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I've been meditating for over 2 years now and can tell you you definitely do not need to pay for an app to do it. "One of the more challenging problems in lear

I've been meditating for over 2 years now and can tell you you definitely do not need to pay for an app to do it. "One of the more challenging problems in learning to meditate is remembering to do it." I do it every night before going to sleep. That's not hard to remember, plus it clears your mind for a deeper sleep. You can go to bed at your normal time as well, as the meditation can be considered as part of your sleep schedule. It definitely won't (and hasn't for me) detract from your sleep. Just start by focusing on the tip of your nose and controlling your breathing. Then when you are ready, allow your body to take over the breathing while you watch. Then also allow it to take over the monologue in your head and you listen. Eventually you become an observer of all your thoughts and senses, and so become free of them.

king_magic 11y ago
> Just start by focusing on the tip of your nose and controlling your breathing. Then when you are ready, allow your body to take over the breathing while you watch. Then also allow it to take over the monologue in your head and you listen. Eventually you become an observer of all your thoughts and senses, and so become free of them. Except it's a lot easier said than done. I've personally enjoyed my Headspace subscription. I have no qualms with paying for it, and feel it has been more effective than all of the material I've ever read on meditation that I've looked at. But YMMV.
- hacker_9 11y ago
  I have tried headspace before although found it's constant notifications to be quite annoying. If it makes you put in the time though then great, but the reason I mentioned 2+ years was because these things take time to become good at, app or no app (but it is worth the investment!)
- foobarqux 11y ago
  Each session of the trial seemed to contain essentially the same instructions. Is there anything more to it?
  - wordbank 11y ago
    2 years on subscription (though I meditate without Headspace more). There're many techniques and ideas in different Headspace courses that were quite useful for me and I added them into my meditation practice.
rtl49 11y ago
I've been (trying to) meditate for about four years now. I even attended a ten day silent meditation retreat in September, which I wrote about in another post. I still find it extremely difficult. People vary in their aptitude for meditation, and for those like me these "aids" are appealing. For myself, I don't see the value of the apps; I'd just as soon use any of hundreds of decent guided meditations on Youtube.
- hacker_9 11y ago
  I struggled for a long time too in the beginning. Mainly I would get bored. I finally broke though that plateau though by realizing boredom was just another thought passing through my mind that I could observe, instead of be a part of. You just have to keep at it to arrive at these insights.
- mbrock 11y ago
  The eagerness with which people recommend those very intense ten day retreats to anyone saying they'd like to start meditating indicates a problem, in my view. Plenty of people find them valuable, but they're also a pretty extreme way to start out. To me it seems likely to turn people off; after all they're designed to be a kind of boot camp experience. And then on the internet people are often bringing up how they sit in lotus posture for an hour every day... People can discuss whatever they want and make whatever suggestions they want, of course, but I think it's all likely to construe meditation as necessarily tedious, painful, and time-consuming. I'm curious, have you tried maintaining a habit of sitting for something like 10 or 5 minutes per day? In some non-contorted posture, like kneeling on a meditation bench? Not to imply that "everyone should be able to do that" or whatever, but if all your attempts for years have been ambitious, that could be demotivating... whereas kneeling and breathing for 5 minutes is a great way to get started.
  - rtl49 11y ago
    I agree that some people recommend the retreats with too little restraint. I'm a fairly young and healthy person, and I still found sitting still while cross-legged for long periods of time very painful. Even on the last day I found it impossible to sit longer than an hour without moving. And this practice is encouraged -- they were called "sittings of strong determination." This is not to mention the difficulty of meditation itself and the ten-day abstention from communication and all intellectual activity. That said, I can't plead ignorance, just overconfidence. Since the retreat, I have lasted no longer than fifteen minutes at a time. I prefer lying down (I'm not tempted to sleep). It actually feels like I'm a worse meditator now than I was before the retreat, though I've been assured that this is a "sign of progress." Truthfully, after maybe 140 hours of practice, I have doubts about the purported benefits. The ultimate aim, the end of suffering, seems like an impossible and likely undesirable goal. For now, I use it as needed to clear my mind when I need to focus.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
akanshmurthy 11y ago
I totally agree. There is no need to pay to meditate. Sometimes, the best things in life are free. You can research breathing methods, posture styles, and more online.
swayvil 11y ago
Always happy to meet a fellow meditator.

king_magic 11y ago

> Just start by focusing on the tip of your nose and controlling your breathing. Then when you are ready, allow your body to take over the breathing while you watch. Then also allow it to take over the monologue in your head and you listen. Eventually you become an observer of all your thoughts and senses, and so become free of them. Except it's a lot easier said than done. I've personally enjoyed my Headspace subscription. I have no qualms with paying for it, and feel it has been more effective than all of the material I've ever read on meditation that I've looked at. But YMMV.

hacker_9 11y ago
I have tried headspace before although found it's constant notifications to be quite annoying. If it makes you put in the time though then great, but the reason I mentioned 2+ years was because these things take time to become good at, app or no app (but it is worth the investment!)
foobarqux 11y ago
Each session of the trial seemed to contain essentially the same instructions. Is there anything more to it?
- wordbank 11y ago
  2 years on subscription (though I meditate without Headspace more). There're many techniques and ideas in different Headspace courses that were quite useful for me and I added them into my meditation practice.

rtl49 11y ago

I've been (trying to) meditate for about four years now. I even attended a ten day silent meditation retreat in September, which I wrote about in another post. I still find it extremely difficult. People vary in their aptitude for meditation, and for those like me these "aids" are appealing. For myself, I don't see the value of the apps; I'd just as soon use any of hundreds of decent guided meditations on Youtube.

hacker_9 11y ago
I struggled for a long time too in the beginning. Mainly I would get bored. I finally broke though that plateau though by realizing boredom was just another thought passing through my mind that I could observe, instead of be a part of. You just have to keep at it to arrive at these insights.
mbrock 11y ago
The eagerness with which people recommend those very intense ten day retreats to anyone saying they'd like to start meditating indicates a problem, in my view. Plenty of people find them valuable, but they're also a pretty extreme way to start out. To me it seems likely to turn people off; after all they're designed to be a kind of boot camp experience. And then on the internet people are often bringing up how they sit in lotus posture for an hour every day... People can discuss whatever they want and make whatever suggestions they want, of course, but I think it's all likely to construe meditation as necessarily tedious, painful, and time-consuming. I'm curious, have you tried maintaining a habit of sitting for something like 10 or 5 minutes per day? In some non-contorted posture, like kneeling on a meditation bench? Not to imply that "everyone should be able to do that" or whatever, but if all your attempts for years have been ambitious, that could be demotivating... whereas kneeling and breathing for 5 minutes is a great way to get started.
- rtl49 11y ago
  I agree that some people recommend the retreats with too little restraint. I'm a fairly young and healthy person, and I still found sitting still while cross-legged for long periods of time very painful. Even on the last day I found it impossible to sit longer than an hour without moving. And this practice is encouraged -- they were called "sittings of strong determination." This is not to mention the difficulty of meditation itself and the ten-day abstention from communication and all intellectual activity. That said, I can't plead ignorance, just overconfidence. Since the retreat, I have lasted no longer than fifteen minutes at a time. I prefer lying down (I'm not tempted to sleep). It actually feels like I'm a worse meditator now than I was before the retreat, though I've been assured that this is a "sign of progress." Truthfully, after maybe 140 hours of practice, I have doubts about the purported benefits. The ultimate aim, the end of suffering, seems like an impossible and likely undesirable goal. For now, I use it as needed to clear my mind when I need to focus.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

akanshmurthy 11y ago

I totally agree. There is no need to pay to meditate. Sometimes, the best things in life are free. You can research breathing methods, posture styles, and more online.

swayvil 11y ago

Always happy to meet a fellow meditator.