uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm

Endrick: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sD3rztJogEU/TcBAHk-oHjI/AAAAAAAAKaU/JvWWXB7 l 9jY/s400/Tron-Legacy-Production-Still-HQ-olivia-wilde-17374423-1702-25 60.jpg

404 Error...got another link?

PizzaJedi81: Endrick: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sD3rztJogEU/TcBAHk-oHjI/AAAAAAAAKaU/JvWWXB7 l 9jY/s400/Tron-Legacy-Production-Still-HQ-olivia-wilde-17374423-1702-25 60.jpg

404 Error...got another link?

Take out the space between the I and 9
then it works

My tinnitus is the ultimate mantra!!

MarkEC: PizzaJedi81: Endrick: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sD3rztJogEU/TcBAHk-oHjI/AAAAAAAAKaU/JvWWXB7 l 9jY/s400/Tron-Legacy-Production-Still-HQ-olivia-wilde-17374423-1702-25 60.jpg

404 Error...got another link?

Take out the space between the I and 9
then it works

Ah, missed that one.
Thanks!

I took this free yoga/meditation class next to the office. The woman giving the class was this 50ish very fit woman who could pass for 25 from the neck down. I'm talking tight, curvy and muscular without the gristly over-muscled look, and the best ass/thighs region I've seen in a while. Anyways, we get to the meditation part and as soon as I close my eyes I picture her naked and I pop the hugest boner while lying on the mat, in a room where I'm the only guy... I didn't go back.

Quantum Apostrophe: I took this free yoga/meditation class next to the office. The woman giving the class was this 50ish very fit woman who could pass for 25 from the neck down. I'm talking tight, curvy and muscular without the gristly over-muscled look, and the best ass/thighs region I've seen in a while. Anyways, we get to the meditation part and as soon as I close my eyes I picture her naked and I pop the hugest boner while lying on the mat, in a room where I'm the only guy... I didn't go back.

So you're saying you felt kind of like this?

I read "How brains benefit from medication." Then I RTFA and was disappointed.

It's funny to me when science speaks on religion(from whence the concept of meditation comes). It's like taking seriously the religious talking about science.

Science-minded people don't respond to religion. They reacts to the religious.

"Religion is stupid. > People meditate in lower numbers. > Brain issues flourish. > Science sells a cure."

Bu..but.but..."math!"


/meh, it's early

"They found that experienced meditators had decreased activity in areas of the brain called the default mode network, which has been implicated in lapses of attention and disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder...

...This may indicate that meditators are constantly monitoring and suppressing the emergence of "me" thoughts, or mind-wandering."

I've been considering learning meditation for these reasons, this isn't the first thing I've read that's suggested this practice could make my head work better. I desperately need some tools to calm me back down after too many interruptions or loud noises get my brain riled up to the point where it kind of shuts down.

And when I'm living on my own a month or two, I'll finally have a quiet environment where I can actually *do* this, without three televisions blaring for 18 hours a day.

If anyone has any recommendations for where to look, I'd love to hear them. Me, I'm not religious, but I like Buddhists well enough and would be interested in learning from many of them, but I might be turned off by a group that's a little too woo-woo. I just want my head to work better, I'm not looking for a new identity/wardrobe/holy guy fandom/interior design philosophy/tribe to join, or anything like that.

Thanks.

@phaseolus: I like Buddhism because its not really a religion (there are no deities, for example, and Buddha was just a guy.. a prince, yes, but just a guy too).

Where I started was a book called Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, who has a really great podcast that is low on wishy washy feel-good stuff and very practical. I'd recommend that as a place to start.

good luck!

phaseolus: "They found that experienced meditators had decreased activity in areas of the brain called the default mode network, which has been implicated in lapses of attention and disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder...

...This may indicate that meditators are constantly monitoring and suppressing the emergence of "me" thoughts, or mind-wandering."

I've been considering learning meditation for these reasons, this isn't the first thing I've read that's suggested this practice could make my head work better. I desperately need some tools to calm me back down after too many interruptions or loud noises get my brain riled up to the point where it kind of shuts down.

And when I'm living on my own a month or two, I'll finally have a quiet environment where I can actually *do* this, without three televisions blaring for 18 hours a day.

If anyone has any recommendations for where to look, I'd love to hear them. Me, I'm not religious, but I like Buddhists well enough and would be interested in learning from many of them, but I might be turned off by a group that's a little too woo-woo. I just want my head to work better, I'm not looking for a new identity/wardrobe/holy guy fandom/interior design philosophy/tribe to join, or anything like that.

Thanks.

Meditation for Dummies or Idiot's Guide to Meditation won't steer you wrong.

Wanna learn to meditate?

Here's my personal method:

1) Smoke some cannabis, if it is at all reasonable for you to do so. I'm serious about this. It will instantly make you more in tune with your mind/body. Use it as a tool rather than an inebriant. (This may seem like blasphemy or cheating to some people who follow certain traditional meditation practices, but it's been used this way by Indian sadhus for centuries, and by shamans from many cultures for millennia.)

2) Find a quiet room. Lighting some incense and candles can help you enter the proper mindset. Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. Close your eyes.

3) Focus on your breathing. Imagine that there is an opening on the top of your head, and that you breathe in and out through it. Breathe deeply, using your stomach muscles. Any time your mind wanders, just refocus on your breathing.

4) Try to slow your breathing as much as possible. Make each inhalation slow, but constant. Do the same for each exhalation.

5) Focus on on your toes, feeling the sensation from them. Then shift you focus slowly, about an inch at a time, to the sensations from the rest of your body, going up from your toes (feet, ankles, shins, knees, and so on). It should feel like a slow wave of tingling/warmth traveling up your body. When it reaches the imaginary opening at the top of your head, keep going. With practise, you will litterally feel like your consciousness is hovering above your body.

And just explore from there. Yes, I realize that this all sounds like some hippy New-Age bullshiat. And, to be honest, I suppose it is. But I swear it farking works. I've had some amazing inner experiences meditating in this fashion. And once you get accustomed to the process, you can bring the state of mind back almost at will. I do it in the doctor's office when they take my BP/pulse, and my numbers are much better than they used to be before I started doing so. You might also look into something called HemiSync. They're a series of CDs that utilize binaural beat audio frequencies and guided meditation, and they're fantastic.

Peace.

Uh, sir! Sir! (oo! oo!) Sir!

Yeah, uh, no disrespect or nothin', but, like, uh, how long is this gonna take?

RoyBatty: Yeah, uh, no disrespect or nothin', but, like, uh, how long is this gonna take?

Tai Kwan Leep is not a path to a door, but a highway to eternity.

phaseolus: "They found that experienced meditators had decreased activity in areas of the brain called the default mode network, which has been implicated in lapses of attention and disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder...

...This may indicate that meditators are constantly monitoring and suppressing the emergence of "me" thoughts, or mind-wandering."

I've been considering learning meditation for these reasons, this isn't the first thing I've read that's suggested this practice could make my head work better. I desperately need some tools to calm me back down after too many interruptions or loud noises get my brain riled up to the point where it kind of shuts down.

And when I'm living on my own a month or two, I'll finally have a quiet environment where I can actually *do* this, without three televisions blaring for 18 hours a day.

If anyone has any recommendations for where to look, I'd love to hear them. Me, I'm not religious, but I like Buddhists well enough and would be interested in learning from many of them, but I might be turned off by a group that's a little too woo-woo. I just want my head to work better, I'm not looking for a new identity/wardrobe/holy guy fandom/interior design philosophy/tribe to join, or anything like that.

Thanks.

Try these, eh audio things. It's deliberately designed as a no mysticism, no bs guide. You have to pay after the first 10, but it's reasonable priced. I've met the guy behind this and his aim is to give people pretty much what you described.

t3knomanser: RoyBatty: Yeah, uh, no disrespect or nothin', but, like, uh, how long is this gonna take?

Tai Kwan Leep is not a path to a door, but a highway to eternity.

Is it also a stairway to heaven?

amyldoanitrite: Wanna learn to meditate?

Here's my personal method:

1) Smoke some cannabis, if it is at all reasonable for you to do so. I'm serious about this. It will instantly make you more in tune with your mind/body. Use it as a tool rather than an inebriant. (This may seem like blasphemy or cheating to some people who follow certain traditional meditation practices, but it's been used this way by Indian sadhus for centuries, and by shamans from many cultures for millennia.)

2) Find a quiet room. Lighting some incense and candles can help you enter the proper mindset. Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. Close your eyes.

3) Focus on your breathing. Imagine that there is an opening on the top of your head, and that you breathe in and out through it. Breathe deeply, using your stomach muscles. Any time your mind wanders, just refocus on your breathing.

4) Try to slow your breathing as much as possible. Make each inhalation slow, but constant. Do the same for each exhalation.

5) Focus on on your toes, feeling the sensation from them. Then shift you focus slowly, about an inch at a time, to the sensations from the rest of your body, going up from your toes (feet, ankles, shins, knees, and so on). It should feel like a slow wave of tingling/warmth traveling up your body. When it reaches the imaginary opening at the top of your head, keep going. With practise, you will litterally feel like your consciousness is hovering above your body.

And just explore from there. Yes, I realize that this all sounds like some hippy New-Age bullshiat. And, to be honest, I suppose it is. But I swear it farking works. I've had some amazing inner experiences meditating in this fashion. And once you get accustomed to the process, you can bring the state of mind back almost at will. I do it in the doctor's office when they take my BP/pulse, and my numbers are much better than they used to be before I started doing so. You might also look into something called HemiSync. They're a series of CDs that utilize binaural beat audio frequencies and guided meditation, and they're fantastic.

Peace.

I like the cut of your jib. This is almost exactly what I do. Except instead of candles I do it in a completely dark room while wearing earplugs. The addition of sensory deprivation makes allows me to center myself a little bit differently.

After I am centered I sometimes allow myself to, 'time travel'. Next time, try bringing smells from your past. An old cologne. Vanilla extract. etc. etc. The amygdala region of your brain shares a functional purpose with emotional memories and olfactory information processing. I've found that it will 'send me back' to a specific point in time. I try to reprocess events that may be traumatic. If you have two stress balls, try alternate squeezing them in each hand to promote bilateralization.

I recently started mediation, I can attest to it has really helped me relax and calm down at work and handle things better (I have a high stress & depressing job). I want to learn transcendental, but I live in the middle of no where and don't have a teacher.


/CSB

RoyBatty: Uh, sir! Sir! (oo! oo!) Sir!

Came in here a couple of times waiting for these follow-ups.
Well done, Farkers!

@guardian_devil:

I got my BS in psychology specifically with an eye to see what academia had to say about meditation and other states of consciousness (which was a foolish degree to pursue, in terms of employment, but that's a discussion for another time...). What I learned from the few but highly enjoyable classes that discussed such things, was that all methods of meditation/trance/hypnosis/etc, both secular and religious, employ many of the same techniques. They differ mostly in the imagery and description of the steps involved, but the end result is the same mental state.

I believe the difficulty many face in understanding what meditation is, and how to do it, is that the various descriptions used to relate what is a highly subjective inner experience don't convey the same things to different people.

For example, when I was in high school, my track & field coach told me to "throw from the hip" when throwing the discus. Try as I might, I could never grasp what he was talking about. It wasn't until I took martial arts and learned the concept of kinetic linkage that I finally understood what my coach had been trying to teach me. It takes different ways of explaining to communicate the same principle to different people.

amyldoanitrite: Wanna learn to meditate?

Here's my personal method:

1) Smoke some cannabis, if it is at all reasonable for you to do so. I'm serious about this. It will instantly make you more in tune with your mind/body. Use it as a tool rather than an inebriant. (This may seem like blasphemy or cheating to some people who follow certain traditional meditation practices, but it's been used this way by Indian sadhus for centuries, and by shamans from many cultures for millennia.)


I would suggest not doing this for most people looking to function in society. One might try it initially to get a kick out off previously established modes, however unless you want to smoke it all the time it's not going to be helpful in the long run. Cannabis interferes with the way the brain normally works, mental training on it is dependent on the presence of the substance. Don't incorporate this into your training on a frequent basis. Monthly at most, and only with great respect.
Various 5HT2a serotonin receptor agonists, psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, have also been used for millennia to readjust modes, however they have generally been used within the context of ritual supported by a group and are dangerous. If you do decide to try something like this do it under the supervision of someone trustworthy and experienced.

It's best just to do the work, don't use any of these crutches. You don't need magic, you already have ruby slippers Dorothy. A group will help you though, more so than you tube videos and self help tapes. People are social animals, our thought patterns adapt to those we surround ourselves with. There's plenty of weird folks out there, but one of the cool things about working on these parts of your brain is that it helps you view them more objectively. Yeah they're weird, but in so is everybody else. Particularly people who chase money, sex, etc while making themselves miserable in the process.

I'd actually recommend reading the Bhagavad Gita and/ or fundamental concepts Hinduism a bit. This is the root religion of Buddhism, and there is a great deal of useful knowledge that has been accumulated there over a very long time. The aspect that has resonated with me is the different paths that people find to peace, the three paths of Yoga, action, devotion, knowledge. It may be worth your while to learn what people who have devoted themselves to this study for thousands of years have to say on the subject.

@ cucullen:

"I would suggest not doing this for most people looking to function in society."

I would suggest opening your mind and realizing that there are litterally millions of very successful people that can and do use cannabis responsibly and can "function in society" perfectly fine. If you can't or choose not to, I won't call you socially disfunctional because of it. I was describing what works for me. Do I have to use cannabis every time I meditate? No. In fact, since I became a father, my vaporizer has been packed away and is gathering dust. But pot was a tremendous help to me when I first began exploring my own conciousness. Like I said, it can be used as a tool, rather than just an inebriant. To each, their own, but remember that their are many paths to the same goal, not just the one that worked for you.

Peace.

Heh. If you're looking to increase focus and concentration, cannabis is NOT the way to go.

...where'd I put my keys?