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The Impact of Meditating Every Day

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Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#61

Post by devinjflick »

tryitnow wrote: post #52

Whenever I hear about a particular technique that is supposedly backed by evidence I wonder what specific protocol was used in the studies supporting it. I also wonder how many studies have been conducted and for how many years. For those of you who want an actual evidence-based practice check out Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It's the most frequently studied protocol and it's been studied for decades. W…

For those interested in evidence based meditation for treating mental illness, I suggest the following video and book.

The mindful way through depression: Zindel Segal at TEDxUTSC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A4w3W94ygA The book that the talk is based on: https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Way-Through-Depression-Unhapp...

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#62

Post by snackman7 »

raidicy wrote: post #12
cube2222 wrote: post #6

I had always had some kind of anxiety or ocd for as long as I can remember. I'd searched for various ways to deal with it but only discovering meditation really worked for me. After meditating for 6 months every day (starting with 5 minutes daily, ending with 20-30) I've completely got rid of it. A nice side effect was that I got to be a happier person overall (though that wasn't ever a problem for me), and learned t…

I've been interested in learning more about meditating and Raja yoga meditation specifically. I hesitate to read the book in parent as it seems that Buddhist meditation is focused on love, compassion, empathy or some kind of goal. I don't think the positive emphasis of Buddhism is bad. Rather I've been more interested in "abstraction of the mind" and the general non-religious approach of raja yoga. (I am sorry if the…

I recommend the book "Inner Engineering". The book is written by a man that goes by the name Sadhguru. He's spent the last 30 or so year spreading classical yoga around the world. He founded the Isha Foundation. They initiate people into classical yogic practices that involve asanas, kriyas, and different types of meditation. The movement has grown a lot of steam in recent years. Recently Sadhguru initiated 5000 people in Australia in an inner engineering mega program. Usually the programs are much smaller and led by teachers that he has trained for several years. I started my journey with Isha a couple of years ago when I found him on YouTube. He has a ton of content. I recommend watching his [Ted talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rETWfA3Sq8) if you're interested.

To give you a little background about myself, I'm a 27-year-old male software engineer. Before Isha I wasn't religious or spiritual, but I always thought some of the Eastern stuff (buddhism, taoism) I heard sounded interesting. I also had experiences with psychedelics that were very profound to me.

Anyway I found Sadhguru on YouTube one day and everything he was saying just really vibed with me. He's explaining millenia-old yogic ideas in modern terms, and it really resonated with my intellect as well as with my own personal experiences with psychedelics. They talk about nature in terms of space, time, and energy. They talk about the human mechanism and consciousness. They talk about yoga as a method of liberation or enlightenment, the end of suffering.

So then I started going to the programs and doing yoga. I've attended and volunteered at several programs. The people that go to these programs are all regular people like me. Maybe around two thirds are Indian, which makes sense because that's where yoga originated and where Sadhguru is from. I've met other engineers, physicians, professors, businessmen, etc. I would say that the common factor among all of us is that we each have a desire to have some deeper understanding of life, so we are willing to listen to Sadhguru and try out yoga.

It's been an awesome journey. Sadhguru and his foundation have had a huge effect on my life, and I'm very thankful for it.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#63

Post by flr03 »

tryitnow wrote: post #52

Whenever I hear about a particular technique that is supposedly backed by evidence I wonder what specific protocol was used in the studies supporting it. I also wonder how many studies have been conducted and for how many years. For those of you who want an actual evidence-based practice check out Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It's the most frequently studied protocol and it's been studied for decades. W…

Why would you need studies ? It's not like trying to introduce a new medication on the market. If I like knitting 30 mins a day and I feel relaxed after that I'm not going to wait for a study to tell me it's actually making me feel better or not.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#64

Post by DanBC »

flr03 wrote: post #63
tryitnow wrote: post #52

Whenever I hear about a particular technique that is supposedly backed by evidence I wonder what specific protocol was used in the studies supporting it. I also wonder how many studies have been conducted and for how many years. For those of you who want an actual evidence-based practice check out Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It's the most frequently studied protocol and it's been studied for decades. W…

Why would you need studies ? It's not like trying to introduce a new medication on the market. If I like knitting 30 mins a day and I feel relaxed after that I'm not going to wait for a study to tell me it's actually making me feel better or not.

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 the reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/10974967/

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#66

Post by theboulevardier »

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?

Many people find that meditation reduces their need to sleep. A few months ago when I was meditating for around 1.5 hours per day (a mixture of walking and formal sitting meditation) I felt well rested on 5.5 to 6.5 hours of sleep, when my normal needs are 7.5 - 8 hours

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#67

Post by ghobs91 »

spectaclepiece wrote: post #54

I began meditating every day after I wake up four years ago and it has been the most beneficial change I ever introduced into my life, quitting cannabis securing a stable second place. I began with five min and worked my way up to 15. Now I have an iOS shortcut “hey Siri, start meditation” which sets a timer randomly between 15 and 20 min to counteract the body clock expectation of a fixed duration.

What's your meditation routine? As in, how do you actually meditate, do you use something like Headspace?

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#68

Post by breakingwalls »

snackman7 wrote: post #62
raidicy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been interested in learning more about meditating and Raja yoga meditation specifically. I hesitate to read the book in parent as it seems that Buddhist meditation is focused on love, compassion, empathy or some kind of goal. I don't think the positive emphasis of Buddhism is bad. Rather I've been more interested in "abstraction of the mind" and the general non-religious approach of raja yoga. (I am sorry if the…

I recommend the book "Inner Engineering". The book is written by a man that goes by the name Sadhguru. He's spent the last 30 or so year spreading classical yoga around the world. He founded the Isha Foundation. They initiate people into classical yogic practices that involve asanas, kriyas, and different types of meditation. The movement has grown a lot of steam in recent years. Recently Sadhguru initiated 5000 peop…

I second this. I have been practicing Isha's meditation technique 'Shambhavi' which I learnt at Inner Engineering program. No matter what, I set aside 45-60 mins everyday for doing basic yoga and meditation for the last 5 months. Firstly, daily yoga made me very aware of my posture(work/excercise/sports) and it has helped me gain discipline in life. Secondly, the inner peace after meditating lasts very long and it mellows down my entire day. I am more aware of my emotions and thoughts. I am very grateful for this.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#69

Post by mrlala »

flr03 wrote: post #63
tryitnow wrote: post #52

Whenever I hear about a particular technique that is supposedly backed by evidence I wonder what specific protocol was used in the studies supporting it. I also wonder how many studies have been conducted and for how many years. For those of you who want an actual evidence-based practice check out Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It's the most frequently studied protocol and it's been studied for decades. W…

Why would you need studies ? It's not like trying to introduce a new medication on the market. If I like knitting 30 mins a day and I feel relaxed after that I'm not going to wait for a study to tell me it's actually making me feel better or not.

The counter argument would be- just because you enjoy knitting 30 minutes a day and it relaxes you, does that mean it will work the same for anyone/everyone else?

If there was a study that empirically proved knitting for 30 days made you happier, then it would be a lot easier for people to say "OK, I'll take the time to learn how to do this and do it for X amount of the day".

Given that I still see your point. No reason to be so skeptical, just try out meditation and if it works great if not oh well.

Re: The Impact of Meditating Every Day

#70

Post by andreilys »

spodek wrote: post #7

> I try to meditate every morning for about 15 minutes and been doing that for quite some time now. I find that doing any Self-Imposed Daily Challenging Healthy Activity will improve your life tremendously, meditation being just one type of SIDCHA. While the benefits differ slightly, the magnitude of benefit from other SIDCHAs -- like exercising, drawing a picture, writing a blog post, writing three business ideas, c…

>“ While the benefits differ slightly, the magnitude of benefit from other SIDCHAs -- like exercising, drawing a picture, writing a blog post, writing three business ideas, cooking a meal from scratch, etc every day -- can be just as great.“

I’m not sure how you can equate meditations benefits to drawing pictures, or writing three business ideas. They are fundamentally different activities that produce vastly different outcomes, some being much more valuable.

In the case of meditation it’s the ability to pause the incessant thinking mind, glean insights into the nature of consciousness and be able to enter the present moment more frequently. Those things alone are worth far more than being able to draw pretty pictures or bench your body weight.

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