• Breaking News

    Friday, June 25, 2021

    Meditation: Announcing two new moderators!

    Meditation: Announcing two new moderators!


    Announcing two new moderators!

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 06:58 AM PDT

    Two months ago, I ran an application process for new moderators for our little community. Thank you to everyone who applied, I received a great many impressive applications. Reading through all of your stories made me grateful to be part of this subreddit, and I was endlessly impressed with the diversity of perspectives that we have represented here. In the end, I made the difficult decision to invite only the two most qualified candidates to join our team. In the future, I would like to continue to grow the team, but at the moment I prioritised a small, tight knit group of experienced meditators and teachers who would benefit the community the most.

    I am extremely proud to welcome /u/3DimenZ and /u/mykl66 to our little family of moderators. They are both established members of the community with years of experience under their belts, and I hope everyone here will get to know them in time. I wouldn't want to speak for the new moderators, so if they have a moment I would love it if they would introduce themselves in the comments below!

    With this new increase in person-power, I'm very optimistic about the future of our subreddit. We have a lot of plans in the works that I'm excited about, starting with the deprecation of our subreddit chat function. At the moment, it's essentially impossible to moderate, and I think borderline unproductive. Instead of this, we've chosen to support a partnered Discord server run by established meditation teachers (including /u/3DimenZ!). I'm confident that this change will lead to a lot more productive discussions and will help all of us to deepen our understanding of ourselves and of the practice.

    You can find details about the community here and an invite to the Discord server here. Come in and say hi!

    The eagle eyed among you will also have noticed our new subreddit logo, designed by the incredibly talented /u/Meliys and colourised by the also very talented but as of yet unnamed girlfriend of /u/3DimenZ! Thank you very much to you both for making our subreddit more inviting and infinitely prettier.

    We also have also been working closely with the reddit administrators recently on a project that will bring the subreddit closer together and provide us a platform to support and develop our practices. We will share more about this as it becomes more concrete.

    Thank you again for making this a wonderful community, I'm looking forward to further developing /r/meditation alongside each and every one of you.

    submitted by /u/Emrys_Wledig
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    still one of my favorite quotes ��

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 05:53 AM PDT

    I chant mantras in my head nonstop

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 11:38 PM PDT

    Hey everyone!

    So I constantly chant Sanskrit mantras in my head throughout the day, even while reading and talking :) I'm chanting Hare Krishna right now, and I used to chant Om Namah Shivaya, Om Mani Padme Hum, and the mantras for each chakra.

    Overall, the experience is amazing. I don't know how Sanskrit works, but it does something to your mind and body that is absolutely profound. I get these strange, very pleasant tingles and warmth during the day around areas like the crown, forehead and chest. Basically, if you look up the chakras, that's where I feel the greatest energy. I didn't really believe in chakras until I started getting these awesome sensations! I also have this uncanny golden glow that has gotten stronger over the years. It's not super obvious but if you focus you can see it.

    If that wasn't out of this world enough for you, I also want to share this with you:

    Over the last couple of years, hair loss has taken its toll around the corners of my hairline. I'm only 22, but my family doesn't have a strong history of paternal hair extravagance, and it's already showing. To be honest, it's been a blow to my ego and something that I think about a lot. When I chant, I try to direct the energy up around my hair to stimulate growth. For many months, I didn't notice anything. Maybe random thoughts here and there of a full head of hair. But then I started getting these strong tingles out of the blue all around my hairline. I mean, really strong. Like someone hooked up some electrodes to my scalp! Sometimes it actually feels like individual hairs are trying to poke through the scalp :) And now I'm getting some thick baby hair as well as a strand or two of healthy hair popping up where my hairline used to be. It's awesome!! I'm so happy!! I look forward to how my hair is gonna change in the future :)

    Keep in mind, it's been no easy feat. From the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep, I chant in my head nonstop. And I've been doing this for a total of about 24 months. But I've been noticing some really awesome things that I want to share with the world so y'all get into this wonderful self-care practice called meditation!

    Holler if you have any questions :)

    Peace and love,

    Anthony

    Edit: Thanks for the Wholesome Award :) <3

    submitted by /u/ImJustAGuy1999
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    You are not the voice in your head.

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 02:53 AM PDT

    From the moment we learn to think, we can't stop. We become so lost in thought that we even start to believe that we are our thoughts.

    You were conditioned to identify with the voice in your head, which never stops talking from the moment you wake up to when you fall asleep. But that voice in your head isn't you, and whatever it says has nothing to do with you, so don't believe anything it says.

    So if you're not the voice in your head, who are you then? You are the awareness that allows that voice to come and go. If you were the voice in your head then you couldn't be aware of it. So the more you rest as this awareness in your daily life, the less the voice in your head talks and the less it bothers you. And eventually you'll reach a point where you can go for a while without the voice saying anything. This is the point of meditation; to increase the distance between you (awareness) and the voice in your head. I call it the art of watching because it's about watching the voice in your head, instead of identifying and engaging with it.

    submitted by /u/Jax_Gatsby
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    I am being turned away from this subreddit...

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 07:38 PM PDT

    I promise I do not mean this in a negative way, but I am losing interest very fast about peeking in here. It has nothing to do with the disliking people in here, but just seems to be some side effect of my new practice of daily meditation.

    The reasons I come in here is so that I can see who else may be experiencing the same things I am on this journey. While scrolling, I see alot of anxiety about meditation and people just so worried about things that dont matter. It just turns me off now. Its almost like going back to highschool as a 30 year old or something. After meditating you just see many things are suddenly trivial.

    No, I dont think im better than anybody, because if I dont meditate, I also become the anxious person who worries over everything.

    I just wish they could SEE IT! Just meditate and you will see! I wish everyone could feel the effects of meditation, but thats not probable. Also some people truly do have mental illnesses. But for those with just regular anxiety, please just do it! Dont ask anymore questions you are delaying your own peace of mind. Dont worry about doing it perfect. Just try it.

    submitted by /u/Forward_Bird_5272
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    What is your meditation technique that keeps you present/lucid/mindful during everyday life?

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 05:12 AM PDT

    I would like to know what tech people use to achieve such a state of mind during everyday life.I am struggling a lot with it.

    submitted by /u/keoske
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    I think today i figured out what it means to be an observer

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 11:19 PM PDT

    I have been reading "the untethered soul" recently and i think for the first time i actually understand what it means to just be an observer.

    I feel this helped in my meditation practice too.

    I will probably forget this and have to relearn it over and over.. All things are transient.

    But today i feel it is progress

    submitted by /u/everysilverline
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    My head always starts tickling when I meditate

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 12:55 AM PDT

    Every single time I meditate my forehead starts hurting a bit, then the pain goes away and it turns into a tickling sensation in my head. This sensation then wanders down my spine (feels like goosebumps) every time I breathe in.

    I'm actually just doing some sort of mindfulness meditation, I'm watching my breath mostly, sometimes I let my attention wander to my body or sounds around me and then I go back to my breath. Sometimes I try watching everything at once (breath, body, surroundings)

    When I concentrate strongly on my breath, this sensation appears, when I pay too much attention to it and forget about my breath, it disappears.

    Is this normal? What do you guys think about my meditation technique? Even though this sensation is pleasant I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong and change my brain in bad way.

    submitted by /u/Bierkastenbernd
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    Help please :( .I really need to know what progress looks like

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 05:24 AM PDT

    (Directed at those who are good at meditating)

    HOW does progress look like??How did it start for you?Were you distracted easily when you began?

    Are you able to meditate with almost no distractions at all? Being present and consious every passing moment?

    I need to know how the experience was cuz honestly it feels like it is impossible to not get distracted all the time for me and i have been at it for some time.I cant even imagine it ...living and feeling every second.

    Your help is greatly appreciated ,thanks. :)

    submitted by /u/keoske
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    Breathing Technique gets me feeling dizzy and makes me almost deaf.

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 03:08 AM PDT

    Hello guys! About a few months ago I found out when I breathed a certain way, I get this somewhat good feeling where I feel like I'm in the state right before fainting. I fill my lungs up to the max and hold in, for no more than like 10 or 15 seconds, with some pressure to resist the air trying to come out. I doesn't always work, but when it does I start feeling all tingly and when it's intense enough I get some ringing in my ear like the one you get after being close to a loud explosive and lose 90% of motor skills and I'm deaf for about 10 seconds. I should also mention it abnormally affects my heart rate. It feels almost like my heart stops beating when I hold breath in, and the second I take a breath my heartrate goes Tesla mode in acceleration for a few seconds then goes back to normal. I then heard about DMT release with breathing techniques and found out there are actual breathing techniques like wim Hof's that affect your body somehow. Is this similar to that or am I doing something that's killing me lmao

    submitted by /u/Disastrous_Stop_6895
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    I want to meditate- but I can't. Actually, I know I can, but I won't.

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 05:51 PM PDT

    I'm not going to lie I feel kind of stupid posting this because I'm pretty sure I know the solution to this situation, but then again, maybe I don't.

    So here's the deal- I've read a handful of books on meditation and mindfulness yet I still can never bring myself to do it. Okay, there have been a few times in my life where I've meditated but it either ended up in me getting freaked out and becoming uncomfortable or falling asleep.

    Back to why I feel stupid posting about this. I feel stupid because I feel like the simple answer is "just start doing it." Maybe that IS the answer but it isn't an answer that means much to me.

    I don't know what I want from this post... maybe I'm expecting someone to say something super moving and meaningful. Either way, I have a lot of negativity inside of me and internally I'm becoming desperate but physically (in terms of my actions) I haven't been doing anything to help myself.

    submitted by /u/mleaa_1124
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    Existential Dread/ Fear of Death and the Dying Process

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 03:05 AM PDT

    How does one reconcile the certainty of death? How do we make the most of life knowing there's an end and that it can potentially be a painful end? How do we manage our fear towards this dreaded end?

    submitted by /u/panab1
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    Anyone hear clocks ticking more after getting into meditation?

    Posted: 25 Jun 2021 06:09 AM PDT

    I catch myself hearing clocks ticking more often when I meditate versus not.

    Anyone can explain or relate?

    submitted by /u/D3FLCT
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    Time Perception

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 11:26 PM PDT

    Feels like an eternity when in reality only 10 minutes have passed meditating.

    submitted by /u/ATG1001
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    What is your inner voice?

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 05:59 PM PDT

    I used to think my inner voice was actually the voice I used to think with. My internal monologue, which apparently not everybody has. So if not everybody has one then that would negate my theory of that being your inner voice if not everyone can relate to it. So what is the inner voice? Is it your intuition? Gut feeling? Belief system between right and wrong? All of the above?

    submitted by /u/hjay58
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    2-3 day retreats in so cal

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 07:48 PM PDT

    Can anyone recommend a 2-3 day retreat in Southern California? Eventually I'd prefer to do a full 10'day experience, but for now this is all I have time for. Or even places where you can go for a day and get guided through meditation? I've just been struggling to learn how to meditate and would like to immerse myself in an experience with help. Thank you

    submitted by /u/johnnypencilpusher
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    My experience of visiting a meditation shrine consecrated by Sadhguru, Dhyanalinga, today marks its 22nd anniversary.

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 02:00 AM PDT

    I got the privilege to meditate inside the Dhyanalinga dome, which is situated at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains in southern India.

    My experience

    My first visit happened when I was struggling with some mental and emotional blocks and wanted to deal with them. I had no faith or belief in such things, for all I concluded, it was some religious dogma. Three days at the Isha Yoga Center, doing my practices in that space, meditating in the presence of the Dhyanalinga shrine, my months of depression was cured, it is something I still fail to comprehend. It was all so mystical.

    Doing three days Silence Sadhana

    The next time I visited the center, I opted to go into complete 'Silence', which means not looking at anyone, not speaking and there were some more guidelines. Those three days, a large part of my day was spent meditating near the shrine. It was then that something beyond my mind started happening to me, I could feel the presence of an energy within me, it was as real as it was physical. Slowly these experiences started being more frequent even when I was physically not near the shrine.

    Accessing Dhyanalinga From home

    Sadhguru says that consecrated forms are not limited to time and space and hence can be accessed from anywhere. You can fix a time of the day(Morning or evening is good) and simply sit with your eyes closed. As most people will not be able to relate to something unless they are in its presence or have at least seen it, it is good if one can visit or just look at the picture(Which one can easily find online). Such things are abstract but very powerful.

    The Role of Dhyanlinga as a catalyst in our meditative journey

    This shrine is an energy form that has been created for 'Meditation'. The word 'Dhyana' in Sanskrit translates to the word 'Meditation' in the English language. It is a tool to hasten or catalyze our inner journey. I can say this not because I believe, but because I know so many people who simply lose the sense of time sitting there. People from all religions and races, who may have no idea of what meditation is.

    Today marks the 22nd anniversary of Dhyanalinga's consecration. Here is a small video on The legend of Dhyanliga.

    If you are still reading this, I am grateful that in this big world running so hard to achieve something externally, you are smart enough to work on the source of it all, yourself.

    Thank you :)

    submitted by /u/undercoverYogii_ii
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    Feeling pain heals you

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 10:20 AM PDT

    https://i.imgur.com/I5pj4FZ.jpg Be with the pain. Embrace it. accept it.

    submitted by /u/acubens5
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    Why are some people worried about looking deep within?

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 07:38 AM PDT

    I've seen a growing trend on this reddit that people are having negative experiences when harnessing meditation and these bad experiences are sometimes deterring them completely from continuing.

    Does anyone feel this and why?

    submitted by /u/TrunkzNation
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    Don't forget about your face.

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 07:56 AM PDT

    I know during meditation many of us are constantly reminded of our bodies, we feel aches, pains, tingling and so on. We adjust our legs, butt, hips, back, hands, neck and so many other things while trying to relax and settle in. Just a friendly reminder here, don't forget to relax your face too. Left "unchecked" a tense face can be a tremendous block to peace and calm, and often we're unaware of it. I sit Zazen for several hours each day and occasionally I find myself being blocked, my session seems to be more on the arduous side than on the peaceful side. Often I focus on my face and sure enough my brow is furrowed, my eyes tight and my mouth pursed. I relax them into an almost pre-smile and within a few minutes serenity begins to wash over me. And I notice a tremendous difference in calmness afterwards. So, for those out there whom experience similar hindrances, don't forget about your face and it's ok to smile during meditation. Namaste you beautiful souls.

    submitted by /u/The_Dude_of_Pala
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    How to Get Caught in the Mindfulness Trap

    Posted: 23 Jun 2021 09:04 AM PDT

    When you get a free 30-day trial of Waking Up, Sam Harris' meditation app, they strongly suggest that you start with their 28-day introductory course. One lesson a day.

    So, I did what any self-respecting meditator would do: I did four lessons a day so I could get on to the good stuff.

    I was cranking through intro lessons in my morning session, burning through the theory section on my afternoon walks and falling asleep to conversations, desperately trying to consume everything on the app within my 30-day window.

    Within a week, I inhaled the intro course, engorged myself on the theory section and a wolfed down a bunch of conversations. But I still wasn't really "getting it". Waking Up is primarily focused on non-dual practice. And I was only used to more traditional mindfulness meditation. It was hard to make the leap.

    One practice was particularly difficult - the Headless Way, by Richard Lang. The gist of the practice is this: your attention is on an object and then, in the time it takes to snap your fingers, you reverse your attention to look for what is looking.

    The intended outcome is that you realize you don't have a head. Where you think your head would be, there's just...space. And this realization can induce a non-dual experience because you realize that the thing you thought was your head is just a constellation of sensation you label a head and is also just arising in awareness.

    Well, not for me.

    I struggled through Lang's entire series, his conversation with Sam, thinking incorrectly, that if I understood the concept intellectually, maybe that would elicit the experience.

    No such luck.

    Every time the daily meditation referenced the Headless Way, I'd suck my teeth and exhale sharply, like I was putting together Ikea furniture and the instructions were actually in Swedish.

    I was getting more and more frustrated and that was only exacerbated by Sam's rather casual acknowledgement that some people spend their entire lives seeking this non-dual state, never experiencing it.

    What do you mean, their whole lives!? I only have two weeks left on my free trial before I have to pony up the dough for this GD app. Where's the accelerated course? Is there a premium subscription that just downloads this wisdom into the space where my head should be?

    Dejected, I gave up trying to understand it.

    And when I did, something shifted.

    I was sitting down for daily meditation. And here we go with the Headless Way again. But this time the prompts were just slightly different. It called for eyes open. To focus on some object in front of us.I chose my favorite houseplant, a purple shamrock that sits on my window sill. That detail doesn't matter, I'm just trying to impress you.

    So anyway, I'm focusing my attention on this spectacular plant. And Sam is prompting me to notice where I am paying attention from. Got it. I'm good at that. I've been practicing white-knuckling my focused concentration on an object for years now.

    There is this point between my eyes and a half inch inside my skull. It feels like a ball of energy, a spotlight of attention facing outward. It's clear as day. It's like "I" am standing behind this spotlight aiming it at my plant. There's me, the spotlight and the plant. It's undeniably me orchestrating this whole thing. When I focus harder, I squint back into this place.

    And I'm straining to hold that focus when he hits me with it:

    "Now, where are you aware of that sensation from?"

    [Wild gesticulation indicating an exploding head]

    It was like "I" sunk down into my chest. It was like looking up into a summer day from the bottom of a crystal-clear pool. Or maybe like "I" was now located on the skin of a bubble. And the guy aiming the spotlight, was just a cluster of sensation within that bubble.

    That experience isn't the point, what happened later is the point.

    That night, I got into bed. And this thought came over me: I should listen to more conversations. Maybe I'll check out Ol' Kornfield or see what Tara Brach has to say. And, as I'm thumbing through the list, another curious thought hits me: this is stupid.

    I got a meditation app. And I'm frantically cramming a lifetime of practice into a 30-day trial. That is completely antithetical to the purpose of meditation to begin with. It's like buying a nice pair of flip flops and taking them out for a marathon. Or buying a nice axe and hitting it with a tree.

    And that's when it really hit me: I think my early years of mindfulness actually made me more susceptible to this kind of behavior. Let me quickly address the obvious objection. Focused concentration or mindfulness done correctly shouldn't produce this response.

    But I wasn't doing it correctly. Here's how I think I erred. I titled it the Mindfulness Trap, so you'd click on it and read this far. Though I admit that title has some limitations and inaccuracies that I hope you'll forgive because of how snappy a title it is.

    The Mindfulness Trap

    Remember a few paragraphs ago how I described that scene where I was inside my head holding a spotlight directed at my object of attention? I think that's the root of the mindfulness trap. It uses a subject-object relationship, where the subject (me) is directing attention (the spotlight) at the breath or my purple shamrock (object).

    And unless you're quite careful not to violate the attitudes of mindfulness our old friend, Mr. Kabat-Zinn, so graciously outlined for us, you might get caught in this trap. In fact, mindfulness increases the likelihood you fall in the trap unless you're aware of it.

    The trap is the idea that if I (the subject) am having trouble focusing on the object, I can just try harder. I can practice more. I can learn more. I can blow through all the content on Waking Up in less than thirty days. Or, perhaps most perniciously, that I am in control of what my mind does at all.

    I'm at the limit of my understanding and beyond my limit in articulating why that last part might be true. If you're interested in whether or not we have any control over our minds, I might direct you to Sam's discussion of free will.

    But I am qualified to talk about how that has manifested itself in my practice. In short, the subject-object relationship trapped me into believing that, if I'm not getting what I want out of meditation, that something must be done about that. And "I" am the one to do it.

    To say it another way, it was my mindfulness practice that reinforced my natural disposition toward striving, when what I was really looking for was right in front of me the whole time.

    At least one question remains: did I need those years of mindfulness practice to enable the glimpse into non-dual awareness? I don't know. I can't undo the years of mindfulness practice and do it differently.

    Maybe I had to fall into the Mindfulness Trap because escaping it is what I was really after. Maybe that part isn't optional. Maybe that's why the meditation finally cracked my egg started squarely in the domain of subject-object.

    submitted by /u/mattgangloff
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    What's the weapon of the mind?

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 09:24 AM PDT

    Why mind wants to make me believe that thinking is important than being in the present moment?

    submitted by /u/src-1111
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    Is there such thing as too much meditation?

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 11:40 AM PDT

    Hi everyone, I have been meditating for a few years now and it has helped me get through a lot of my problems, but I feel like I've reached a point where I've worked through almost everything. Not to say that I have solved every problem in my life, but more like I just go through the same pattern every time and reach a sort of steady state. It's peaceful, and feels good, but I'm not sure if its good for me. Sometimes I find it difficult to stay present where I really am when I'm not meditating. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I feel like the calm and empty place I reach when I go into deep meditation might be weakening my brains ability to perform and think quickly.

    If anybody knows what I might be getting wrong or what might be going on, I'd appreciate you.

    submitted by /u/GnarlyCharlie006
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    Anyone have experience with Kundalini??

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 11:14 AM PDT

    Just curious, how many people here have experience with Kundalini Meditation/Kundalini Yoga?

    submitted by /u/seokhoonjun
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    Got Science? Looking for resources on the science of mindfulness/meditation in VR.

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 10:45 AM PDT

    Hello! I am looking for any resources/papers/insights on the theme of mindfulness/meditation in VR. Specifically, any clinical/academic research studies or games that focus on mindfulness/meditation in VR. Happy to share my findings with others interested in this space.
    Thank you! Have a nice day!
    Ben

    submitted by /u/Upaya0
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    Before or after meals and sports?

    Posted: 24 Jun 2021 10:13 AM PDT

    Hi, I would like to start meditating.

    Before or after meals? If before, I could feel hungry especially for morning meditations. If after, I could feel sleepy?

    Before or after sports? I run or lift weights for about 30 minutes.

    submitted by /u/Mysterious_Ebb_722
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