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One of the things you quickly discover when you start meditating is how deeply your breath is connected to your mind and body. You can literally detect a though

One of the things you quickly discover when you start meditating is how deeply your breath is connected to your mind and body. You can literally detect a thought forming before it does simply by sensing subtle changes in your breathing. You'll also notice how the most trivial thoughts also have a physical manifestation in your body, e.g., mild tension in your eyelids, or a tingling in your abdomen, etc.

eleveriven 2y ago
A lot of people in my life who love to meditate teel me that meditation indeed offers a unique perspective on the connection between the mind, body and breath.
- skilled 2y ago
  So learn it. It is one of life’s greatest secrets. What the original commenter said is correct, meditation helps you see how thoughts arise in the moment, and with practice you can get to a point where there is very little noise and instead you have a broader view of ideas and your life in general. It is also calming, for your entire system. Learning to monitor and control your breathing consciously is a serious mental workout. If you have never sat down to practice it, you might surprise yourself as to how much is going on in your own mind and how the wheels and cogs just keep turning.
  - boredemployee 2y ago
    Do you feel like your professional life is also impacted/improved by it? I know the question is broad but I mean things like level of anxiety, success, financial, etc. Or does it improve your "personal life only"?
    - skilled 2y ago
      It improves you. For example, being able to handle stress better isn’t useful just in personal life but also professional. In my experience, complete introvert, it helped me enormously with anxiety. But it did take some work, such as working through emotions that I had bottled up. If you stick to your practice then you will work through it.
    - Tao3300 2y ago
      Not the prior commentator, but personally it distanced me somewhat from the bullshit of the rat race. For better or worse, I'm less of likely to chase targets that don't matter or that I don't actually give a shit about. A caveat: my previous employer (a rent-seeking publishing company) used this sort of thing as a trap. Here, have Headspace for free. Here, take this training on how psychological safety and mental health are important in the workplace. Oh, your manager is psychologically abusing his team? That's against our core values - report that to HR right away. Surprise, HR cares but they are impotent; here's the shadow ER rep to hand you your walking papers.
  - baxtr 2y ago
    Part of me is resisting because people like you push others to do it. I’m somewhat allergic to that kind of evangelism. Imagine I told you to go to the gym 3x a week or wake up daily at 4:30am. How would you react? It’s a shame since I might even enjoy mediating. Maybe I try it one day.
    - partitioned 2y ago
      How do you go through life knowing youre making choices that don't make sense merely because someone told you to do something you had previously wanted to do?
    - matrisking 2y ago
      That’s a very different suggestion than “try paying attention to your breath for 5-10 mins whenever it’s convenient for you”
    - ketzo 2y ago
      I totally get it, I have that same contrarian instinct. I have to reframe someone telling me "you should do X healthy thing" as "you should look into X healthy thing and see if it interests you/if there's really a good reason to do it", and then if I do my own research/reasoning, sometimes I can get my brain on board. Basically, I have to trick myself into thinking it's my own idea. Very silly, but hey, it's how I started eating more vegetables and drinking more water, at least.
    - guntars 2y ago
      Under no circumstances should you try meditation! DO NO DO IT! That's an order.
    - betenoire 2y ago
      > somewhat allergic to that kind of evangelism Meditation, or some sort of reflection, may reveal to you that wrapped up in "allergic to evangelism" is an illusion that you received the intended message in the intended way. Or rather, that your reaction isn't necessarily in line with the reality of the intent of what was said. And that your reactions may be limiting you in your growth. You may even figure out ways to gamify your own improvement. That said, realization is the easy part!! lol, who am I to talk, let alone preach
- coldtea 2y ago
  It's absolutely true - that people who meditate love to inform everybody within ear-sight about such things, that is.
Tao3300 2y ago
It definitely helped me fix my road rage. E.g. getting cut off in traffic would usually cause me to inhale and brace my core, it's not hard to get angry from there, but by recognizing it as primarily a physical reaction, I was able to short circuit the secondary emotional reaction.
- balfirevic 2y ago
  > E.g. getting cut off in traffic What do people from english speaking countries (I guess mostly from US) mean when they say this? It's such a frequent phrase, but I don't think I ever thought about it as a distinct concept, nor spoke about it as such to any of my friends, and we've all been driving for many years.
  - poszlem 2y ago
    You are driving in your lane when suddenly, another driver decides to change lanes right in front of you without signaling or signaling at the last moment. As a result, you are forced to brake or lose your space cushion.
    - balfirevic 2y ago
      I wonder why it's not a big deal where I live - whether it just doesn't happen to the same extend or such behaviour is more accepted. I know I wouldn't think twice about it if someone switched lanes and forced me to lightly brake. Having to slam on the brakes would be more noteworthy, but that rarely happens.
      - gen220 2y ago
        I live and drive in the U.S. and the perception of what counts as being “cut off” is regional and correlated with density. A maneuver that’s perfectly acceptable in NYC can earn you an angry honk in the suburbs. For better or worse, in large swaths of the US people are accustomed to having loads of space on the road and ample time to react to changes in traffic patterns. New Yorkers would call other people lazy/inefficient drivers. Other people call New Yorkers crazy/aggressive drivers. YMMV.
zero0529 2y ago
How do I get started meditating? Any sources or books?
- depaya 2y ago
  Try a float tank (sensory depravation tank). IMO it's like easy mode for meditating and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
- timoth3y 2y ago
  A lot of great answers here, and I would add the book "10% Happier" to the list. There is also a worthwhile companion app, but I prefer Insight Timer for an app.
- WuxiFingerHold 2y ago
  I highly recommend this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEorY8UH30&list=PL5B1627ADAF657A2C https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEorY8UH30&list=PL5B1627ADA... It's a systematic, well structured and holistic approach. No commercial background. Just teaching. Follow these simple 8 steps. Don't use an app.
- egypturnash 2y ago
  1. sit down somewhere, a relatively quiet and dark place is nice but you can do it wherever, maybe set a timer, maybe don't 2. close your eyes, pay attention to your breath 3. when thoughts appear in your mind, note them but attempt to keep your attention on your breath, not on your thoughts 4. when you notice that your thoughts have wandered away from your breath, congratulate yourself for noticing this, and go back to step 2 important: do not berate yourself for getting caught up in your thoughts, do not worry that your head is too full of thoughts to ever be able to "stop thinking" - your brain has been thinking for most of your entire waking life and disengaging from this is hard at first! it gets easier. "the mind illuminated" is a nice book on the subject IMHO.
  - Retric 2y ago
    That’s a solid introduction to the most well know type of meditation but the specifics can vary quite a bit and people disagree on the specifics. Many groups consider meditation in a religious context though that’s far from universal. There’s also many ideas around what you should be doing while meditating from simply being in the moment to reflective thoughts. Still meditation is basically get enough sleep then get in a comfortable position sitting, lying down, or even standing just so long as you can hold it indefinitely and focus on something for long periods. Breathing is always available but options vary wildly from something specific like smoke from a stick of incense, to the environment such as trees blowing in the wind, ripples in a stream, or even the sound of someone leading a meditation. Though in general people follow something similar to what egypturnash mentioned. Moving meditation allows for some representative action like walking, dance, ritualized prayer, juggling, or even some repetitive factory job where you can do it indefinitely without thinking. Just be careful it’s easy to lose focus on what you’re doing so don’t try this when driving etc.
polishdude20 2y ago
This reminds me of how from an early age, when driving with my dad, I could sense when he was about to say something just because he breathing changed for like 3 seconds before he started.
- alsetmusic 2y ago
  When playing close-up games with one of my cats, I observed that her pupils would dilate about a quarter-second before she struck. This was true 100% of the time after I knew to watch for it.

eleveriven 2y ago

A lot of people in my life who love to meditate teel me that meditation indeed offers a unique perspective on the connection between the mind, body and breath.

skilled 2y ago
So learn it. It is one of life’s greatest secrets. What the original commenter said is correct, meditation helps you see how thoughts arise in the moment, and with practice you can get to a point where there is very little noise and instead you have a broader view of ideas and your life in general. It is also calming, for your entire system. Learning to monitor and control your breathing consciously is a serious mental workout. If you have never sat down to practice it, you might surprise yourself as to how much is going on in your own mind and how the wheels and cogs just keep turning.
- boredemployee 2y ago
  Do you feel like your professional life is also impacted/improved by it? I know the question is broad but I mean things like level of anxiety, success, financial, etc. Or does it improve your "personal life only"?
  - skilled 2y ago
    It improves you. For example, being able to handle stress better isn’t useful just in personal life but also professional. In my experience, complete introvert, it helped me enormously with anxiety. But it did take some work, such as working through emotions that I had bottled up. If you stick to your practice then you will work through it.
  - Tao3300 2y ago
    Not the prior commentator, but personally it distanced me somewhat from the bullshit of the rat race. For better or worse, I'm less of likely to chase targets that don't matter or that I don't actually give a shit about. A caveat: my previous employer (a rent-seeking publishing company) used this sort of thing as a trap. Here, have Headspace for free. Here, take this training on how psychological safety and mental health are important in the workplace. Oh, your manager is psychologically abusing his team? That's against our core values - report that to HR right away. Surprise, HR cares but they are impotent; here's the shadow ER rep to hand you your walking papers.
- baxtr 2y ago
  Part of me is resisting because people like you push others to do it. I’m somewhat allergic to that kind of evangelism. Imagine I told you to go to the gym 3x a week or wake up daily at 4:30am. How would you react? It’s a shame since I might even enjoy mediating. Maybe I try it one day.
  - partitioned 2y ago
    How do you go through life knowing youre making choices that don't make sense merely because someone told you to do something you had previously wanted to do?
  - matrisking 2y ago
    That’s a very different suggestion than “try paying attention to your breath for 5-10 mins whenever it’s convenient for you”
  - ketzo 2y ago
    I totally get it, I have that same contrarian instinct. I have to reframe someone telling me "you should do X healthy thing" as "you should look into X healthy thing and see if it interests you/if there's really a good reason to do it", and then if I do my own research/reasoning, sometimes I can get my brain on board. Basically, I have to trick myself into thinking it's my own idea. Very silly, but hey, it's how I started eating more vegetables and drinking more water, at least.
  - guntars 2y ago
    Under no circumstances should you try meditation! DO NO DO IT! That's an order.
  - betenoire 2y ago
    > somewhat allergic to that kind of evangelism Meditation, or some sort of reflection, may reveal to you that wrapped up in "allergic to evangelism" is an illusion that you received the intended message in the intended way. Or rather, that your reaction isn't necessarily in line with the reality of the intent of what was said. And that your reactions may be limiting you in your growth. You may even figure out ways to gamify your own improvement. That said, realization is the easy part!! lol, who am I to talk, let alone preach
coldtea 2y ago
It's absolutely true - that people who meditate love to inform everybody within ear-sight about such things, that is.

Tao3300 2y ago

It definitely helped me fix my road rage. E.g. getting cut off in traffic would usually cause me to inhale and brace my core, it's not hard to get angry from there, but by recognizing it as primarily a physical reaction, I was able to short circuit the secondary emotional reaction.

balfirevic 2y ago
> E.g. getting cut off in traffic What do people from english speaking countries (I guess mostly from US) mean when they say this? It's such a frequent phrase, but I don't think I ever thought about it as a distinct concept, nor spoke about it as such to any of my friends, and we've all been driving for many years.
- poszlem 2y ago
  You are driving in your lane when suddenly, another driver decides to change lanes right in front of you without signaling or signaling at the last moment. As a result, you are forced to brake or lose your space cushion.
  - balfirevic 2y ago
    I wonder why it's not a big deal where I live - whether it just doesn't happen to the same extend or such behaviour is more accepted. I know I wouldn't think twice about it if someone switched lanes and forced me to lightly brake. Having to slam on the brakes would be more noteworthy, but that rarely happens.
    - gen220 2y ago
      I live and drive in the U.S. and the perception of what counts as being “cut off” is regional and correlated with density. A maneuver that’s perfectly acceptable in NYC can earn you an angry honk in the suburbs. For better or worse, in large swaths of the US people are accustomed to having loads of space on the road and ample time to react to changes in traffic patterns. New Yorkers would call other people lazy/inefficient drivers. Other people call New Yorkers crazy/aggressive drivers. YMMV.

zero0529 2y ago

How do I get started meditating? Any sources or books?

depaya 2y ago
Try a float tank (sensory depravation tank). IMO it's like easy mode for meditating and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
timoth3y 2y ago
A lot of great answers here, and I would add the book "10% Happier" to the list. There is also a worthwhile companion app, but I prefer Insight Timer for an app.
WuxiFingerHold 2y ago
I highly recommend this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEorY8UH30&list=PL5B1627ADAF657A2C https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEorY8UH30&list=PL5B1627ADA... It's a systematic, well structured and holistic approach. No commercial background. Just teaching. Follow these simple 8 steps. Don't use an app.
egypturnash 2y ago
1. sit down somewhere, a relatively quiet and dark place is nice but you can do it wherever, maybe set a timer, maybe don't 2. close your eyes, pay attention to your breath 3. when thoughts appear in your mind, note them but attempt to keep your attention on your breath, not on your thoughts 4. when you notice that your thoughts have wandered away from your breath, congratulate yourself for noticing this, and go back to step 2 important: do not berate yourself for getting caught up in your thoughts, do not worry that your head is too full of thoughts to ever be able to "stop thinking" - your brain has been thinking for most of your entire waking life and disengaging from this is hard at first! it gets easier. "the mind illuminated" is a nice book on the subject IMHO.
- Retric 2y ago
  That’s a solid introduction to the most well know type of meditation but the specifics can vary quite a bit and people disagree on the specifics. Many groups consider meditation in a religious context though that’s far from universal. There’s also many ideas around what you should be doing while meditating from simply being in the moment to reflective thoughts. Still meditation is basically get enough sleep then get in a comfortable position sitting, lying down, or even standing just so long as you can hold it indefinitely and focus on something for long periods. Breathing is always available but options vary wildly from something specific like smoke from a stick of incense, to the environment such as trees blowing in the wind, ripples in a stream, or even the sound of someone leading a meditation. Though in general people follow something similar to what egypturnash mentioned. Moving meditation allows for some representative action like walking, dance, ritualized prayer, juggling, or even some repetitive factory job where you can do it indefinitely without thinking. Just be careful it’s easy to lose focus on what you’re doing so don’t try this when driving etc.

polishdude20 2y ago

This reminds me of how from an early age, when driving with my dad, I could sense when he was about to say something just because he breathing changed for like 3 seconds before he started.

alsetmusic 2y ago
When playing close-up games with one of my cats, I observed that her pupils would dilate about a quarter-second before she struck. This was true 100% of the time after I knew to watch for it.