Meditation?

[DOMS]

About three months ago, I started meditating. It's one of the best habits I've ever picked up. I try to meditate for 10 to 30 minutes each day.

Among its many benefits is that it's the only known way to change your emotional set point (your basic level of relative happiness).

So, how many of you meditate and what benefits have you reaped?

 

[nkira]

I did a course for TM (Transcendental Meditation), it was long time back. I do meditate now & then, like when I need to relax, break away from work tension & mainly to help settel my migraine attack, off course I take meds for the migraine attack but with that meditation helps too.

Ever heard of Deepak Chopra?

For the real benefit you have to do it regularly, Like this guy who's my mentor at work, he's been meditating for last 34 years! regularly...he is a Pranic healer too but that's a different topic.

One thing everyone notices is that he looks much younger than others......he is 54 but looks more like 45, "Whats your age" is the frequent question for him.

 

[AKIRA]

Id like to know how to get started. I really cant zone anything out so I take it that it involves practice? There must be some sort of newbie version...

 

[danzik17]

I guess I just don't understand how meditation can do things like change your happiness. I've always thought of conquering what was making you angry or sad to do that.

 

[DOMS]

Ever heard of Deepak Chopra?

Most certainly. I like a lot of the Auyervedic teachings he talks about. I just don't like that most of his works seem like a funnel to his business, though.

For the real benefit you have to do it regularly, Like this guy who's my mentor at work, he's been meditating for last 34 years! regularly...he is a Pranic healer too but that's a different topic.

I try to do it every day. It's like working out, if you don't do it often enough, inactivity will take away the gains.

One thing everyone notices is that he looks much younger than others......he is 54 but looks more like 45, "Whats your age" is the frequent question for him.

This makes complete sense. Stress is one of the prime culprits in tearing down the body, and meditation mitigates stress thereby slowing down the "aging" process.

 

[DOMS]

Id like to know how to get started. I really cant zone anything out so I take it that it involves practice? There must be some sort of newbie version...

Try Meditation for Dummies. The author, Stephen Bodian, does a great job of easing you into the subject and explaining the "why" of everything. All without being dry or pedantic.

 

[DOMS]

I guess I just don't understand how meditation can do things like change your happiness.

Consider what happiness is.

Is it a goal? Not really. Doing something that makes you feel happy isn't, usually, in and of itself making you happy. Take reaching a weight training goal. Does benching benching twice your body weight make you happy? Put another way, does moving a metal bar fitted with weights make you happy? Again, not really. It's that you've reached a certain level of strength, which increases your self-worth, that makes you happy.

The point of my previous paragraph is that the "what" of happiness isn't always that clear. Most people go through life trying to find happiness without ever knowing what it is.

Consider being scared out of your mind. Does that sound like something to be happy about? No? Then why do people go to scary movies (such as A Nightmare on Elmstreet, Saw, and Steel Magnolias)? Again, happiness isn't that clear-cut.

How about getting the crap beat out of you? But what if you just won an MMA match?

To take it even further, there are people who hate weight training, horror flicks, fight-related sports.

So the parameters of what is happiness can be nearly anything, depending on who the person is.

I've always thought of conquering what was making you angry or sad to do that.

So if parameters of happiness are dependent on, and relative to, the individual, then no specific action or activity is intrinsically happiness.

I've come to the conclusion that happiness is based in one's ability to be happy with what they have and how much they chose to feel about events as they happen.

I believe it's Bohdi Darhma what said (and I quote badly), "He who is happy with what he has is rich."

There are poor people who are happy and rich people who are not. The poor person is happy because his wants are simple and the wealthy person is unhappy because he wants even more.

Dealing with the events of life is the next crucial part. Your happiness can, rather obviously, be disrupted by things that make you unhappy. But what constitutes something that makes you unhappy?

How about getting run into by another person so hard it rocks you? What if you're a defensive linesman and you just prevented a sack?

Like happiness, things that make you unhappy depend on you and how you choose to perceive them.

Take getting cutoff on the freeway. When it happens, do you choose to see it as an eventuality of driving with others or as a personal attack? The facts of the incident remain the same. Another driver came into your lane without signaling and right off the front of your bumper. The only difference in the example is how you choose to perceive it.

Ultimately, those are two of the important things that meditation does for you. It helps you to focus on the good things in life, while not ignoring the bad, just putting the bad into proper perspective. Put another way, puts you into a positive mood and helps to ensure that things don't unnecessarily pull you out of it by increasing your tolerance.

It's a long post, but that's the gist of what meditation can do for you.


New drinking game: every time you read the word "happiness" in my post, you take a drink.

 

[KelJu]

I guess I just don't understand how meditation can do things like change your happiness. I've always thought of conquering what was making you angry or sad to do that.

Its so much more than that. Meditation is proven, and I can site at least 20 research studies to back it, to completely change your brain at the physiological, neurological, and psychological level all at the same time.

You can see it with fMRI. You can literally see parts of the brain shut down while other parts come to become active. Doctors studying stem-cells have measured the stem-cell count in blood serum of monks before meditation and after saw a huge increase in stem-cell count after only 15 minutes. That means meditation can actually help your body to heal itself faster. Add to that the extra benefit of reduced cortisol levels, and your body heals even faster yet.

Why do you think those Buddhist guys live to be like 90, and are in good shape despite not having access to western medicine.

There are 100s of meditations with each one serving a different purpose. This is a practice of the mind and body that is at least 3000 years old.

 

[jmorrison]

I guess I just don't understand how meditation can do things like change your happiness. I've always thought of conquering, pillaging, looting and raping like an angry Viking as the only true means of finding happiness.

Fixed for what makes me happy.

On a serious note though, I am very interested in this now, and will be researching more. God knows I could use something in my life to relax me a bit.

 

[nkira]

That is the issue with these people, everything turns into business & beomes so....um....self-serving?

Yeah I agree with you on the meditation is like workout, inactivity will take away the gains. This guy I talked about, he gets up at 4AM everyday! meditates for 2 hours, he swears by The TM-Sidhi meditation technique.

I don't know if this qualifies as meditation or not, but when I am alone in the office in the evening when everyone has left. I just switch of all lights & put on my ipod with some really relaxing music for half n hour. It relaxes me so much better.

You must have read about guided meditation, whats your views on that?

This is just a suggestion, try listening to Merlin's Magic - Healing Harmony...very good music. I think you will like it.

Most certainly. I like a lot of the Auyervedic teachings he talks about. I just don't like that most of his works seem like a funnel to his business, though.



I try to do it every day. It's like working out, if you don't do it often enough, inactivity will take away the gains.



This makes complete sense. Stress is one of the prime culprits in tearing down the body, and meditation mitigates stress thereby slowing down the "aging" process.

 

[nkira]

jmorrison, as a beginner, taking a course is best, but I understand that time - work may not permit this. You can try Guided Meditation....lots of stuff out there.

I will talk to this "Guy" & will post some options for you...

I am also seriously thinking about starting it again....


@ DOMS,

I am really interested in knowing what meditation technique you are following. From what you have written it seems it's working really great for you.

While meditating have you ever experienced these small muscle &/or skin twitches? I was told that its stress being relived, after all psychological stress will manifest as physical.

I do believe that rather than trying to insist or enforce a certain method of meditation, it is of great importance that one finds what works for him/Her.

I also agree that meditation is beyond science, not everything is in grasp of science.

Please share your thoughts,

Fixed for what makes me happy.

On a serious note though, I am very interested in this now, and will be researching more. God knows I could use something in my life to relax me a bit.

 

[KentDog]

Very interesting. Any other recommended reads on the subject? I am curious as well.

 

[nkira]

@KebtDog, Meditation is a vast subject, rather than being pointed to some specific text it's better if you crawl the web, that way you'll get variety of text to read.

 

[maniclion]

I've been meditating since I was 11 years old, I had gotten into martial arts at 10 then read about how the Samurai meditated so I got interested in it that way. One day I got grounded for 6 weeks for beating up a kid who'd punched me in the lip for being weird (meditating on the bus), during that time I emptied out all of my toys, video games and distractions, I had books, my weight bench, my music and an incense station on a small knee high table with an old lacquered Japanese tea set very Zen...

I would sit for hours after school tossing things out of my head like I had my room. I went to the library and checked out any book I could find on Eastern Philosophies and religion, a friend of my dad's gave him a copy of Dharma Bums, so I read that which lead me to read about Hanshan and D.T. Suzuki. I also got into wandering off into the woods alone to meditate because of Kerouac, deep into the wildest forests beyond our subdivision where coyote's still stalked... Out there I realized that our breath's in and out are one continuous infinity symbol ∞, the universe of mind keeping in touch with the whole, with each exhalation and inhalation I would feel the rush of renewed universe coming and going, this same breathing we all share connects us all to the same air which connects to the same universe. That when we die the symbol simply untwists and we become the whole again, that twist is all suffering of all life because we feel restricted on the other side apart from the whole but we never really are. And once you realize that within your innerverse you get to experience the wonders of life and help others realize the wonders.....

 

[DOMS]

I don't know if this qualifies as meditation or not, but when I am alone in the office in the evening when everyone has left. I just switch of all lights & put on my ipod with some really relaxing music for half n hour. It relaxes me so much better.

That's definitely a form of meditation. Do you try to clear your mind or focus on something?

You must have read about guided meditation, whats your views on that?

As far as I can tell it's just one of many other forms of meditation. I haven't tried it yet. Actually, I'm the only person in my circle of friends that does meditate.

This is just a suggestion, try listening to Merlin's Magic - Healing Harmony...very good music. I think you will like it.

I'll give it a shot.

 

[DOMS]

I am really interested in knowing what meditation technique you are following. From what you have written it seems it's working really great for you.

While meditating have you ever experienced these small muscle &/or skin twitches? I was told that its stress being relived, after all psychological stress will manifest as physical.

I do believe that rather than trying to insist or enforce a certain method of meditation, it is of great importance that one finds what works for him/Her.

I also agree that meditation is beyond science, not everything is in grasp of science.

Please share your thoughts,

Meditation has done wonders for me, but it's a constant battle at this point.

I like Mindfulness. In short, you develop near perfect concentration. Then you learn to be aware of something simple about yourself, such as your breaths. Then, as you become more proficient, you expand it to more of your body and then to things outside yourself.

Eventually your goal is to be mindful about yourself and all that you come in contact with all the time. I should note that takes a long time. Right now, I'm still working on my breath.

I've had the same twitches and itches. It's simply your mind trying to find something to react to. For westerners, we're stimulus junkies. We're always looking for the next fix, television, music, movies, games; you name it. Slowing your mind down and truly paying attention is hard when you're used to a constant flow of stimuli. Overcoming those twitches and itches if part of learning how to meditate.

And yes, you need to find what types of meditation work for you or that you need. There are numerous types of meditation. Right now I'm just focusing on Mindfulness. After I can at least focus on my breath, I'll want to try Healing with Light. That's a type of meditation that one can use to heal the body.

Hell yeah, science has a ways to go before it catches up with meditation.

 

[DOMS]

Very interesting. Any other recommended reads on the subject? I am curious as well.

Not yet. I'm still working with Meditation for Dummies. It comes with an audio CD that walks you through the different types of meditation listed in the book. It's a great place to start.

 

[DOMS]

I've been meditating since I was 11 years old, I had gotten into martial arts at 10 then read about how the Samurai meditated so I got interested in it that way. One day I got grounded for 6 weeks for beating up a kid who'd punched me in the lip for being weird (meditating on the bus), during that time I emptied out all of my toys, video games and distractions, I had books, my weight bench, my music and an incense station on a small knee high table with an old lacquered Japanese tea set very Zen...

You practice Mushin?

 

[crazy_enough]

This is such an interesting and fascinating topic.
My better half is a Reiki practitionner and Master. She has taught me to enter a meditative state (for me it is clearing the mind...and thats difficult enough I cant imagine focusing on anything at this point lol) and also to channel energies (ther earth's / universe's) through her, through myself. Not for healing purposes as such, altho the sessions often result as such.

 

[ALBOB]

I voted yes but, my meditation consists of pre-lift psych sessions. I use visualization techniques to "see" myself having a successful set.


I also do this on the golf course...........................doesn't work as well there.

 

[Triple Threat]

I also do this on the golf course...........................doesn't work as well there.

Maybe you need Tiger to give you some lessons.

 

[maniclion]

You practice Mushin?

That's the first step I took, then my Aikido instructor helped me understand it better. Then in College my Psychology teacher taught me the Awareness or Mindfulness technique because he knew I am a writer and it might help me catch more detail, now I do both depending on which way my mind sways in the breeze of thought, I just go with it.....

 

[fufu]

I had a discussion with a clinical psychologist last year about meditation. He had been researching scientific studies concerning physiological responses to meditation. He also talked about the changing in basic belief patterns that can manifest by just sitting down and "being". By the way, Zen literally means "just sitting".

Although let me say, meditation is a very general term. But I guess the main concept that drives and connects all kinds of meditation is awareness.

Awareness of yourself, awareness of others, awareness of your environment, awareness of everything and of nothing. Meditation for me, is a method of "waking up". How many times do you stop and realize that you are there, and you are controlling yourself? How many times do you stop the flow of business and become entirely aware of your sense of sight, smell, touch and so on. You may realize that you are not controlling yourself (atleast not entirely), and are going through life like you do in a dream. Reaction after reaction. No reflection, no realization of yourself.

I got into meditation after I started having lucid dreams, which I actually started having after reading Crono's old thread about dreaming. I found that "waking up" in a dream lead to me to "wake up" in waking life. I found that I was really asleep, or half awake at best when I normally would go through life.

Anyway, back to my discussion to my conversation with the psychologist. He recommended the book "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" which is a collection of Zen and Pre-Zen writings translated into English.

It is extremely easy to read and offers wisdom in simplicity. I finished the book a couple weeks ago and it offers some very good insight into meditation, just as the man suggested it would.

 

[KelJu]

Awareness of yourself, awareness of others, awareness of your environment, awareness of everything and of nothing. Meditation for me, is a method of "waking up". How many times do you stop and realize that you are there, and you are controlling yourself? How many times do you stop the flow of business and become entirely aware of your sense of sight, smell, touch and so on. You may realize that you are not controlling yourself (atleast not entirely), and are going through life like you do in a dream. Reaction after reaction. No reflection, no realization of yourself.

This is something I have a lot of work to do on. I have struggled with this for a long time, and I don't seem to be getting any better with mindfulness. When I am mindful, I can control everything, but those times are rare. I have to be mindful to intercept the things that would cause me harm or cause me to act negatively towards others and myself.

I haven't really dedicated myself to the practice of mediation, so the results I have gotten have been small. If I could dedicate myself to meditation like I use to towards lifting, I could get huge benefits. The ultimate goal would be to reach a sate where I can be mindful most of the time instead of just every now and then.

 

[fufu]

This is something I have a lot of work to do on. I have struggled with this for a long time, and I don't seem to be getting any better with mindfulness. When I am mindful, I can control everything, but those times are rare. I have to be mindful to intercept the things that would cause me harm or cause me to act negatively towards others and myself.

I haven't really dedicated myself to the practice of mediation, so the results I have gotten have been small. If I could dedicate myself to meditation like I use to towards lifting, I could get huge benefits. The ultimate goal would be to reach a sate where I can be mindful most of the time instead of just every now and then.

I am in a very similar state as you.

Think about it this. There are men who devote their entire life to being "aware". The give up sex, they give up taste, they give up fantasizing. Maybe after 30 years they can achieve the state of complete awareness.

I would imagine it to be very hard to have a very crisp sense of awareness most of the time in sort of environment we live in.

100 is greater than 2, but they are both greater than 1. Progress is progress.

 

[KelJu]

I am in a very similar state as you.

Think about it this. There are men who devote their entire life to being "aware". The give up sex, they give up taste, they give up fantasizing. Maybe after 30 years they can achieve the state of complete awareness.

I would imagine it to be very hard to have a very crisp sense of awareness most of the time in sort of environment we live in.

100 is greater than 2, but they are both greater than 1. Progress is progress.

I daydream about going to India to study as a monk. If I can't have everything I want, I could possibly learn to love everything I have. That will never happen here. There is too much distraction.

 

[fufu]

I daydream about going to India to study as a monk. If I can't have everything I want, I could possibly learn to love everything I have. That will never happen here. There is too much distraction.

Again, I agree.

 

[maniclion]

I daydream about going to India to study as a monk. If I can't have everything I want, I could possibly learn to love everything I have. That will never happen here. There is too much distraction.

India is too crowded, besides you don't have to go far to do the same things you can do anywhere in the world there are several million acres to wander aimlessly..... We are all born enlightened, look at the amazement in a babies eyes at all the world around, listen to a toddler asking why about everything, most people who get into this stuff sit and pick lint or slowly pull threads out of the cloaks of darkness that have layered over the soul through the years, but I say start throwing those smothering cloaks off in whole, why piddle away at it? But it doesn't matter how you do it nor how fast just as long as you keep at it....

 

[nkira]

^ What he said.

 

[maniclion]

I'd also like to add that not every master has found Enlightenment through the same path, there is one of my favorites, Bobo-Roshi or Fuck-Master who spent years in a strict Monastic life, meditating and suffering and chanting from the age of 15 he did this and he never seemed to get anywhere except frustrated. After 10 or 15 years he gave up, he just wandered out of the Temple gates with his civilian cothes and some money. After meandering about the bustling city he found himself in that part of town where the women would be best to wear mattresses strapped to their backs. He was taken by a ravishing woman and went with her into her room. The next thing he knew all of his senses were becoming heightened, the slightest brush of one hair across his leg as she bent to untie his sandals, every particle of life was present around him and in him, he felt the energies of all about him, his connection inside the woman was the same as him inside the womb of the universe and then he blew his load and all was clear.