Ask HN: Do you meditate?

Meditation (lucubration, introspection, "going into the silence", reverie, etc...) is a highly subjective and personal experience - the primary goal of which is to reach an expanded or better aligned state of being. Some will argue that you can meditate on many topics that aren't related to the Self, like, meditating on the meaning of the word "ease" or focusing on the void - I argue that because you are deliberately focusing your mind you are focusing the Self (no matter what the topic), so no matter what you choose to focus on you are focusing Self and the act of deliberate focus is the endogenous inspiration that evolves the being as a whole.

I generally meditate on something pleasing, or of good report; things that make me feel good, no matter what they are. Sometimes I'll do a no-mind meditation (focus on the void) and sometimes I'll do a psychic meditation in which I focus on the energy centers and "consoles" of my body (and mind) and fine-tune or tweak them.

I try to meditate everyday, sometimes I get too wrapped up in what I'm doing though and have to sit in silence or go on a nice walk for a few minutes to make up for it. Benefits have been many things. Clarity on personal issues, increased happiness, apperceptive awareness, sensitivity to what makes me feel good and what makes me feel bad (most people don't realize how critical this sensitivity is, if a thought doesn't feel good, it is not serving you). I attribute much of my personal success, character, intelligence, and awareness to my path through self-reflection, introspection, and meditation; it's an ongoing journey too.

My day, after meditating, is more productive and things just "go well" for me; my body and mind feel healthier and more vibrant than when I don't and my self-esteem seems to drop too when I don't meditate consistently (which hasn't been for a long time).

There are no energy requirements, if you do it right, you should feel an increase in energy, vitality, happiness, and clarity. Is it worth the time? Meditation comes first before physical sustenance for me - it is that important.

If you do try meditation, realize that it takes about a week of consistent practice before you start to fall into synch with yourself on it. The first few times you will sit there with your mind racing and your body antsy; after about a week it gets easier and you will feel relaxed through the whole thing. When starting out just stick with ten minutes per session, as you get further along, you will begin to feel an urge to stay in meditation each session even though the ten minutes is up - when you feel this urge stay in meditation until you feel the urge to come out of it. I generally do my meditations that way now, some will last two hours and some will only last ten minutes.

Also, there is no need to do it with your legs crossed, just sit in a comfy chair that supports your spine in as much of a vertical line as possible with no socks on and your feet firmly planted on the floor and with your hands resting on your thighs facing toward the sky. Meditation is best earliest in the morning when light is breaking, the energy is "newest born" in the morning, it is the freshest it will be (there's also no one awake early so it is less disturbing!).

If silent prayer counts as meditation, yes.

"What kind of meditation do you do?"

The mindfulness variety. I got started with it as a part of my explorations of ACT: (see http://thehappinesstrap.com/)

"How long/frequently?"

Most days, once or twice a day for about 1/2 hour at a time.

"What benefits have you experienced?"

I feel I am more aware of things in general and I do feel I struggle less with negative thoughts and emotions as I am learning to take a step back from them and see that they are just the output of an active mind.

My goal is a 20-minute sit in the morning and a 20-minute sit in the evening. The morning sit happens more frequently than the evening sit these days!

I do centering prayer, which is a very simple and receptive practice that involves the use of a sacred word to bring the mind to a state of concensual awareness. ("When thoughts arise, return ever so gently to the sacred word..")

The benefits have been many; some I was initially unaware of. I asked my wife once if she had seen any change, and she said I am not as angry a person as I once was. This was slightly off-putting initially, because I had had no idea that people viewed me as an angry person.

There appears to be developing body of science on the various effects of meditation. One is that the amygdala (a gland in the brain that is involved with fear, "fight or flight" reflexes, etc.) is calmed down.

The extent to which highly charged emotions and fears have shaped my thoughts, actions, and reactions has been substantially reduced. Instead of spending all day reacting tactically to short-term crises, I find it easier to calmly consider the big picture.

An example of this is in how I approach writing code (I am a software developer). There is a crisis-driven frame of mind, when I anxiously bang out a chunk of code in a hurry. Alternatively, there is a calm, aware, "outside of time" frame of mind, when I reflect on the cleanest, simplest, most gentle and easy-to-understand way to go about a piece of work. I am free to redo a piece of work a couple of times if needed to get it so that it really feels right.

Needless to say, returning to code written in the latter frame of mind is a much better experience than returning to code written in the former frame of mind! The former results in an accumulation of technical debt that begins to compound, and productivity, code correctness etc. eventually grind to a stand-still. The latter results in code that is a pleasure to return to, and generally moves the codebase incrementally in the direction of sanity, quality, and trustworthiness.

Keeping in the present moment, at all times. No matter what one is doing, whenever a thought arises, come back to the present moment, to awareness.

I also do this for a couple of hours daily while sitting on a chair or lying down, or sitting on a park bench, or walking in the park. But i try to keep it on all day.

Results: mind becomes quiet, i am no longer behaving and reacting based on conditioning and the past. The identification with the mind, and the mind-story is almost gone. Now there is an identification with the living force that is there in the present moment.

One can return to silent awareness by many means:

- focus on breathing for a few seconds

- remove thoughts of past and future

- see what is present when there are no thoughts

- still the mind and see what is present, or what is paying attention to the silence

- focus on feet while walking for a few steps

All these will sooner or later reveal what is always present and aware.