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Some 8 years or so ago I experimented with triggering mood changes using a meditative technique. I had long been doing 'centering' meditative exercises so that

Some 8 years or so ago I experimented with triggering mood changes using a meditative technique. I had long been doing 'centering' meditative exercises so that I could bring more focus and clarity to seated practice. I wanted something more practical that would affect my everyday life. I eventually settled on two 'states'. A 'centered' state and a 'joyful' one. Any time I noticed myself outside of one of the two states, I performed the quick ritual to bring myself back to it. After a few days of practice, I found myself shockingly good at performing quick, directed mood shifts, in any situation I found myself in. I settled into a routine that lasted a few weeks. It didn't suck, I never 'overdosed'. It was every bit as cool as you can imagine it being. However over time I lost the desire to keep it up. Eventually I realized that, in the end, being able to relate to others requires a certain amount of empathy, and being blissed-out all the time made it really difficult to do that. It might get easier if everyone around me also could stay centered or joyful, but if I want deep fulfilling relationships with others, being able to feel what they feel and not what I want to feel is important. This is ultimately what makes addiction so caustic to relationships IMO. Your mood stops moving and flexing with your social environs. It's a feedback loop that closes you off from those that sustain you and you lean heavier on the substance.

cheeko1234 7y ago
Teach me please. I need this.
wfn 7y ago
I am interested in trying something akin to those mood-modulating techniques of yours. Can you perhaps elaborate on them a bit, or give some pointers where to look? Is this something which can be incorporated into mindfulness practice, or not really? Thanks! :)
IpV8 7y ago
Teach me too
vinceguidry 7y ago
I'll reply once to my own comment to the three requests for tutelage with the same thing I sent in the one person that emailed me. The technique isn't particularly hard to develop. I used hand gestures. Hold your hands in the gesture and focus on the desired mood. Best done initially when you are only slightly 'off' from the desired mood. Rinse and repeat until you can do it more readily and in situations that are further away from the desired one. The hard part is in remembering to do it, and in maintaining the patience to keep at it. If I hadn't already had years of meditation experience by the time I came up with this idea, I don't think I would have been able to follow through. I used the teachings of George Gurdjieff to help me reach a place where I could rely on my ability to remember such things at the time in which I need to remember them. PDF link follows, however not the one I used. I personally read the first few chapters of his first book, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, which is an impossibly dense read that communicates a stupidly simple message. http://www.gurdjiefffourthway.org/pdf/SELF-REMEMBERING.pdf http://www.gurdjiefffourthway.org/pdf/SELF-REMEMBERING.pdf
- mockingbirdy 7y ago
  For the sibling comments who are eager to change their minds (literally): Please note that there are also risks. OP and proverbialbunny talk about negative aspects that you should be aware of (especially because it sounds like some of you reach out to this with great desire). Messing with the void without proper understanding is dangerous. [1]: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbaedd/meditation-is-a-powerful-mental-tool-and-for-some-it-goes-terribly-wrong https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbaedd/meditation-is-a-po...
  - kranner 7y ago
    Isn't the Buddhist path supposed to lead to the end of aversion _and_ craving (or desire or attachment)? Wouldn't that make these so-called negative effects an expected outcome of the process? Maybe the problem is that the current common understanding of Buddhist enlightenment is incorrect: it has been sold as a panacea for everyone, including "householders", that we can just drop into our lives and continue on our former paths with the added bonus of the end of suffering.
proverbialbunny 7y ago
I too have bumped into this during meditation, but being in my early 20s and not having a teacher or instructions, I ODed on bliss. I was living in a state of bliss I could turn up and down for years. I could turn it up so high I'd pass out from it. After years of this, something happened and I stopped being able to feel bliss at all. It was like a part of my neurology had been fried. I assumed it was something I had done so I turned to suttas to try to figure out what was up, assuming it was a meditation problem. I learned Buddhism, I solved my psychological problems, even ended suffering, but at the end of the day the bliss was gone never to come back. Doctors call it depression, but I'm optimistic and enjoy life. They may have never bumped into anyone like me before. At the end of the day I'm grateful for the experiences I've had, but if you live high as a kite for years, you can OD on it. I imagine someone who ODs on a benzo or meth might have a similar experience.
- vinceguidry 7y ago
  Yeah, another reason I eventually gave it up. Emotions are ultimately more fun when you mix them together like music, not just hit one high note all the time.
  - proverbialbunny 7y ago
    Really it comes down to a middle ground and not overdoing too much of a good thing.

cheeko1234 7y ago

Teach me please. I need this.

wfn 7y ago

I am interested in trying something akin to those mood-modulating techniques of yours. Can you perhaps elaborate on them a bit, or give some pointers where to look? Is this something which can be incorporated into mindfulness practice, or not really? Thanks! :)

IpV8 7y ago

Teach me too

vinceguidry 7y ago

I'll reply once to my own comment to the three requests for tutelage with the same thing I sent in the one person that emailed me. The technique isn't particularly hard to develop. I used hand gestures. Hold your hands in the gesture and focus on the desired mood. Best done initially when you are only slightly 'off' from the desired mood. Rinse and repeat until you can do it more readily and in situations that are further away from the desired one. The hard part is in remembering to do it, and in maintaining the patience to keep at it. If I hadn't already had years of meditation experience by the time I came up with this idea, I don't think I would have been able to follow through. I used the teachings of George Gurdjieff to help me reach a place where I could rely on my ability to remember such things at the time in which I need to remember them. PDF link follows, however not the one I used. I personally read the first few chapters of his first book, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, which is an impossibly dense read that communicates a stupidly simple message. http://www.gurdjiefffourthway.org/pdf/SELF-REMEMBERING.pdf http://www.gurdjiefffourthway.org/pdf/SELF-REMEMBERING.pdf

mockingbirdy 7y ago
For the sibling comments who are eager to change their minds (literally): Please note that there are also risks. OP and proverbialbunny talk about negative aspects that you should be aware of (especially because it sounds like some of you reach out to this with great desire). Messing with the void without proper understanding is dangerous. [1]: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbaedd/meditation-is-a-powerful-mental-tool-and-for-some-it-goes-terribly-wrong https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbaedd/meditation-is-a-po...
- kranner 7y ago
  Isn't the Buddhist path supposed to lead to the end of aversion _and_ craving (or desire or attachment)? Wouldn't that make these so-called negative effects an expected outcome of the process? Maybe the problem is that the current common understanding of Buddhist enlightenment is incorrect: it has been sold as a panacea for everyone, including "householders", that we can just drop into our lives and continue on our former paths with the added bonus of the end of suffering.

proverbialbunny 7y ago

I too have bumped into this during meditation, but being in my early 20s and not having a teacher or instructions, I ODed on bliss. I was living in a state of bliss I could turn up and down for years. I could turn it up so high I'd pass out from it. After years of this, something happened and I stopped being able to feel bliss at all. It was like a part of my neurology had been fried. I assumed it was something I had done so I turned to suttas to try to figure out what was up, assuming it was a meditation problem. I learned Buddhism, I solved my psychological problems, even ended suffering, but at the end of the day the bliss was gone never to come back. Doctors call it depression, but I'm optimistic and enjoy life. They may have never bumped into anyone like me before. At the end of the day I'm grateful for the experiences I've had, but if you live high as a kite for years, you can OD on it. I imagine someone who ODs on a benzo or meth might have a similar experience.

vinceguidry 7y ago
Yeah, another reason I eventually gave it up. Emotions are ultimately more fun when you mix them together like music, not just hit one high note all the time.
- proverbialbunny 7y ago
  Really it comes down to a middle ground and not overdoing too much of a good thing.