Mindful Meditation [2/13 - Unlimited]- Always Open

[Stronkey Kong]

I did 15 min each yesterday and today.

[Lokesbrah]

12 minutes. The images were never clear but during the visualization I saw the Assassin's Black Flag symbol and I kept hearing Bioshock's speech "A man chooses, a slave obeys". I am going to see if I can understand what this means today...

 

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[Moira]

Hey guys! I am so sorry about my hiatus these last couple of days. I have been very busy between family drama, school, lab research and enjoying some time with friends.

I am so happy you guys are continuing this. I hope you will find this PvP challenge as a helpful tool to motivate your meditation practice as much as possible.

I have not had any opportunities to meditate peacefully since Wednesday, but the weather has finally brightened up here over the weekend. Today is another warm sunny day so I plan on heading to my local nature trails and spending some quality mindful time in the woods. Especially after such a crazy weekend!

I am exctied for it!

[Lokesbrah]

Lab research? A fellow lab rat? What are you studying/working?

 

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[Moira]

19 minutes ago, Lokesbrah said:

Lab research? A fellow lab rat? What are you studying/working?

 

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Bench research on renal carcinoma cells. It's for my Master's thesis in Biology. you??

[Lokesbrah]

Master's thesis in chemistry, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients xD

 

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[Stronkey Kong]

I have a masters in genetics.

[Lokesbrah]

Truly NerdFitness x'D I love this x'D

 

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[Infinity.Creates]

Ooh sounds interesting! I've got meditation as my challenge this time, but I haen't been setting a time. Just until I feel peaceful and collected and ready to face the day. Though I shall try and get some actual times for this PvP!

[Stronkey Kong]

I did two thirty minute sessions.

 

My thoughts drifted off frequently but i returned rather quickly. I focused not only on my breath but on being aware of everything. I have the windows open because is a nice day and i could hear lots of people birds dogs along with traffic horns and in the apartment the refrigerator the dripping faucet, neighbors coming and going everything.

 

Both times my leg fell asleep during the last ten minutes. And the mind gets distracted by the pain and wishing the alarm to finish would ring.

 

And that's also when the real practice of mindfulness comes in. When you can stay with your breath and the moment, even though you hurt like hell and you want your session to end.

[ChirpyBird]

1 hour ago, Curl Brogo said:

I did two thirty minute sessions.

 

My thoughts drifted off frequently but i returned rather quickly. I focused not only on my breath but on being aware of everything. I have the windows open because is a nice day and i could hear lots of people birds dogs along with traffic horns and in the apartment the refrigerator the dripping faucet, neighbors coming and going everything.

 

Both times my leg fell asleep during the last ten minutes. And the mind gets distracted by the pain and wishing the alarm to finish would ring.

 

And that's also when the real practice of mindfulness comes in. When you can stay with your breath and the moment, even though you hurt like hell and you want your session to end.

 

Well done! I'm not yet to the point where a single noise won't snap me back. I've just got to keep practicing! 

 

Gratz on getting through the pins and needles!

[Stronkey Kong]

5 minutes ago, ChirpyBird said:

 

Well done! I'm not yet to the point where a single noise won't snap me back. I've just got to keep practicing! 

 

Gratz on getting through the pins and needles!

 

What do you mean snap you back? Where does you're mind go?

[Moira]

6 hours ago, Curl Brogo said:

I have a masters in genetics.

 

I teach a genetics lab for my tuition coverage and a stipend. I don't really want to teach after finishing this degree. But if I have to I would teach Genetics and/or Cancer Biology.

[Moira]

Couldn't go on my nature walk today. Had to go to the hospital to see my grandpa. His health is getting worse.

Maybe tomorrow after my workout I will do some yoga and meditate.

[ChirpyBird]

2 hours ago, Curl Brogo said:

 

What do you mean snap you back? Where does you're mind go?

 

Just back to the mode where my mind won't shut up, I guess. When meditating I am learning to turn off this chatter and just focus on breathing. But when I "snap back" it's back to the same ol', same ol' where my brain thinks a million things at once.

[ChirpyBird]

1 hour ago, NucleotidalWave said:

Couldn't go on my nature walk today. Had to go to the hospital to see my grandpa. His health is getting worse.

Maybe tomorrow after my workout I will do some yoga and meditate.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandpa. I will keep him, you, and your family in my thoughts.

[Stronkey Kong]

10 hours ago, ChirpyBird said:

 

Just back to the mode where my mind won't shut up, I guess. When meditating I am learning to turn off this chatter and just focus on breathing. But when I "snap back" it's back to the same ol', same ol' where my brain thinks a million things at once.

 

When i meditate, my goal is not to turn off my mind, my goal is to turn on my mind and be in this moment completely with all the sensations and thoughts that occur.

 

I find that if in in a state where I'm having fewer thoughts, it's usually some half asleep foggy state, and not only do i lose the thoughts but i lose the sensations of being in the moment.

 

When I'm really here in the moment I get it all, the sensations are clear, the thoughts are clear, and everything just comes and goes. I don't get caught up on anything. I can notice my breath, sounds, and thoughts all at once.

 

Imagine looking at a map of Hawaii. Each island is like a sensation or thought. One island is breath, one island is a dog barking, one island is the pain my your leg, another the thought that you need to do a better job at work, etc. To be here now means you can zoom out and experience them all at once, you see the whole archipelago and still in good detail. You're not so zoomed out that you can't see it, but you're not focused on one island at a time. When you focus on one at a time, inevitably you have to acknowledge another island, then another, and another... You're looking at the map for a reason, trying to find your way, but now your eyes and focus are jumping around frantically and you're trying to focus on one island by ignoring the others.

 

Meditation, to me at least, is about figuring out how to step back and see the whole focused picture of the present moment and to see it and accept it for what it is and nothing more.

 

My leg is asleep, there's a dog barking, I'm obsessing about work, but I'm still breathing. That's it.

[ChirpyBird]

1 hour ago, Curl Brogo said:

 

When i meditate, my goal is not to turn off my mind, my goal is to turn on my mind and be in this moment completely with all the sensations and thoughts that occur.

 

I find that if in in a state where I'm having fewer thoughts, it's usually some half asleep foggy state, and not only do i lose the thoughts but i lose the sensations of being in the moment.

 

When I'm really here in the moment I get it all, the sensations are clear, the thoughts are clear, and everything just comes and goes. I don't get caught up on anything. I can notice my breath, sounds, and thoughts all at once.

 

Imagine looking at a map of Hawaii. Each island is like a sensation or thought. One island is breath, one island is a dog barking, one island is the pain my your leg, another the thought that you need to do a better job at work, etc. To be here now means you can zoom out and experience them all at once, you see the whole archipelago and still in good detail. You're not so zoomed out that you can't see it, but you're not focused on one island at a time. When you focus on one at a time, inevitably you have to acknowledge another island, then another, and another... You're looking at the map for a reason, trying to find your way, but now your eyes and focus are jumping around frantically and you're trying to focus on one island by ignoring the others.

 

Meditation, to me at least, is about figuring out how to step back and see the whole focused picture of the present moment and to see it and accept it for what it is and nothing more.

 

My leg is asleep, there's a dog barking, I'm obsessing about work, but I'm still breathing. That's it.

 

See that is confusing to me. I thought meditation is to focus and stop the brain's chatter, which never goes away for me. I suffer from anxiety, so finally being able to turn that all off has done wonders. I think if I try this method, I won't get that full relaxation.

[Stronkey Kong]

6 minutes ago, ChirpyBird said:

 

See that is confusing to me. I thought meditation is to focus and stop the brain's chatter, which never goes away for me. I suffer from anxiety, so finally being able to turn that all off has done wonders. I think if I try this method, I won't get that full relaxation.

 

You can't shut it off, but you learn not to get wrapped up in it. When people try to shut off they either repress it or wind up in a depressive fog.

 

I get anxieties too, that often spiral out of control into a lot of really negative thoughts, and i wind up either snapping and getting angry or i get depressed.

 

But with meditation and mindfulness i can recognize the thoughts coming up, i take that step back, acknowledge what I'm feeling and it might still be there, it might not, but i can let it go and live with it until it passes.

 

From the philosophy in zen and Buddhism generally, all these thoughts, especially judgments which cause the anxiety are empty. They're not real and can't affect you unless you let them. Meditation and mindfulness let you see this and give you the perspective so you can work on the problems, not let the problem work on you.

[ChirpyBird]

11 minutes ago, Curl Brogo said:

 

You can't shut it off, but you learn not to get wrapped up in it. When people try to shut off they either repress it or wind up in a depressive fog.

 

I get anxieties too, that often spiral out of control into a lot of really negative thoughts, and i wind up either snapping and getting angry or i get depressed.

 

But with meditation and mindfulness i can recognize the thoughts coming up, i take that step back, acknowledge what I'm feeling and it might still be there, it might not, but i can let it go and live with it until it passes.

 

From the philosophy in zen and Buddhism generally, all these thoughts, especially judgments which cause the anxiety are empty. They're not real and can't affect you unless you let them. Meditation and mindfulness let you see this and give you the perspective so you can work on the problems, not let the problem work on you.

 

Hmmm so I think I need to do more research on meditation and figure out how to really do it. Right now I was shutting off all thought and putting myself somewhere else, like a woods or by a waterfall, and just enjoying the sights my mind came up with. 

 

Do you have any suggestions as to books I could read (or @NucleotidalWave if you do, too!)? I want to make sure I'm doing this right.  

[Stronkey Kong]

One that i read and recommend is Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck. I actually started re reading it yesterday. 

 

I should point out that my experience comes from the traditional Soto zen practice that has been on and off for a few years so don't take me as an authority.

 

Plus you're just starting out and you might be doing just what you need to do. And there are other practices that do use visualizations to relieve stress. And that's what some people need. I personally approach it with a sense of work because i know that's what i need.

 

Just keep at it and see what comes up. Try a few different meditation techniques. If there are things you really need to work on they'll find their way into your mind. I would point out, if you're standing in front of a subset or a waterfall, and all your can think about is something else, you need practice.

[Stronkey Kong]

 

I got 20 min. today.

 

I also thought more on readings and ordered a book by Thich Nhat Hahn because i haven't read him yet at all.

 

A couple of other books are Awakening the Buddha within by lama surya das, and zen mind beginners mind by shunryu suzuki.

 

Those are definitely strongly steeped in traditional Buddhism, though ATBW was with for non buddhist audiences and provides a great intro.

 

If you're into audio books, and want to stay secular, Audible has a Great Courses lecture series called The science of mindfulness, i haven't finished it yet, but it's been pretty good And gives a variety of guided meditation lessons.Although even this course is heavy on Buddhism because they laid the foundations of mindfulness practice.

[ChirpyBird]

On 2/21/2017 at 10:31 AM, Curl Brogo said:

One that i read and recommend is Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck. I actually started re reading it yesterday. 

 

I should point out that my experience comes from the traditional Soto zen practice that has been on and off for a few years so don't take me as an authority.

 

Plus you're just starting out and you might be doing just what you need to do. And there are other practices that do use visualizations to relieve stress. And that's what some people need. I personally approach it with a sense of work because i know that's what i need.

 

Just keep at it and see what comes up. Try a few different meditation techniques. If there are things you really need to work on they'll find their way into your mind. I would point out, if you're standing in front of a subset or a waterfall, and all your can think about is something else, you need practice.

 

Thanks for all of the advice!!! I will definitely look into those book suggestions. What are the different meditation techniques you mention? 

 

Awesome job on the 20 minute meditation!

[Moira]

Yesterday I had a 9 minute meditation after doing a "Powerful Yoga" session from Yoga with Adrienne.

The meditation was guided by the app using "Cultivating Self Appreciation". Although, imagining things don't help me much.

Today I will meditate after my workout OUTSIDE!!! YAYYY!! It is the last day of the warm and sunny streak we have been having here so I am going to make the most of it. WOOT! 

[Stronkey Kong]

21 hours ago, ChirpyBird said:

 

Thanks for all of the advice!!! I will definitely look into those book suggestions. What are the different meditation techniques you mention? 

 

Awesome job on the 20 minute meditation!

 

Some simple ones might be counting the breath, or sine people like to focus on particular sensations of the breath like how it feels coming in and out of the nose. Meditating on a sound, or some people chant mantras or prayers. Or different visualizations.

 

And now that i think about it, there was one i used on my morning walks to work when i was going through a tough time. Every tune i would see hear or just be around something nice i would take a deep breath and imagine i was taking some of the positive energy from that thing and storing it in some kind of battery to help get me through the day. And occasionally I'd imagine spreading that energy around. And it definitely improved my mood in those times.

 

So i have been in places and times where some nature/visualizations/way stuff helps... But i still insist that real meditation and mindfulness practice is work because you have to be there when things really really suck too.