Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Do you meditate?

news.ycombinator.com

11–17 of 17 posts

Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate?

#11
I meditate a couple of times a day, as needed, for about thirty minutes.

I generally use it as a refocusing process. Whenever I feel discouraged, overwhelmed, apathetic, or like my head will explode if I can't get this button to render properly in Firefox, I stop, sit in my Big Comfy Chair, and focus on breathing. Usually I count to a certain number with each inhalation and backwards to zero with each exhalation. Sometimes I focus my mind's eye (and other mental senses) on a simple object like a piece of modeling clay or a pebble. Often I do both by visualizing varying quantities of an object (one pebble, two pebbles, three pebbles…). I used to listen to music (something in the vein of either Bach or Tangerine Dream), but now I just absorb the ambient noise.

Usually, after twenty or thirty minutes, the irritant is no longer an irritant, and I'm eager to resume my work. Once in a while, an idea or a solution to a problem will surface. (Maybe this is because the din of compulsive thought drowns out subconscious thought.)

And even though it's not technically meditation, I have found mindfulness — or at least not staring at a glowing rectangle every second — to be helpful. Instead of compulsively pulling out my phone when I'm waiting for someone, I attend to my surroundings. Instead of listening to podcasts when I walk, I listen to the traffic. Instead of ploughing through RSS feeds when I eat lunch, I enjoy the food — or maybe even speak to another human. Basically, less doing and more being. The irony is that the less information I engorge, the less guilt I felt that I'm missing something.

So it is absolutely worth it. Especially if you make concomitant changes to your habits to reduce digital ADD.

Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate?

#12
Yes, 30 minutes in the morning, and 30 minutes in the evening. I started off doing mindfulness meditation, using 'Mindfulness in Plain English' as a guide. I now do a type of Buddhist meditation called 'placement meditation' which entails generating a specific state of mind and using that as the object of meditation, as opposed to the sensation of breath.

Meditating has helped me to relax, to concentrate better, and to generally feel more comfortable in my own skin.

Incidentally, I wrote a free Android app to help to motivate me to meditate every day. I wrote it because I would quite often find a reason to skip meditating, especially in the evening. In my experience, the days that I felt like skipping meditation were the days that I really needed to meditate. Now, using my app, I am currently on a run of 65 days where I have hit my meditation target of 1 hour per day.

See http://meditation-helper.blogspot.com/2010/08/using-widget.h... for a more detailed explanation, or search for "Meditation Helper" in the market.

Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate?

#14
I've mediated for ten years.

My grandma started practicing zen meditation in the 1950s, when it first was introduced to the US. She taught my mom, who's now a teacher, and introduced me to the practice when I was sixteen.

Meditation, I find, confers a number of benefits. It's energizing and relaxing. It improves my sleep. It hones my listening and observation skills. It makes me more aware of the thoughts in my head -- which can be deafening at times -- and will help me quiet them.

I find that the time and effort I spend meditating is tremendously valuable and enriching.

Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate?

#15
post #6

"What kind of meditation do you do?" The mindfulness variety. I got started with it as a part of my explorations of ACT: (see http://thehappinesstrap.com/ ) "How long/frequently?" Most days, once or twice a day for about 1/2 hour at a time. "What benefits have you experienced?" I feel I am more aware of things in general and I do feel I struggle less with negative thoughts and emotions as I am learning to take a step…

Do they help you control your thoughts? As in, focus on what you want to/ prevent ADD.

Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate?

#16
post #15
post #6

"What kind of meditation do you do?" The mindfulness variety. I got started with it as a part of my explorations of ACT: (see http://thehappinesstrap.com/ ) "How long/frequently?" Most days, once or twice a day for about 1/2 hour at a time. "What benefits have you experienced?" I feel I am more aware of things in general and I do feel I struggle less with negative thoughts and emotions as I am learning to take a step…

Do they help you control your thoughts? As in, focus on what you want to/ prevent ADD.

The idea is more that you can't really directly control your thoughts and emotions but you can learn to see them as just thoughts and emotions and that gives you some room to move towards what you want instead of struggling with your thoughts and emotions by trying to change them or get rid of them; which just tends to increase the negative thoughts and emotions. I don't know the efficacy for ADD specifically.

Re: Ask HN: Do you meditate?

#17
I've been practicing Vipassana Mediation for several months now. It involves focusing on the breath. I started doing it for about 5 minutes once or a couple of times a day. Now I it's about 20 minutes a day. Benefits: More restful sleep, more relaxed, increased clarity of mind, less stress, less anxiety, less tension, more productive, and of course being able to levitate (occasionally).
Post reply on HN