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I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

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Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#81

Post by balder1991 »

jongjong wrote: post #36
lijok wrote: post #16

Amazing recount. I was fortunate to learn in 2018, at a relatively young age, that my mental faculties are the most precious thing I have in life (after my wife ofcourse). It was a very simple accident; chasing a high I let my bike get too fast going downhill on a wet road, a car on the other side was oncoming, I break, the back wheel slips out from under me, I hit my head on the road (with a helmet on). A bruised kn…

I had a similar moment when I was 16 and had my first migraine aura... Really bad one. I was looking at a billboard and I realized that I couldn't read anymore. Then I looked at people and part of their faces were missing from my field of view even though I was looking straight at them. Then I started feeling tingling in my fingers. I thought it was a stroke. No, just a bad migraine aura. I've had one every 6 to 12 m…

I have these auras ever since young too, but it’s somewhat rare and for me it’s quite related to anxiety. It always lasts like 6-7 minutes in which I usually stop doing whatever I’m doing and prepare for a mild headache following it.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#82

Post by keybored »

The title says “the quiet mind”. This seems to allude to the temporary cessation of the discursive mind in (Buddhist) meditation.

> When we return to New York I take the subway to doctor appointments. I don’t take out my phone, I just sit. My brain is quiet, which I find suspicious, but also soothing. Before the accident I went to yoga retreats and tried meditation. I said things like “I just need to unplug.” Apparently what I needed was to get hit by a truck. Perhaps I have discovered the secret to a peaceful mind, and it is traumatic brain injury. I fantasize about opening an expensive spa where busy people pay me money to whack them on the head with a baseball bat.

Levity aside, I’ve never seen a master meditator discuss “quieting the mind” as a downside.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#83

Post by bluecalm »

nunez wrote: post #17

This sounds like an head-on collision that happened on a high speed rural two-lane road with an impatient driver thinking they could complete a tight pass in time. I absolutely hate these roads, for this reason.

It's not the road's fault. It's the psycho drivers who attempt speeding or worse passing at speed who are the danger. May I suggest you redirect your hate? If enough of us do it maybe we will see some change in driver's behavior one day.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#84

Post by Workaccount2 »

lijok wrote: post #16

Amazing recount. I was fortunate to learn in 2018, at a relatively young age, that my mental faculties are the most precious thing I have in life (after my wife ofcourse). It was a very simple accident; chasing a high I let my bike get too fast going downhill on a wet road, a car on the other side was oncoming, I break, the back wheel slips out from under me, I hit my head on the road (with a helmet on). A bruised kn…

+1 for wearing a helmet. I see so many people riding (both bicycles and even motorcycles) without one. Totally insane since even a minor accident can turn you into a drooling blob with an otherwise minor bump on the head.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#85

Post by balder1991 »

reaperman wrote: post #64
TaupeRanger wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of those areas where anecdotes can be quite valuable, because there seems to be no real downside risk to a piercing aside from the money spent and possible infection, but if there's even a .01% chance it could stop debilitating chronic pain, then sure, you might make a valid decision to try it even though there isn't a study supporting it.

I tend to think in medical science that often anecdotes come first, then the "real" science. Not always populist anecdotes / wive's tales / etc, often times they come from nurses, doctors, or researchers of all kinds -- but sometimes they do come from sparse clusters of common folk sharing anecdotes with each other. Most do not pan out. But the "hard" science generally needs a spark of intuition to help someone decid…

The hard science is also limited when you consider the differences in each person. There’s a good article about that: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/what-statistic...

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#86

Post by hwbehrens »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #84
lijok wrote: post #16

Amazing recount. I was fortunate to learn in 2018, at a relatively young age, that my mental faculties are the most precious thing I have in life (after my wife ofcourse). It was a very simple accident; chasing a high I let my bike get too fast going downhill on a wet road, a car on the other side was oncoming, I break, the back wheel slips out from under me, I hit my head on the road (with a helmet on). A bruised kn…

+1 for wearing a helmet. I see so many people riding (both bicycles and even motorcycles) without one. Totally insane since even a minor accident can turn you into a drooling blob with an otherwise minor bump on the head.

Like the GP (and most people, I assume) I really value my mental faculties, but more relevant in my opinion is that in terms of time and often money, your collective knowledge and education is probably the most expensive thing you've invested in. To not do the bare minimum to protect that investment is incomprehensible to me.

My friends will buy ergonomic keyboards, standing desks, monitor arms, etc. to keep them healthy and productive (which is important), but not wear a helmet because "they look dumb". Without a working brain, none of that other stuff will matter! I always ask them, 'Are you expecting to find a partner while you're on the bike? Who are you trying to impress?'

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#87

Post by cainxinth »

lijok wrote: post #16

Amazing recount. I was fortunate to learn in 2018, at a relatively young age, that my mental faculties are the most precious thing I have in life (after my wife ofcourse). It was a very simple accident; chasing a high I let my bike get too fast going downhill on a wet road, a car on the other side was oncoming, I break, the back wheel slips out from under me, I hit my head on the road (with a helmet on). A bruised kn…

> What we have is precious, it can dissapear in a second, on an otherwise perfect day.

Family friend was an accountant in NYC that used to ride around on a scooter with no helmet. Fell and hit his head one day and literally lost the ability to do complex math, permanently.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#88

Post by [deleted] »

asystole wrote: post #38
hypeatei wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is inherently suffering and has no meaning. Being healthy brings many people joy and so does smoking cigarettes; either way we're here for a limited time surrounded by things that are trying to kill us so why not enjoy it? That's my take at least. During winter I'd probably have a more depressing perspective but the sun has been out lately.

> Life is inherently suffering and has no meaning. I'd hate to hear your winter perspective :)

[deleted]

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#89

Post by kayodelycaon »

martinjacobd wrote: post #72
kayodelycaon wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps burnout is as traumatic to the brain as a massive brain injury Wouldn’t surprise me. I had a massive psychotic break 5 years ago. I’m pretty sure it came with physical brain damage. My memory isn’t what it used to be. There are holes in it. Apparently some of it is so completely gone, I don’t know I’ve forgotten it. Usually I know if I forgot something because there is a dangling pointer to it. Brain damage…

I've often felt this way about depression, but it's hard to tease apart the long-term after-effects of a depressive episode, the probability that my current symptoms might just be the beginnings of an episode, and the long-term (after-)effects of the medication I took/take for it.

I'm pretty sure in my case because my moods move around in predictable ways. Medication has been a significant improvement to that. The major side-effect of one medication lines up with a genetic mutation I have. As a result, a supplement has significantly improved my short-term memory.

Neither medication nor moods have affected the brain fog that I was referring to, only time.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#90

Post by toast0 »

TaupeRanger wrote: post #21
markx2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After decades of migraines I was diagnosed with Chronic Daily Migraines. I was prescribed a 'under the tongue' triptan which if the migraine aura arrived during the day worked some of the time. If I woke with the migraine at 10/10 pain level than I lost the full day. One of my daughters also had weekly migraines, lost a day at work each time. I got a Daith piercing in my right ear - my migraines originated on the rig…

Could be an effective placebo for sure: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-unconventional-pierci...

If it's effective, does it matter if it's placebo?

Especially given low cost and low risk.

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