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Poll: Do you meditate?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#31

Post by KingMob »

fakeer wrote: post #24

I just couldn't concentrate. Lots of things would come to mind. Revenge, sex, regret, frustrations, hope, plans and a lot just used to happen in mind at that time. More than usual. More than it would usually come to my mind. It's not that they are always on mind, it's not a problem. But at least for meditation you are supposed to be free of such thoughts and even if there's a thought it ought to be only just that tho…

"for meditation you are supposed to be free of such thoughts"

This a pernicious falsehood. It's possible to achieve, but even most advanced meditators aren't spending long stretches of time thought-free. Wrestling with your concentration and being aware of what you're experiencing is meditation.

It's pernicious because it leads people to believe that they're not any good at meditating, since they look at their mind and are aghast at how cluttered and chaotic it is. The fact that you now start to see it, IS meditation.

You were doing just fine.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#33

Post by kafkaesque »

sterlingross wrote: post #23
kafkaesque wrote: post #17

I chose once a month, because I understand people don't generally accept what I call meditation. People, especially those who do not run, ask me what I think about when I go on (long) runs, since I'm a mid-distance runner. My answer is that most of the time it is a form of meditation. I concentrate on my breathing, clear my mind, and sometimes I close my eyes for a few seconds to get "in the zone". It helps release a…

What you described is meditation in its purest sense, as it can take many forms. The true definition of meditation is mindfulness. If you do anything with mindfulness you are meditating. For me I practice sitting meditation, walking meditation, and yoga. Creating art, painting and photography, are also both highly meditative experiences that I enjoy immensely. I've made great effort to meditate while coding, but I ha…

Thanks for this.

I guess the people who've asked me must not know much about meditating. I admit I only have a superficial knowledge of it, as well. The people I've talked to see meditating more of a 'relaxing' experience, I guess.

I will look into it more now, though.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#35

Post by KingMob »

angkec wrote: post #4

Any one has any tips to form meditation as a habit? I know meditation is good for oneself, and I have personally meditated on and off for 20+ sessions. But the habit never sticks. Somehow after a few days of meditation I feel massively better and then I forgot to do so. It's like stop taking pills after I recover from sickness. Anyone has any tips? Thanks.

Check out the literature on habit formation. Charles Duhigg just wrote a good book on habits recently, and BJ Fogg of Stanford runs a weekly 3 Tiny Habits course on helping people develop habits.

Or the tl;dr: Promise to yourself to do no more than sit somewhere quiet at a regular time (e.g., as soon as you wake) for one minute. If you sit at least a minute, give yourself a guilt-free reward (e.g., a bit of chocolate).

You'll essentially be using operant conditioning to train yourself until the intrinsic rewards kick in, which can take a few weeks.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#37

Post by KingMob »

kafkaesque wrote: post #33
sterlingross wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you described is meditation in its purest sense, as it can take many forms. The true definition of meditation is mindfulness. If you do anything with mindfulness you are meditating. For me I practice sitting meditation, walking meditation, and yoga. Creating art, painting and photography, are also both highly meditative experiences that I enjoy immensely. I've made great effort to meditate while coding, but I ha…

Thanks for this. I guess the people who've asked me must not know much about meditating. I admit I only have a superficial knowledge of it, as well. The people I've talked to see meditating more of a 'relaxing' experience, I guess. I will look into it more now, though.

Meditation is by no means guaranteed to be relaxing. I've been on several retreats, and wile they were always rewarding, they were rarely relaxing. That's just a popular myth.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#38

Post by andrewcooke »

in case this helps anyone else. at first i wasn't that keen on doing this, but my doctor recommended it. so i bought myself a box of very nice chocolates. the deal is that i can have a chocolate once a day, but only if i meditate (immediately) afterwards. after one and a half boxes (a couple of months) i now miss the meditation if i don't do it. so i no longer need the chocolates, but hey... ;o)

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#39

Post by up_and_up »

ha470 wrote: post #25
notatoad wrote: post #14

I go skiing in the winter, biking in the summer. I've always found this to be a meditative-like experience - if i'm cruising down a mogul run as fast as i can the only thought in my head is where my skis are going. it's impossible to think about anything that doesn't need to be dealt with in the next few milliseconds. That's much clearer than i can ever get my head by sitting down and trying to meditate.

Meditation is often confused with meditatIVE activities. Sitting and trying to meditate doesn't mean you'll meditate, but meditation almost always requires you to sit still. When you're in meditation, you'll know - your mind will be in a different state (akin to sleep). Keep practicing :) it takes a while, but once you get it, I promise it's worth it.

Technically (within the yogic meditation tradition), 'concentration' is defined as 12 seconds of one-pointed thought, ie the mind is fixed in one place. This is considered 1 unit of concentration.

'Meditation' is considered 12 units of concentration, so 12 * 12 seconds which is 144 seconds.

So technically, according to the definition of the old school meditators practicing 1000s of years ago, you are not really 'meditating' until the mind is fixed in one place for at least 144 seconds.

Re: Poll: Do you meditate?

#40

Post by [deleted] »

KingMob wrote: post #31
fakeer wrote: post #24

I just couldn't concentrate. Lots of things would come to mind. Revenge, sex, regret, frustrations, hope, plans and a lot just used to happen in mind at that time. More than usual. More than it would usually come to my mind. It's not that they are always on mind, it's not a problem. But at least for meditation you are supposed to be free of such thoughts and even if there's a thought it ought to be only just that tho…

"for meditation you are supposed to be free of such thoughts" This a pernicious falsehood. It's possible to achieve, but even most advanced meditators aren't spending long stretches of time thought-free. Wrestling with your concentration and being aware of what you're experiencing is meditation. It's pernicious because it leads people to believe that they're not any good at meditating, since they look at their mind a…

[deleted]
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