meditation

Just turn on a fan, close your eyes, focus your attention on the noise of the fan, and breath for a couple of minutes.

It helps me get to sleep easier and calm myself if I'm having a stressful day. No idea what it'll do to you.

Yes, but it's like working out: it takes not only discipline but years of diligence to be effective.

Most people's minds are untrained and noisy, it'll take time to gain control.

>>17410455
It works. There are plenty of articles published in reputable academic journals that show its effect on your gray matter.

It's important to remember that repetition is the most important thing. Get in the habit of it. Try it every day for a full month. You can start with five minutes each morning, if you have to. Increase to ten, fifteen, thirty, or whatever else you feel comfortable with after that.

I know people wig out whenever someone suggests a self-help book, but check out Dan Harris' 10 Percent Happier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sXBEfIXUno

He's wary of the mystical spiritual hippy bullshit too. He's a skeptic. But daily meditation helped him get through panic attacks and a coke addiction.

>>17410462
How has meditation helped you in any way? Just interms of increased concentrarion? Do breathing patterns help as well?

Yeah it works. Just don't expect any bat crazy shit happening, you only get calm as fuck. You can disconnect your emotions from yourself and review them, i am not angry anymore because of that, only when i choose to.
Inner Peace does not come without thinking. You get more relaxed and more conscious of your behavior and thoughts, but you still need to get life experience.

>>17410470
Control over ones emotional responses. Also being able to turn off when your brain is running too hot (unable to sleep, etc.) Overall just more control of your self, internally.

File: maxresdefault Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD.jpg (329KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

329KB, 1920x1080px

it's a great way to decrease stress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjelIPg3ys
i like this monk , im not a Buddhist but he's breddy cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GSeWdjyr1c

>>17410455
It works because it's good to take a break and relax your mind and body. But it doesn't work on a spiritual level.

>>17410479
What if you're depressed or have low- self esteem. I mean i know its not an end all be all cure for your mental issues but will it atleast help you put thibgs more into perspective and regulate your negativety?

>>17410487
agree, if you don't believe in the spiritual stuff it won't work, but the spiritual part is fully optional

>>17410491
can only speak for depression, so far i have only gotten calmer but you probably can't meditate your depression away. a more severely depressed friend of mine has had bad experiences with long meditations as his paranoia increased. so be careful. maybe try to meditate to good vibe music.

>>17410491
Yeah, sort of. After a while you learn that you have control over your own thoughts. It can help you get out of the defeatist cycle of thoughts that accompany depression, and mindfulness helps you appreciate physical stimuli on a deeper level.

>>17410499
Mindfulness? I keep hearing that word but whats the actual practice like? Being mindful in what way exactly?

>>17410748
Concentrating on the minute physical sensation of the rise and fall of your breath as you breathe or the air entering and exiting your nostrils, or the complex flavor and texture of a raisin, or the way your hands feel in a sink full of warm water.

It's just paying a lot of attention to complex sensations that we usually ignore.

You can also be mindful of your thoughts--noticing how they arise naturally and then fade from your mind in the moment. Learn not to judge them as "good" or "bad" but as a natural phenomena.

It will help you concentrate. The human brain was meant to concentrate, not run around on miserable tangents about a future too complicated for it to understand. It's also important in life to philosophize, something encouraged in Zen.

For one, you didn't meditate if you didn't focus Secondly, you won't know if it makes you feel better until you actually do it. Three, you dont' wait around for scientific results before playing a videogame or engaging a person in conversation, so why are there special requirements before you are willing to meditate?

A lot of principles in the new age movement are valid, philosophically sound ideas about morality and health. Pretending that the "new age movement" or the "punk movement" is some unified effort is false, by the way. Everyone has split off and started holding different values, naturally.

It's up for you to decide if meditating is worth it, not someone else. Again, if you haven't even been able to concentrate, I would recommend trying again. You can do a guided meditation, which is easier to focus on.

If you think that the whole movement to meditate is too quacky, and that the benefits are exaggerated, then that is a valid point and nobody is making you do anything. There is a lot of blending between what is considered meditation and what is simply being calm. It seems like you desire some more peace and calmness in your life.

File: breatheAware_gif-01_buyalex.gif (340KB, 544x474px) Image search: [Google]

340KB, 544x474px

Don't think of it as "meditation," start off just thinking of it as "sitting still." Start with just a few minutes, then add time as you get used to it. Just breathe.

Results aren't instant, but will build over time.

(pic related)

>>17410815
Well yeah, i mean it's hard enough having often negative and chaotic thoughts running amuck in my mind into mush, its a whole another story when i have to control them. It was my bad to knock meditation desu, and I'm well aware that buddhists do it too, maybe that's why they seem so calm. Would you also say its a mind over matter thing? I know people like to knock more holistic approches to life and I guess i was just speaking out of insecurity. But even I, to an extent, believe in that. what is zen btw? Is it more of a philosophy as well as lifestyle?

>>17410850
>my bad
I wouldn't call it your bad that you have skepticism. Skepticism is really important. The new age movement in particular has become home to a lot of narcissists, scam artists, and bullshitters. Your skepticism is understood.

.>it's hard enough having to...focus my thoughts
Take one thought, and dedicate all of the psychic energy you have to that particular thought. It can be anything from paying attention to the sensation of your breath, to imagining what God might be like. I recommend starting with something like paying attention to your breath. Pay hard enough attention to it, for long enough, and you should notice some type of change.

If my roommate is playing Led Zeppelin for instance, and I can't help but hear it, then I try focusing on my breath at the same time as the Led Zeppelin. If you have automatic thoughts that are difficult for you to stop, treat them like the background noise trying to pull energy from your desired point of focus.

>Would you also say it's a mind over matter thing?
I'm not sure what you mean.

I don't believe in telekinesis, but I do believe that your mental state is vastly more important than the materials in your possession. I would say that we probably burn more calories thinking about who the next president should be than we do physically putting them in office. The same goes for dressing for the job. Sure, the clothes are important, but both the knowledge and practice required to do the work are much more important.

>What is Zen, btw?
Zen is short for Zazen, a sitting kind of meditation that isn't very elaborate. It's about exploring the mind. There are roughly three kinds of Zazen meditation. One is the focus meditation, like I mentioned. Two is an introspective meditation, examining thoughts and their origins. Three is making no effort to focus on anything, just observing where the mind goes.

The shortened word Zen is the name for the most popular sect of Buddhism in Japan and among whites in the US...

>>17410901
...it strips away many of the old, religious aspects of Buddhism and focuses more on the meditation.

>Is it more of a philosophy as well as a lifestyle?
It's a philosophy and lifestyle centered around mindfulness, being conscious of as much as possible.

You probably know already that most of what we think and do is unconscious, and if it was all conscious we probably wouldn't have all of these amazing inventions, or even be able to cross the street without getting hit.

However there are specific times that being mindful is very important, like making a decision on how to behave in a relationship or an ethical decision at work. These things can be done automatically, and then you face the consequences. It's better to consider these things thoughtfully before taking any action. (biased opinion)

>>17410912
Which of the three Zazen meditations are the most challenging? Can you give us an outline on how to practice the other two types? Any recommended sites of books to get us started?

>>17410912
>>17410901
When i mentioned mind over matter i wasnt specifically reffering to telekenisis lel. The strength of ones concentration that they set to their goals and actions, so i was just wondering if meditation would atleast help with that. Also, are there specific methods of practicing the three types of zen? Any tips would be cool to share imo

>>17410941
they're all moderately challenging

honestly, Zen is one of the most hand-me-down practices I have ever seen, so I can't recommend one set of instructions over the other. some good research would probably be appropriate.

what's good, and what makes people feel comfortable handing it around, is that these practices are simple. it seems like you understood the focus one, shifting all of your attention to one idea, sensation, or set of ideas/sensations. the second is for general introspective questions like, "Who am I?" or, "What motivated me to do that?" As someone suffering from depersonalization, I can say there are certain moments where this kind of meditation comes easier than others. The third is literally observing the mind when it isn't put to task, seeing what ideas it thinks and what sensations it remembers by default, taking an observational stance so there is as little interference as possible.

>>17410968
>the strength of one's concentration on goals

I think introspection of any kid will help you figure out what your truest goals are.

I guess mindfulness can help you keep your goal in mind and remember what needs to be done in order to achieve it.

Most of my failed accomplishments have been due to quitting or absent-mindedness. Sometimes mindfulness can be scary. You might become really cognizant of how afraid you are to be rejected or die. Facing this fear, as I'm sure you've seen in many other people, gives a person more strength.

>>17410968
>any tips
I would really recommend sticking to the beginner stuff. It really is basic at its core. Other Buddhist sects criticize Zen for being too basic and not accomplishing enough (but they also believe in an afterlife and telekinesis). It doesn't take a lot of instruction to do it, just diligence. There are probably books on Zen, or even Zen groups that meet in a local city.

>>17410970
>>17410999
Would you recommend zen, meditation, or just plain old self-introspection to anyone else in this board? It seems like a good majority of anons on this board suffer from mentel ailments in which maybe calming one's mind would better help them cope with it.

>>17411092
I also forgot to add Mindfulness there but yeah, that too.

>>17411092
that's right
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy

>>17411111
you would think these age old techniques would help people out right? but too many people are just too downtrodden to even consider it. makes me wonder sometimes if the advice given in this board has even helped anyone.

>>17411168
super pessimistic? obviously some advice here has helped someone.
if people don't want to change themselves, there is no advice that can help them. doesn't seem like OP though

>>17410478
I do that every time I take a shit