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Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

health.harvard.edu

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Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#181

Post by TACIXAT »

_mhr_ wrote: post #174
TACIXAT wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this for a while but got sick of withdrawal symptoms (my body seems to be hypersensitive in this regard), so I just stopped all together. Most recently cut out sugar. I feel so good now. I can't believe how many foods I was eating that had direct negative effects on my body.

You say "foods" - plural. Did you cut other things out besides sugar?

Yea, a ton. Turns out I'm celiac, so gluten was the first thing I cut (to solve digestion issues and sinus headaches). My nose cleared up significantly, but not totally. Years of eating gluten messed up my small intestine so I have digestive issues with high fructose food (HFCS and some fruit), so I cut out HFCS soda, that helped a lot. Next was caffeine to try to correct my sleep schedule, it helped and it also helped clear up my nose. I was still getting sinus headaches with all that and tracked it down to pepperonis in a gluten free pizza I was eating (from a dedicated restaurant), turns out it was sodium nitrite which is found in many deli meats and smoked foods. Most recently was sugar once I noticed withdrawal symptoms, sinus headache, vomiting, etc. when cutting it out. I was on and off it a few times, but the last time was a really brutal headache, so I just said no more.

I've given up and started again on all of these multiple times to confirm each one. My body seems to have a sensitive withdrawal reaction. I notice symptoms if I eat most of those foods too regularly and then mess up the schedule, and a bad reaction if I stop all together within a day or so. I'm super curious about it medically but don't really have time to work with a doctor and learn why all these foods cause similar reactions. I'll just chalk it up to celiac.

Given other people's stuffy noses and bad digestion, I believe a lot of people have foods that are no good for them. I highly recommend elimination diets. The less I eat, the better I feel. I discovered decongestants a year or two ago, which makes life a lot more bearable when I mess up and eat the wrong thing, but I don't want to rely on that stuff to feel normal when I could just not eat the garbage I was eating.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#182

Post by rpeden »

jeena wrote: post #162

Meh I don't buy it, the method of the study seems not very sound. I myself was on a 10 days meditation retreat http://www.sobhana.dhamma.org/ where we meditated for 16 hours a day or something and sure it helped with the mood, relaxation, etc. but it wore out after a couple of weeks and I never had the nerv to meditate daily because it was not worth it. Btw. my brother and sister attended it too and both say the same…

A quick question, because I'm genuinely curious: if you never did it daily, how do you know it wasn't worth it?

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#183

Post by ccarter84 »

vanderZwan wrote: post #79
origami777 wrote: post #13

I've been going through challenging times and have been confronted with somethings I've never had to deal with before. There are a couple of things that trigger anxiety in me on a daily basis now. I wake up in the middle of the night with little anxiety episodes. I'm unfocused at work because of what feels like underlying emotional issues. The only thing that's helped (I am trying to fix without medication) are the t…

Combine this with any form of endurance exercise to build red muscle for maximum benefits. It's been shown¹ that red muscle takes away kynurene, which is produced by stress, can enter the brain, and appears to be able to trigger depression and other mental health issues if it is at elevated levels for longer periods: > “Our initial research hypothesis was that trained muscle would produce a substance with beneficial…

Thanks for the post and pointer, had not come across any stuff on red muscle etc before!

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#184

Post by henriquemaia »

elcapitan wrote: post #51
not_an_account wrote: post #25

Mindfulness meditation is one of the pillars on which my life rests. If you have never done it before, realize that it's hard, especially if you fall anywhere on the ADHD spectrum, and it's just brutal for the first few weeks for anyone. As your brain becomes more still and your focus improves you'll notice your productivity improve. As the mental chatter drops you'll also notice the problems in your life, that you'v…

> I rarely talk about meditation in professional circles because, for one, people think it's weird No, it totally makes sense. Long walks in the woods or long runs are almost like meditation for me, and it is definitely like vacation for the mind. I just wonder where to get started with actual meditation - I have to admit I find the predominant literature about that topic extremely esoteric, and that's something that…

I have been attending online meditations through Meditation Online [1]. The approach is very secular and there's space for discussion, which also usually helps to get started and motivated.

[1] http://meditationonline.org/

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#185

Post by ccarter84 »

criddell wrote: post #107
snissn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you drink coffee? Try 100% cutting out caffeine!

If you love coffee and don't want to remove it from your life, try taking some L-Theanine with your morning cup of coffee. For me, it eliminates anxiety and jitters without tempering the cognitive benefits of coffee.

I got some theanine from a a bulk sit because it was cheap, but probably has a low portion of L-theanine vs D-theanine... may need to look into fixing that since the effects don't seem to be as good as when I tried Suntheanine...

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#186

Post by SomeStupidPoint »

i2rohan wrote: post #178
SomeStupidPoint wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just as a question, what makes long walks in the woods or long runs not "actual meditation"? I guess my question can also be phrased as, what do you think meditation is? I'd argue that meditation is more about approach and frame of mind than activity -- and there certainly are moving forms of meditation. There's also just a lot of kinds of meditation, from a lot of widely different traditions, so you're not going to…

When you are taking a walk in the woods, or running or doing anything of that sort, you are doing something . Not doing anything is meditation. And when I say not doing anything, I don't mean it nonchalantly, I mean it literally - not doing anything, including not thinking. Just being. It's very simple but not very easy. Meditation is the opposite of any action whatsoever.

That's a form of meditation, not the only form of meditation. Which was my point -- it's hard to say what meditation is, given the breadth of different traditions, and different styles within some traditions.

Of course, I think you should consider the concept that insisting meditation is sitting there doing nothing is making meditation about a specific action you undertake, rather than nothing, thus defeating the purpose of meditation in your own framework. And if you're okay with meditation being about one form of action -- sitting there -- why is it not okay for it to be about other forms of action?

I feel that your view is not internally consistent.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#187

Post by jeena »

rpeden wrote: post #182
jeena wrote: post #162

Meh I don't buy it, the method of the study seems not very sound. I myself was on a 10 days meditation retreat http://www.sobhana.dhamma.org/ where we meditated for 16 hours a day or something and sure it helped with the mood, relaxation, etc. but it wore out after a couple of weeks and I never had the nerv to meditate daily because it was not worth it. Btw. my brother and sister attended it too and both say the same…

A quick question, because I'm genuinely curious: if you never did it daily, how do you know it wasn't worth it?

I did it "daily" for 10 days very intensive, and the bliss or what you want to call it was there but not worth the hassle. But I also have a suspection that I'm the wrong person for that because my normal level of being is already very calm and relaxed. The only thing which can get to me if I don't sleep enough.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#188

Post by javajosh »

neves wrote: post #148
javajosh wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That falsely assumes that meditation's only effect is to make you emotionally more durable. One of the interesting effects is that when you become more durable, and able to endure, you're also able to make better decisions. You can "zoom out" and perceive options that were invisible before. Sometimes this means the often painful realization that you are the asshole, and need to change. But other times this means seei…

I'm fond of meditation. I just dispute the idea that in a world full of injustices, that meditation is the path to happiness. We need a bunch of extreme anger and indignation to change the world.

Neves, I'm not happy that your comment was down-voted. It's a commonly held view, and one I've held myself. It's a good comment because it's honest.

My personal experience is that anger is accompanied by a level of agitation that makes all action dangerous. If you manage to do the right thing, it is by accident. More often than not, you cause more damage. It's true that anger gives you a lot of energy to accomplish a goal; but it's one of life's sad ironies that it also causes you to fixate on a goal which a) might not be a good one, and b) brings with it a set of (bad) trade-offs.

That said, there may be situations where a jolt of any energy, including that from anger, is ultimately a good thing. E.g. a depressed person unable to do anything, who suddenly feels furious and throws a tantrum and runs away. Gonna be tough in the short-term, but if you're stuck in a rut any change can be a good thing.

Anyway, thanks for the comment and I hope you get more upvotes.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#189

Post by arkitaip »

zuzuleinen wrote: post #55
elcapitan wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I rarely talk about meditation in professional circles because, for one, people think it's weird No, it totally makes sense. Long walks in the woods or long runs are almost like meditation for me, and it is definitely like vacation for the mind. I just wonder where to get started with actual meditation - I have to admit I find the predominant literature about that topic extremely esoteric, and that's something that…

I recommend HeadSpace https://www.headspace.com/ . I think it's great that you start slowly and guided which is perfect for a beginner.

Can I just say how nice it is to watch an elevator pitch video without obnoxiously upbeat background music with ukuleles and what not. It makes the video more genuine and trustworthy.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#190

Post by steeef »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #166
zuzuleinen wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend HeadSpace https://www.headspace.com/ . I think it's great that you start slowly and guided which is perfect for a beginner.

Thirded. I've bought a few books and tried audio, youtube videos... Headspace is the only thing that's helped me keep a meditation schedule for more than a few months. I know some people don't like how much Andy speaks during the sessions, but I liked it a lot. It also helps with that "am I doing this right? Should I scratch that itch? What should I think about? Or not think about?" feeling that comes up, because he…

Andy's the best thing about Headspace. His voice is encouraging without being judgmental. Definitely one of the main reasons I decided to purchase a subscription.
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