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Guided meditation for beginners

quietkit.com

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Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#51

Post by JamesBarney »

vSanjo wrote: post #50

A question, and one that probably shuns any kind of methodical thinking and science, but there's always talk about 'rewriting' or 'rewiring' the brain. Plasticity and all that stuff. Are there thoughts I -should- be thinking, patterns I -should- be training or ideas I -should- be following to maximise the positive changes meditation has the potential to bring?

Most of the day we are aware of our 5 senses. We notice new sounds, new sights, and new sensations. But many times we don't notice new thoughts, new emotions, and new feelings. We're blind to ourselves most of the the day.

When we practice mindfulness we practice listening, seeing, and feeling our thoughts. The whole point is to strengthen the awareness of our mind. Allowing us to notice changes to our inner world as we notice changes to our outer one.

The way we practice this is by focusing on our breath, and noticing when our mind wanders. I first thougt the important part of meditation was the focusing. It wasn't. It was the noticing. That's what we're training when we meditate. And that's the part that we're rewiring.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#52

Post by koliber »

noxplode wrote: post #33
mythrwy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this were true I'd expect to see yogis running the world. Instead, running the world are people who I suspect aren't much into meditation.

Why would yogis want to run the world?

I don't think the parent said he wanted yogis to run the world.

I believe he said that if yogis could really project their thoughts, it would be a super-power which would enable them to run the world.

The conclusion is that since they do not run the world, they likely do not possess such super-powers.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#54

Post by autocorr »

lappa wrote: post #38

Is it better to meditate with the sound of rain as provided with quietkit, or no sound at all?

If you happen to be a quiet place it will likely be easier to concentrate without the rain sounds. "Easier" in this sense is a bit relative, however. An environment with fewer external distractions will lead to a selection effect where you "catch" yourself more frequently and return back to the breath. Thus, you may feel like you're not concentrating well, since you "keep getting distracted." It's kind of like the Dunning-Kruger effect of the beginning meditation :)

On the other hand I find music and background conversations especially distracting and like to listen to pink-noise or other non-varying noise sounds to make concentrating easier.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#55

Post by ktRolster »

vSanjo wrote: post #50

A question, and one that probably shuns any kind of methodical thinking and science, but there's always talk about 'rewriting' or 'rewiring' the brain. Plasticity and all that stuff. Are there thoughts I -should- be thinking, patterns I -should- be training or ideas I -should- be following to maximise the positive changes meditation has the potential to bring?

1) clear your mind of the chatter

2) soon you might have euphoric experiences. Go past them

3) learn what enlightenment is. Head towards it

4) find other like-minded people to meditate with (at a Zen center, for example)

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#56

Post by mbrock »

Cozumel wrote: post #27
sharkweek wrote: post #23

I'm a full-blown a cynic, but after OCD and anxiety got the best of me, my therapist recommended I try meditation to both start and end my day, I've started to notice huge improvements. Can't recommend it enough. It's frustrating at first, the mind will just not stop wandering to worries every 10 seconds, but almost always on cue, the guided meditation would remind me "is you're mind wandering? no big deal, bring you…

When you've been doing it for a while your mind will be blank all the time, which sounds kind of bad but it's actually great, but the interesting thing is once you can control your own thoughts you'll start to realise that not all of them are yours. People are like radios and broadcast their thoughts, and you'll be picking them up without knowing it. You'll also be able to project them i.e influence people. Those pow…

This is religious proselytizing.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#57

Post by mbrock »

vSanjo wrote: post #50

A question, and one that probably shuns any kind of methodical thinking and science, but there's always talk about 'rewriting' or 'rewiring' the brain. Plasticity and all that stuff. Are there thoughts I -should- be thinking, patterns I -should- be training or ideas I -should- be following to maximise the positive changes meditation has the potential to bring?

You can do that. I don't know about the science but I suspect you could find some studies on "loving kindness" meditation, which is basically a Buddhist tradition of reinforcing nice emotions and thoughts.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#58

Post by AVTizzle »

JamesBarney wrote: post #51
vSanjo wrote: post #50

A question, and one that probably shuns any kind of methodical thinking and science, but there's always talk about 'rewriting' or 'rewiring' the brain. Plasticity and all that stuff. Are there thoughts I -should- be thinking, patterns I -should- be training or ideas I -should- be following to maximise the positive changes meditation has the potential to bring?

Most of the day we are aware of our 5 senses. We notice new sounds, new sights, and new sensations. But many times we don't notice new thoughts, new emotions, and new feelings. We're blind to ourselves most of the the day. When we practice mindfulness we practice listening, seeing, and feeling our thoughts. The whole point is to strengthen the awareness of our mind. Allowing us to notice changes to our inner world as…

^^ this.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#59

Post by markestefanos »

For those interested in learning more, The Mind Illuminated is by far the best book I've come across on the topic. It's an extremely systematic college level manual for learning how to meditate. The author has a PhD in physiology, has been meditating for 40 years, taught neuroscience for years, and speaks Pali and Sanskrit, so he's able to read and interpret the original Buddhist texts. These combined allow him to teach with a unique depth and precision.

Take a look at the Amazon reviews, and ask yourself if you've ever seen anything so highly rated: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-Integrati...

I hope you find it as valuable as I did :)

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#60

Post by CPLX »

chillwaves wrote: post #17
jupiter90000 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't do it as much now, though have consistently over long periods in the past. Some benefits I experienced (subjective): - Thoughts do not have a grip over how I act as often. - probably related, lower likelihood of compulsively doing things. - Feeling more collected and relaxed in traffic and 'stressful situations.' - More likely to be able to pay attention to who I am talking with, what I am doing, etc, right now…

> - Start of realization that who I am is not the internal dialog and procession of thoughts. This one is hard to explain. I think I am certain things due to my thoughts; that's just my thoughts though. This one for me is huge. You are not your thoughts. Took a really long time to understand.. it's almost like I am two people, the one who is thinking and the one who observes the thinking. Helps me distance my emotion…

If you have not seen it already, you may find the concept of the bicameral mind an interesting read.
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