Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
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Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#2This is so true! And GC is a brilliant metaphor.
Typing this quickly since I'm on a deadline at work, but for those interested in getting started, I set up a quarterly "Meditation Challenge" online group to track progress and keep people motivated by having a group of people and a goal. Myself and people in /r/meditation run it, so it's not a corporate anything, just a public service.
You an add your email and it will notify you when the next challenge starts:
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#3Isn't this what sleep is for?
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#4This is so true! And GC is a brilliant metaphor. Typing this quickly since I'm on a deadline at work, but for those interested in getting started, I set up a quarterly "Meditation Challenge" online group to track progress and keep people motivated by having a group of people and a goal. Myself and people in /r/meditation run it, so it's not a corporate anything, just a public service. You an add your email and it wil…
Neat! I've been trying to get myself to meditate more often. Any ETA on when the next challenge will start?
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#5From my experience it is even more than this. I meditate 2 hours a day and it has had a profound, yet subtle, influence on my daily practical life. Things are just much better. It appears to me that when you make things better on the inside, there is a direct influence on the outside.
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#6Just a note - meditation can have negative side effects: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/the-dark-k...
This article, which has been submitted to HN before, investigates several severe reactions to meditation and the nonexistent research in, or even interest in researching, its downsides.
Having a negative reaction to meditation is not surprising, if you think about it. Deep introspection can lead to crippling mental states, depending on what you do or do not find. You may expect to find meaning and find none, or you may find something haunting from your past or within your psyche. Either can be a disaster for your personal well-being. I find it somewhat vapid to discuss meditation as simply an efficiency lifehack.
From the article:
> For Britton, this widespread assumption—that meditation exists only for stress reduction and labor productivity, "because that's what Americans value"—narrows the scope of the scientific lens. When the time comes to develop hypotheses around the effects of meditation, the only acceptable—and fundable—research questions are the ones that promise to deliver the answers we want to hear.
> ..."But," she cautions, "what about when meditation plays a role in creating an experience that then leads to a breakup, a psychotic break, or an inability to focus at work?"
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#7I use malloc and brk :-/
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#8Isn't this what sleep is for?
Literally speaking? [Yes.][0]
> "In a series of new studies on mice, her team discovered exactly that: When the mouse brain is sleeping or under anesthesia, it’s busy cleaning out the waste that accumulated while it was awake."
The NIH [also wrote about this in optimistic tones][1], if you're not a fan of mainstream science reporting.
[0]: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/opinion/sunday/goodnight-s...
[1]: http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/october2013/10282013clear...
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#9I don't really meditate, but one thing I've found helpful is to make it a point to not purposefully distract myself from mindful thought.
The truth is that we all have plenty of time for mindful thinking, even if we don't actually set aside time to sit with eyes closed in a "meditation" state. Think about how much time is spent just sitting on a train, or in line doing nothing. The instant impulse most of the time in these types of situations is to pull out your phone and distract yourself from thinking by looking at a web article, or playing a game.
I found that by reducing this habit in my life (not completely eliminated or else I wouldn't be commenting here) I had much more time for mindful thinking in my normal day to day life.
Another way to get started is to go on a long walk without headphones. Maybe even leave your phone at home. A year or so ago I was working through some shit and found it extremely helpful to take long walks on a trail that I loved with no electronics at all. That time spent free from distractions allowed me to develop introspection that was extremely useful and therapeutic.
Re: Meditation Is Garbage Collection for Your Mind
#10No it's not. It's strength training for your ability to direct your attention. Sleep is the garbage collection.