Meditation: It’s been one week of meditation for me, and I really understand why people continue this throughout their lives |
- It’s been one week of meditation for me, and I really understand why people continue this throughout their lives
- I built a meditation app for students/professionals who don’t usually meditate. Looking for feedback!
- How meditation helped my social anxiety
- Realizing how much overthinking I do
- Is being sober best for meditation?
- Looking for an online (credible) meditation Guru
- First 40 minute attempt
- “You are the one self in disguise as a person. When you are with others, you recognize they too are the one self. The one is many. And the many are one” - Richard Lang
- Had my first intense experience!
- Question about posture
- How do you go about meditating on a specific thought?
- the path
- need help starting meditation
- Feel like running a marathon tonight!
- Have you noticed any difference in your stress levels after you started meditating?
- Is zen practical in day to day life?
- I started doing daily meditation (currently on day 4). Is it normal to get body spasms during meditation?
- Group Meditation Experiment with teacher - 10 minutes/day for 7 days
- Newbie :(
- How intoxicants and drugs impact one's mind, emotions and body on the path of spiritual growth
- Is it okay to do dynamic meditation before bed?
- When I notice repetitive, self-critical thoughts
- Swami Rama
- as a Beginner in meditation, this video helped me a lot.
- How to continue meditating after worrying experience?
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:55 AM PDT This year has been difficult for a number of reasons, and I'm sure many people could say the same. I was at a very low place earlier in the year. I'm a graduate student with an advisor whose energy is very negative, anxious, and at times cruel. I feel like I take in a lot of others' energies and it was incredibly difficult at times. I had so much self doubt and hated who I was. I started to attend therapy through my university, which luckily was free thanks to our graduate student union. I had people suggest meditation before, and I had done some guided meditation, but never stuck with it. Last week, after noticing my anxiety was affecting my day-to-day life, I decided to download the Calm app through my university, since our health and wellness center has free subscriptions for students. I have done guided meditations on there for one week, trying anxiety reducing techniques and gratitude techniques, and I feel like I am coming to a much better place. I finally am starting to feel like I did before I started grad school. I have only recently found this subreddit, but I'm eager to see what others have to post. I suppose this was more of a long story, but I want to give a thanks in advance, as well as encourage others to just try. When you are feeling overwhelmed, see if you can't take a few moments to center and ground yourself again. I feel like I'm getting my life back finally. So thank you all! Edit: I just want to extend my thanks and gratitude to everyone who has commented words of encouragement and welcoming. I feel truly welcomed and I am humbled in many senses. Thank you all. I defend my MS in two weeks, so I'll update this post after that to share the news! :) [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:55 PM PDT I'm a college senior and I spend a lot of time caring for hospice patients while I'm in school. I've watched so many sweet old men and women undergo mental decline and death -- it takes a toll on my spirit. A lot of the students I volunteer with struggle to manage their mental health in such a difficult environment, and very few felt comfortable talking about it or even used apps to help calm their mind. This pushed me to do something about it. Over the past 9 months, I set out to build a mindfulness meditation app that works better for university students. The app is called "vrtumind" and it's an efficient take on traditional guided meditation. Rather than scrolling through options and navigating curriculums, the app uses an algorithm that takes preferences into account and stitches together meditations to deliver an effective session, on-demand. I worked with a PhD and a bunch of other smart people to create content that is effective. I designed it to be habit-forming, using some ideas from tiktok/Facebook/YouTube. It might not be the absolute best way to meditate, but I have a hunch it will get lots of people to start meditating, then branch out to better approaches once they're comfortable. My goal is to help as many people as possible. To do that, I am giving the app out for free -- you can download it here Let me know what you think and if there are features I can add that would help you. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| How meditation helped my social anxiety Posted: 30 Jul 2020 04:56 PM PDT I realized that "I" am not located inside of my head. I began instead identifying with the vast, open space of conscious awareness. I began to notice that as a matter of experience, people are not actually looking at me. There is simply them appearing. So I just drop back from any sense that I am being looked at, because that's just another appearance in consciousness. And in my interactions, the only relevant appearance to focus on is the other person. Even though my body is being looked at, "I" am not being looked at, because "I" do not exist inside of my head. So despite the fact that my body, namely my face, is being looked at, and that conceptually I am able to recognize this, I do not have to feel identified with that fact. I do not have to feel like I exist inside of the face that is being looked at. The sense that I am being looked at can be dropped, and all that is left is the other person's face along with their facial expressions and what they are saying. The way I see it, the proximate cause of social anxiety is maladaptive usage of one's attention. E.g., you are focusing on the sense of being looked at, and the thoughts of how silly you must look, etc., instead of what really matters (like the person you are meant to be paying attention to). So if you can learn to drop your attachment to these unhealthy and unhelpful concepts and focus instead on the person themself, a capability that can be strengthened through meditation, then the anxiety can diminish. In case anyone is interested, my primary resource for learning this skill has been the Waking Up meditation app. Has anyone else found that their social anxiety improved as the result of meditation? [link] [comments] |
| Realizing how much overthinking I do Posted: 31 Jul 2020 12:20 AM PDT I never quite payed attention to it, but there's a lot of chatter going on in my mind. It's even created a fear of failure because I overthink certain hobbies or activities I like to do. Meditation and self love is really helping me address these thoughts. When I'm focusing and counting my breath the thoughts are just like static background noise. Kind of like I'm in a restaurant with a good friend chatting and there's others eating in the background. [link] [comments] |
| Is being sober best for meditation? Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:31 AM PDT The title says it all really, I'm a big stoner- going through lockdown I've been smoking like a chimney. I wanted to know from experienced smokers and meditators do you find it is best being sober or after a smoke to meditate, I'm going to go out today after now having a smoke to give it a go Edit: thanks for all the replies everyone there is great feedback through out the comments, I can tell it's very subjective, I'm going to attempt it for without smoking for as long as I can to get the full experience personally, and once I figured out what I'm doing i might be willing to incorporate smoking [link] [comments] |
| Looking for an online (credible) meditation Guru Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:54 PM PDT Can anyone point me in the direction of a trusted guru that I can seek advice from on furthering my meditation practice online?? Or does this even exist? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 04:58 AM PDT I just tried at 40 minutes meditating and thirty minutes in felt a sudden "oh no" moment and then my heart began beating incredibly fast, slowing when I breathed in and speeding up when I breathed out. There was a sense of doom. I breathed through it and it passed and I now feel great. Do feelings like this happen every experience or does it calm as meditation is done regularly? Nonetheless, can't wait to start doing this everyday! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:41 PM PDT |
| Had my first intense experience! Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:26 AM PDT I have been meditating for 10 minutes per day (using Medito) for almost a week, pretty consistently. Yesterday I experienced this incredibly surreal, enjoyable sense of balance. Like my conscious mind was connected to my physical body, and I was one. Everything felt centered within the core of my body, and my hands on my knees (cross legged) felt heavy, and equal, like they were united. Today I had that same experience, but I experienced this fuzzy and warm sensation, along with the feeling of my mind expanding. I also saw a blue round dot, that expanded, disappeared, and reappeared. There were also some moving, cloud like blue spots. The feeling that I had was honestly what I would describe as euphoria. I have been depressed and anxious for about three years now. I am pretty sure that I have panic disorder (I experience panic attacks sometimes up to multiple times per week), and agoraphobia, making it hard to leave the house. But since meditation, I have experienced consistent happiness for the first time in about three or four years. This is already life changing. I do see meditation as spiritual, but I do not have strong feelings about Chakra, so I'm not interpreting the colors too deeply. I come from a Christian background, but I believe that all religions expose and enlighten us to certain truths. I am fascinated and excited by my experience in meditation! EDIT: I made the mistake of engaging with a troll, which wasn't great for my mental health. Deleted my end of it, sorry for the awkward comments. I shouldn't have fed into it. EDIT 2: I guess it is important to clarify that these sensations and visuals weren't the point of the meditation. I am trying to get to a place where I can live without the business of an anxious mind, or the selfishness of an anxious mind. I want to become less self-obsessed so that I can focus on others. Part of that is the pursuit of comfort, which I seek out in other simple rituals like the candle I light every day before bed, or the incense I light as I clean my home, or the warm tea I drink first thing in the morning. I wasn't expecting such a thrill purely from sitting and and focusing on stillness, which is why I made the post. Maybe I should have clarified further that I'm not doing this as a religious practice. I am doing it to master my mind, which has completely gone out of control, due to my lack of capability to find inner-peace and self soothe. In hindsight, my post is very corny. But I'm leaving it up because it encapsulates what I felt, and the excitement and joy of experiencing some of the more unexpected sensations of meditating for the first time. Feel free to share your experiences with this. I would love to hear if other people have experienced this, if they feel it is good or bad. What is the point of meditation for you? Have you ever experienced anything during meditation that has been unexpected and pleasant? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:38 PM PDT When I start meditating I always start with my back straight, but the longer I go the more my posture seems to sag. I'm not sure whether its in my head or if I really do start to lose my posture. Has anyone else had experience with this? Just want to know if this is natural, or if its something I need to work on. [link] [comments] |
| How do you go about meditating on a specific thought? Posted: 31 Jul 2020 01:29 AM PDT |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:11 PM PDT the path Are you enlightened? I do not know. Where can I find enlightenment? I do not know. When will you find enlightenment? I do not know. What does enlightenment look like? I do not know. Then what do you know? My path. What does the path look like? Truth. What does Truth look like? Pain. At first anyways. Eventually, Love. What does Pain mean? The soul crushing stuff we keep hidden inside. Even from ourselves. Especially from ourselves. Truth can be painful. That's why I spent so long hiding from it. How did you move on from the Pain? I didn't. I had to deal with it. How did you deal with it? With community, friends, books, videos, medication, time, and a counsellor What was your Pain? Long story. Does the Pain go away? Yes. Where does the path lead? Where all of our paths lead... Death. What the hell does that mean? You're gonna die. Realize it. Accept it. That's the ultimate truth. The ultimate pain. What comes after Death? Life. What about Love? Love is always there. Don't get ahead of things. The Truth - Pain - comes first. How do I find Truth? Sit with it. How do I sit with it? Meditate. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:31 PM PDT hi guys, so i am a student and i just wish to learn how to meditate. i have heard that meditation often helps concentrating for long periods of time, and idk if thats true or not, but i do wish to achieve that since im not able to concentrate while studying for more than 1 hour in a sitting, and i wish to extend that period. i would guess meditation can help me achieve that goal. i have heard there are numerous ways to perform meditation, some people say just to sit at one place and concentrate on ur breathing, taking deep breaths in the process. some say to just let the mind wander around and let it go freely and dont try to think of a specific thing. some say i need to be chanting some hymns while sitting in one place with my eyes closed. idk what is right or wrong, idk where to begin with. i would guess the kind of meditation a person does depends on his/her goal. for me, my goal is to just be able to concentrate on tasks for prolonged periods of time. i hope someone can help me guide towards my goal. [link] [comments] |
| Feel like running a marathon tonight! Posted: 30 Jul 2020 09:38 PM PDT I did following pranayam breathing exercise in order followed by deep meditation at 6 pm, total of an 45 minutes. Its 11 pm now and I am so so so full of energy that feel like go for a long non-stop run all night!
I am new to these breathing exercises and did not know that effect of meditation "quadruples" if done in this order! I feel like i have some non-stop energy constantly emerging from the core of my stomoch radiating towards my head. It sorta feel like i drank 10 cups of coffee right after this session. Anyone else tried similar order before ? [link] [comments] |
| Have you noticed any difference in your stress levels after you started meditating? Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:31 AM PDT Hi. I'm really considering meditation as a stress relief method. I'm generally a very anxious person and I tend to overthink a lot. I would like to hear about some mental benefits to meditating. Have you noticed any significant changes? [link] [comments] |
| Is zen practical in day to day life? Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:54 PM PDT If I'm understanding correctly, Zen involves freeing yourself of all pain and desire by letting go of your ego and dissociating from everything... I'm a young guy and I'm trying to figure out how to set my life up. There are times where I want to just drop everything and go full zen, meditate all day, live simply. But there's also a part of me that fears the judgement I will face when I have nothing to say to people when they talk about politics and family matters because I'm indifferent; that I would be perceived as too 'aloof' to make meaningful relationships with people who would not be on the same sort of path as me, but I would still want to love and care for me and vice versa; that I would sacrifice a successful professional career by not paying it due attention, instead focusing on willing 'nothingness' instead. Basically, in my fairly limited experience meditating, sometimes I tell myself that I need to devote myself fully to the practice to really 'transcend' real life and find 'meaning'. But I withhold out of fear of missing out on normal, human life, chasing something, chasing goals. I wonder what everyone thinks... Is trying to reach a 'zen' state, or 'samadhi', or 'nirvana' a last resort when you can't find power or meaning elsewhere? Does it mean isolating yourself from other people? Giving up on achieving long term goals and the journey/chase of life? If so, do you believe it is worth it? If not, how would one faithfully pursue a goal without finding it pointless? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:38 PM PDT I have meditated before but never daily. I started doing it the other day and today during meditation, I had 5 different times my body spasmed pver a 45 minute period. I have never spasmed in my life like that. If it is normal, exactly is going on with my body to cause it to spasm like that? [link] [comments] |
| Group Meditation Experiment with teacher - 10 minutes/day for 7 days Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:00 PM PDT I personally did my first Vipassana retreat last year (notes), and found it useful for me. One thing I struggled with pre-retreat was accountability and teaching. I am building a group habit app (r/snaphabit), and our most requested "journey" is meditation. Given there are a ton of great meditation apps out there, we want to try to bring something new/engaging, so I was thinking of trying a live-course experiment, something like this
Cost (or maybe donation): $10 suggested to participate (to support mindfulness center and teacher) Would anyone be interested in trying this experiment? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:41 PM PDT Could some one give me a super basic instruction on how to start, what to do exactly, how long, etc.. I've looked on google and there's so many different pages on how and how long and I'm having trouble starting because I don't know where to begin! What worked best for all you guys [link] [comments] |
| How intoxicants and drugs impact one's mind, emotions and body on the path of spiritual growth Posted: 30 Jul 2020 02:42 PM PDT How drugs can impact one's psychic, mental, emotional and physical well-being. There are countless admonitions to avoid drugs while on the spiritual path, during meditation and for a generally happy healthy life. Here's a good quote from my teacher to focus the dangers clearly in mind. "Fools assume that thought can be strengthened by the use of narcotics, but the mental spasms that result do not contribute to evolution. Even the emanations of drugs attract dangerous entities, which pick up fragments of thought and weave harmful tissue out of them. Everyone can remember how their useful thoughts were sometimes distorted. Look for the cause in your surroundings, and you will surely find it." - Supermundane, paragraph 204. Agni Yoga series. [link] [comments] |
| Is it okay to do dynamic meditation before bed? Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:38 PM PDT Just wondering if this is okay given the aggressive nature. [link] [comments] |
| When I notice repetitive, self-critical thoughts Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:23 PM PDT Something I heard Jack Kornfield say a while ago that has stuck with me: When meditating, I often notice a thought pop up that says, "I should be more focused right now. I've been practicing meditation for years, I should be better at this and not so scatter-brained." I step back from that thought and notice it for what is it, a self-critical thought, a thought about the desire to be good at something, a need to perform and feel that I'm "good enough." These types of thoughts are pervasive in other areas of my life (work etc.), so I'm familiar with them, and meditation allows me to notice them and get some distance from them. Jack said that when you have a thought/emotion that repeatedly pops up in meditation, treat that thought like a young child, validate it and care for it. So I think of the part of me that feels it needs to be good and to perform, like it's a little child. When I feel that thought pop up during meditation, I picture soothing that child version of myself by saying "I see you, I hear you that you feel like you need to be good in order to be valued. I love you, you're enough right now, you don't have to try so hard." And then I gently release that thought and return focus back to my breath. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:26 PM PDT Anyone practice Swami Rama's meditation practice or have any experience or opinion on him? Was recently introduced and I must say I am fascinated by this character. Also, in working with a mantra, the word tends to merge with my breath and I cannot separate the two where I can autonomously diaphragmatically breath and direct a focus toward the mantra. Should I focus on making diaphragmatic breathing an unconscious habit while I zero in on the mantra? [link] [comments] |
| as a Beginner in meditation, this video helped me a lot. Posted: 31 Jul 2020 01:12 AM PDT |
| How to continue meditating after worrying experience? Posted: 31 Jul 2020 01:00 AM PDT Hi, I'm relatively new to meditation; I've tried several times in the past for 30 minutes or so but never consistently. Yesterday, I decided to try meditating in the shower for the first time in a couple months with the intent of focusing on a particular sound. For whatever reason, this attempt was much more successful and I was able to maintain a wavering concentration for much longer. Several hours in though, I started to lose grip on reality in tandem with my body beginning to melt and was gripped with an intense, paralyzing fear. I couldn't control thoughts of irrational possibilities like water particles lacerating into me or suddenly forgetting how to breathe and suffocating. I've never had a panic attack before but it seems to match the description. I think I was much too naive going in, and my gut reaction is to start treating meditation like a psychedelic (I've never tried but my experience seems similar to a bad trip) and generally avoid 'going deep' without a mentor/friends and a comfortable setting. The problem is with corona this is somewhat difficult. How should I approach meditating from now? I really would like to continue, as despite the panic attack, I felt much more lucid and emotionally lighter afterwards. I'm also curious to hear of similar stories and how people have managed to move past this instinctive fear. [link] [comments] |
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