nirmal[]

[Shanti]

Hi Nirmal,
This has been a common problem with many at the forum. Noise and distraction.
Here are a few topics that may have suggestions that can help:
Meditation with distractions
cotton, earplugs
external noise while meditating

I would personally say not to go in for earplugs etc. during meditation. The best way to deal with noise is treat it like a thought distraction. When you are pulled out of meditation due to noise, gently go back to the mantra.

Don't think and reinforce the distraction as annoying, because then it will be exactly that, annoying... if you treat noise distractions like you treat a thought distraction and gently go back to the mantra, then you will slowly get to a place where you can be in the middle of a crowded shopping mall and be able to meditate without being disturbed. It will take some time. But if you can keep going back to the mantra, you will soon be able to meditate without having to change your surroundings much.

It may also help to find a place where your sons will not be interacting with you. You can tell them, daddy is going to meditate for 20 min, can you guys keep the noise down a bit. Not that they will listen the first time and there will be total silence (but you may be surprised!!), but every day, before you go meditate, ask them to speak in their indoor voices and turn the TV, music down a bit, for a few min, praise them if they have done so, tell them thank you for trying even if they did not do so. You will be surprised how much kids want to please. Neighbours is a different story. If you know when s/he is going to run the weed-wacker, meditate a few min before that or after that... else use ear plugs.

[nirmal]

Dear Shanti,

Thanks for your response. I gave it a try using my earplugs I use for
my husband´s snoring! It worked! It´s only on the weekends when my boy´s are home all day. Now what to do about summer break for 6 weeks!

I will follow your wise advice about treating distractions like
thoughts. Now with the neighbor, I will postpone DM until after all the racket has stopped!

Thanks,
nirmal[]

[Akasha]

Hi Nirmal,

I have found it helpful (when i started this AYP) to treat the noise (distractions) as evidence of obstructions being released,that's to say ,as symptoms, that good things are happening ,change.

So when a door slams say  or  external noises increase, they start diggin up the road outisde your house,and you are somewhere else rummaging depp within as you penentrate inner silence, you  are then reminded .BANG,racket ,racket--ahhh good, one thinks to oneself--more release. Like if  the world around  you is changing then so  are you internally ,and this is proof of it!

Have you ever noticed when you begin  meditation,barely a few mins in,everyone around you then  becomes more active? .- the lawnmower goes on as if  challenged by your  inner silence.

2 little boys might be bit tricky though shanti's advice sounds pretty sound.

So in the sense the noise is symptomatic of release and  can be seen also like a thought occuring during DM, and so treated as such too- another symptom of release. That might help  motivate one  to  persevere with the practice,until honouring the habit becomes less of a chore,and just something one does.

Easier said than done, i'd agree.Although I think it gets easier once AYP seeps more into your system and one gains a reasonable handle on the  core tools,especially DM which you should try not to force,resting easy just softly feeling/saying the mantra,favouring that.

So in that same vein,treating them (noise distractions) just like thoughts.

All Love,

A.

[nirmal]

I would like to thank everone´s brillant response!

Love and light,
nirmal[]

P.S. I realise nirmal is a boy´s name, (I´m a girl) but this was given to me
by the late master of Kundalini yoga, Yogi Bhajan.

[grihastha]

Hi Nirmal,

I have 3 kids: ages 7, 4 and 4 (twins). School's over for the eldest this summer and the twins tend to be home quite a bit with me as well. My wife goes out to work, I work at home. Things can get fairly hectic for work AND meditation...

For me - and I deal with lots of distraction at the moment - the key is, with every noise:

Don't anticipate
Don't analyze
Don't hold onto it

Apart from the obvious things like shrieks of distress (and my kids are ALL extremely dramatic[]), my advice is the same as Shanti's: treat every sound like your thoughts: don't judge; observe; let go. Stay with the mantra. Eventually it all turns into background music.

Akasha:

Nice thoughts... I meditated during a thunderstorm a couple of days ago. Intense, followed that night by a lot of very odd but extremely relevant dreams relating to my ishta... Needless to say I'm more confused than ever[]