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

My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

danlawton.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 600 posts

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#31

Post by arcturus17 »

rolleiflex wrote: post #12

Since this is a long article, here’s a summary for fellow readers — it’s mostly about the negative side effects of meditation that the author believes is under-documented or under-reported due to the ‘hype’ of meditation as the 21st century cure-all. He talks about dissociative experiences (which is well documented in medical research), it being a pseudo-religion, and lastly, his belief that the extended use of medit…

Thanks for the summary.

Not the first time I hear about these negative side effects, but every time I’m reminded of the possibility I’m surprised.

It also reminds me however that my meditation practice is infinitely shallower than what people suffering negative consequences describe.

There was a time where I would practice very rigorously (for me at least) and all I can remember is that I felt more empathy and emotion but never in a bad sense. I remember getting tearful if I heard a story of human suffering, and I also remember getting quasi-orgasmic sensations with food. Never things like losing it at a traffic jam.

I wish I could recover the positives, but unfortunately I don't remember what my practice consisted of back in the day. Maybe I should go to a class or something.

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#32

Post by plutonorm »

I also experienced something similar. While meditating at work I experienced a state of profound bliss and extreme bodily sensations. What followed this was a disintegration where I dropped into an existential crisis that lasted for about a year. However during this time I faced a number of demons which I hadn’t been able to face up until that point. Now, about 5 years later I am in a good place and am ramping up my meditation practice once more.

Meditation is what it says on the tin, a way to uncover real truth. It’s powerful and dangerous. It’s a path for truth seekers, who are willing to pay whatever it takes to see what is truly there. For me its a blessing.

For most these experiences are ones of positive disintegration rather than negative. After the dark night of the soul has passed we find ourselves more fully integrated than before.

For many that’s not something they were after and in this way I agree with the article, meditation is being miss sold.

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#33

Post by mlang23 »

> This terrain was fresh. I had never previously experienced a psychotic episode and have no history of mental illness besides occasional bouts of mild anxiety and depression. ... > Why did I start meditating? The short answer is that in 2009 I started a fist fight in a French Quarter bar over some jambalaya, a steamy kiss, and a stray comment I didn’t take fondly. The evening ended hours later after I broke a window with my fist, misplaced my shirt, and guzzled about 16 bottles of Miller High Life.

YYMMV, but I feel the author is having problems they dont want to really accept. That is what the contradiction in the two quotes above indicates.

Aside from that, I couldn't help but think about people having access to too many psychedelics. For a while, tripping can give you the most profound experiences ever. But after a while, it sort of becomes mondane, and this is when the bad trip probability suddenly skyrockets. Or, put another way, even Siddhartha didn't find awakening in the samana practices. They were only the first step (of three) to reach his goal. You can overdo everything, even the very very nice things.

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#34

Post by rnd0 »

sgeorge96 wrote: post #16

Ffs just be normal.

Ok, fine. First define "normal", then answer the question of "normal according to who".

If it was just that simple, you wouldn't have entire industries (self help seminars, retreats, religious cults of all kinds, pop psychology, and so forth) built on looking for an alternative.

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#35

Post by golyi »

I believe a lot of people are doing meditation in a similar way as they would do a workout session and it simply doesn't work. It's supposed to be your time off and enjoyable. I've seen a lot of starters that are extremely focused on doing at least 30 mins a day, and it's just incredibly hard. Start small, start with whatever you're confortable with, it could be a minute for all it's worth and increase progressively but make sure that that minute is mindful.

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#36

Post by icybox »

mlang23 wrote: post #33

> This terrain was fresh. I had never previously experienced a psychotic episode and have no history of mental illness besides occasional bouts of mild anxiety and depression. ... > Why did I start meditating? The short answer is that in 2009 I started a fist fight in a French Quarter bar over some jambalaya, a steamy kiss, and a stray comment I didn’t take fondly. The evening ended hours later after I broke a window…

Alan Watts used to say "When you've received the message, hang up the phone."

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#38

Post by plutonorm »

adwn wrote: post #19
bserge wrote: post #11

Ah yes, the realizations of pointlessness of life, inevitability of death and the prison-like construct of our physical bodies for our actual minds. Don't need meditation to get there. But more importantly, you're supposed to keep going and find peace with it. Not stop and run away in terror. You have yet to succeed at awakening.

> Congrats, you failed awakening. This is needlessly dismissive and condescending. It's like saying "Congrats, you failed running a marathon" to someone who suffers an injury after 20 kilometers.

And yet it has a grain of truth. Which tickles me.

Re: My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown

#40

Post by dgb23 »

arcturus17 wrote: post #31
rolleiflex wrote: post #12

Since this is a long article, here’s a summary for fellow readers — it’s mostly about the negative side effects of meditation that the author believes is under-documented or under-reported due to the ‘hype’ of meditation as the 21st century cure-all. He talks about dissociative experiences (which is well documented in medical research), it being a pseudo-religion, and lastly, his belief that the extended use of medit…

Thanks for the summary. Not the first time I hear about these negative side effects, but every time I’m reminded of the possibility I’m surprised. It also reminds me however that my meditation practice is infinitely shallower than what people suffering negative consequences describe. There was a time where I would practice very rigorously (for me at least) and all I can remember is that I felt more empathy and emotio…

I personally had intense experiences pretty quickly but didn’t overdo it after. I (now) have a healthy respect of psychedelic experiences.

As another commenter said, don’t overdo things.

Edit: whether you get more intense experiences likely is some function of how stable and sensitive you are, what other experiences you already had and how much you meditate.

I imagine that very grounded people don’t get problems as quickly. That’s a good thing, not shallowness.

Post reply on HN