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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

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/

The biggest hurdle is the preconceptions we have about meditation, and the cultural image we carry.

People will try to "be calm", "be zen", they will attempt to "empty their mind". They will look for something special. They will not understand the implications of frustration, impatience, discomfort...

It's very hard by yourself because you bring with you a lot of ideas from a world that doesn't meditate, but certainly has a lot of things they want to claim about meditation no matter how little experience with it they have.

And you won't know when you got in a direction that will not work for you

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

#102
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Spoiler Alert] Subnautica is amazing! I remember the first time I discovered the huge turtle whales - it was such a surreal feeling. The world design of the game does such a good job of offering a guided exploration that feels completely natural. The contours of Subnautica's world guide you into specific areas and every area has something new to offer - it truly feels like exploring another planet. Moreover, the sen…

"Unfortunately, I stopped playing when progressing became too dependent on farming and building" Same for me. The micromanagement of storing stuff needed for new things to build and organizing it all put me off.

There are mods that fix this by allowing you to build things using resources from nearby containers automatically, among other quality of life tweaks. I really wish I had known about them before I finished the game as the endgame would have been a lot better. I probably would have explored more of the base building part of the game.

Still an incredible game.

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

#103
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Unfortunately, I stopped playing when progressing became too dependent on farming and building" Same for me. The micromanagement of storing stuff needed for new things to build and organizing it all put me off.

There are mods that fix this by allowing you to build things using resources from nearby containers automatically, among other quality of life tweaks. I really wish I had known about them before I finished the game as the endgame would have been a lot better. I probably would have explored more of the base building part of the game. Still an incredible game.

Oh. I also should have checked for that. Thanks, I will probably give it a second try then.

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

#104
post #70

Say that someone was measuring their own brain data at home using an EEG headset. What DIY/low-cost clinical solution might be able to provide biomarkers (AKA data that you've timestamp-synced to brain data to help a multimodal model) for breath rate/depth? Anyone familiar with the research or relevant companies, or have a wacky MacGyver proposal to get it done on the cheap? My first guesses: 1. Wearing a sticker on…

For what purpose? If you just want to know your respiratory rate, respiration belts are simple and very effective. You should be able to MacGyver your own with limited electronics skills: https://www.instructables.com/Quick-and-dirty-Respiration-Se....

> To what extent is a microphone in your glasses + footage of your chest rising and falling enough?

I'm sure a skilled computer vision engineer could make this work, but I'd argue it's the wrong approach. Lasers might work as well, but I think your best bet is radar. I know there are companies making doppler radar-based systems for tracking respiratory rate. Can't dig for them at the moment but here's an article about the method: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10172641/.

By the way, heart-rate variability correlates strongly with respiratory rate. As far as I understand, this is because inhalation raises your blood pressure which increases your heart rate. Using a pulse oxymeter, you should be able to extract respiratory rate from the raw PPG data. Should be effective if you're otherwise healthy and reasonably young. HRV decreases with age and illness. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34024811/

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

#105
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…

Love how well you articulate these notions. They are truly valid for most of us. It also means you're doing it right. The point then is to stay with the practice until you can stop fighting the notion of boredom and instead be "friends" with it. Just be fine with the boredom. Learn to relax in it. Hope you'll try it again.

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

#106
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…

As someone who taught meditation, this is very common. It’s kind of being like addicted to action (to put it bluntly , sorry for that)

Boredom is just one perspective of the mind. For you it might be more beneficial to approach meditation in other ways before sitting still or lie down. For example : when I do indoor climbing I almost get into this meditative state where only the next step matters. Some friends report surfing does this for them.

Observation is the key word, or experience of mind as it goes through different processes (say boredom, sleep, happiness, concentration, building something)

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

#109
post #16
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.

Yeah I feel you. I meditate but I'm so allergic to anybody telling me anything. Like, I know you have good intentions, but why this call to action? Just state the benefits you get and let me make up my mind whether I want to do it or not.

In my case, I was advised by my cardiologist because of high blood pressure. He said in my case he sees significant correlation with stress so anything that helps me to lower my stress levels will also help me to lower the dose of medication. It works very well for me, but I have no idea if it worked for anyone else. Moreover, I also do it while walking outside, with even better results (like 15-20mm Hg difference before/after).

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

#110
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The world design of the game does such a good job of offering a guided exploration that feels completely natural. I must have been too dense to figure this game out. I gave it like 4-5 hours and couldn’t establish a sense of “ok this is the next goal” sense.

The first rule of Subnautica: if in doubt, go deeper :). But yeah, I remember there were a few moments I wasn't exactly sure what I'm supposed to be doing; fortunately, the world was interesting enough to explore that I ended up stumbling on "next steps" at random. Probably as intended - the game doesn't really force you into taking a specific path horizontally; the vertical axis provides a natural progression path.…

except if You're in the void just outside the main continent
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