I’m making a better effort to meditate, but I don’t know if I’m doing it right. Focusing on my breathing and releasing thoughts is hard and if I relax too much, I fall asleep.
If you have related issues when meditating, have you found better ways to meditate or alternatives that give you similar results?
There’s a metaphor that I’ve heard that may help regarding meditation:
Distracting or intrusive thoughts are like crying babies: they aren’t inherently malicious, just in need and trying to get your attention. Trying to scorn or even ignore the crying baby will make it cry louder. Instead, “pick up” the crying baby (allow the intrusive thought to appear) and soothe gently until the crying stops (acknowledge without judgement until the thought drifts off on its own).
That can be part of the meditation, and good practice.
When I meditate, I often don’t need to do anything with the thought but acknowledge that it’s just a thought. It passes on its own if I don’t take the bait.