So I wrote a super geeky meditation timer that predicts your mood and learns how long you should meditate:
Guru:Smart Meditation Timer https://appsto.re/us/ukUP-.i
How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
111–120 of 208 posts
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I need to get up way too early, get myself and my children dressed and fed, and commute to work. In the evening it's commute back, eat, get kids to bed, do chores, and then there's about two hours of free time / social things / time to interact with my wife. So about a quarter of available time. I would be a bit more relaxed, I know, it might have other benefits. But not enough, I think.
I feel the same. I have a 6 month old and 2 year old. I'm an only child and when I was young I had hour and hours (especially in school holidays) to sit, read, play on my computer and think. Now I have a couple of hours spare a day. I work for about 8.5 hrs and sometimes spend a bit of time in the even programming but mainly find time to exercise/see friends and wife/read or watch TV. It seems to improve as the child…
I'd say playing an instrument or walking both are nearly equivalent to meditation, because with the former you're clearing your mind and focusing on playing, and the latter you're clearing your mind as you expend energy walking while looking at and enjoying nature (or at least that's what walking does for me). They seem to have similar effects to when I have meditated (very infrequently, so YMMV) in the past.
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#113I like to meditate on the bus on my way into the office. I have noticed a significant increase in my ability to "get things done" when stressed as well as my ability to take in sights and sounds.
I highly encourage everyone to start meditating.
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you happen to have a good link to a jump-start article about meditation. I am in a sinilar situation as you, life is gray, anxiety problems, ... How should I start doing this today (and the next 4 weeks) without doing too much initial research?
I suggest you start with HeadSpace, it's an app with zero spirituality or religion, and IMO killer content (if I'm not mistaken, the voice of the videos is that of the founder himself, who used to be a monk). Most of the content you have to pay for, but it provides the first 10 lessons (for the first 10 days, although you can replay them as much as you want) for free, and I think they're a fantastic, easy way to get…
a happy lifetime headspace subscriber here! it's amazing!
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#115Just a small note, you don't have to do nothing to practice mindfulness, I do it all the time while driving, walking, or doing anything that I have on "autopilot". All you need to do is be non-reactive; when you experience something (including a spontaneous thought), stop your mind from automatically pulling up associated thoughts and memories.
I find it helpful to remember that the sentient fraction of matter in the universe is vanishingly small, so your ability to experience is truly a blessing. Mindfulness occurs almost by accident if you just focus on savouring your experiences.
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#116For those of you who consider meditation a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, I get it, for I felt (and sometimes still feel) the same way. But let me try to phrase meditation in the terms I understand it as. We often find ourselves in stressful or difficult situations, we are constantly bombarded by external worries, and we think it is difficult to deal with our problems. However, no matter how big external issues are, the way t…
> interpretations of the world are all in our head I don't think most people are stressed because of "interpretations" of the world rather than very real problems like paying the bills and terrible working conditions.
There's an old saying about not being able to change your wind, but being able to change your sales? It's like that.
Imagine you've got a bill due that you know you're not going to have money to pay no matter what you do. This is a significant amount of stress that you're going to be carrying with you over something you really don't have the power or situation to do anything about.
Hence: Change your sail. The consequences of missing that payment are insignificant in the long term, and dwelling on it is going to do you more mental damage than moving a number in a database down a few ticks.
Same with a horrible job. Even when you get time off, there's that sickening dread at the edge of your perception that soon, you'll have to go back. And it eats on you like nothing else.
Change how you think about it. You can dwell on it and be stressed out, or you can recognize that this, too, shall pass.
That sounds trite and blasé.. and it probably is, until you really internalize it, and realize that you ultimately have control over what you choose to dwell on.
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#117For those of you who consider meditation a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, I get it, for I felt (and sometimes still feel) the same way. But let me try to phrase meditation in the terms I understand it as. We often find ourselves in stressful or difficult situations, we are constantly bombarded by external worries, and we think it is difficult to deal with our problems. However, no matter how big external issues are, the way t…
I don't consider it mumbo-jumbo. But I feel it doesn't fit well with my Western mindset: it costs a lot of time, and is that really the best way to spend that time? I'd rather go out and walk, and think about problems I want to solve. Or use the time to get something done.
You might consider a moving meditation. You meditate, but while walking or running. Simple.
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#118I've had serious anxiety issues and meditation has been the only thing to help significantly. I've spent ~1.5 hours/day meditating for the past six months or so, and I've studied meditation literature pretty seriously for about the past year. At least in my case—and I think this isn't so unusual—there is a steep learning curve: for most people there's just not enough reason to stick with it. That said, at this point…
Do you happen to have a good link to a jump-start article about meditation. I am in a sinilar situation as you, life is gray, anxiety problems, ... How should I start doing this today (and the next 4 weeks) without doing too much initial research?
You could try http://calm.com, or the Calm app (disclosure: I work at Calm)
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#119to paraphase myself:
I mean sure, yeah, but...
https://hn.algolia.com/?query=changes%20brain&sort=byPopular....
so does walking in nature, poverty, cocaine, testosterone, inactivity, porn, drugs, focus, menstruation, Alzheimer's, cellphones, the Internet, The Knowledge, programming, football...
changing it's structure is how the brain reacts to basically any regular stimulus. Thats how it works.
Also n=35, t=3days seems insufficient to rule out any sort of confounding factors.
Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is this Zen proverb that goes like this: "You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day -- unless you're too busy. Then you should sit for an hour." While I don't think it's necessary to sit an hour every day, it does inspire me. In my experience, if you meditate every day for a few weeks/months, you will start feeling more 'grounded'. You'll be more calm in most situations. You will be chasing exte…
I know the proverb. Zen is a form of Buddhism. Buddhism is interesting and many of the things is says are wise, but ultimately it sees life as suffering and its aim is to reduce suffering. As interesting as it is, I come from a culture that is too different. No matter how futile it ultimately is, I want to _achieve things_. Being at peace with life feels good but is ultimately not enough.
How is being at peace not enough? Achievements are transient.