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The Impact of Meditating Every Day

pascalprecht.github.io

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Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#161

Post by jblwps »

andreilys wrote: post #75
DanBC wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it may be harmful. See for example the idea of giving people involved in road traffic accidents a bit of psychological therapy afterwards. That seems like it'd help, and most people would say that it can't hurt, but when you look at the people 3 years later we see the group randomised to talking therapy have worse outcomes than the group randomised to no talking therapy. (I'll try to find a reference). Here's…

Which may only generalize to a specific group of people, in a specific country, at a specific period of time. All subject to change when we tweak a couple of variables.

That point, while valid, is only against this study; it doesn't speak to studies in general.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#162

Post by scns »

winkelwagen wrote: post #57

I've been meditating for about 3 months now. Mostly focussing on building the habit part of it. I could definitely recommend 10% happier book, It's a fun read, and a kind introduction to meditation. I had an easier time connecting with that author then all the other writers that have all have been meditating for 20+ years with countless 10/30 day retreats. This week I finished Waking up from sam harris. Have been lis…

You need to know how to progress. The book The Mind Illuminated which has allready recommended here helps with this. One commenter in another thread on hn allready practised for years, that book got him further.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#163

Post by jason_slack »

agent008t wrote: post #29
jason_slack wrote: post #28

I have the habit now of meditation for 1 hour each morning and then for 20-30 minutes before laying my head to pillow. It's really helpful to me to get myself in a space to start a productive day and end it with a good relaxing sleep. I usually get 4.5 to 5.5 hours each night. Up at 4:30am without an alarm and to bed by 11-midnight usually. I attended a 10 day silent meditation retreat last year and it really had an…

4.5 to 5.5 hours sounds ridiculously low. I thought humans need at least 8 hours of sleep to function well? Have you tried sleeping for longer and if you did, what difference did it make to your wellbeing?

actually, I'm older now than I used to be. (42) As a child, teenager, early 20's, etc I used to only get 3 hours each night. I spend my nights reading books, coding, etc. I have been told that this was really hard on my parents and grandparents as they didn't expect a child to need so little sleep.

Edit typo corrected 2 to 3.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#164

Post by jason_slack »

criddell wrote: post #59
agent008t wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4.5 to 5.5 hours sounds ridiculously low. I thought humans need at least 8 hours of sleep to function well? Have you tried sleeping for longer and if you did, what difference did it make to your wellbeing?

Everybody is different, but 4.5 hours feels pretty low. I'd be tempted to trade my hour of mediation for another hour of sleep.

Sleep is indeed important. Especially if you need it. By comparison my wife requires 8-10 hours each night.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#165

Post by jason_slack »

jammygit wrote: post #98
agent008t wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4.5 to 5.5 hours sounds ridiculously low. I thought humans need at least 8 hours of sleep to function well? Have you tried sleeping for longer and if you did, what difference did it make to your wellbeing?

Apparently a non trivial percent of the population gets by with 5-6 hours due to having a certain gene. I had assumed it was quite rare, but found out that I know several of them. They are more awake during the day than I am.

It is weird to say hi to my co-workers in the morning and they are all yawning and sucking down coffee, saying how tired they are. I just grin and realize I got around 1/2 the amount of sleep and drove 1.5 hours to work and not a drop of coffee has touched my lips.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#166

Post by musicale »

> Meditation can open up surprisingly many doors when it comes to being more aware, mindful, focused and just at piece with yourself

"At piece with yourself" reminds me of Iron Maiden's album Piece of Mind. Which is also good for mindfulness and focus.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#168

Post by roddux »

thomk wrote: post #76
cols wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mentioned quitting cannabis. If you don't mind elaborating, I'm curious what benefits you have experienced and why you ended up quitting. Thanks!

Ex cannabis user here, so I thought I'd give you my empirical perspective & and opinion. I will tell you what I would tell my own child: Cannabis, like any recreational drug, steals the most precious resource we have: our time. I've been on benders in my life that I simply can not remember what I did during that period, sure, but that's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is the time any person needs…

It frustrates me that the tech scene seems to accept such behaviours as smoking weed quite easily. Note the numerous replies to your comment clamouring to it's defence!

I've not known a single long-term user of cannabis to be a happy, healthy adult. Quite the opposite. I think the dangers of cannabis are quite understated and the current trend toward mass-legislation concerns me. It should be noted that I live in England, where we are renown for having stronger strains... This perhaps affects my outlook.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#169

Post by andreilys »

jblwps wrote: post #161
andreilys wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which may only generalize to a specific group of people, in a specific country, at a specific period of time. All subject to change when we tweak a couple of variables.

That point, while valid, is only against this study; it doesn't speak to studies in general.

If we're speaking in the context of social sciences I would say it applies to nearly all of them.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#170

Post by jedimastert »

mr_overalls wrote: post #97

This type of meditation - a secularized form of Vipassana in which one passively observers mental events - is very popular in the West. But it's not the only one, and shouldn't be called merely "meditation" without regard to the vast body of practices that exist. Another form of meditation that's traditionally talked about in Buddhism is shamatha, which translates to something like "concentration" or "tranquility." I…

> Another form of meditation that's traditionally talked about in Buddhism is shamatha, which translates to something like "concentration" or "tranquility." In this type of practice, the meditator works with a meditation object, commonly the breath, but possibly a sound, mental image, etc. The meditator learns to stabilize the mind and remain fully aware of the object, and in the process learns to debug the mechanisms that direct (and destabilize) conscious attention.

I don't know how similar it is, but I was recently part of a "mindful lunch" at work. We all (3 + the person leading) had lunch in a small conference room in silence. We were told to concentrate fully on the food we were eating the texture, taste, smell, sound, and generally experience it as fully as possible. It was even suggested (and I went with it) to put your silverware down with each bite to give it as full of your attention as possible. It was an incredibly interesting experience to be sure.

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