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Guided meditation for beginners

quietkit.com

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Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frustratingly, you can't get the kindle version if you live in the UK (I actually live in the Netherlands, which Amazon doesn't operate in at all, but my account is from the UK). The kindle version even shows up on the US site until I log in. EDIT: I tried to use Amazon.nl (they do have a kindle store, just not regular Amazon), they have the kindle version of the book but when I log in after buying it I'm told it's n…

I was just looking too, and it appears there's a separate listing for the kindle version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-Integra...

You're a fucking hero

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#122
A couple of things: If you want to learn meditation find yourself a teacher who will be able to guide you with your specific and personal needs, advantages and deficiencies in focus, character and views on outside world and on yourself, through this process. We are never taught what meditation is and how to do it right. None of the sources mention such important pre-requsite as understanding of human energy movement in breathing, human energy anatomy and physiology. So if you want to play with meditation is one thing, doing thing right will mean you have to have guidance.

Second, As Salvador Dali said: don't be afraid of perfection, you will never reach it. Blank minds is a good but also a very hard and advanced concept beginner meditators will most likely not reach. It is very hard for the uninitiated person (by previous karma or other spiritual training) who is used to focus attention on outward to be able to go inward, let along still the mind. The best way is to distract your mind from 'uncomfortable' nothingness with count while you are doing breathing and visualization.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you're not doing meditation any favors by promoting it in this light.

what's the problem? the concepts in that first lesson on the link/pdf Cozumel shared seem pretty relevant to someone learning the basics of meditation.

Saying it gives you the ability to read minds and inject thoughts into other peoples' minds puts it in the same category homeopathy.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#124
post #118
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Breathing for meditation is about relaxation. Proper, relaxed breathing, in general, requires breathing using the diaphragm, directing air downward into your belly, not upward into chest. The vast majority of people are unaware of the proper way to breathe, which is one reason it should be one of the first things discussed when learning meditation. "Although there is a certain logic to breathing with the chest muscle…

Wouldn't the most relaxed form of breathing be whatever it is you do automatically? It seems weird to me that the autonomic nervous system would prefer to use a suboptimal muscle group. Furthermore, I find that when I'm exercising I need to force myself to use my diaphragm because of the effort it takes to move my viscera out of the way.

I realize it may seem like the most relaxed form of breathing is however you've been accustomed to breathing automatically, but no, probably the majority of people tend to breathe using chest breathing and it is definitely not the most relaxed sort of breathing. You can't fill your lungs as full, it creates tension in chest, neck, and shoulders, neglects using diaphragm, which is the primary muscle for breathing. Learning (actually re-learning, because we all tend to do it right as young kids) to breathe properly may not feel natural at first, but that doesn't mean it's not the best way. If you overthink things by creating a (false) mental image of it being harder you may sabotage your efforts, though. Don't take my word for it, take a look at meditation resources, singing resources (singing well -- and also playing any woodwind or brass instrument -- requires natural relaxed breathing), general health resources on breathing. All distinguish belly-oriented breathing (good) from chest-oriented breathing (generally bad, suboptimal).

Example of a general resource: http://www.wikihow.com/Breathe

And another: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-breathe-correctly/

As a real world example, you may be able to notice in yourself how when you become nervous or scared your body becomes tense and you tend to chest breathe. Focussing on belly breathing in a case like this can actually calm your emotions as well as your body, dissipate the fear or nervousness, help you gain control over your fear.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#125

I'm a full-blown a cynic, but after OCD and anxiety got the best of me, my therapist recommended I try meditation to both start and end my day, I've started to notice huge improvements. Can't recommend it enough. It's frustrating at first, the mind will just not stop wandering to worries every 10 seconds, but almost always on cue, the guided meditation would remind me "is you're mind wandering? no big deal, bring you…

> no big deal, bring your focus back to your breath. What is the difference between meditation and concentration? > mind will just not stop wandering to worries every 10 seconds Can't you just watch a movie( or something similar) to the same effect?

I don't understand why these questions are being down-voted; I think they are pretty legit:

Is meditation just a shortcut to the flow state?

I'm also suspicious of guided meditations; I listen to audio books, how is a guided meditation different? Is a movie provably different?

I'm not dissing meditation; I do a breathe focused meditation nearly daily and I occasionally do guided meditations (I'll try these tonight), but there's a large number of practices that loosely fall into the category of meditation and also a large number of possibly worthwhile activities that are booted out. Most people (including me) never seem to question the why of this separation.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#126

I use the app "Headspace" as a meditation beginner. The monthly price after the first 10 sessions is a little steep (can't remember the exact price) but there's a lot of extremely high-quality content covering mindfulness in almost every aspect of life. I think it's worth the price.

Seconded. I find Headspace enjoyable and very low on woo.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#127
post #124
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't the most relaxed form of breathing be whatever it is you do automatically? It seems weird to me that the autonomic nervous system would prefer to use a suboptimal muscle group. Furthermore, I find that when I'm exercising I need to force myself to use my diaphragm because of the effort it takes to move my viscera out of the way.

I realize it may seem like the most relaxed form of breathing is however you've been accustomed to breathing automatically, but no, probably the majority of people tend to breathe using chest breathing and it is definitely not the most relaxed sort of breathing. You can't fill your lungs as full, it creates tension in chest, neck, and shoulders, neglects using diaphragm, which is the primary muscle for breathing. Lea…

> You can't fill your lungs as full

> neglects using diaphragm, which is the primary muscle for breathing

Which are bad because...? These two have nothing to do with whether it's a relaxed activity or not, by the way.

> it creates tension in chest, neck, and shoulders

How?

> singing resources (singing well -- and also playing any woodwind or brass instrument -- requires natural relaxed breathing)

Singing or playing a wind instrument are not relaxed activities. In both cases the breathing muscles are being used to force air through a resonator to produce sound. Search images of trumpetists or classical singers and tell me that's how a relaxed person looks like to you.

> As a real world example, you may be able to notice in yourself how when you become nervous or scared your body becomes tense and you tend to chest breathe. Focussing on belly breathing in a case like this can actually calm your emotions as well as your body, dissipate the fear or nervousness, help you gain control over your fear.

If you have time to think about your breathing then whatever is scaring you can't be so bad. Focusing on a specific thing, no matter what it is, will distract you long enough to calm you down a bit. Haven't you heard that thing about counting to ten when you get angry? Same thing.

Look, I'm not arguing that using the diaphragm is not the most efficient in terms of energy expended / volume of air exchanged. I'm a trained athlete, so if I didn't know this I would just pass out within seconds when I work out. I'm saying that once you're exchanging sufficient air to cover the aerobic budget of whatever it is you're doing, exchanging more will accomplish nothing. If breathing with your chest is enough to cover it, for example, while sitting (as it clearly is, as no one has ever suffocated from doing it), then for breathing with the diaphragm to be more efficient it has to expend less energy per inhalation. So far you have done nothing to show that this is the case.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#128
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate training wheels on my bike... to me this is complete opposite of what riding a bike should be. You can do this initial few times, but after that, you don't need any help but your own sense of balance in your head. That is if you are really riding a bike, if you want to pretend... then continue using training wheels yourself. Again, this is my view as someone who actually rode a bike for like 20+ yrs. --- Comes…

:) It did came out quite a bit snarky. Completely justified criticism. It was late in a day. Oh, and I did rode my bike for more then 20+ years. I can prop it on back wheel and do few stunts even today. Impresses my kids.

However it came out, I appreciate you sharing your experience and point of view. As someone who is off of training wheels on the bike but still on commercial guided meditation courses, it's great to know that there's a lot more to come.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#129
post #66
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the parent said he wanted yogis to run the world. I believe he said that if yogis could really project their thoughts, it would be a super-power which would enable them to run the world. The conclusion is that since they do not run the world, they likely do not possess such super-powers.

I do not believe that one can achieve supernatural powers with meditation either (for I have not seen someone with those). Assuming they have such superpowers, they also need the desire to run the world. Hence, this way of concluding that they do not possess such powers does not seem right.

I like this mental exercise.

I agree that it is possible that they have the mental projection superpower and no desire to run the world. That would make sense, at least from my cursory knowledge of yogis :).

However, their philosophy has a central tenet of minimizing suffering. Wouldn't they use their superpower to eliminate suffering to any extent possible?

And a counter-point to that is, what if they do have the superpower, and they do use it, and that is why there is less suffering in the world than there otherwise would be.

It looks like what we need is a double-blind study.

Re: Guided meditation for beginners

#130

For those interested in learning more, The Mind Illuminated is by far the best book I've come across on the topic. It's an extremely systematic college level manual for learning how to meditate. The author has a PhD in physiology, has been meditating for 40 years, taught neuroscience for years, and speaks Pali and Sanskrit, so he's able to read and interpret the original Buddhist texts. These combined allow him to te…

Frustratingly, you can't get the kindle version if you live in the UK (I actually live in the Netherlands, which Amazon doesn't operate in at all, but my account is from the UK). The kindle version even shows up on the US site until I log in. EDIT: I tried to use Amazon.nl (they do have a kindle store, just not regular Amazon), they have the kindle version of the book but when I log in after buying it I'm told it's n…

It seems you solved the problem, but for the next time: You can add a U.S. address in your Amazon account (any random address will do) and set it as the primary address. Then buy the book, and right after switch the account back to your real address. I think I have even seen Amazon recommend this solution.
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