Post: #1

I have been lurking the forums for the past couple weeks soaking in the wealth of knowledge available here and wanted to make sure my first post contributes value to the community.

Minfulness in Plain English

The link is for a free e-book called 'Mindfulness in Plain English' that basically explains Vipassana or "Insight" meditation in layman's terms.

I just recently decided to get into meditation myself and found this book to be a very valuable resource. I read a few posts that expressed curiosity about the practice and I thought I would share something that has helped me. This book really breaks it down in a way that you can start meditating and experiencing the benefits right away rather than wading through a bunch of conflicting and confusing information.

I will say that sitting still and meditating for 10+ minutes is harder than it looks!



P.S. I just want to be clear (since I am a new member) that I am in no way affiliated or receive any sort of compensation from this. The book is completely free with no catch, ads, e-mail list subscription, etc.

Post: #2

I can add to this that several research studies from Harvard, UCLA, etc. found that meditation results in changes in brain as the area responsible for attention and control is simulated during meditation. So the conclusion is that meditation helps you to improve your focus.

Post: #3

I wish I could meditate. whenever I try, I start to really sink into it and "let go" and then my chest and throat tighten right up. It knocks me right back into being uptight, tense, etc. I've read alot about mindfulness and meditation and nothing has addressed this, but I've talked to some people with the same problem. Quite frustrating.

Post: #4

Well, I've got a couple questions for you. I'll quote my old post in another thread where one guy got banned before he could respond.

Just answer what's relevant. I see there's already a free ebook on the subject and I'll probably get around to reading it sometime this week.

Thanks

(09-24-2012 04:12 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  If you're not full of shit, then I'd like to ask you a couple questions.

What has meditating done for you? I've read a couple short books on the subject, but they seem to be very vague and indirect about the actual effects of meditation. It was like trying to read an old school weightlifting book.

What is the best way to go about learning meditation, if it is worth it? My concentration is sporadic at best and I'd like to improve it.

Are there any books you recommend on meditation? I don't want to get into the whole religion thing if I can help it.

/thread-16200-...#pid274378

Post: #5

(10-01-2012 06:33 AM)RichieP Wrote:  I wish I could meditate. whenever I try, I start to really sink into it and "let go" and then my chest and throat tighten right up. It knocks me right back into being uptight, tense, etc. I've read alot about mindfulness and meditation and nothing has addressed this, but I've talked to some people with the same problem. Quite frustrating.

If you are really interested in meditating, I would suggest reading the book. It "troubleshoots" many of the problems people have when meditating. Like I said, it's harder than it looks and it's something you have to consistently work at. Most people are not accustomed to sitting still with their legs crossed for prolonged periods. In the beginning, it will be uncomfortable and you will struggle to make it 5 minutes or to focus on anything other than that fucking itch on your right nipple that you want to scratch so badly or the crick in your neck. If you are consistent with it, it slowly becomes easier.

I find it funny that the "scumbag brain" meme was spreading around the internet at the same time I was beginning to meditate

(10-01-2012 12:35 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  Well, I've got a couple questions for you. I'll quote my old post in another thread where one guy got banned before he could respond.

Just answer what's relevant. I see there's already a free ebook on the subject and I'll probably get around to reading it sometime this week.

Thanks

(09-24-2012 04:12 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  If you're not full of shit, then I'd like to ask you a couple questions.

What has meditating done for you? I've read a couple short books on the subject, but they seem to be very vague and indirect about the actual effects of meditation. It was like trying to read an old school weightlifting book.

What is the best way to go about learning meditation, if it is worth it? My concentration is sporadic at best and I'd like to improve it.

Are there any books you recommend on meditation? I don't want to get into the whole religion thing if I can help it.

/thread-16200-...#pid274378

Ha, I actually came across your post at one point and it was one of the things that inspired me to share this book.

I am still very new to meditation myself and struggle to remain consistent with meditating once or twice per day like I should. But basically this form of meditation helps to calm your mind and senses, allowing you to think and focus with more clarity. It helps to master your emotions and you can start to see thoughts of greed, hate, even happiness exactly as they are without being affected by them.

I felt the same way that you did about meditation just a couple months ago and this book has helped immensely in understanding the how and why of meditating without being too religious or esoteric. Vipassana meditation itself is a Buddhist practice but the book only briefly mentions anything regarding religion and it is only to provide background information.

Post: #6

Cool, thanks. I've heard that 20 minutes a day is the sweet spot for meditation, something like 10 minutes in the morning and 10 at night.

I downloaded this book about mindhacking on amazon kindle and it said something along those lines.

I'll see if I can't find it.

Alrighty, it's called "The Manual- A guide to the Ultimate Study Method (USM); covering Speed Reading, Super Memory. . . etc".

Here's what it says about meditation. It claims that meditation allows us to produce Alpha brainwaves, which means that you're in a state of relaxed awareness.

The other states being
delta - deep sleep
theta - drowsiness
beta- alert and active
gamma- cross modal sensory processing (whatever the hell that means)

Benefits of meditation or concentration training
-Lower blood pressure
-Favourable changes in brain activity
-Ability to focus more of our attention on a given task
-Better executive function
-Joys of relaxation and deep states of awareness
-Enhanced creativity
-Enhanced health and well being
-Longer attention spans

(I'm not sure how to cite stuff like this on the internet. That list is verbatim out of the book)

Practice this technique three times a day preferably, two long sessions and one short.

Then it goes into a spiel about mantras. Again, the benefits of meditation, to me, seem a bit vague. Longer attention spans are cool and all, but if I'm going to devote something like 40 minutes a day to a skill, I want to know for damn sure that it's useful.

The meditation part was the cornerstone of this book, you basically have to practice the meditation first to be able to efficiently utilize the techniques in the rest of the book. There's stuff like mind palaces, speed reading, and a ton of other things.

Post: #7

The Goenka 10 day Vipassana retreats are offered all over the world. I took the ten day retreat in Southern California and it was a beautiful facility in the desert. They provide you with a room and vegetarian food. It is free and they offer the chance to give a donation of whatever you want at the end.

Here is the directory for the United States centers.

http://www.dhamma.org/en/bycountry/na/

Post: #8

Yeah I've read it, and countless other books on mindfulness and meditation and whatnot. Nothing addresses this physical tightening up I get. It's like a physiological reaction rather than just aches or discomfort. Very strange.

Post: #9

(09-24-2012 04:12 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  What has meditating done for you?

What is the best way to go about learning meditation, if it is worth it?

Are there any books you recommend on meditation? I don't want to get into the whole religion thing if I can help it.

I went through a Buddhist streak at one point so I'll throw in my 2c.

Meditation revealed to me how little I controlled my own mind and how easily I could be misled by my assumptions, beliefs, emotions.

Meditation was damn hard.

Meditation on breathing in and breathing out is the most classical style and is what I did.

The idea is to shut down all thought.

I don't do it regularly anymore but whenever I have too much stress or in physical pain I try go back to the old techniques. It's interesting how the physical pain stays the same but it just doesn't bother you as much when you shut down all the thought-junk that goes with it.

I can't see how meditation will work outside of a religious context. Buddhist meditation in particular relies on you realising on how little self there is in your self, which is not a sentence that will make sense unless you appreciate that you are a composite of touch-seeing-hearing-tasting-smelling-minding and not much else. Western culture still relies on concepts of 'soul' and 'individual' and if unless you've taken a hell of a red pill and blown those ideas out of your mind, the end points of buddhist meditation will not make sense.

Post: #10

Check out the Open Focus mp3s. You can also find them floating around the waters of the interwebs. I'd done some meditation, but these guided audios blow away every thing else I'd done. They are also built on scientific research not new agey mumbo jumbo. It's easy; they have a progressive program where you work through steps, but following the program word by word takes self-discipline which I don't have lol. The guy's voice sounds incredibly boring in the first 2 tracks, but the shit gets real later on.

Post: #11

(10-02-2012 04:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:  Yeah I've read it, and countless other books on mindfulness and meditation and whatnot. Nothing addresses this physical tightening up I get. It's like a physiological reaction rather than just aches or discomfort. Very strange.

That is strange. I have had physical discomfort and tightness in the beginning but it passes the more times I "sit". This book and many others recommend that you eventually meet with an instructor to help your progress and move past your sticking points. I would suggest looking into that if meditation is something you're serious about learning.

Sherman posted a really interesting link early in the thread relating to just that.

(10-02-2012 10:58 AM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

(09-24-2012 04:12 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  What has meditating done for you?

What is the best way to go about learning meditation, if it is worth it?

Are there any books you recommend on meditation? I don't want to get into the whole religion thing if I can help it.

I went through a Buddhist streak at one point so I'll throw in my 2c.

Meditation revealed to me how little I controlled my own mind and how easily I could be misled by my assumptions, beliefs, emotions.

Meditation was damn hard.

Meditation on breathing in and breathing out is the most classical style and is what I did.

The idea is to shut down all thought.

I don't do it regularly anymore but whenever I have too much stress or in physical pain I try go back to the old techniques. It's interesting how the physical pain stays the same but it just doesn't bother you as much when you shut down all the thought-junk that goes with it.

I can't see how meditation will work outside of a religious context. Buddhist meditation in particular relies on you realising on how little self there is in your self, which is not a sentence that will make sense unless you appreciate that you are a composite of touch-seeing-hearing-tasting-smelling-minding and not much else. Western culture still relies on concepts of 'soul' and 'individual' and if unless you've taken a hell of a red pill and blown those ideas out of your mind, the end points of buddhist meditation will not make sense.

Eh, honestly, you seem to have more experience with the subject than I do but I don't think you have to necessarily be "religious" to meditate. There is definitely a strong spiritual element, though.

Post: #12

Would it be a good idea for a beginner to go to a place like this? I just want to relax and be in my own world without the use of drugs. I know this is a stupid question but can any person just walk into a Buddhist temple and meditate?

Post: #13

If you are a beginner in meditation, I recommend the below site. You can meditate in your home with the meditation session conducted on skype. The leader, Shinzen Young, was my first meditation teacher way back when, and he is very good and has an international reputation. It’s inexpensive. You can take the Friday class for 10 dollars. Go to the "Monthly Schedule" Tab to get the classes for October.

http://www.basicmindfulness.org/

Post: #14

I think the biggest issue that people have with relaxed awareness is that they aren't fully aware of themselves and their internal environment. I think that's what meditation is trying to nail. Just getting rid of the static in your head.

Post: #15

(10-01-2012 06:33 AM)RichieP Wrote:  I wish I could meditate. whenever I try, I start to really sink into it and "let go" and then my chest and throat tighten right up. It knocks me right back into being uptight, tense, etc. I've read alot about mindfulness and meditation and nothing has addressed this, but I've talked to some people with the same problem. Quite frustrating.

Such problems are often due to a very strong identification with the idea that your thoughts are the real you. It can come as a bit of a nasty shock when you begin to realise that there is a vast and empty awareness in which your thoughts - everything that, until this point, you thought was truly you - are like clouds which form, pass, then disappear.

I remember passing through a stage in meditation when I would clutch the ground in terror thinking that I was falling into an abyss because I couldn't tolerate the insight that the self I'd identified with was an illusion (albeit a necessary one).

Your body believes that it is going to die because your mind is learning that you do not truly exist. The trick is just to remain mindful of the sensations in your chest and throat when they occur. Eventually the sesnations will pass.

D.

Post: #16

Related video for anybody interested in this sort of thing.

Post: #17

Not exactly the most alpha of subjects to discuss, but as someone who has done years of meditating in both Zen and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, I'll share what I can. I also completed programs from Jon Kabat-Zinn who is one of the major figures behind bringing meditation to the West and stripping out Buddhist religious beliefs from meditation itself. He has created a program called MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) that is popular with healthcare workers across North America. The difference between Zen and Tibetan meditation is surprisingly wide. Zen Meditation is completely unguided, focuses only on breathing, and lasts for long stretches of time -- sometimes oppressively long periods for a beginner. They can sit for hours in total silence. Tibetan Meditation is usually guided and varies on what you focus on -- sometimes its on breathing, sometimes on the sensations you feel throughout the body, sometimes on what you hear around you. I personally find this a lot easier place to start, and is what I recommend to people trying it out for the first time.

First off, you don't need to read any books to get started with meditating - That will actually just set you back from accomplishing your own goals for meditation.
Don't read how other people do it. That's stupid because everyone experiences meditation differently, and there is no such thing as an "expert".

Best way to start is from guided meditation recordings online. You will want to find a comfortable place to sit to do this, like a couch or a lounge chair - something well cushioned that won't get you to give up on the activity right away. Check out the Insight Timer mobile app if you want to go mobile, and look for beginner meditations of 8-10 minutes of length. Over time you'll build up to sitting for longer and longer amounts of time, but I've found 8-10 minutes to be an ideal length. You can also find tons of good guided meditations on YouTube. I personally came to like Tara Brach, but try out a bunch of different people until you find one that works. You will know its working when you don't want to stand up and turn the recording off in within 30 seconds.

Once you've done these for a few weeks, or until you reach the point you feel like you don't need to have someone giving you instructions, you can switch to trying using a timer.

For me, I found the best way to fit this into my day was meditating in my car before going into work or meetings. You will be totally undisturbed in a car and won't need to set aside some special room or place to do it. Just arrive 10-15 minutes early to wherever you need to be, and set an 8 minute timer on your phone. If you're rushed, even meditating for 1 minute is valuable.

If you are interested in learning about it, just find one on youtube and try it out at home.

Post: #18

(10-02-2012 04:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:  Yeah I've read it, and countless other books on mindfulness and meditation and whatnot. Nothing addresses this physical tightening up I get. It's like a physiological reaction rather than just aches or discomfort. Very strange.

This is 100% normal and is part of meditation. You are learning to experience and sit with physical discomfort and pain without reacting to it. I know guys who have been meditating for years and do these week-long retreats, and they even complain about physical tightening up for long periods.

The idea is the more often you do it, the more your body gets used to it.

Kind of like cold-opening and game...the more times you get blown-out, the less it impacts you when it happens.

Post: #19

I've been messing around with meditation for the last week or so, did a handful of ten minute sessions.

I noticed some strange feelings of detachment or depersonalization come from it, as well as a laser-like focus on any task.

Is that normal? I read about the "dark night project" and apparently some folks develop some serious psychiatric problems from meditation.

My family does have a history of mental illness for the record.

Post: #20

(06-06-2018 08:08 AM)Hannibal Wrote:  I've been messing around with meditation for the last week or so, did a handful of ten minute sessions.

I noticed some strange feelings of detachment or depersonalization come from it, as well as a laser-like focus on any task.

Is that normal? I read about the "dark night project" and apparently some folks develop some serious psychiatric problems from meditation.

My family does have a history of mental illness for the record.

Any thoughts or feelings that comes up in meditation are valid. You are passively observing your thoughts without judgment. The key is to accept whatever comes up and just observe it. Your feelings and thoughts will change moment by moment.

Post: #21

I get that, but afterwards for about a day or so, not while I'm meditating mind you, I get to view my inner mind from the outside perspective, like I'm watching my thoughts through a movie theater screen.

Any inner dialogue is basically gone, there is no noise in my head.

The feelings I do get are very blunted because I can look at them, decide whether or not to feel them, and I usually decide not to. It's fucking goofy. Life feels like bullet time.

For some folks, that kind of perspective takes years but I was able to do it with a few sessions? Impossible. There is no way that is normal.

Post: #22

(10-01-2012 06:33 AM)RichieP Wrote:  I wish I could meditate. whenever I try, I start to really sink into it and "let go" and then my chest and throat tighten right up. It knocks me right back into being uptight, tense, etc. I've read alot about mindfulness and meditation and nothing has addressed this, but I've talked to some people with the same problem. Quite frustrating.

I'm glad you mentioned this, I've had this too for several years.

It's as if my lungs don't adjust properly, they can't quite sink and my chest and throat feels sort of tight. I know the feeling.

I've been doing tai chi recently and I think that's a good one to get into. I haven't had the same problems as sitting meditation, and I find the slow moving flow of tai chi to be more gentle on the body then forcing yourself to sit still.

It's also worth mentioning that historically and today, if you go to buddhist monasteries in say Japan, Korea or Thailand, typically they also combine tai chi like exercises or walking meditation to sitting meditation. Where as in the public eye today most people think of meditation as something purely done sitting, but actually that's not true.

So feel free to mix it up with slow gentle movements, such as slow walking, tai chi as well as sitting meditation..

Post: #23

(06-07-2018 01:17 AM)Hannibal Wrote:  The feelings I do get are very blunted because I can look at them, decide whether or not to feel them, and I usually decide not to. It's fucking goofy. Life feels like bullet time.

That's kind of what your are trying to build up to through regular meditation - being able to stay 100% present at every moment of your life. I know when I was meditating daily, I was able to observe sounds and light and motion from moment to moment far better than now when I've completely fallen out of the practice. I think what you are describing is a glimpse of what living present actually feels. It takes years to make those sensations a part of your life without working hard to reach it.

The emotions part about feeling it or not is really not about choice at all, but simply letting the emotion show up and fade away without leaving a lasting impact.

Post: #24

For anyone experiencing anxiety during a meditation practice, I encourage you to find and talk with a qualified therapist. You may have emotional blocks that are arising and may need to be addressed before you go farther into meditation / spiritual practice.

David Deida has a YouTube video called "function flow glow" and while it pertains to relationship dynamics and you might not agree with some of what he says, please watch / listen with an open mind. It's not appropriate to dive deeply into spiritual matters if you are feeling uncomfortable or uneasy to a debilitating extent. Some discomfort is natural but heart flutters, etc, could be a sign that therapy is needed first. Otherwise, the openings that cause arise with spiritual work could cause mental and emotional problems which is NOT healthy and is less likely to be frightening if you proceed more slowly.

I also highly recommend getting a tool from Institute of Heart Math, such as their Inner Balance that works with iPhone, to monitor your heart rhythm and practicing calm, heart-centered breathing as you meditate. You don't have to do it all the time but physiologically breathe and heart are more synchronized when you practice stilling your mind. Knowing how that feels in your body and having a tool to track it is very useful biofeedback.