6 ms·

Can people who meditate point to good resources on how and where to start? Books, videos, blogs etc.

by geekam 12y ago

thatswrong0 12y ago
Mindfulness in Plain English (http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html)
- dwc 12y ago
  Great recommendation. It's an older edition of a print book (still in print for decades) that's online for free with permission. It's well done, clear, and has very little woo in it.
purerandomness 12y ago
UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center: http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 Jon Kabat-Zinn doing a session at Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc And, of course, Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/ https://www.headspace.com/ Just sit back, relax, and enjoy one of those. And then all of them.
- geekam 12y ago
  Is it worth paying headspace 8 bucks a month?
fnordsensei 12y ago
Meditation is a lot less complicated than sometimes advertised. It can be helpful to know that alternative terms for the same activity is "contemplation" or "deep thought". It's a skill though, and you'll get better at it over time. Set a timer for five minutes, sit down in a comfortable position (usually better than lying down, to keep yourself awake). Count your breaths until 10 and then count backwards down again. Repeat until the timer goes off, and bam! Meditation accomplished. Don't worry if your mind drifts off, that's not a sign of failure. Just keep doing the task at hand (counting). Use headphones if you need to block out sound. Slow music without lyrics or plain nature sounds usually work better. Once you have that down, there are about a billion variations and ways to continue, but starting out doesn't have to be more complicated than outlined above. Usually we wish to measure progress when undertaking any kind of endeavor, especially new ones, but measuring (or even defining) progress when it comes to meditation can be hard sometimes. It may require discipline on your part in order to overcome the perceived lack of feedback, but I assure you that you'll be very glad that you kept at it once you do start to notice what happens.
- Scarbutt 12y ago
  but I assure you that you'll be very glad that you kept at it once you do start to notice what happens. Can you expand a little on this? What does one starts noticing?
  - fnordsensei 12y ago
    I'd be disinclined to describe what you'd notice as that might lead to you looking for those milestones in particular. Everyone is probably wired a little bit differently and may end up noticing different things. If one were given to drama, one could say that part of the practice is to sort of walk out into the wilderness and purposefully NOT bring a map, making exploration a part of the game. To give you an example (with the disclaimer above in mind), I've a friend who noticed that he doesn't need as much sleep when he meditates regularly. Stop meditating, need for sleep increases. That's not the case for me, I need about the same amount of sleep regardless of amount of meditation. If I'd been told that less sleep is achievable, I might have been discouraged by the fact that this particular perk is nowhere to be seen for me. But I happen to know not to use another person's map for my personal wilderness. For me, focus, patience, attention, memory and a very even (almost immutable, lately) temper are some of the things that have come out of this.
    - devnonymous 12y ago
      I agree with everything @fnordsensei said. With the same disclaimer as above, here are some of the things I noticed: heightened 'awareness' (ie: senses appear to be more sensitive than earlier), reduced anxiety, reduced 'restlessness'.
- pakitan 12y ago
  Is there any chance the effects of meditation can be achieved by, say, trying to solve a puzzle in your head? Meditation sounds great and all but when you actually start doing it, it's painfully boring and feels like a waste of time. And that's what usually puts me off, every time I start.
  - 12y ago
powerset 12y ago
reddit.com/r/meditation is pretty decent
glaugh 12y ago
I've tried quite a few things and the most useful thing for me has been https://www.headspace.com/ https://www.headspace.com/ . It's "daily" guided meditation (that after not too long is barely guided). The narrator's voice is really good, not too hippie, very calming. Everything is pleasant and well-designed. This was also pretty good, if you'd rather read a book: http://www.amazon.com/Search-Inside-Yourself-Unexpected-Achieving/dp/0062116932 http://www.amazon.com/Search-Inside-Yourself-Unexpected-Achi...
- geekam 12y ago
  Edit: Do you pay for headspace or just use their 10 minute? I just signed up. Thanks for the book suggestion, I just bought this book.
subdane 12y ago
Here's a nice five minute example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMz_UagXkFk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMz_UagXkFk
MarkL4 12y ago
http://meditationstuff.wordpress.com/ http://meditationstuff.wordpress.com/
ramblerman 12y ago
headspace is a tremendous app with a new guided meditation everyday. It slowly lets you build up your practice, as well as choose a specific branch of focus as you progress. The ptich sounds gimmicky, but I never managed more than 5 consecutive days on my own. With Andy (the narrator) I'm at 30 days and counting

Can people who meditate point to good resources on how and where to start? Books, videos, blogs etc.

by geekam 12y ago

Can people who meditate point to good resources on how and where to start? Books, videos, blogs etc.

Mindfulness in Plain English (http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html)

dwc 12y ago
Great recommendation. It's an older edition of a print book (still in print for decades) that's online for free with permission. It's well done, clear, and has very little woo in it.

purerandomness 12y ago

UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center: http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 Jon Kabat-Zinn doing a session at Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc And, of course, Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/ https://www.headspace.com/ Just sit back, relax, and enjoy one of those. And then all of them.

geekam 12y ago
Is it worth paying headspace 8 bucks a month?

fnordsensei 12y ago

Meditation is a lot less complicated than sometimes advertised. It can be helpful to know that alternative terms for the same activity is "contemplation" or "deep thought". It's a skill though, and you'll get better at it over time. Set a timer for five minutes, sit down in a comfortable position (usually better than lying down, to keep yourself awake). Count your breaths until 10 and then count backwards down again. Repeat until the timer goes off, and bam! Meditation accomplished. Don't worry if your mind drifts off, that's not a sign of failure. Just keep doing the task at hand (counting). Use headphones if you need to block out sound. Slow music without lyrics or plain nature sounds usually work better. Once you have that down, there are about a billion variations and ways to continue, but starting out doesn't have to be more complicated than outlined above. Usually we wish to measure progress when undertaking any kind of endeavor, especially new ones, but measuring (or even defining) progress when it comes to meditation can be hard sometimes. It may require discipline on your part in order to overcome the perceived lack of feedback, but I assure you that you'll be very glad that you kept at it once you do start to notice what happens.

Scarbutt 12y ago
but I assure you that you'll be very glad that you kept at it once you do start to notice what happens. Can you expand a little on this? What does one starts noticing?
- fnordsensei 12y ago
  I'd be disinclined to describe what you'd notice as that might lead to you looking for those milestones in particular. Everyone is probably wired a little bit differently and may end up noticing different things. If one were given to drama, one could say that part of the practice is to sort of walk out into the wilderness and purposefully NOT bring a map, making exploration a part of the game. To give you an example (with the disclaimer above in mind), I've a friend who noticed that he doesn't need as much sleep when he meditates regularly. Stop meditating, need for sleep increases. That's not the case for me, I need about the same amount of sleep regardless of amount of meditation. If I'd been told that less sleep is achievable, I might have been discouraged by the fact that this particular perk is nowhere to be seen for me. But I happen to know not to use another person's map for my personal wilderness. For me, focus, patience, attention, memory and a very even (almost immutable, lately) temper are some of the things that have come out of this.
  - devnonymous 12y ago
    I agree with everything @fnordsensei said. With the same disclaimer as above, here are some of the things I noticed: heightened 'awareness' (ie: senses appear to be more sensitive than earlier), reduced anxiety, reduced 'restlessness'.
pakitan 12y ago
Is there any chance the effects of meditation can be achieved by, say, trying to solve a puzzle in your head? Meditation sounds great and all but when you actually start doing it, it's painfully boring and feels like a waste of time. And that's what usually puts me off, every time I start.
- 12y ago

powerset 12y ago

reddit.com/r/meditation is pretty decent

glaugh 12y ago

I've tried quite a few things and the most useful thing for me has been https://www.headspace.com/ https://www.headspace.com/ . It's "daily" guided meditation (that after not too long is barely guided). The narrator's voice is really good, not too hippie, very calming. Everything is pleasant and well-designed. This was also pretty good, if you'd rather read a book: http://www.amazon.com/Search-Inside-Yourself-Unexpected-Achieving/dp/0062116932 http://www.amazon.com/Search-Inside-Yourself-Unexpected-Achi...

geekam 12y ago
Edit: Do you pay for headspace or just use their 10 minute? I just signed up. Thanks for the book suggestion, I just bought this book.

subdane 12y ago

Here's a nice five minute example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMz_UagXkFk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMz_UagXkFk

MarkL4 12y ago

http://meditationstuff.wordpress.com/ http://meditationstuff.wordpress.com/

ramblerman 12y ago

headspace is a tremendous app with a new guided meditation everyday. It slowly lets you build up your practice, as well as choose a specific branch of focus as you progress. The ptich sounds gimmicky, but I never managed more than 5 consecutive days on my own. With Andy (the narrator) I'm at 30 days and counting