Meditation is the sh*t (srs) (no hippy) (strong informative thread)

[Thewix]

So I usually meditate in bed and drift off to sleep really relaxed.

Last night, I was doing some summer meadow visualisation and had a really strange experience, as I was visualising this meadow, I just got this feeling like I was in the best place that I could ever be, I was so happy to be there, that everything was perfect in that moment.

I don't know how long it lasted but it was pretty good, anyone had this happen?

[powahshake]

So I usually meditate in bed and drift off to sleep really relaxed.

Last night, I was doing some summer meadow visualisation and had a really strange experience, as I was visualising this meadow, I just got this feeling like I was in the best place that I could ever be, I was so happy to be there, that everything was perfect in that moment.

I don't know how long it lasted but it was pretty good, anyone had this happen?

Edging into 'samadhi' there, look it up. You can hold this state. At first you might go into it for like 10 seconds and break concentration. But with practice you can start holding it for hours at a time. Then days, weeks, months. Eventually it will become your default state. FeelsEcstaticallyGoodMan.jpg

Here's a good description of it: http://www.calmdownmind.com/a-natural-patience/

[KReyn]

How many people actually meditate in the traditional legs crossed sitting up pose? I just started and find it hard to concentrate due to my inflexibility and usually meditate better laying down. Is a certain pose truly more beneficial than another?

PS I like to go to the gym first thing when I wake up so I have been waking up and downing my pre-workout and meditate for the next 20 min while I wait for it to kick in, I effin love it.


EDIT: What do yall think of when you listen to the ******t youtube one on the first page? I usually focus on goals and things I want to accomplish but am I not supposed to think of anything and keep my mind completely clear?

[Ashen]

Just saw this interesting article on the marines using meditation training http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/20...tion-training/

Brb nothing more alpha than a meditating marine

except a meditating non-marine

[Tupperwolf]

Definitely in now. After posting this morning I sat on my bed and meditated listening to the audio tracks in the OP. I focused on counting my breaths one in, two out, three in, four out and in my mind was a slow visual unreeling of the numbers that I was counting passing by. Each number was a different color, and I found myself pondering the nature of the numbers and their colors. Odd numbers tended to be either yellows, reds or oranges while even numbers were greens, blues or purples. Even consciously focusing on these things while breathing, I couldn't consciously change the colors, they just were what they were.

After that I went out to a group function with people from my work, and without any kind of conscious change I found myself feeling FAR more outgoing, relaxed, and comfortable. I am an introverted personality with some social anxiety and today I spent several hours talking, laughing and mingling with different people with zero feelings of awkwardness. Very much feeling in the now.

If I can feel this good after just meditating a couple of times I'm definitely in for more.

[Dexter3000]

How many people actually meditate in the traditional legs crossed sitting up pose? I just started and find it hard to concentrate due to my inflexibility and usually meditate better laying down. Is a certain pose truly more beneficial than another?

PS I like to go to the gym first thing when I wake up so I have been waking up and downing my pre-workout and meditate for the next 20 min while I wait for it to kick in, I effin love it.


EDIT: What do yall think of when you listen to the ******t youtube one on the first page? I usually focus on goals and things I want to accomplish but am I not supposed to think of anything and keep my mind completely clear?

The idea is actually to try and not think. Thoughts and feelings will come and go and you can't stop that, what you want to do is try and acknowledge that the thought is there but not attach any value to it (negative, positive, anything). You simply note that thought (no matter what it is) and let it move along and turn your attention back on breathing.

Over and over again, all you do is focus on your breathing. It helps to visualize it.. the air going into your nose, your lungs, your body etc.

Imagine sitting on a mountain and the clouds up in the air are slowly passing by while you sit there. Those are your thoughts. You see them, but you don't have any judgement over them and they just pass by.

[svartberg]

How many people actually meditate in the traditional legs crossed sitting up pose? I just started and find it hard to concentrate due to my inflexibility and usually meditate better laying down. Is a certain pose truly more beneficial than another?

See the link I posted a couple days ago, I found that lying down makes it too easy to go into a lucid state (or even doze off) which breaks the point.
What I do now is sit cross legged with my back supported by a wall or the side of my bed, I've noticed my senses are now heightened instead of becoming dull as before.

[yg7s7]

So I usually meditate in bed and drift off to sleep really relaxed.

Last night, I was doing some summer meadow visualisation and had a really strange experience, as I was visualising this meadow, I just got this feeling like I was in the best place that I could ever be, I was so happy to be there, that everything was perfect in that moment.

I don't know how long it lasted but it was pretty good, anyone had this happen?

sometimes I meditate upon waking up feeling sleepy and I get pretty vivid daydreams

most memorables ones were sense of tase though like someone putting peanut butter or fried chicken in my mouth and the taste feels real

You simply note that thought (no matter what it is) and let it move along and turn your attention back on breathing.

Over and over again, all you do is focus on your breathing. It helps to visualize it.. the air going into your nose, your lungs, your body etc.

would it be a good idea to switch attention to the binaural beats/isochronic tones, not breaths?

[Dexter3000]

sometimes I meditate upon waking up feeling sleepy and I get pretty vivid daydreams

most memorables ones were sense of tase though like someone putting peanut butter or fried chicken in my mouth and the taste feels real



would it be a good idea to switch attention to the binaural beats/isochronic tones, not breaths?

I don't know, try it if you want to find out.

My personal opinion is that meditating is about being completely in the moment. The challenging part of this is to try and let go of the thought running through your mind without judging them as good or bad. Being OK with and actually enjoying complete silence - on the outside and inside - is what makes it valuable for me.

So I never did it with music, perhaps I'll try some day but being in there 'here and now' and confronting my mind with nothing IS the challenge. With regards to breaths; it is the one thing you can always count on and will always be there. It is the center of life, literally your lifeline. That's why getting back to breathing mindfully is a nice thing to do and learn.

[Thisperson]

Bump for those unaware.

[Rudyy]

What do you guys do about itching? Whenever I get into a deep state, I feel an itch somewhere and it totally ruins things for me because it's taking all my will power not to itch it. Especially when I can't take it anymore and actually itch it.

[ZenBowman]

What do you guys do about itching? Whenever I get into a deep state, I feel an itch somewhere and it totally ruins things for me because it's taking all my will power not to itch it. Especially when I can't take it anymore and actually itch it.

Haha, yeah, this is why I recommend moving meditation for those with a lot of physical energy. See post #1644
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post989899103

Same thing happens to me, my meditation is mostly during yoga and post-exercise. Yesterday I did a hike but focused on nasal breathing through the hike, slowing down my pace if I felt the urge to mouth-breathe. Very meditative.

[missladyj]

My yin is too yanged...in on this

[powahshake]

Haha, yeah, this is why I recommend moving meditation for those with a lot of physical energy. See post #1644
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post989899103

Same thing happens to me, my meditation is mostly during yoga and post-exercise. Yesterday I did a hike but focused on nasal breathing through the hike, slowing down my pace if I felt the urge to mouth-breathe. Very meditative.

According to the guys on another Taoist forum I'm on, you need both sitting, standing and moving meditations to truly get phenomenal results and I can confirm from my own experience too.

The sitting and standing meditations accumulate energy in different ways to each other, and the moving meditations teach you how to channel that force through your body. It's the same as how we have HIIT cardio, LISS cardio and lifting, they all support each other and bear different fruits.

A person might find it hard to keep a sitting meditation longer than an hour but if they tried standing meditation (zhan zuang, google it, there are many positions) then they might find they can sit down for much longer after that.

[ZenBowman]

According to the guys on another Taoist forum I'm on, you need both sitting, standing and moving meditations to truly get phenomenal results and I can confirm from my own experience too.

The sitting and standing meditations accumulate energy in different ways to each other, and the moving meditations teach you how to channel that force through your body. It's the same as how we have HIIT cardio, LISS cardio and lifting, they all support each other and bear different fruits.

A person might find it hard to keep a sitting meditation longer than an hour but if they tried standing meditation (zhan zuang, google it, there are many positions) then they might find they can sit down for much longer after that.

Interdasting.

I haven't got a good sitting meditation yet, but I might continue to try.

[Sheiky]

Just meditated for 10 minutes for the first time in probably a year.

I hope I can turn this into a daily habit/routine, much like working out. The session I just had right now was great, got into a few minute consistent calmness where I barely thought about anything. Love meditating, and I'm willing to make it a staple in my life from now on.

[kRaop]

Wow just started reading The Power of Now, and it is fascinating. It's amazing for example to see how people complain all the time, whether it be that the future holds a promising outlook or that the past still hurts them, none of them are living the 'now', the only real situation where you can feel anything and be present.

[missladyj]

Wow just started reading The Power of Now, and it is fascinating. It's amazing for example to see how people complain all the time, whether it be that the future holds a promising outlook or that the past still hurts them, none of them are living the 'now', the only real situation where you can feel anything and be present.

That book is incredible...I like 'A New Earth' the best by him though. Was pretty much my Bible...anytime I was upset I could just read a short passage from there and would immediately feel at peace. His books changed my life for sure.

[klapo]

That book is incredible...I like 'A New Earth' the best by him though. Was pretty much my Bible...anytime I was upset I could just read a short passage from there and would immediately feel at peace. His books changed my life for sure.

Tolles > Power of now < advices got me really happy for a few days like I was high all the time and than it led to a kind of disturbness, disappearness of personality/depression. Seriously, the book is all about quieting the mind whole day and thinking about nothing by doing the things from the book, which leaves you with overthinking about not thinking. Many people experienced it that way, unlike with ''simple'' meditation that quiets/relaxes the mind by itself and works in the longterm. Would not recommend Eckhart. Peace

[missladyj]

Tolles > Power of now < advices got me really happy for a few days like I was high all the time and than it led to a kind of disturbness, disappearness of personality/depression. Seriously, the book is all about quieting the mind whole day and thinking about nothing by doing the things from the book, which leaves you with overthinking about not thinking. Many people experienced it that way, unlike with ''simple'' meditation that quiets/relaxes the mind by itself and works in the longterm. Would not recommend Eckhart. Peace

I have to disagree about the purpose of the book. The book isn't necessarily about quieting the mind, but more about being aware of your thoughts and learning how not to identify with them. You're not supposed to NOT think, you're just to pay attention and recognize when you're going through your habitual recorded track of negative thinking. I found it extraordinarily useful because I realized that I was making up 'stories' about situations or things that were said...the thoughts I chose were the real cause of my unhappiness. For instance, I could look in the mirror and tell myself, "You look like chit, you'll never get in shape or have a perfect body." Usually, that thought would depress me and I probably would even give up on working out for a while. But using Tolle's advice, I realized that I was playing my typical negative 'tape' and had to laugh at myself for being crass. Of course it's not true that I'll never get in shape, all I had to do is stick with it and I could make it happen. That's what the purpose of paying attention to your thoughts is for....or as he calls it, being 'present'. So you can recognize that the only one getting in your way is yourself.

He also insists that you pay more attention to things that are going on now rather than focusing on what happened in the past or what's going to happen in the future. He's really not say anything different than what Buddhists have been saying for 2,500+ years about mindfulness. In fact, I would say his ideas and Buddhism line up 100%.

The problem with books and teachings is that not everyone can be self taught or has the same level of comprehension, so it's easy to misinterpret or stray from the intended purpose...that is the same reason why many people seek out a spiritual teacher / circle in addition to meditation.

My fave quote from A New Earth: "If you can recognize illusion as illusion, it dissolves. The recognition of illusion is also its ending. Its survival depend on your mistaking it for reality."

[Dexter3000]

Just meditated for 10 minutes for the first time in probably a year.

I hope I can turn this into a daily habit/routine, much like working out. The session I just had right now was great, got into a few minute consistent calmness where I barely thought about anything. Love meditating, and I'm willing to make it a staple in my life from now on.

Honestly I find it pretty hard and I'm not even sure why.

I have time for it, or can easily make time for it, that's not the problem. There's nothing preventing me from meditating for 15 minutes each day. I think what is blocking me is some kind of fear of what I will experience. It's basically a confrontation with your own self and the present moment, and that can be unpleasant. In a sense it's like working out; you get confronted with your strength or lack therefore, which can sometimes be frightening albeit challenging at the same time.

[Armorblake]

What I've found to really help me is to listen to your thoughts come and go. Once I am able to disassociate from my thoughts, I start asking myself who are these thoughts pertaining to? The answer is always "me". Then I ask myself "well who am I?"

This helps lead me to a place where the mind is permanently quiet.

Zen tactics at reaching enlightenment have the same effect. Basically blowing the mind so much that is ceases to exist as the ego.

Meditation is like being on a trampoline and glimpsing over the wall of the ego and seeing into a place of enlightenment for 15 mins.

Self awareness and inquisition is like building a ladder to hop over that wall

[Sheiky]

Honestly I find it pretty hard and I'm not even sure why.

I have time for it, or can easily make time for it, that's not the problem. There's nothing preventing me from meditating for 15 minutes each day. I think what is blocking me is some kind of fear of what I will experience. It's basically a confrontation with your own self and the present moment, and that can be unpleasant. In a sense it's like working out; you get confronted with your strength or lack therefore, which can sometimes be frightening albeit challenging at the same time.

agreed. well said.

gonna master meditation

[iTzDevo]

That book is incredible...I like 'A New Earth' the best by him though. Was pretty much my Bible...anytime I was upset I could just read a short passage from there and would immediately feel at peace. His books changed my life for sure.

making my way through A New Earth atm, enjoying it. it takes some ideas from Anthony DeMelo's earlier work, Awareness. much of the same concepts in easier to understand methods of utility. would also recommend DeMelo's book

[missladyj]

making my way through A New Earth atm, enjoying it. it takes some ideas from Anthony DeMelo's earlier work, Awareness. much of the same concepts in easier to understand methods of utility. would also recommend DeMelo's book

Thank you for mentioning that, have never heard of DeMelo before. Will definitely be reading soon. +reps


**Found free PDF in case anyone else was interested: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvin...yawareness.pdf

[iTzDevo]

Thank you for mentioning that, have never heard of DeMelo before. Will definitely be reading soon. +reps


**Found free PDF in case anyone else was interested: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvin...yawareness.pdf

enjoy it. it's life changing stuff if you can wrap your head around it

[blinkers88]

Thank you for mentioning that, have never heard of DeMelo before. Will definitely be reading soon. +reps


**Found free PDF in case anyone else was interested: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvin...yawareness.pdf

On page 15.. very interesting stuff. Never thought about charity in this way before

[atressler]

Thank you for mentioning that, have never heard of DeMelo before. Will definitely be reading soon. +reps


**Found free PDF in case anyone else was interested: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvin...yawareness.pdf

I'm about a quarter of the way through it, great read so far. Thanks for the find. Repped.

[centrelink1]

why not just hit a bong OP?

being reality though, I'd really like to get a sensory deprivation chamber.

[missladyj]

Thanks for the love / reps all . Found this on my news feed and thought I would share: