Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

kottke.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 181 posts

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#31

Post by 83457 »

wiz21c wrote: post #12
skilled wrote: post #2

I was staying at a yoga retreat in Cambodia back in 2015. Meditation was done twice a day for 30+ minutes. I was familiar with meditation for a number of year's already, but a lot of the attendees were "first timers". Not every day, but on some days we would share our experiences with the group after the meditation was over. One of the women who had never meditated before, had the biggest smile on her face and goes,…

I don't get what you mean in this sentence : >> Try to hold focus on an imaginary object during meditation. Could you explain what kind of "action" it is (or non action, I don't known anything about meditation except for clichés) ?

I didn't really understand meditation other than thinking of it as some mystical thing or just relaxing until I read a simple description in I believe Waking Up by Sam Harris. In the past I always heard meditation as clearing your mind, and maybe for some that is possible, but in reality what is most common is focus on something repeating in your senses to stop thinking about other things. The most common one seems to be breath. Close your eyes, breath in slowly through your nose and feel the breath coming in... the tingle in your nose as they air comes in and "look" at that feeling, breath out and focus on the feeling of the air going out, repeat... focus your mind and really eyes on the feeling of each breath. By focusing on this feeling you are filling your mind with this thought and not leaving room for others. Another situation I have had success with was walking. Each step you take is a little different. If you are on a rocky/gravel trail this is even better. Focus of the feeling of your steps and each pressure point coming through your shoes and any other sensations for each step, visualize where on your foot each sensation is occurring. It is very relaxing.

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#32

Post by burke »

checker659 wrote: post #29
abyssin wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vipassana is advertised as a scientific method but I discovered it has more to do with a sect. I left after five days. I'm sure there's a lot to be gained from meditation, but I don't trust this organisation.

> has more to do with a sect Could you elaborate?

Probably talking about the Goenka retreats.

For what it’s worth, despite their implication, they don’t really have a monopoly on the technique.

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#33

Post by ak39 »

checker659 wrote: post #29
abyssin wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vipassana is advertised as a scientific method but I discovered it has more to do with a sect. I left after five days. I'm sure there's a lot to be gained from meditation, but I don't trust this organisation.

> has more to do with a sect Could you elaborate?

I took it to mean that it’s more akin to organized religion than it is to the isolated idea of meditation and its benefits. I could be wrong.

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#35

Post by skilled »

wiz21c wrote: post #12
skilled wrote: post #2

I was staying at a yoga retreat in Cambodia back in 2015. Meditation was done twice a day for 30+ minutes. I was familiar with meditation for a number of year's already, but a lot of the attendees were "first timers". Not every day, but on some days we would share our experiences with the group after the meditation was over. One of the women who had never meditated before, had the biggest smile on her face and goes,…

I don't get what you mean in this sentence : >> Try to hold focus on an imaginary object during meditation. Could you explain what kind of "action" it is (or non action, I don't known anything about meditation except for clichés) ?

In Yoga, it's called 'Drishti' -- a point of focus (typically something a good distance in front of you) while you move during poses, which helps to develop a deep meditative state.

The 'imaginary object' is something you imagine in front of your eyes whilst meditating. It can be anything, a candle or a colorful ball. The goal is to maintain full focus, which in return, develops a strong ability to concentrate.

It sounds easy on paper, but in practice is one of the hardest meditation techniques. The mind loves to wander and get lost in tiny little trains of thought. With practice, you can see how thoughts arise, but also how your eyes wander everywhere but on your chosen object.

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#37

Post by glibgil »

sage2018 wrote: post #34

I find the real benefits of meditation are evident when it is done consistently. Sadly, it is easy to stay consistent with checking phone several times a day than meditating few minutes a day. Any tips on how to make it a habit?

Discipline?

Less glib edit :) I should probably give you a tip. Say to yourself, “I am a meditator.” Now, imagine someone asking you “oh, when did you last meditate?” What kind of meditator are you? Are you one that can answer “I meditated today” or “I meditated yesterday and I’ll do it again today”? Or, will you answer, “I meditated last week” or “it’s been a slow month for meditation”?

If you can’t say “I’m a meditator” and mean it, then you should just stop thinking of yourself as one who meditates. You don’t practice meditation in any real sense. That’s the rules of discipline. You are what you do and you aren’t what you don’t

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#38

Post by gf263 »

Mo3 wrote: post #27
hedgew wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. This is dangerous advice. An intensive, torturous retreat away from friends and familiar places is one of the worst ways to start meditating. https://www.google.com/search?q=vipassana+psychosis

Can confirm from personal experience. Even a lot of vipassana meditation by itself can send you into psychotic states when you're not ready for all the insight yet. I came very close to psychosis once, experienced ego death, broke down mentally and had to spend 2 months in a depression ward. Cannot recommend.

Dark night of the soul? How long had you been meditating? Was it with a teacher?

Re: The Remarkable Brain Waves of High Level Meditators [video]

#39

Post by lettergram »

Interesting, a few friends and I attempted to launch a startup a few years back looking to improve meditation and focus using neurofeedback: http://synaptitude.me/

Even went so far as to launch a Kickstarter [1]. We had quite a bit of interest, but we didn't feel we had enough sign ups or people interested to take a risk (all of us having been offered jobs and having student debt).

The trouble, is most of these studies have too low of an N number and/or the equipment has trouble at the higher frequencies. That's actually part of why we were launching the startup. We had a way to do error correction for those frequencies and by providing value via applications, we could open a secondary market to do experiments with a larger N number.

IMO until something like this exists, I take most studies worth a grain of salt.

[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/synaptitude/thinksuite-...

Post reply on HN