91–100 of 238 posts
1. If any of your muscles are tensed, recognize it and untense them!
2. Purge all distracting thoughts. The easiest way to do this is imagine that you're unburdened by human concerns. Imagine that you're an immortal being floating through space, or sinking into the ocean, or floating on it.
I can actually vouch for this, but I discovered it independently for myself. I realized that the nights I couldn't fall asleep were nights my brain kept racing and thinking about different things. Kind of like a wikipedia rabbit hole where my mind keeps racing onto the next tangential thought. So I found a foolproof solution: Relax all my facial muscles and imagine an empty, black (literally #000) void in my mind's e…
I used to do something similar. These days I start planning my retirement. I imagine some deserted moon base orbiting a Saturn like planet orbiting a small red dwarf star ejected out of its galaxy into the void. No people, no chance of anybody or anything ever finding it. Trillions of years of quiet solitude before the star burns out. I've never gotten much farther than a few ideas into how it will all come together…
Usually when I suffer from an inability to sleep it's because my mind ends up focusing too hard on things that ground me to reality. Existential dread, worrying about work, thinking about technical problems etc. So often my technique to fall asleep has been to focus my mind on the fantastical. Stimulate my imagination a bit, like what if I was a dwarf in a fantasy universe. This tends to focus my thoughts inwards and…
I can actually vouch for this, but I discovered it independently for myself. I realized that the nights I couldn't fall asleep were nights my brain kept racing and thinking about different things. Kind of like a wikipedia rabbit hole where my mind keeps racing onto the next tangential thought. So I found a foolproof solution: Relax all my facial muscles and imagine an empty, black (literally #000) void in my mind's e…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It only works for me if I think of Vanta Black! Must try this though - my wife is often asleep in a minute or so while I take tens of minutes. I wonder how much using mobile devices in bed at night has affected sleep patterns.
Mobile devices- anything with a screen that emits blue wavelengths IIRC - are terrible for getting to sleep. I avoid mine except for turning my alarm on.
I've tried pretty much everything in the course of my lifelong insomnia, and still my nighttime mind racing is still consistent enough that it's literally my username across all my online apps ("rumination" plus my name). I've had some success with lavender drops right before bed, but I'll give this a shot too, because why not?
What has worked well for me is to deliberately focus my mind on simple, pleasant topics instead of negative, annoying ones. That time at work when I solved a difficult problem. Dream vacation plans. The great view at the end of a long hike.
I'm aware this may not be easy (or possible) for everyone to do.
Usually when I suffer from an inability to sleep it's because my mind ends up focusing too hard on things that ground me to reality. Existential dread, worrying about work, thinking about technical problems etc. So often my technique to fall asleep has been to focus my mind on the fantastical. Stimulate my imagination a bit, like what if I was a dwarf in a fantasy universe. This tends to focus my thoughts inwards and…
I can actually vouch for this, but I discovered it independently for myself. I realized that the nights I couldn't fall asleep were nights my brain kept racing and thinking about different things. Kind of like a wikipedia rabbit hole where my mind keeps racing onto the next tangential thought. So I found a foolproof solution: Relax all my facial muscles and imagine an empty, black (literally #000) void in my mind's e…
I used to do something similar. These days I start planning my retirement. I imagine some deserted moon base orbiting a Saturn like planet orbiting a small red dwarf star ejected out of its galaxy into the void. No people, no chance of anybody or anything ever finding it. Trillions of years of quiet solitude before the star burns out. I've never gotten much farther than a few ideas into how it will all come together…
Seriously, you'll retain heat better with a dark, matte finish on your dome, and you'll blind me less often. In any case, you might also want to reconsider your choice of moons, as yours seems a bit deep into the radiation belts. Out here we orbit much more slowly, peacefully, and we're far from the radiation.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't this a form of meditation? Stay still and focus your mind on nothingness
> Isn't this a form of meditation? Yes, it is a form of mindfulness. > Stay still and focus your mind on nothingness "Nothingness" is the most difficult way to meditate. Its often seen as the way one meditates by people who are ignorant about meditation and mindfulness. Generally, there is one focus point. This could be sounds, it could be breathing, it could be visualisations, it could be focusing on walking. It cou…
I like this :) I think of it as furious concentration on stillness.
Beginner meditators often think they're not cut out for meditation because their minds are full of noise during meditation. This is normal.
The usual progression is: observing thoughts to gain insight ("hey, I'm thinking lots of angry thoughts", "why do I keep thinking about my boss?"); then focusing on one thing only, an anchor, like breathing; finally, focusing on nothing.
For me, successfully focusing on nothing happens occasionally, and only a moment at a time.
I love the feeling though - it feels like the top of my head has come off and my brain's turned into hamburger meat.
I know this might not sound desirable :) But for me it felt like my mind was a clenched fist that finally relaxed.
This article is very poorly written regardless of how accurate its contents are. It seems to be based on suggestions, rumors (or rumour since it's UK based), and a 1981 book that very few have read. No actual sources and repeated use of the word secret. Trash.