Anyone Meditate?

Soma said:
It's normal for your mind to wander and lose focus. Perfectly ok. How often you get distracted isn't important. The important thing is to gently bring your focus back when you notice your mind wander.
Click to expand...

yeah i figure like anything it takes time and practice to get good at maintaining that focus and/or regaining it in a clam fashion. i dont think i was able to do that though lol
 
Deepok Chopra anyone? that fool is a fraud but his voice soothes me. Helped me fall asleep before
 
bunch garbage. hey sit around and do nothing. no, i don't feel like wasting my life.
 
Yeah Its taken care of my insomnia pretty well too.
 
I don't really "meditate" but I use a restorative yoga class as my "meditation".
 
Been meditating for about 7-8 years now, actually did a retreat at a Zen center this weekend. Technically youre supposed to meditate the entire time through everything you do, but it was about 16 hours of sitting meditation. Great experience.

A great book to start meditation is the Three Pillars of Zen.
 
Three things I'd recommend.

Headspace App, this helped me get going twice a day. It has achievements so it added a rewarding feeling to progress.

Joseph Goldstein - Big Mind meditation, this guy's voice is great, very slow and calming. Helps take the edge off of sharp sounds for me.

Vipassana Thinking Meditation on youtube, this one helps clear the visual and auditory backlog.

I found it best to find one technique i really enjoyed and keep going with it. Try a few out and find the one you click with most. ie. Focusing on the breath, noting thoughts, noting emotions, body sensations, sounds, being silent.

For benefits, I still stress the same amount but the length of time is much shorter that the stress affects me. I'm more aware of it and instead of stewing over something for days, I can get over it in a few hours(sooner if I meditate). It helps me see that there is distance between me and my problems and I can focus on meditating instead of stewing.
 
I became interested in it after reading Sam Harris' book on the matter and I was somewhat consistent with it for like a month or two but I haven't done much since. I probably will after I'm done with Sherdog for the night. Personally I find it hard to concentrate on my breathing. I find it easier to focus on my bodily sensation and sounds. The problem is those aren't as consistent and cyclical as the breathe but my mind wanders more easily when I focus on the breathe.

Its not technically meditation but there are similarities and crossover application in lucid dreaming, specifically the WILD technique which essentially starts out as something similar to meditation in that you remain completely still and focus on staying awake. I haven't had any success with it in terms of actually lucid dreaming but whenever I practice it I find myself to be much more relaxed. In fact I used it more as a solution for insomnia nowadays than a lucid dreaming technique in that the practice helps me go to sleep if I'm having trouble.
 
It has all sorts of measurable health benefits, they have done studies and the studies are not controversial. They basically all say the same thing

* lower blood pressure (not just during but afterwards)

* less stress (and things that come with stress, such as measurable level of cortisol)

* participants note a higher sense of well being and better mood

* better ability to think and concentrate, mind feels clearer

* increased ability to focus on tasks for longer periods with less after effects later

* increased general performance in sports

* some other stuff I forgot that you can and should google (I'm not doing it for you, that would be cheating you)
 
I want to ad:

In the beginning, like first few days, I felt irritable! The only thing different in my life was that I was meditating. I have read (on the interwebs) that this is completely normal. It has since went away.

Another thing, I have been using an app Insight Timer. It
 
What are you looking to do? Does this have a religious motivation or not? Zen is very different from Yogic style meditation in terms of practice and goals. Are you just looking to relax and increase mindfulness or are you looking to become more compassionate, etc?
 
Adyashanti's True Meditation is the best approach I've encountered in many years of meditating. It's faster, easier and more effective than the concentration approaches, IMO. Here's a link to the audiobook: https://vimeo.com/20767722
 
BearGrounds said:
I wouldn't worry too much about websites or techniques beyond the basics.

Here's a short article on mindfulness meditation that may help get you started, but meditation is largely a personal experience and you just have to get yourself involved; the rest will come with time.
Click to expand...

This needs to be echoed.
Nobody knows better than you; and that goes for everything in life.

You can try different methods, but don't get locked into thinking that you need to meditate a certain way. Just go with whatever feels right.

Things that work well for me:
Lying on my back in a dark room with a candle at my feet, watching the reflection of the flame on the ceiling while focusing on my breathing. I actually discovered this when I was younger by accident... or maybe it wasn't an accident.

Also, certain binaural beats work really well too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,980
Messages
55,459,054
Members
174,787
Latest member
Freddie556

Share this page

Back
Top