This reminds me of an article shared here on the value of doing nothing.
How does walking around with a clear head compared to meditation practically speaking?
The Impact of Meditating Every Day
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Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#72I've tried in the past, but I wonder: how do you know if you've successfully meditated or not?
Compare it to going for a walk. How do you know if you've gone for a walk successfully?
Did you walk a mile or ten?
Did you walk slowly or quickly?
Did you stumble or stride firmly?
Whatever happened, you went for walk.
Meditation is just as simple. Sit and focus on your breath. That's really all there is too it.
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been interested in learning more about meditating and Raja yoga meditation specifically. I hesitate to read the book in parent as it seems that Buddhist meditation is focused on love, compassion, empathy or some kind of goal. I don't think the positive emphasis of Buddhism is bad. Rather I've been more interested in "abstraction of the mind" and the general non-religious approach of raja yoga. (I am sorry if the…
I recommend the book "Inner Engineering". The book is written by a man that goes by the name Sadhguru. He's spent the last 30 or so year spreading classical yoga around the world. He founded the Isha Foundation. They initiate people into classical yogic practices that involve asanas, kriyas, and different types of meditation. The movement has grown a lot of steam in recent years. Recently Sadhguru initiated 5000 peop…
Second this. I've never binge watched anything on Youtube like Sadhguru videos. You can search for "Sadhguru " and he has a take on it that brings you deeper than the one dimensional way you were thinking about it in the first place.
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you need studies ? It's not like trying to introduce a new medication on the market. If I like knitting 30 mins a day and I feel relaxed after that I'm not going to wait for a study to tell me it's actually making me feel better or not.
The counter argument would be- just because you enjoy knitting 30 minutes a day and it relaxes you, does that mean it will work the same for anyone/everyone else? If there was a study that empirically proved knitting for 30 days made you happier, then it would be a lot easier for people to say "OK, I'll take the time to learn how to do this and do it for X amount of the day". Given that I still see your point. No rea…
Why do you need studies to give you permission to do something?
Particularly when science is facing a crisis of reproducibility, I would not put so much emphasis on them. It’s really no different than the religious dogma of previous centuries, where scientists act as priests, and scientific studies as scripture.
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you need studies ? It's not like trying to introduce a new medication on the market. If I like knitting 30 mins a day and I feel relaxed after that I'm not going to wait for a study to tell me it's actually making me feel better or not.
Because it may be harmful. See for example the idea of giving people involved in road traffic accidents a bit of psychological therapy afterwards. That seems like it'd help, and most people would say that it can't hurt, but when you look at the people 3 years later we see the group randomised to talking therapy have worse outcomes than the group randomised to no talking therapy. (I'll try to find a reference). Here's…
Which may only generalize to a specific group of people, in a specific country, at a specific period of time. All subject to change when we tweak a couple of variables.
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#76I began meditating every day after I wake up four years ago and it has been the most beneficial change I ever introduced into my life, quitting cannabis securing a stable second place. I began with five min and worked my way up to 15. Now I have an iOS shortcut “hey Siri, start meditation” which sets a timer randomly between 15 and 20 min to counteract the body clock expectation of a fixed duration.
You mentioned quitting cannabis. If you don't mind elaborating, I'm curious what benefits you have experienced and why you ended up quitting. Thanks!
Ex cannabis user here, so I thought I'd give you my empirical perspective & and opinion.
I will tell you what I would tell my own child:
Cannabis, like any recreational drug, steals the most precious resource we have: our time. I've been on benders in my life that I simply can not remember what I did during that period, sure, but that's not what I'm talking about.
What I am talking about is the time any person needs to become a well adjusted, functioning adult. When you are taking a recreational drug, you are not dealing with life, you are on a 'get away'.
Life is the best teacher and recreational drugs are how you forfeit that precious, amazing, education.
You don't have to go far to see this in action. Think of someone who is a habitual drug user and ask yourself 'are they emotionally mature?'. They aren't. They are taking an escape. Recreational drugs are antithetical to emotional growth.
This type of behavior is ESPECIALLY harmful if you are taking recreational drugs early in life. It simply puts you behind.
I wasted 20 years of my life 'partying' even on a casual basis. Time slips away and being high puts time on a damn bullet train.
I heard recently that the fastest way for an addict to relapse is a windfall of money. Money doesn't help them get out of their situation because money is hard to manage, particularly if you are emotionally immature.
tl/dr: Recreational drugs make you immature which will prevent you from going very far in life.
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
how do you find the time - sorry for asking personal questions but do you work full time, what about kids stuff? I try but unable to consistently commit more than 20 min on an off.
I work part time. I work in a small company that is very accommodating. It seems relatively common that people who work full time can do 2 hours if that's really what they want to do. You cut down other activities, like watching Netflix etc.
Thanks, hope to get inspired by you and progress with practice.
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been interested in learning more about meditating and Raja yoga meditation specifically. I hesitate to read the book in parent as it seems that Buddhist meditation is focused on love, compassion, empathy or some kind of goal. I don't think the positive emphasis of Buddhism is bad. Rather I've been more interested in "abstraction of the mind" and the general non-religious approach of raja yoga. (I am sorry if the…
Not related to Yoga, but I'm currently reading "The Mindful Geek" [1]: The Mindful Geek details how to derive the benefits of mindfulness meditation without having to join a religion or drink metaphysical Kool-Aid. I've recently started meditating myself using the Headspace app. It's still pretty early for me to say I've seen any benefits though. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/26261124-the-mindful-...
I’m so confused about why you’d lift spiritual exercises from a tradition you’re so wary of that you compare the propagation of its metaphysics to the Jonestown massacre
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#79I have been meditating 20 years now (zazen). I do 2-4 hours a day. Several 7 day retreats per year. My starting motivation was philosophical and academic interest. I was curious how it affects the mind. Then I did it because it seemed so hard to do, mind seemed like a buggy device I had no control over. I also had self improvement goals at some point. And feeling balanced is a good feeling. But there is no way I can…
> I do 2-4 hours a day. Just reading this gave me anxiety.
What is this anxiety? Does it come from the fear of non-existence? I will be dead some day, and I surely don't want to spend my limited existence staring into the void. Gotta keep moving!
Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day
#80I had always had some kind of anxiety or ocd for as long as I can remember. I'd searched for various ways to deal with it but only discovering meditation really worked for me. After meditating for 6 months every day (starting with 5 minutes daily, ending with 20-30) I've completely got rid of it. A nice side effect was that I got to be a happier person overall (though that wasn't ever a problem for me), and learned t…
Would you recommend an app like Calm or Headspace to get started with meditation?
Yes, I’d recommend Headspace, to start. It makes it EASY, and really breaks down the technique in simple parts! I was arrogant before that and thought I don’t need a “guided” meditation, but I was wrong. I’ve also been using Waking up recently, though that definitely has a steper learning curve. Headspace is like a “elementary school” while waking up is “middle school” in terms of difficulty. I don’t think I would have been able to form a lasting habit had I started with Waking up. Headspace is so well curated. Today I use both- one session per day each.
I haven’t tried Calm and have no opinion it.