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What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

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Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#91

Post by an_aparallel »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #17

Computers are like these magic devices to get us into potentially a fight or flight response with zero physical danger. People’s heart rates rise when they get an email from work. I can’t imagine its good for the health, mating these mental responses that are designed to go along with a physical response with just sedentary behavior instead. And doing it every day all your working life no less. What does this mean in…

Email apnea - was an article linked here a while ago. It's a big problem - the ridiculousness of the proposition makes it most likely less talked about...

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#92

Post by kstenerud »

ilc wrote: post #63
egypturnash wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. sit down somewhere, a relatively quiet and dark place is nice but you can do it wherever, maybe set a timer, maybe don't 2. close your eyes, pay attention to your breath 3. when thoughts appear in your mind, note them but attempt to keep your attention on your breath, not on your thoughts 4. when you notice that your thoughts have wandered away from your breath, congratulate yourself for noticing this, and go back…

Back when I used "The Relaxation Response" I believe. Taught myself in 7th grade. - Go some place with no distractions. - Lay down, and let your muscles go limp. - Close your eyes, and just focus on your breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth, nice and slowly. I'd often hold at full breath for a few seconds just to let everything settle.. this is not a hurry. - Focus on relaxing your toes, then your feet,…

That seems to be what all the meditation people say. I've done it many times, and it goes like this:

Ok, lie down. Relax muscles, sinking down, good breathe...

Bored.

Bored bored bored OMG this is so boring!

Breathe, breathe, try not to think of how boring this is!

Bored bored bored oh a bird is chirping. Chirp chirp chirp and gone.

Bored bored bored bored bored holy shit when does this end?

My fingers are flicking now. Bored bored bored bored fuck it I'm done. Waste of an hour.

My friend: wasn't that awesome?

Uhh.. let's just go build something.

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#93

Post by DaoVeles »

Retric wrote: post #46
egypturnash wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. sit down somewhere, a relatively quiet and dark place is nice but you can do it wherever, maybe set a timer, maybe don't 2. close your eyes, pay attention to your breath 3. when thoughts appear in your mind, note them but attempt to keep your attention on your breath, not on your thoughts 4. when you notice that your thoughts have wandered away from your breath, congratulate yourself for noticing this, and go back…

That’s a solid introduction to the most well know type of meditation but the specifics can vary quite a bit and people disagree on the specifics. Many groups consider meditation in a religious context though that’s far from universal. There’s also many ideas around what you should be doing while meditating from simply being in the moment to reflective thoughts. Still meditation is basically get enough sleep then get…

Some see meditation as a means of contemplation, in that you focus on a single topic to focus on while sitting. Please consult you local Buddhist/Zen temple for a Dharma talk or Koan as an example.

But others feel that can be restrictive in that it doesn't go into a deeper state. But that goes to the whole truth of zen and the misleading of the student and the one thinking they need to be there - it gets complicated.

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#94

Post by DaoVeles »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #84
zero0529 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do I get started meditating? Any sources or books?

I would advise to not start on your own and seek a teacher. A book is not a great medium to learn it.

While self taught can work for some people, for most it does not work out. A big thing on self meditation is that it means you do not have a mediator/moderator.

Possibility of ending up on the path to 'Zen-sickness'

https://tricycle.org/magazine/meditation-sickness/

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#95

Post by arghnoname »

anon-3988 wrote: post #76
newzisforsukas wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO, some people who meditate seem to put on an air of superiority about what they experience, as if they assume others don't have these experiences. Then they go on to blanket it with Oops! I forgot I don't do this! I am so mindful of myself! I am free of judgement!

You can say the same thing about a person that exercises and take care of their physical body. They always inject a sense of superiority when they talk about how much more energy they have etc. Well...what if they are indeed superior?

I've been sedentary and am now pretty active. Without a shadow of a doubt, my quality of life, mental clarity, energy, etc, are all improved relative to my past. Physical fitness is only one axis, and compared to actual athletes I'm a total turd. I only compete against myself and we all have our limitations, but yes, if you improve your fitness along one pretty significant axis, you are superior (all else being equal).

It's important to remember that all else is _not_ equal though. The totality of a human being can't be measured by any one form of aptitude, but most people would be better versions of themselves if they read more, exercised more, had better diet, were more introspective, engaged in some 'spiritual' practice that reinforced humility and charity, etc.

Someone who meditates is probably better than me on that particular axes. I don't seem to have an aptitude or patience for it, at least not yet. Maybe that means I need it all the more. Maybe some day...

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#96

Post by arghnoname »

baxtr wrote: post #16
skilled wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So learn it. It is one of life’s greatest secrets. What the original commenter said is correct, meditation helps you see how thoughts arise in the moment , and with practice you can get to a point where there is very little noise and instead you have a broader view of ideas and your life in general. It is also calming, for your entire system. Learning to monitor and control your breathing consciously is a serious men…

Part of me is resisting because people like you push others to do it. I’m somewhat allergic to that kind of evangelism. Imagine I told you to go to the gym 3x a week or wake up daily at 4:30am. How would you react? It’s a shame since I might even enjoy mediating. Maybe I try it one day.

I know what you mean. I have a bit of a contrary streak I have to be mindful of that sometimes makes me be less receptive to certain things than I should be.

Meditation and yoga are two practices that I've never managed to make myself try earnestly because of the aesthetics, evangelism, and just a hesitance towards anything that has an air of 'spirituality' that a lot of western practitioners tend to employ.

I don't have a problem doing 'mobility work' and stretching and various exercises to make myself less injury prone, but yoga somehow is just beyond the pale. Our preconceptions are almost even weirder when we're consciously aware that they're probably silly, but abide by them anyway.

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#97

Post by arghnoname »

kstenerud wrote: post #92
ilc wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when I used "The Relaxation Response" I believe. Taught myself in 7th grade. - Go some place with no distractions. - Lay down, and let your muscles go limp. - Close your eyes, and just focus on your breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth, nice and slowly. I'd often hold at full breath for a few seconds just to let everything settle.. this is not a hurry. - Focus on relaxing your toes, then your feet,…

That seems to be what all the meditation people say. I've done it many times, and it goes like this: Ok, lie down. Relax muscles, sinking down, good breathe... Bored. Bored bored bored OMG this is so boring! Breathe, breathe, try not to think of how boring this is! Bored bored bored oh a bird is chirping. Chirp chirp chirp and gone. Bored bored bored bored bored holy shit when does this end? My fingers are flicking n…

I know, right? You've tried harder than me. I don't think I've tried more than a few times and probably didn't crack 15 minutes! I can clear my thoughts of everything except how bored I am and how long a minute feels with this level of boredom.

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#98

Post by actionfromafar »

arghnoname wrote: post #96
baxtr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of me is resisting because people like you push others to do it. I’m somewhat allergic to that kind of evangelism. Imagine I told you to go to the gym 3x a week or wake up daily at 4:30am. How would you react? It’s a shame since I might even enjoy mediating. Maybe I try it one day.

I know what you mean. I have a bit of a contrary streak I have to be mindful of that sometimes makes me be less receptive to certain things than I should be. Meditation and yoga are two practices that I've never managed to make myself try earnestly because of the aesthetics, evangelism, and just a hesitance towards anything that has an air of 'spirituality' that a lot of western practitioners tend to employ. I don't…

I think yoga will always have the spiritual tinge for some people because it among physical exercises disproportionately alters the state of mind.

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#99

Post by discreteevent »

egypturnash wrote: post #36
zero0529 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do I get started meditating? Any sources or books?

1. sit down somewhere, a relatively quiet and dark place is nice but you can do it wherever, maybe set a timer, maybe don't 2. close your eyes, pay attention to your breath 3. when thoughts appear in your mind, note them but attempt to keep your attention on your breath, not on your thoughts 4. when you notice that your thoughts have wandered away from your breath, congratulate yourself for noticing this, and go back…

Some people might find closing their eyes and focusing on breathing to be a bit intense. In that case you could try:

2. Relax and just be in the room.

4. When you notice that your thoughts have wandered congratulate yourself for noticing this and come back to the room.

Re: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, scroll

#100

Post by cph123 »

jaypeejay wrote: post #25
junto wrote: post #23

Does anyone track their stress levels whilst programming? Anecdotally and non-scientifically I’ve noticed that my health (stress related illness) has vastly reduced since moving from being a staff engineer to engineering management. It’s not that I’m less stressed but the stress is a different pattern. Whilst programming I noticed that my day was a series of spikes of frustration and stress and then a severe drop off…

Interesting. Anecdotally agree. I’ve been trying to improve my mindset when coding. I find myself worrying about solving the problem correctly, and I’m trying to change that so my focus is more on slow, correct practice. Easier said than done, but the idea is that it will be less stressful and reduce the frustration peaks you mentioned

This is something I have been thinking about a lot since moving from programming into management. Some sort of device to measure the data on this would be really interesting, if only just to see that other people in the same position experience the same thing.
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