Another meditation question

[Sponge]

I apologize if this has already been asked, I have been reading actively for a couple of weeks now-but boy there's a lot to read and take in. So my question is this:

When I meditate, I set my timer for 15 minutes and I just focus on my breathing. I watch my chest rise and fall and concentrate on the breath flowing in and out of my nostrils. If my mind wonders I bring it back to breath. What I wanted to know was, how do you meditate upon something if you have a problem, or want to heal something, or someone (a friend had some devestating news yesterday) or set an intention? Do you have seperate sessions? One where you clear thought and focus on problem/solution/health etc? How can you clear thought and focus upon something too? I also wondered when do members on here generally set their intentions? During meditation? Straight after? Mornings? Any time/place?

Thank you, am keen to send a healing, loving prayer to my friend and that's what got me thinking.

One other thing, I have found that all my 'looking internally' is happening during the day not during meditation? Do others ecperience the same?

[ButterflyWoman]

Originally Posted by Sponge

What I wanted to know was, how do you meditate upon something if you have a problem, or want to heal something, or someone (a friend had some devestating news yesterday) or set an intention?

Once you get used to slipping into a trance state, you can start directing your perception to things other than your breath. For example, if you want to meditate on a specific problem, you can go into the trance and when you're there, gently call up the thing you want to meditate on.

This is a different kind of meditation than clearing the mind, obviously, but it's the same process, pretty much.

You can also try setting an intention prior to beginning the meditation, such as clearly intending to explore solution to some problem, or understand how to bring about healing or whatever you want to concentrate on. I use this most of the time when I want to focus on something specific, and it works well for me, but I'm quite an experienced meditator, so I don't know if comes easily to most people or not. Intention is generally a good way to get things done, though, I find.

Originally Posted by Sponge

I also wondered when do members on here generally set their intentions? During meditation? Straight after? Mornings? Any time/place?

Whenever it occurs to me to set it. I don't have any particular ritual. It's like deciding I'm going to do something or change something or try something new. It happens when it happens.

[Sponge]

Like!

[Clint Cora]

When I meditate, I'm not actively solving any issues or problems at the same time. Instead, meditation puts me on another level for some time period and when I come out of it, I feel more refreshed to tackle the issue or problem I want to solve.