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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 t

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.
magic_beans 11y ago
You might consider a moving meditation. You meditate, but while walking or running. Simple.
cylinder 11y ago
It's not the time aspect. It's that being type B is already a liability enough in corporate America. Making myself even further away from the "type A" end of the spectrum would harm my career even more. Sad.
- zepto 11y ago
  If you equate 'career harm' to less money earned, it may be worth asking how much you would pay to be happier.
ZeroFries 11y ago
You could say the same about sleep.
crusso 11y ago
I have a stationary exercise bike in my basement. I ride it for 20-30 minutes almost every day. While I'm riding, I close my eyes and meditate, mostly just focusing on my breathing. I get my cardio and my meditation handled in one shot.
manuelflara 11y ago
A lot of time? I'd say 30 minutes a day (consistently) is enough to get significant benefits. And after all, don't we all easily waste 30 minutes a day or things which really don't contribute much to our lives? Say, browse reddit or watch a TV show. Personally, I've found that trying to meditate in the middle of the day, even late at night, when I'm all "wired" from/during work, or just everyday life, is hard. What I found way easier to stick to is meditate first thing in the morning, only after going to the bathroom. At this point, if you're like me, you're the least anxious / stressed / wired or however you want to call it, and it's way easier to justify spending 30 minutes just being present and quiet. Any other time of the day and it feels like "I don't have time for this", even if I just wasted 30 or 60 minutes procrastinating (or I know I'm about to).
- Scarblac 11y ago
  I need to get up way too early, get myself and my children dressed and fed, and commute to work. In the evening it's commute back, eat, get kids to bed, do chores, and then there's about two hours of free time / social things / time to interact with my wife. So about a quarter of available time. I would be a bit more relaxed, I know, it might have other benefits. But not enough, I think.
  - thorin 11y ago
    I feel the same. I have a 6 month old and 2 year old. I'm an only child and when I was young I had hour and hours (especially in school holidays) to sit, read, play on my computer and think. Now I have a couple of hours spare a day. I work for about 8.5 hrs and sometimes spend a bit of time in the even programming but mainly find time to exercise/see friends and wife/read or watch TV. It seems to improve as the children get older. I've enjoyed meditating and yoga in the past and I think I will do more in the future, but I also find things like playing an instrument, programming, walking outside to be equally helpful.
    - cableshaft 11y ago
      I'd say playing an instrument or walking both are nearly equivalent to meditation, because with the former you're clearing your mind and focusing on playing, and the latter you're clearing your mind as you expend energy walking while looking at and enjoying nature (or at least that's what walking does for me). They seem to have similar effects to when I have meditated (very infrequently, so YMMV) in the past.
mbrock 11y ago
Well, downtime can be valuable. When I think about problems all my waking time, I get kind of burned out. So sitting quietly and just breathing, in that situation, is actually more valuable than thinking. It's kind of like having a nice bath or sauna.

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.

magic_beans 11y ago

You might consider a moving meditation. You meditate, but while walking or running. Simple.

cylinder 11y ago

It's not the time aspect. It's that being type B is already a liability enough in corporate America. Making myself even further away from the "type A" end of the spectrum would harm my career even more. Sad.

zepto 11y ago
If you equate 'career harm' to less money earned, it may be worth asking how much you would pay to be happier.

ZeroFries 11y ago

You could say the same about sleep.

crusso 11y ago

I have a stationary exercise bike in my basement. I ride it for 20-30 minutes almost every day. While I'm riding, I close my eyes and meditate, mostly just focusing on my breathing. I get my cardio and my meditation handled in one shot.

manuelflara 11y ago

A lot of time? I'd say 30 minutes a day (consistently) is enough to get significant benefits. And after all, don't we all easily waste 30 minutes a day or things which really don't contribute much to our lives? Say, browse reddit or watch a TV show. Personally, I've found that trying to meditate in the middle of the day, even late at night, when I'm all "wired" from/during work, or just everyday life, is hard. What I found way easier to stick to is meditate first thing in the morning, only after going to the bathroom. At this point, if you're like me, you're the least anxious / stressed / wired or however you want to call it, and it's way easier to justify spending 30 minutes just being present and quiet. Any other time of the day and it feels like "I don't have time for this", even if I just wasted 30 or 60 minutes procrastinating (or I know I'm about to).

Scarblac 11y ago
I need to get up way too early, get myself and my children dressed and fed, and commute to work. In the evening it's commute back, eat, get kids to bed, do chores, and then there's about two hours of free time / social things / time to interact with my wife. So about a quarter of available time. I would be a bit more relaxed, I know, it might have other benefits. But not enough, I think.
- thorin 11y ago
  I feel the same. I have a 6 month old and 2 year old. I'm an only child and when I was young I had hour and hours (especially in school holidays) to sit, read, play on my computer and think. Now I have a couple of hours spare a day. I work for about 8.5 hrs and sometimes spend a bit of time in the even programming but mainly find time to exercise/see friends and wife/read or watch TV. It seems to improve as the children get older. I've enjoyed meditating and yoga in the past and I think I will do more in the future, but I also find things like playing an instrument, programming, walking outside to be equally helpful.
  - cableshaft 11y ago
    I'd say playing an instrument or walking both are nearly equivalent to meditation, because with the former you're clearing your mind and focusing on playing, and the latter you're clearing your mind as you expend energy walking while looking at and enjoying nature (or at least that's what walking does for me). They seem to have similar effects to when I have meditated (very infrequently, so YMMV) in the past.

mbrock 11y ago

Well, downtime can be valuable. When I think about problems all my waking time, I get kind of burned out. So sitting quietly and just breathing, in that situation, is actually more valuable than thinking. It's kind of like having a nice bath or sauna.