This is about my experience so far, so it could be a bit subjective. Still, I feel there are certain experiences common to most people when they sit down to meditate:
1) Thoughts, memories, emotions going here and there: This is the most common problem. We go off on a long train of thought, or suddenly we recreate some memory, or the memory itself could create some powerful emotion and overwhelm us. In such cases, I have found naming to be useful. Every time I label it, the intensity reduces, and the next time I can see the thing coming (whether thought or emotion) before it overpowers me. Not that it works all the time, but it DOES work.
2) Bodily posture:
Aches, pains, etc. I have found that changing posture every now and then helps. Being too strict on this matter seems counterproductive.
3) Boredom:
Even if we are able to deal with thoughts and emotions with the labeling method (or any other method), we are still left with the question as to how long we can sustain it. Boredom may set in. After watching your breath for a while, you may be wondering about what to do next because the whole thing may seem monotonous. What's the end game?
This last problem is something I am grappling with. I can observe the breath, fine. I can even sustain long periods of concentration, fine. But after a while, you wonder what the end game is. The final objective is nirvana, but as of now do we just meditate over and over even when there is no radical experience or things like that? Must we purposely try to create an experience like jhana just to avoid boredom?
Some insights on this would be helpful.
Thanks.
