If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This • Hacker News Board

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#121

Post by zeroonetwothree » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 8:59 PM UTC

KirinDave wrote: post #8

Wait. Wait wait wait. > Research shows that an ability to resist urges will improve your relationships, increase your dependability, and raise your performance... Great. Yes. Impulse control is key. Delayed gratification is part of how we define higher intelligence. Meditation has what do with this, exactly? > How [does meditation help]? By increasing your capacity to resist distracting urges. This entire article is…

Exactly. There are so many things where a large number of people have claimed that "if you try it, then it will work", while later research found it to be nothing but the placebo effect. This includes acupuncture, chiropractic, etc.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#122

Post by Florin_Andrei » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:00 PM UTC

dschiptsov wrote: post #29

Oh, come on. Meditation is not the way to "exercise willpower muscle" (running is the way to do so). Meditation is the way to learn that your flow of thoughts is not you, it is mere side-effect, a smoke from an engine, a screen-saver, or just idle-running. Yes, the practice of meditation is beneficial for will-power and self-control, but it is not the goal.) Goal is realization that what you think you are, is just a…

Meditation is to your mind what hacking is to a computer. You're trying to make it do things it would not otherwise do.

(hacking in the sense accepted here on HN, not in the mainstream sense)

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#123

Post by StacyC » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:01 PM UTC

corysama wrote: post #44

7rurl wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's harder than it sounds. Your subconscious will continually try to interrupt your mindfulness of the dish washing. The main trick of meditation is to be able to gently push those idle thoughts away and refocus on the dish washing (or whatever it is you are meditating on). Even if you don't end up enjoying dish washing more, meditating like this is an excellent workout for your focus and concentration and can be a…

It can get frustrating when you really try and yet constantly fail to maintain focus. It helps to remember that the purpose of the exercise is not to succeed in maintaining a laser-like focus, but instead to practice noticing your failures. That is how you level up your self-awareness into a skill that carries over into activities beyond dishwashing.

It helps to remember that the purpose of the exercise is not to succeed in maintaining a laser-like focus, but instead to practice noticing your failures.

Right, and I would suggest that there are no failures here — just notice what is going on in your mind, without judging it, and then gently bring your attention back to the breath. As we practice this over time the mind will more easily quiet down. Be the patient observer of your mind and know that you are not your thoughts.

I highly recommend some of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s books, and/or some of his videos on YouTube. These have been very helpful to me.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#124

Post by baddox » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:01 PM UTC

KirinDave wrote: post #8

Wait. Wait wait wait. > Research shows that an ability to resist urges will improve your relationships, increase your dependability, and raise your performance... Great. Yes. Impulse control is key. Delayed gratification is part of how we define higher intelligence. Meditation has what do with this, exactly? > How [does meditation help]? By increasing your capacity to resist distracting urges. This entire article is…

Meditation is resisting your urges. So it's practice for resisting your urges, which makes you better at resisting your urges when it actually matters (like while working). Why not just practice resisting your urges while working and avoid the extra time required for dedicated meditation?

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#125

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:01 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#126

Post by mtts » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:05 PM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #83

webwanderings wrote: post #2

The misconception about meditation is that it requires one to give up everything and sit silently. This is not true in its entirety as it depends on how one interprets the word "meditation". The meditation does not necessarily require you to give up one thing for the sake of another. The goal of the meditation is to "be in awareness" and you can achieve this same goal by being alert and aware with any activity your f…

This is exactly how I lift weights / exercise, with complete focus and mindfulness. While working out it is all I think about. I put on headphones with fast, heavy music and focus on the exercise I'm doing at that moment. I don't think about email in my inbox, I don't think about the errands I need to run, I don't talk to the other people around me. I think about my muscles contracting. I think about the extra 5 lbs…

Weight lifting could be mindfulness, but only if you don't "put on headphones with fast, heavy music". Those headphones are a distraction.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#127

Post by up_and_up » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:05 PM UTC

In my opinion, Meditation and Mindfullness are not the same thing.

Meditation is a state, where the mind is completely silent, the breath slows waaaay down, the heartbeat slows waaaay down. Slowly ever so slowly, some bliss starts to bubble up from within. It is the climax of one pointed attention. Few people who say they "meditate" are reaching that point since it requires years of sincere effort. In Yoga, meditation is known as Dhyana, or the state resulting from the mind becoming one pointed for 100 seconds. Samadhi, which is considered a state of deep bliss is considered reached when the mind becomes completely still for 1000 seconds.

Mindfullness, is the act of being more aware during daily activities. Like watching actions and interactions. There is a gradual tendency to modify behavior to being more calm, collected and centered which helps to go deeper when attempting to meditate. The mind is still active during mindfullness, but it is being directed or corrected as needed throughout the day.

Meditation helps to develop deeper Mindfullness and vice versa. Meditation is like taking a shower, whereas Mindfullness is avoiding rolling in the mud and getting dirty. It is important to keep in mind that Meditation is literally a state where the mind is free from thought and that all the "meditation practices and techniques" are just different paths of reaching that same place.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#128

Post by StacyC » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:08 PM UTC

mck- wrote: post #108

papsosouid wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Training your consciousness by playing sports vs sitting in lotus is analogous to training your biceps by rowing vs biceps curls. The latter is more targeted, hence more effective. Only if your goal is to make your biceps bigger. If your goal is to gain strength, isolation is less effective, as strength involves more than just one muscle, it also involves stabilizing muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc. Who says traini…

Interesting.. how many moving parts does consciousness have? To me, consciousness and the mind are but one thing.

To me, consciousness and the mind are but one thing.

In the context of my meditation practice I have come to think of consciousness more like awareness — where I am the observer of the mind and all of its random, discursive activity. Tara Brach has referred to this aspect of mind as the “survival brain” — an evolutionary vestige that is always looking for a threat, or a problem to solve. And if it can’t find an actual threat it will often create an imaginary one.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#129

Post by mtts » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:10 PM UTC

gavanwoolery wrote: post #98

I meditate while walking my dogs or taking a shower. Unless you are trying to achieve the title of Zen Grandmaster (which you probably are not) there is no need to sit still while doing so.

Dunno. I've found purposefully sitting still is much more effective than walking dogs or taking a shower, during which your mind may calm down, but may very well not as well.

Re: If You're Too Busy to Meditate, Read This

#130

Post by mtts » Fri, Oct 12, 2012, 9:13 PM UTC

vividmind wrote: post #111

I use fishing for the same purposes. Helps me concentrate on just that activity and get my mind off work-related stuff. Every time after a fishing trip I feel really rested, although might be tired a bit physically.

Maybe someone will do some research on this at some point, but yes, it seems fishing is indeed the western male's (it's usually western males that do fishing for leisure, no?) version of meditation. It's not about catching fish, surely.