I liked calm.com's landing page back before they launched. I bought their iPhone app for $4 or $5 and it has different settings (raining, ocean, open field, etc.). It's nice and calming. I used to do the whole 10 minutes with my eyes closed thing at night, but sometimes the app or an equivalent YouTube meditation video can be soothing at work even when you're doing something else.
Poll: Do you meditate?
51–60 of 233 posts
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on the language you're using, I'm guessing you haven't actually meditated much for any length of time. If you're open to it, I'll bet you'd like Stephen Batchelor's Buddhism Without Beliefs.
"Buddhism without beliefs" is a bit oxymoronic, no? :) Any doctrine must start with some assumptions (i.e, beliefs). Perhaps the title means "Buddhism without the obviously wacko beliefs". That doesn't mean it excludes the more subtle ones. Plus, the full title includes "a guide to awakening". That last word comes with a lot of bundled metaphysical assumptions. Edit: It looks like a quick read, and it was a best sell…
Actually, I thought your writing was consistent with someone who's familiar with the doctrine, but lacks the direct experience. It's akin to confusing the menu with the meal.
I used to do exactly that (I read books on meditation for years before I finally started sitting in earnest). Somewhere on kuro5hin.org are some similar comments from my 11-years-younger self. :)
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meditation is often confused with meditatIVE activities. Sitting and trying to meditate doesn't mean you'll meditate, but meditation almost always requires you to sit still. When you're in meditation, you'll know - your mind will be in a different state (akin to sleep). Keep practicing :) it takes a while, but once you get it, I promise it's worth it.
Technically (within the yogic meditation tradition), 'concentration' is defined as 12 seconds of one-pointed thought, ie the mind is fixed in one place. This is considered 1 unit of concentration. 'Meditation' is considered 12 units of concentration, so 12 * 12 seconds which is 144 seconds. So technically, according to the definition of the old school meditators practicing 1000s of years ago, you are not really 'medi…
why is there so much pseudo-cultural baggage? seems a signifier that this enterprise has nothing to do with what it portends. people who are into this sub-culture need to check themselves.
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#54I try to meditate about twice a week, but I haven't been keeping it up lately, so I put once a month. I started because there was a thread here where people described the benefits. I was (and still am) very skeptical of the self-reported effects, since there's a strong possibility of placebo, but at the same time, I figured if all these people like it, it's worth a try. Maybe it's just a placebo, but it sounds like a…
I'm not a zen master or yogi, but I can promise you that if you try to measure the results of meditation (Am I feeling better yet? How about now?) you'll wind up chasing your own tail and giving up. Anyone promising wonderful results through meditation is very likely selling you something.
The effects of meditation are best compared to those of sleep. A good night's sleep doesn't make up for lousy sleeping habits the rest of the week. But getting enough sleep _regularly_ is key to being healthy, happy, and productive.
Ditto meditation. Trying it once in a while is likely as waste of time. But practicing it regularly (and getting better at it, which you will, with practice) can have positive effects, over time.
As an aside - Zen takes a good deal of commitment, but it's the least 'bullshity' of all the approaches to meditation/mindfulness I've encountered. Eight Gates of Zen is a great intro: http://www.mro.org/zmm/training/eightgates.php
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#55Yoga is essentially a 90 minute meditation. If you breath properly, anyway. So I guess I meditate 5 days/week.
I was thinking the same thing. I've done "formal" meditation, and since I've been doing Yoga, I find that it serves the same basic purpose. Plus, there's something both liberating and enhancing about using the physical challenge to focus the mind (and the mind to deal with the physical challenge).
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#56I start my day with meditation - It helps clarify the day for me. I started initially with 1 min of mediation then gradually increased it to 5mins.
I usually set the timer for 5 mins and once it goes off - it's a different me.
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#57The best way I've found to describe meditation is of giving yourself an opportunity to have no agenda; for 20 minutes a day you ignore the impulse to process every thought, memory, emotion or to plan or worry and just let it be. It's extremely liberating when you first experience the sense of control that comes with being able to let go, and you realize you've been spinning your mental wheels pretty much non-stop with no awareness. It's challenging at first - it's uncomfortable and anxiety provoking - and the benefits don't come for a few months, but I have noticed a marked improvement in my ability to regulate my mood and state of mind as I'm way more aware of the train of thoughts going through my head. Start with just 2 minutes per day and work up to 20 from there - it's worth it.
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#58I used to do 10mins of meditation a day when i got my internship. I used to look forward to it everyday and remember that time of my life as really great. Things were going well.
At some point, for some reason i stopped.
Recently I made a new friend who i've now known for about 6 months. He told me a little bit about his past, and a particular part of his life where he started doing visualising exercises each day and made around $80k in about 4 months or so. He's now a successful financial consultant. True story.
He had been reading "The Master Key System" by Charles F Hannel that prompted him to visualise each day.
I just started reading it recently, and try to meditate a few times a week. Nothing to report as yet.
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#59Average once a day, shooting for twice.
Grew up in disciplined martial arts.
Easy trick to get started is count from 100 to 0 then back to 100, if you screw up, start over. Your goal is to go 100-0-100 without getting distracted or messing up the counting. This will discipline your mind to focus on "nothing"– your eventual goal is to be able to think of nothing hear nothing feel nothing. Someday you'll just stop counting and you'll be thinking of nothing. I can't speak to what its good for if anything but I still do it. Good luck!
Re: Poll: Do you meditate?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being 'bored' is the best part - setting a time to do 'nothing' during the day. There's always something to do, something to see, someone to talk to, but there's rarely 'nothing' to do.
There is 'nothing' to do when I go to sleep. Isn't that enough, and the best time for it? Edit: Sorry, I do not wish to troll. You may wish to read the other post I made in this thread, where I question more elaborately the practice of meditation. My inquiry is genuine, I wish to have a critical discussion on the margin of the meditative practice.
There's nothing wrong with sleep, but meditation is a little different.
Think of it like this: say you're at work and have an important meeting in a few days. If you're anything like me, your mind will constantly return to it. You play out scenarios in your head about how it will go. If you're a natural pessimist, you can imagine all sorts of failure modes.
So let's say your normal response is to spend ten seconds of fantasy, in which time your heartbeat rises, stress hormones begin circulating in your blood, muscles clench. You may even mutter to yourself.
So then, you meditate. It's a bit like training yourself to spot when your mind wanders. Now you only drift into useless fantasies for five seconds before you catch it and bring yourself back to the present. Only half the hormones enter your blood. Your heart rate is lower. Your stress is less.
Anyway, that's one benefit I've found.
There are others, too. Many studies have found that the key to creativity lies in taking a break from work and letting the mind relax. Well, I often find I get my best ideas during a meditation session. Like all other ideas, I try to bring my mind back to the present and ignore them, but after the session, they're still there for me to use.
I could get into the spiritual side, too. You don't need to believe in a god to see that there's times when you feel more connected to other people and to nature. I don't know why, particularly, but meditation seems to make this happen more often. Speaking for myself only, it's a very pleasant feeling.