Well I just finished my first session. I did not feel anything too out of the ordinary during the session. I continued to have thoughts and was aware that I was meditating, but tried to 'not care' and just let it flow, and the 15 minutes passed rather quickly. I looked at my timer once, and it had been almost exactly 15 minutes at that time.

I have never attempted meditation before. I assume that what I am striving for is to simply learn to concentrate on the syllable without worrying about other thoughts that creep into my mind, including the knowledge that I am meditating and the thoughts that follow that (Am I doing it right, do i feel different, etc). I'm looking forward to the sessions ahead and getting better at clearing away that awareness and getting closer to that state of 'being' that we are supposed to acheive during sessions.

I'd love to know if it sounds like I am on track and if my general ideas are accurate.

Greg,

Yes, it certainly sounds like you are practicing NSR correctly. It frequently happens that not much seems to happen at first. This is because the technique is so natural and balanced.

One thing, though, I am concerned that you used the word "concentrate". This usually means that we focus our attention on something. As you will learn in future lessons, we never concentrate on the syllable. We pick it up (or return to it, or let it continue) effortlessly. We never try to think it clearly. We take it as it comes.

Thanks for sharing your initial experiences. Please check back in a few weeks and let us know how it is going then.

David Spector
Natural Stress Relief/USA

Thanks David. Yes I thought the word 'concentrate' might bother you... I found myself conciously trying to get back to the mantra at times, but then would let go and 'not care' again. And when I was able to do that I felt as if I was on track. It seems to be an issue of training our minds, and I'm expecting that over time it will get easier.
I will update this thread with my progress in the coming weeks. I truly hope that this technique will stick with me and give me the results it has given others on this forum. I was very happy to find your product after learning of the ridiculous price of TM.