GR Krishna

Yes for sure in my opinion. That said, the part of meditation for me, someone generally not religious, and just sorta kinda spiritual, is the clearing of my mind. The mind races and it is so hard to shut off. Is mediation a learned practice? Can we be trained to shut down our minds?

Scott Kaplan

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unless you have nothing on your mind, it’s a learned practice ;)

Brittany

I consider myself agnostic and practice meditation several times a week. It's a developed skil like martial arts. No religion involved just a lot of practice.

TuRockShow

I am christian and pray, but I think if you are not a person that believes in a higher power you can def sit and meditate.  In Martial arts we always sit before and after training in meditation, some use it to meditate others to focus and or pray so yeah I would say absolute you can meditate in solitude.

Guys night Lab (Jesus)

I can't ever relax enough to actually meditate...but even if I could....I don't believe it has to be religious or spiritual.

Mary Beth Polk

Hey Scott, not sure if this helps answer your question, but there are many forms of meditation, some are mantra/chanting based (Vedic/Kundalini, Hindu, Trancendental, and Mahayana Buddhism), others forms are more focused on utilizing the rythyms of your breath (inhale and exhale), and others are more embodied meditations in the form of Yoga or Tai Chi. Thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations arise in all these forms, and in everyday life... Cultivating your mind body awareness through meditation is a lifetime endeavor in most of these traditions, regardless of your spiritual or religious orientation.  I recommend doing some research  and maybe find a class and/or a teacher who can provide you with some context and show you some good techniques. I am no expert on this topic, however for me, I utilize a focusing mechanism, like a mantra or my breath during sitting meditations and the repetitive rythyms of my bodily movements during exercise (running) to detach my mind from the variety of thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations that arise in order to return to the present moment, which is always fleeting and a challenging space to maintain. There is a friend and former student of mine named Sebastian Slovin who teaches mediation in SD and runs an organization called Nature Unplugged. You might also want to check them out as I believe he might still be based in Solana Beach.

Christopher Moreno

And how do you do? Can you shut down your mind?

Can you shut down your mind and really meditate? That's my prob!