Meditated wrong and now I have a stronger mind/stress than before how do I undo

[ItsBetterThanTV]

Like the whole time I was meditating and being aware I was also straining my mind hard and now a few days after I did this the straining of the mind and the stress it brings is still there and its making me less happy than normal/usual.

Ive reversed rather than progressed

Will it go away of its own accord or do I have to unwire it? What do you recommend I do?

[raushan]

Hi ItsBetterThanTV,

Cool name  . I think you might not be doing the meditation correctly. It seems you are forcing the concentration.
Where did you learn the meditation? How you are doing it?

If you stop doing what you are doing then strain should go away.

How will you unwire it? Do you know any technique?

On the home page of this forum you should find the meditation instruction that you can try if you want.

[Derrick1989]

That’s the first time I’ve heard of that. I just wonder what you were doing while meditating. Meditation is supposed to help you focus more but it should be done more effortlessly after the fact so you might be trying to hard during.

[mobius]

It sounds like you may be going through a similar thing that I did (at least in nature). Try to stop meditating entirely for at least a week and see what happens. Remember you can only go back to normal (The way you were before, for better or worse). You're not going to be 'stuck' this way; in any kind of bad state forever. 

When I began, for a while, I was 'straining' and the results were some good but mostly not good. And I had ill effects that lasted for a several days or so even after I stopped entirely. But eventually all went back to normal.

As raushan said; try the 'shamatha' meditation explained here on the forum. If you have to 'try' then you're doing it wrong. It cannot be forced. The goal is to become aware of what the mind is doing, not force the mind to do anything in particular (at least at this stage). If you're breathing, know you're breathing. If you become carried away in thought; know you're carried away in thought.
When I began (and still to this day) I often spend many sits just day dreaming most of the time, realizing then coming back to the breath, then day dreaming off again... I thought this was wrong at first but no; this is the point. Every time you realize you're carried away in thought and can come back to your object of meditation it's a mini-success of sorts. It has effects on your brain; in the long term anyway.
There's a lot more to it than that, read the page on Shamatha and listen to others for advice.

[stillpointdancer]

Relaxation meditation is the best way into meditation for a lot of people. Once the body is relaxed you can work on relaxing the mind and developing strategies for not worrying about ideas which keep popping into your head. The easiest way is to go on to try mindfulness of breathing where you gently bring the mind back under control when it starts to wander.

[ItsBetterThanTV]

It sounds like you may be going through a similar thing that I did (at least in nature). Try to stop meditating entirely for at least a week and see what happens. Remember you can only go back to normal (The way you were before, for better or worse). You're not going to be 'stuck' this way; in any kind of bad state forever. 

When I began, for a while, I was 'straining' and the results were some good but mostly not good. And I had ill effects that lasted for a several days or so even after I stopped entirely. But eventually all went back to normal.

As raushan said; try the 'shamatha' meditation explained here on the forum. If you have to 'try' then you're doing it wrong. It cannot be forced. The goal is to become aware of what the mind is doing, not force the mind to do anything in particular (at least at this stage). If you're breathing, know you're breathing. If you become carried away in thought; know you're carried away in thought.
When I began (and still to this day) I often spend many sits just day dreaming most of the time, realizing then coming back to the breath, then day dreaming off again... I thought this was wrong at first but no; this is the point. Every time you realize you're carried away in thought and can come back to your object of meditation it's a mini-success of sorts. It has effects on your brain; in the long term anyway.
There's a lot more to it than that, read the page on Shamatha and listen to others for advice.

Thankyou so much brother )))))))))))))))

Thanks everyone thanks bros!!!

[Thanisaro85]

Once the body is relaxed you can work on relaxing the mind and developing strategies for not worrying about ideas which keep popping into your head. The easiest way is to go on to try mindfulness of breathing where you gently bring the mind back under control when it starts to wander.

Hi, Stillpointdancer, thanks, there are key words here that help me fine tune my practise, sometimes we thought we are already on the track but it seems like something is lacking which slow down the progress. These are good tools to pick up along the way.

[Happy Sumo]

The purpose of meditation is letting go of everything, but it shouldn't be forced. When thoughts appear (and they will appear, this is just how our brains are) acknowledge them. Don't let them affect you, rather gently let them pass through and bring your mind back to the present moment. It is also beneficial to practice mindfulness through out your day in everything you do, not only while meditating. Whatever you do or wherever you are give your undivided attention.

Good luck

[philosotree]

I had a similar experience as a result of going to the Vipassana retreat and being forced to meditate 11 hours a day. Unfortunately, the teacher there provided nothing like the support you get from a forum like this.

After 3 years of a blissful meditation practice I suspended my practice because of the adverse mental affect the cult like retreat had on me and my complete detachment from reality.

Only now am I slowly dipping my toe back into my practice and starting to reconnect with it, just by taking it easy and trying not to get caught up in any transcendental experiences.

Forget the rhetoric bullsh*t that an institute touting and take things at your natural pace.