Meditation: Weekly Discussion - August 24 2020 |
- Weekly Discussion - August 24 2020
- Alcohol sucks. It just feeds my ego. At 26 I can say I’m over it and won’t drink ever again.
- I've been reading "The Buddhist on Death Row" and I think people in this sub could benefit from its description of what a deep commitment to the practice actually entails
- New handles cause blisters. Your newly acquired tools, your newly discovered stretches, and your newly developed mindsets will take some breaking in before they’re not so rough on you anymore. Don’t confuse breaking-in with broken.
- Meditation is psychedelic?
- The trick isn't to only have sunny days, it's to not get lost in the clouds.
- I’m starting to get interested in meditation
- Ever so slowly meditation expands the realm of the "acceptable".
- I tried listening and I don't know what happened
- Breathing has never felt this good :)
- I was being cocky about meditation and just got humbled with a panic attack. How to proceed?
- What are some small tips or tricks that have made a big difference to your meditation practice?
- guidance
- Book recommendation for Mindfulness Meditation and the Noble 8 fold path
- Very strange experience
- Lower right back in pain after 20 or so minutes into meditation
- How many of you do mantra/hymn chanting?
- Mindfulness in its core
- Headspace, other apps, and/or books for beginners
- Any other good apps like Headspace?
- All about meditation
- Link between Meditation & Spirituality
- Singing bowls
- Took my poor focus in stride this morning
| Weekly Discussion - August 24 2020 Posted: 24 Aug 2020 08:09 AM PDT This is a reoccuring thread for questions relating to your practice and discussion around your experiences. Questions Ask questions relating to your practice, the theory of meditation, various traditions and lineages of thought, or practical tips. If you're new, please read our FAQ before posting, as it contains a wealth of information that all of us should come back to occasionally. Discussion Also use this thread for a more free-form discussion of your experiences and other tidbits that might not warrant their own full post. Use this space to connect with the /r/meditation community, it won't be heavily moderated. Also check out the monthly meditation challenge. [link] [comments] |
| Alcohol sucks. It just feeds my ego. At 26 I can say I’m over it and won’t drink ever again. Posted: 24 Aug 2020 02:56 PM PDT I'm a pretty chill person. I've always been. Meditation has made me realize that I've turned into a semi asshole ever since I started drinking. I started drinking when I was 18 and going into college. I remember if someone said something negative towards me when I was under the influence it would always hurt my ego. This in turn, made me want to say something to hurt that person back. When I'm sober though, whatever people say doesn't really phase me. I've noticed that alcohol just makes me want to hear myself talk. On Saturday I got pretty drunk and I just wanted to state my opinions about everything without really listening to other people. I didn't get stupid drunk or blackout but I just wasn't myself. I've been working a lot on my spirituality over the past year and every time I drink I notice my vibrations get lower and lower. For example, I went on a trip this past Weekend on Thursday. The weeks leading up to it I did not drink at all. So I was probably 20 days without alcohol. I felt great. Super energetic and I felt like everyone wanted to talk to me. By Saturday I felt lethargic and depressed and unapproachable. Over the past few years I've been trying to figure out what it could be that was making me so sad and depressed. I even read the naked mind, which gave me a lot of great insight on alcoholism. I even quit for many months only to come back to it when I start hanging around people I haven't seen in a while. Then it hit me this past weekend. I tend to isolate myself when coming down from alcohol. So, over the past few years I've been consuming alcohol only to withdraw from it. I was never an everyday drinker but college drinking culture taught me that it was okay to drink every weekend as long as you're getting your work done. Nope. Alcohol is poison. I've noticed that it takes about two weeks before I start feeling normal and content after a weekend of binging. So, since I've been binging for 8 years with few breaks in between, it's possible that I've just been withdrawing from alcohol, which has been making me depressed. Alcohol is not really a problem where I'm craving it right now. It only becomes a problem when I'm around people who socialize using alcohol. But yeah that doesn't matter anymore. I'm done drinking. Sorry for the rant. I just had to get that off my mind. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Aug 2020 07:19 AM PDT I got a copy of David Sheff's new book "The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place," because I do criminal appeals, including on California's death row, and I was interested to see whether the book was a bunch of lame cliches (as a lot of books about crime are) or had more to offer. It's the story of of a man named Jarvis Jay Masters, who became both a serious practitioner of Buddhism and a published author while on death row. I'm only about halfway through but so far it's actually really interesting and particularly because of its depiction of how challenging (but also transformative) meditation is for a person who has experienced serious childhood trauma. There's constantly posts in this sub from people going "I felt sad, while meditating, what's wrong?" or "I felt my heart beat quickly while meditating, how do I make that stop?" What Sheff's book illustrates is that meditation, if done deeply and persistently, can take you back into the most painful parts of your life, and actually requires considerable bravery. It's not all feeling light and peaceful, not by a longshot, even though the net effect of the practice, over time, is to help a person understand their own trauma with much greater peace and equanimity. A very good passage in the book says this:
I am only a novice meditation practitioner, but that is the most accurate description of the practice I have ever read. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Aug 2020 11:48 AM PDT Be kind to yourself and allow healthy and healing processes to take some time. Loving myself, -Ron [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Aug 2020 06:45 PM PDT I was experienced with LSD way before I discovered mediation, but as soon as I started meditating I started noticing similarities between the effects of both, especially after a notably good meditation session. Mainly I just felt familiar with the feeling of inner peace which makes sense I guess but the familiarity seems somewhat uncanny to me and I'm wondering if anyone can relate [link] [comments] |
| The trick isn't to only have sunny days, it's to not get lost in the clouds. Posted: 24 Aug 2020 03:29 PM PDT |
| I’m starting to get interested in meditation Posted: 24 Aug 2020 10:03 PM PDT As a person who struggle to focus, I want to begin meditation. I read online that I should close my eyes and focus on my breathing and where I feel my breathing. Is that what I am supposed to do? I just want to make sure I'm doing this properly. Also, what are all the benefits of meditation? Leave some helpful things down in the comments or just things I should know about meditation and how to get the maximum benefits from it. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Ever so slowly meditation expands the realm of the "acceptable". Posted: 24 Aug 2020 05:11 PM PDT Many of us walk around with a very narrow set of circumstances that we deem acceptable. We continually unconciouslly tell ourselves "this can't be". I can't accept this, I can't feel this way, I can't be like this, this has to stop, I have to fight this. So many of us are locked in an eternal battle with an unseen enemy that is infinitely stronger than us. We are barely aware that we invest an untold amount of energy trying to swim against the rip tide of life. If I can just, empty the Pacific, I will be worthy. If I can just, extinguish the Sun, I will be happy. If I can just, halt the storm, I will be fulfilled. If I can just, alter history, I will be loved. Put the tools down and come inside. You are already home. You are already worthy. You are already loved. Slowly, meditation allows for the unacceptable to just be. [link] [comments] |
| I tried listening and I don't know what happened Posted: 24 Aug 2020 08:03 PM PDT So I guess to start this off I'll say two things, first is I have a mental health issues that leads me to be unable to see myself as myself. Second is ive been meditating for a few years, but mainly as a way to settle my mind and be able to fall asleep, but I am new to trying to meditate in the sense of trying to be more aware of myself. Mainly due to my mental health the idea of being aware of myself has always been a struggle, how can I be aware of something that doesn't exist. But that's exactly why I've been trying to meditate in that way. But I decided to try something different today and just try to listen, not nessicarily even notice my thoughts or view them as anything but to just quietly listen. And that's when things got wierd. I could almost hear someone talking in my head, it physically hurt though. And as I was listening I eventually got a picture of myself in my head from when I was younger. But in that second it was properly me. I started to hear a ringing and this pressure hit the top of my head and I kinda freaked out and snapped out of it and came back from it. Now I'm just kinda sitting here dizzy absolutely confused. My heart is racing and when I try to remember what my face looked like or what the voice sounded like I get dizzy again. I just want to know if anyone else has had experience with this before? Or why this might be happening or even if it's a good thing? I might not respond right away to any comments btw. I'm really tired from all this and I'm planning on trying to sleep. I just needed to type this out before I forgot about it. [link] [comments] |
| Breathing has never felt this good :) Posted: 24 Aug 2020 10:36 PM PDT Thats all I came to say. Breathing has never felt better. [link] [comments] |
| I was being cocky about meditation and just got humbled with a panic attack. How to proceed? Posted: 24 Aug 2020 10:13 PM PDT I've been meditating for longer sessions lately on a daily basis. My anxiety has been at an all time low and I've felt extremely calm. I thought meditation was working, almost too well. I might have been wrong. I was just arguing with my girlfriend about something and found myself crying and being generally upset. Ok, that's normal. But then, I quickly slipped into full blown hyperventilation, having eyes wide open and scared, feeling like I was gonna die, et cetera. I just had an entire panic attack (lasted 1-3 minutes) and I cannot believe it happened, especially since I thought I was being extra mindful as of late. The panic attack was about something that I am irrationally anxious about, which might be a result of an underlying anxiety disorder or a past trauma. I'm absolutely terrified of medication or being diagnosed with anything. However, I do think I will get therapy as this has been a problem for quite some time. I think that both meditation and mindfulness have allowed me to be this open and understanding of what just happened. I can say that this experience was probably good for me, because I almost thought I had my anxiety and irrationality bested. I obviously don't, and this is a much bigger beast that I thought it would be, but I'm not done with my journey. I'm just starting. Could anyone here offer any input. Sorry if I was rambling I just had this attack like 10 minutes ago. [link] [comments] |
| What are some small tips or tricks that have made a big difference to your meditation practice? Posted: 24 Aug 2020 02:18 PM PDT I've noticed that with meditation sometimes just a small change in the way something is explained or framed can make a big difference and lots of small things that were pointed out to me led to pretty big changes. I thought we could all share some small tips that have helped us a lot. Here are mine:
[link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Aug 2020 08:10 PM PDT im new to meditation and reading all these tips is confusing and little overwhelming. my understanding of meditation was to focus on your breathing and watch your thoughts like clouds. others meditate on thoughts or experiences-which is the opposite of what i thought. are there different types of meditation? if i think about a thought for a long time doesnt that defeat the purpose? any advice? [link] [comments] |
| Book recommendation for Mindfulness Meditation and the Noble 8 fold path Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:32 AM PDT I'm currently reading Vipassana Meditation and I'm enjoying it but I'd really like more on the practice of insight meditation and following the 8 fold path if there is a book that covers both. I'm also game to buy multiple books if both aren't in one. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:16 AM PDT Okay, so first of all I have 0 idea what this was or what it meant or anything like that... but I'm simply just going to say what happened.. So I was there meditating in my room, in total darkness... with my eyes closed.. and so it was completely black... I was there still for about 1 hour in total just meditating However around half way through I had an extremely strange experience.. it was all black.. and then suddenly I was in a room with a man staring at me.. he wasn't exactly a man though.. he had the face of a Nintendo wii character and a leopard print onesie on... I have made an image of exactly what he looked like if anyone wants to see DM me 🤣 I know this makes totally no sense, but It was very real experience very vivid and this was only about 1 second I was in a very real room with pictures on the walls and tables and chairs and he was just stood there.. looking at me.. I got very spooked and then immediately it went black again... very strange Thoughts are welcome 😂😂 I've tried to add a link of what it looked like [link] [comments] |
| Lower right back in pain after 20 or so minutes into meditation Posted: 24 Aug 2020 08:09 PM PDT I've been meditating for about a week straight now, for the last two or three days I've noticed pain starts to arise in my lower back on my right side. It makes it very uncomfortable to meditate. I think the issue lies in my body position, I'm sitting criss-cross-applesauce on a bed with my back against a head board. The head board is fairly short, so the majority of my back goes without any support. I'm writing this to confirm if my body position is indeed the issue and if anyone has any tips on how to improve the position I meditate in. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments] |
| How many of you do mantra/hymn chanting? Posted: 25 Aug 2020 02:02 AM PDT I always get a mild panic attack when I get into the pool. Usually, I'll get the rhythm after 1 lap, that's when the body starts swimming effortlessly and water doesn't enter my faulty goggles. But today the panic was more severe than usual. To add to the pressure, I was in the middle of the pool, so if I wanted to pull out, it's a long way to safety. My stomach started vibrating, a natural reaction I get when doing something dangerous. I couldn't stop thinking "I won't make it to the other side". Then I began mentally chanting a hymn that I chant everyday, and I let the body swim. I kept focusing my attention on the meaning of the hymn. And it worked!! It completely distracted me from thinking about a possible danger. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2020 01:42 AM PDT Hello Guys, I have been practicing various forms of medation and other certain practices to know about life, creation, and the existence of the universe. Throughout my journey, I was thinking of sharing my thoughts with others and I end up making a website out of my thoughts and the experiences. In the hard times of pandemic, we need to be mentally strong as well. So, here is my take on the universe http://mindonmushroom.com/ Please do let me know how do you perceive it. Chao! [link] [comments] |
| Headspace, other apps, and/or books for beginners Posted: 25 Aug 2020 01:24 AM PDT So I am going to start a meditation practice. I have a date set and motivation in spades. One thing that I don't have is a meditation app or a book to guide me. One app that I saw cropping up a lot while back was Headspace. It seemed to have a nice aesthetic and a good reputation from other people that I saw using at the time. When I look on the app store reviews now though, it seems it has a waned in its quality. Is that truly the case? If so, what is the best app out there nowadays. I don't mind paying if it is worth it. I'm not opposed to picking a book or two either. If you all could enlighten me with your best recommendations, that would be super cool. You would be super cool. [link] [comments] |
| Any other good apps like Headspace? Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:54 AM PDT I tried Headspace a while back for the heck of it and had some success and would love to try again, but unfortunately 97% of the app is put behind a paywall that I can't afford. Is there any other good apps similar to Headspace that doesn't cost money? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:35 AM PDT |
| Link between Meditation & Spirituality Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:28 AM PDT Meditation is silencing the mind; it is contemplation; it is becoming conscious and aware of who we are. And the moment we get into true meditation or true consciousness, it opens the door of spirituality. When we are in meditation, we stop going with the outside world, we go with the inside world. We become conscious of the spirit, the Soul or Atma - that is our real identity. We are divine manifestations, but we are lost in the body mind complex. Meditation helps transcending the ego, it helps go beyond the cravings of the body as it seeks the divine and the truth. Meditation is just a way to the ultimate goal of liberation. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2020 12:11 AM PDT Singing bowls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3A4h5dYwRQ What is the use of listening to the singing bowl? The pleasant sound of the singing bowls has a regenerating and cleansing effect on our body. You are filled with strength and energy by these sounds. If you listen every day, regularly, you can restore your strength, eliminate stress. You wanted to do something, but there was no strength, listening to the sound of the singing bowls, you will take a step. Will awaken your feelings and intention to have and to act. It will cleanse your subtle bodies (chakras). [link] [comments] |
| Took my poor focus in stride this morning Posted: 24 Aug 2020 04:22 AM PDT A reminder to myself and others that the whole point is to maintain equanimity regardless of thought content, not necessarily to achieve nothingness. I woke up from a bad dream and was in a suboptimal place from the get go. I immediately checked my email and reddit, which didn't help. I went to do my meditation regardless, and as I expected concentration was poor and I kept falling into planning and fantasizing modes. Every time I noticed, I simply told myself, "it's ok" and moved on. The ratio of thought to nothingness today was about 10:1, but regardless I feel much calmer now. It's all about how we react rather than what we achieve. [link] [comments] |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Meditation. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment