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Do you use any app, follow any particular style? Any recommendations for a beginner? Also, how long do you meditate in a day? And do you meditate daily?

by akudha 7y ago

evil-olive 7y ago
> Do you use any app, follow any particular style? I've tried all of Calm, Headspace, and Insight Timer. I liked Calm's guided meditations; when I started the guiding helped me a lot. I'm currently using Insight Timer purely as a timer without any guidance. The style I follow most closely is vispassana, often translated as "insight" or "seeing the world clearly" or the trendy term "mindfulness". There is no "best" app or "best" style, only what works for each individual. I would caution against falling into a paradox of choice problem where you keep trying different apps or different styles in a search for the "best" one. Much like exercise - the best exercise is whichever one you can do consistently. > Any recommendations for a beginner? This will sound counter-intuitive, but lower your expectations. You'll hear lots of stuff from experienced meditators about how life-changing it is, and I'll echo that sentiment. But it certainly doesn't feel life-changing at first. If you go into it with high expectations, you'll very likely get disappointed and frustrated. > Also, how long do you meditate in a day? And do you meditate daily? I've done 10-15 minutes a day, every day, for the last 800-something days. I've also done two separate silent meditation retreats, of 2 days and 5 days respectively. There are 1440 minutes in a day. If you meditate for 10-15 minutes a day, that's just 1% of the day. Something that helped me establish my daily practice was a commitment that I can do anything if it only takes up 1% of my day.
- wowtip 7y ago
  Could you do it on a 30 minute commute, or is a (most of the time very peaceful) bus trip too much external distractions?
  - Fjolsvith 7y ago
    I think one could do it on a bus trip after you have been practicing for a while. I got to where I could meditate in a noisy open dormitory.
- Fjolsvith 7y ago
  > This will sound counter-intuitive, but lower your expectations. You'll hear lots of stuff from experienced meditators about how life-changing it is, and I'll echo that sentiment. But it certainly doesn't feel life-changing at first. If you go into it with high expectations, you'll very likely get disappointed and frustrated. This. When I started I didn't see any results right away but after a month of consistent daily practice, wow. And after six months, my emotional state was solid as a rock. I experienced other benefits too. Significant pain tolerance, and the ability to consciously block pain from affecting my mental state. Sweat control. Extreme cold tolerance/body temperature regulation. Immunity to being startled by loud or sharp noise. 4-5 hour attention spans. The 15 minute daily routine gave me all that. I used the method described by Sakyong Mipham in Turning the Mind Into an Ally
Hammershaft 7y ago
I strongly recommend the book 'The Mind Illuminated'. It is written by a neuroscientist who is also an expert practitioner of meditation. That said, it is far less casual than apps like headspace; the principle goal of the book is not to develop increased focus or productivity, but to develop meditation to discover insights into the nature of consciousness through direct experience. The book does a great job of highlighting many common misunderstandings and pitfalls of beginner mediators in a practical and mostly down to earth way. I use it with an App called Insight Timer that allows me to track the time I have put into meditating with satisfying statistics and graphs.
kweinber 7y ago
Guided apps don’t do anything for me. They essentially were like taking a break but I often felt bored, or annoyed. I went to training for TM meditation and it was a night-and-day experience. I do 2 20 minute meditations most days and I usually don’t want them to end. I highly recommend it.
Medicalidiot 7y ago
I meditate daily for about 10 minutes, which research suggest is the optimal time for cost/benefit. I started meditating with an actual Buddhist, but have found that Waking Up is a great app. There are good alternatives out there app-wise but all seem to be solid choices.
phil_folrida 7y ago
I use: https://choosemuse.com/ https://choosemuse.com/ somehow it worked for me.

Do you use any app, follow any particular style? Any recommendations for a beginner? Also, how long do you meditate in a day? And do you meditate daily?

by akudha 7y ago

Do you use any app, follow any particular style? Any recommendations for a beginner? Also, how long do you meditate in a day? And do you meditate daily?

evil-olive 7y ago

> Do you use any app, follow any particular style? I've tried all of Calm, Headspace, and Insight Timer. I liked Calm's guided meditations; when I started the guiding helped me a lot. I'm currently using Insight Timer purely as a timer without any guidance. The style I follow most closely is vispassana, often translated as "insight" or "seeing the world clearly" or the trendy term "mindfulness". There is no "best" app or "best" style, only what works for each individual. I would caution against falling into a paradox of choice problem where you keep trying different apps or different styles in a search for the "best" one. Much like exercise - the best exercise is whichever one you can do consistently. > Any recommendations for a beginner? This will sound counter-intuitive, but lower your expectations. You'll hear lots of stuff from experienced meditators about how life-changing it is, and I'll echo that sentiment. But it certainly doesn't feel life-changing at first. If you go into it with high expectations, you'll very likely get disappointed and frustrated. > Also, how long do you meditate in a day? And do you meditate daily? I've done 10-15 minutes a day, every day, for the last 800-something days. I've also done two separate silent meditation retreats, of 2 days and 5 days respectively. There are 1440 minutes in a day. If you meditate for 10-15 minutes a day, that's just 1% of the day. Something that helped me establish my daily practice was a commitment that I can do anything if it only takes up 1% of my day.

wowtip 7y ago
Could you do it on a 30 minute commute, or is a (most of the time very peaceful) bus trip too much external distractions?
- Fjolsvith 7y ago
  I think one could do it on a bus trip after you have been practicing for a while. I got to where I could meditate in a noisy open dormitory.
Fjolsvith 7y ago
> This will sound counter-intuitive, but lower your expectations. You'll hear lots of stuff from experienced meditators about how life-changing it is, and I'll echo that sentiment. But it certainly doesn't feel life-changing at first. If you go into it with high expectations, you'll very likely get disappointed and frustrated. This. When I started I didn't see any results right away but after a month of consistent daily practice, wow. And after six months, my emotional state was solid as a rock. I experienced other benefits too. Significant pain tolerance, and the ability to consciously block pain from affecting my mental state. Sweat control. Extreme cold tolerance/body temperature regulation. Immunity to being startled by loud or sharp noise. 4-5 hour attention spans. The 15 minute daily routine gave me all that. I used the method described by Sakyong Mipham in Turning the Mind Into an Ally

Hammershaft 7y ago

I strongly recommend the book 'The Mind Illuminated'. It is written by a neuroscientist who is also an expert practitioner of meditation. That said, it is far less casual than apps like headspace; the principle goal of the book is not to develop increased focus or productivity, but to develop meditation to discover insights into the nature of consciousness through direct experience. The book does a great job of highlighting many common misunderstandings and pitfalls of beginner mediators in a practical and mostly down to earth way. I use it with an App called Insight Timer that allows me to track the time I have put into meditating with satisfying statistics and graphs.

kweinber 7y ago

Guided apps don’t do anything for me. They essentially were like taking a break but I often felt bored, or annoyed. I went to training for TM meditation and it was a night-and-day experience. I do 2 20 minute meditations most days and I usually don’t want them to end. I highly recommend it.

Medicalidiot 7y ago

I meditate daily for about 10 minutes, which research suggest is the optimal time for cost/benefit. I started meditating with an actual Buddhist, but have found that Waking Up is a great app. There are good alternatives out there app-wise but all seem to be solid choices.

phil_folrida 7y ago

I use: https://choosemuse.com/ https://choosemuse.com/ somehow it worked for me.