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For those of you who consider meditation a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, I get it, for I felt (and sometimes still feel) the same way. But let me try to phrase meditat

For those of you who consider meditation a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, I get it, for I felt (and sometimes still feel) the same way. But let me try to phrase meditation in the terms I understand it as. We often find ourselves in stressful or difficult situations, we are constantly bombarded by external worries, and we think it is difficult to deal with our problems. However, no matter how big external issues are, the way that we ultimately interpret these problems is up to our mind. At times we might find a dark joke about death incredibly funny, and at other times it may make us cry. Meditation takes a break from dealing with these interpretations of the world for a moment (instead concentrating on something basic like breathing) and in doing so, gives us a way to acknowledge the fact that our interpretations of the world are all in our head. So even if we can't extend full control over them, these thoughts and feelings are still ours and we might have some influence over them, and it turns out even briefly having this feeling can affect your mind in the long term. A side effect of meditating is that you might learn to replicate the sense of "stepping outside the situation" even outside of meditation, allowing you to relax and consider the big picture rationally in intense moments in which you might've been originally felt too caught up "in the moment".

bambax 11y ago
Thanks, that's helpful. Did you study meditation by yourself and if so, is there a book/manual that you would recommend? I frequently spend long moments in silence "doing" nothing, but thinking about a lot of things; when I try to not think, I tend to fall asleep quite rapidly; I wonder how to not think and yet not sleep...?
- Disruptive_Dave 11y ago
  I strongly recommend "Buddhism Plain & Simple" by Steve Hagen. It's much more meditation / awareness than Buddhist practice, so don't worry much about the title. I also really enjoyed "10% Happier" which was way more of a practical story vs. instruction manual. In general, meditation is NOT about "not thinking" - a major misconception about the practice. It's always helped me to view it less as a "mental getaway" and more as "training my mind like a muscle." The practice, btw, is the whole point, it's not a means to getting to "the real part." That's a difficult point for some to grasp. Every time you sit and your mind wanders, that's the practice right there. This might be the most accurate image of what meditation is: http://www.highexistence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/meditation1.jpg http://www.highexistence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/medi... A few links that might help: http://buyalex.com/2015/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/breatheAware_gif-01_buyalex.gif http://buyalex.com/2015/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/breatheAw... http://i.imgur.com/75wn1o9.jpg http://i.imgur.com/75wn1o9.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze6t34_p-84 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze6t34_p-84
- personjerry 11y ago
  I don't have a manual, and I think everyone might do it a little differently, I just sit comfortably and focus on my breathing. I think something key is to concentrate on something simple and constant (such as breathing in, breathing out) rather than not thinking about anything. Then, inevitably thoughts will arise, but when we think of something while meditating, we acknowledge it ("ok, I acknowledge that I'm thinking about this right now") and let the thought go, returning to focus on the breathing. That might keep you from falling asleep.
LunaSea 11y ago
> interpretations of the world are all in our head I don't think most people are stressed because of "interpretations" of the world rather than very real problems like paying the bills and terrible working conditions.
- Karunamon 11y ago
  There's an old saying about not being able to change your wind, but being able to change your sales? It's like that. Imagine you've got a bill due that you know you're not going to have money to pay no matter what you do. This is a significant amount of stress that you're going to be carrying with you over something you really don't have the power or situation to do anything about. Hence: Change your sail. The consequences of missing that payment are insignificant in the long term, and dwelling on it is going to do you more mental damage than moving a number in a database down a few ticks. Same with a horrible job. Even when you get time off, there's that sickening dread at the edge of your perception that soon, you'll have to go back. And it eats on you like nothing else. Change how you think about it. You can dwell on it and be stressed out, or you can recognize that this, too, shall pass. That sounds trite and blasé.. and it probably is, until you really internalize it, and realize that you ultimately have control over what you choose to dwell on.
- crusso 11y ago
  It's impossible to worry without interpretation. The method of interpretation can determine needless worrying about externalities vs handling them in stride.
- amazingman 11y ago
  The stress is the interpretation of/response to "very real problems". One of the habits formed in meditation is the ability to create space between perception and interpretation, in which we can explicitly notice how the mind is reacting to these problems, and where we can create a habit of asking of ourselves questions like "is this feeling/reaction useful?".
- personjerry 11y ago
  From my understanding, our minds are are not literally filled with things in the real world (for they would not fit) but are instead filled with "thoughts" which "refer" to real things. But my "thought" of peanut butter, for example, might have significantly different "connotations" for me than for someone with an allergy to peanut butter. So what I'm saying is, these "thoughts" and what they "connote" to the individual mind they belong to, is subjective and in our heads, but they may in fact refer to very objective, real, problems.
rorykoehler 11y ago
What you describe is the same as how I would describe riding my bike. I generally have a heart rate monitor on and I focus on keeping my cadence high and my heart rate steady (in whatever zone I am working in at the time). Up until 24 hours after riding I feel clarity in mind and body.
Scarblac 11y ago
I don't consider it mumbo-jumbo. But I feel it doesn't fit well with my Western mindset: it costs a lot of time, and is that really the best way to spend that time? I'd rather go out and walk, and think about problems I want to solve. Or use the time to get something done.
- alanwatts 11y ago
  >I'd rather go out and walk Meditation is not limited to strictly sitting indian style in a dark quiet room. Find your own style. If taking a walk calms you down then do that. If you like laying on your back and staring at the stars, then do that. Don't rely too much on how others tell you you should do it
  - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
    I ride my bike hard on a rural blacktop road.
- rsaarelm 11y ago
  There's some evidence that you can trade roughly the time you spend in meditation at day as a decrease of sleep you need at night: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2919439/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2919439/ If that pans out, you'd get better mental well-being with the same amount of daily time for other stuff as you had before.
  - Scarblac 11y ago
    Thanks, that definitely sounds like it worth testing!
- codyb 11y ago
  Siddhartha Guatama (sp?) used to meditate while walking. I think the idea in the end is, the mind is a tool. If you spend time developing the tool you'll get better results out of it when you're not spending time developing it. So even if you could use that thirty minutes to do something else, you might, in the end, be able to get more done, with a more sharply honed (clearer) mind. That being said, is it right for you? I have no idea.

bambax 11y ago

Thanks, that's helpful. Did you study meditation by yourself and if so, is there a book/manual that you would recommend? I frequently spend long moments in silence "doing" nothing, but thinking about a lot of things; when I try to not think, I tend to fall asleep quite rapidly; I wonder how to not think and yet not sleep...?

Disruptive_Dave 11y ago
I strongly recommend "Buddhism Plain & Simple" by Steve Hagen. It's much more meditation / awareness than Buddhist practice, so don't worry much about the title. I also really enjoyed "10% Happier" which was way more of a practical story vs. instruction manual. In general, meditation is NOT about "not thinking" - a major misconception about the practice. It's always helped me to view it less as a "mental getaway" and more as "training my mind like a muscle." The practice, btw, is the whole point, it's not a means to getting to "the real part." That's a difficult point for some to grasp. Every time you sit and your mind wanders, that's the practice right there. This might be the most accurate image of what meditation is: http://www.highexistence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/meditation1.jpg http://www.highexistence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/medi... A few links that might help: http://buyalex.com/2015/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/breatheAware_gif-01_buyalex.gif http://buyalex.com/2015/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/breatheAw... http://i.imgur.com/75wn1o9.jpg http://i.imgur.com/75wn1o9.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze6t34_p-84 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze6t34_p-84
personjerry 11y ago
I don't have a manual, and I think everyone might do it a little differently, I just sit comfortably and focus on my breathing. I think something key is to concentrate on something simple and constant (such as breathing in, breathing out) rather than not thinking about anything. Then, inevitably thoughts will arise, but when we think of something while meditating, we acknowledge it ("ok, I acknowledge that I'm thinking about this right now") and let the thought go, returning to focus on the breathing. That might keep you from falling asleep.

LunaSea 11y ago

> interpretations of the world are all in our head I don't think most people are stressed because of "interpretations" of the world rather than very real problems like paying the bills and terrible working conditions.

Karunamon 11y ago
There's an old saying about not being able to change your wind, but being able to change your sales? It's like that. Imagine you've got a bill due that you know you're not going to have money to pay no matter what you do. This is a significant amount of stress that you're going to be carrying with you over something you really don't have the power or situation to do anything about. Hence: Change your sail. The consequences of missing that payment are insignificant in the long term, and dwelling on it is going to do you more mental damage than moving a number in a database down a few ticks. Same with a horrible job. Even when you get time off, there's that sickening dread at the edge of your perception that soon, you'll have to go back. And it eats on you like nothing else. Change how you think about it. You can dwell on it and be stressed out, or you can recognize that this, too, shall pass. That sounds trite and blasé.. and it probably is, until you really internalize it, and realize that you ultimately have control over what you choose to dwell on.
crusso 11y ago
It's impossible to worry without interpretation. The method of interpretation can determine needless worrying about externalities vs handling them in stride.
amazingman 11y ago
The stress is the interpretation of/response to "very real problems". One of the habits formed in meditation is the ability to create space between perception and interpretation, in which we can explicitly notice how the mind is reacting to these problems, and where we can create a habit of asking of ourselves questions like "is this feeling/reaction useful?".
personjerry 11y ago
From my understanding, our minds are are not literally filled with things in the real world (for they would not fit) but are instead filled with "thoughts" which "refer" to real things. But my "thought" of peanut butter, for example, might have significantly different "connotations" for me than for someone with an allergy to peanut butter. So what I'm saying is, these "thoughts" and what they "connote" to the individual mind they belong to, is subjective and in our heads, but they may in fact refer to very objective, real, problems.

rorykoehler 11y ago

What you describe is the same as how I would describe riding my bike. I generally have a heart rate monitor on and I focus on keeping my cadence high and my heart rate steady (in whatever zone I am working in at the time). Up until 24 hours after riding I feel clarity in mind and body.

Scarblac 11y ago

I don't consider it mumbo-jumbo. But I feel it doesn't fit well with my Western mindset: it costs a lot of time, and is that really the best way to spend that time? I'd rather go out and walk, and think about problems I want to solve. Or use the time to get something done.

alanwatts 11y ago
>I'd rather go out and walk Meditation is not limited to strictly sitting indian style in a dark quiet room. Find your own style. If taking a walk calms you down then do that. If you like laying on your back and staring at the stars, then do that. Don't rely too much on how others tell you you should do it
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  I ride my bike hard on a rural blacktop road.
rsaarelm 11y ago
There's some evidence that you can trade roughly the time you spend in meditation at day as a decrease of sleep you need at night: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2919439/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2919439/ If that pans out, you'd get better mental well-being with the same amount of daily time for other stuff as you had before.
- Scarblac 11y ago
  Thanks, that definitely sounds like it worth testing!
codyb 11y ago
Siddhartha Guatama (sp?) used to meditate while walking. I think the idea in the end is, the mind is a tool. If you spend time developing the tool you'll get better results out of it when you're not spending time developing it. So even if you could use that thirty minutes to do something else, you might, in the end, be able to get more done, with a more sharply honed (clearer) mind. That being said, is it right for you? I have no idea.