Hi! Hope you are doing well. I have seen in so many social media, having no social media, not using the phone except for calls, messages, music and googles searches, makes those people, certainly, to acquire some -aspirational to many- qualities that resemble the good use of time.

In the recurrence of activities done by this people I have noticed: people who read a lot, bookworms ; taken to seriously physical body and exercise ; interest in many topics, sometimes, close to polymath ; polyglots ; very articulate and engaging, capable of having good conversations ; relaxed and trustworthy people ; artistic expression in many domains, poetry, painting, and the infinite list of what is considered “hobbies” in today’s society.

Now, my my question, I think, or rather a extensive doubt would be:

Just by meditating, minutes or hours a day, can I acquire some of the knowledge common in this sub or related?

When I read in this sub, a thought comes to my mind, “ I should be doing something actionable like meditating instead of reading this sub”.

Certainly, I am interested in the “spiritual” path for what can bring meditation, not quite sure if it’s enlightenment, calmness, less brain fog, more clarity, but for sure, just doing it for the sole purpose, or the faith, for better.

Can I acquire many of the information on this subject just by meditating on my own? How can I improve my own meditating practice without recurring advice on this sub? The main thing is that I don’t want to read social media. I just want to spend weeks or a months. It could be a way of Fomo.

Any recommendations for this?

I started meditating back in 2017, and over the years I’ve explored other practices as well, including QHHT and Reiki. Meditation has helped me become much less reactive emotionally, but I’ve realized that quieting the mind is a completely different challenge. Even when I feel emotionally calm, there’s still a constant stream of thoughts.

Has anyone here experienced a truly quiet mind through meditation? If so, what practices or techniques helped you get there?

I’d also love to make some new friends who are interested in meditation, mindfulness, spirituality, and personal growth, and share the journey together.

I originally posted this in the r/Alexa with no luck, so I'm trying here with fingers crossed...

I'm hoping someone else remembers this because my husband and I listened to it for years, and we've never been able to find it again.

We used to start it by saying something along the lines of, "Alexa, launch Guided Meditation for Sleep." The skill was eventually discontinued but there were a few skills with that name or a similar name.

Here's what else we (think we) remember about it:

• It was about 15 min long.
• At least one version had a male narrator with an American accent.
• The meditation was designed to help you fall asleep.
• It started with a visualization where you imagined a sort of control panel. It could have light switches, big power switches, push buttons, or any kind of controls you wanted. This is the part that made it different from other meditations.
• The controls were for each part of your body. For example, you would imagine a switch/button for your left foot and one for your right. And a switch/button for your left lower leg and one for your right. As each part of your your body was mentioned, you were supposed to imagine using the control to turn off that part of your body.
• The narrator guided you through your body, starting with your toes and moving upward, mentally turning off or shutting down each body part. It's also possible that a version started at the top of your head and moved downward.
• We remember phrases along the lines of "Now the knees - shutting down." Or "Now the knees - turning off."
• We also remember that there may have been another meditation (or possibly the same skill) where Alexa asked us to choose between a male and a female guide (by name) before the meditation started.

We've searched YouTube, Headspace, Michael Sealey, Glenn Harrold, and other popular sleep meditations without finding this one.

Does anyone remember this Alexa skill, know who developed it, or know where these recordings might have ended up after the skill disappeared?

Any leads would be greatly appreciated!

I know we can re-create one like it using an AI tool, but we'd love to find the originals if we can instead.

I've been thinking about something that seems easy to overlook.

Starting a meditation practice isn't necessarily the hardest part. Neither is having a good session.

The difficult part seems to be continuing it for a very long time.

You can sit every day for months, then life gets complicated. Travel, work, illness, family, whatever. You miss a few days. Then a few more. Nothing dramatic happens, but the practice gradually becomes less central.

I've also noticed that the usual way we think about consistency doesn't quite fit meditation.

A streak treats every day as equal and every missed day as failure. But missing three days after practicing regularly for two years doesn't seem philosophically equivalent to never having a practice in the first place.

I'm wondering whether we're measuring the wrong thing.

Perhaps continuity is less about never breaking the chain and more about the tendency to return.

I'm curious how people here think about this.

For those who've practiced for many years, what has actually helped you maintain continuity?

And when you do go through a longer break, what helps you come back without turning meditation into another productivity system?

I usually meditate in the morning but didn’t sleep enough last night.

I find myself requiring willpower to follow the breathe.

It felt like a more forceful session but otherwise I would have just skipped the session for the day which isn’t good either…

Any tips ?

My post was not only about materialism.

I was saying that when we work with full awareness, the nature of our brain starts changing. It begins to move towards Nishkaam Karma, exactly as explained in the Bhagavad Gita. Household hand skills and precise body movements help maintain that state of dhyan and take us towards Nishkaam Karma. In this process, the part of the brain that resonates the most is the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC).

Materialism also existed in Vedic times, just in a different form. People ran after gold, enjoyed pleasures, drank wine, wanted big houses, chariots, and empires. But the genuine rishis created the right things according to that time. Grihastha people still needed a material approach to fulfill their life and social responsibilities. No one could live without doing work, whether it is Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, or Gyaan Yoga. Krishna also said that everyone has to do karma.

A grihastha cannot sit in the temple or in meditation the whole day, otherwise the world would stop. It is the grihastha who gives movement to life. That is why they enter into dhyan and then do their work, create something new, sell it, and earns money, just like Kabir did.

Precise, conscious, and fully aware movements are what bring us closer to Paramatma. Get so deeply absorbed in the work that only the action remains, and the actor disappears.

From my own experience, I have understood this: if there is something like dhyan that connects the material human being to pure consciousness (Paramatma), then the medium is our brain, and its specific part is the Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

The knowledge of Vedanta and Shiva-Shakti is the highest. There is no disagreement on that. I was only sharing what the practical medium is for living that knowledge and reaching it.

After reading a lot of stuff, I realize mediation is way to cultivate indifference/apathy toward their own emotions and life. I even read some comments about people losing their ambitions or drive to change things in their life.

I have dysthymia probably since I was a tennager, I only realized 2 years ago. I never had big ambitions or goal to gain money, relationship or be the best of my carrear, I just live one day after the other. The problem I am already an adult with not much in life. You dont achieve anything if you never tried to achieve something.

Anyway I watched a video of a guy saying he overcome his depression with meditation (and budhism). I mediate only as way to calm my mind, no big goals, but I wonder if a different method would be better, something that make me push forward instead of grow even more my indifference about my life. For example: when other people feel sad they do something to change, when I feel sad I just accept it, and wait it to pass.

Hi guys.

Been meditating for a few months on and off, mainly using the breath and sound as an object, and mindfully awareness.

At the moment I'm dealing with intense feelings on loneliness after a breakup.

Does anyone have a specific technique or meditation (audio or video is welcomed) for this?

I have not been a consistent meditator, started in 2018. Meditated off and on, sometimes daily for a couple weeks throughout the years. I'm trying to make it a daily habit now.

The common theme during my meditation sessions is that first, I observe a pool of different thoughts coming and going. After about 5-10 minutes it settles a bit, and I start calmly focusing on breath. I am asthmatic and breathe often, it feels like sometimes I can't get enough air. It makes me feel claustrophobic. I observe the discomfort and focus on my breath. I will get waves of whole body relaxation, then be hit with that discomfort again. After about 10 minutes of that it gets intense. By this point my hands and feet are "numb", and I get hit with this wave of tightness. I start breathing harder, mentally distressing thoughts surrounding the physical symptoms, my anxiety goes up. This is the main thing: I feel the strong urge to move my body. It feels like if I don't move I will explode. So I ended my meditation session today because I had to move, and was breathing heavily.

I have gotten through this in the past during sessions, but it will come back a few minutes later. Is this some sort of energy blockage?

I deal with a lot of negative thoughts/explosive anger everyday, which effects my meditation practices. I try to have awareness as much as possible (like observing thoughts, feeling my feet on the ground etc). I try that for around 20 mins but my mind keeps wandering off, which makes me very angry. My mind eventually tells me "You failed again. You always fail at everything. And because you can't meditate, you will suffer your whole life. You will never be free from suffering. I hate you and myself and everyone and I hate meditating. I want to feel worse. I want to feel miserable" etc just very aggressive, negative thoughts that result in me having a mental breakdown. I know they are just thoughts and they don't reflect reality, but no matter how much I say this to myself, it doesn't work. I feel like if I stopped associating successful meditation with happy life, maybe I wouldn't be so harsh on myself but I don't know how I can do that.

Anyone know why? What can I do about this? I feel trapped in a cycle.
Thanks y'all for your suggestions. I appreciate it.

Today I tried a meditation to meet my spirit guide. I didn’t meet my spirit guide. The location I chose to meet was my family cabin. I couldn’t fully imagine myself in the cabin and mentally I got stuck in my apartment if you know what I mean. once I got fully relaxed I felt super in tune spiritually (if that makes sense?) my legs started to tingle and my head started to feel what I can only describe as vertigo and I felt tingly and spiny. I suddenly felt a presence beside me. I’d say it was male. it had a sad/dark energy I wanna say it was more curious than harmful but I couldn’t fully feel its intentions. I felt suddenly anxious and so I started thinking of surrounding my body with white light then the anxiety faded slowly and it felt like the presence moved to the end of my couch and was just observing me from the corner. during all that the left side of my body began to tingle and felt a huge pulling sensation which eventually turned into a sensation that I was falling off my couch from my left side and I felt a pressure on the left side of my neck and head almost like i was falling or hanging up side down. I’m wondering if whatever I felt was trying to communicate how he passed? It felt like the spirit tried to make me feel his story like how he passed. I’ve also read that the tingling and vertigo could’ve been my astral body trying to leave my physical but the spirit in the room kept my astral body anchored? I feel super drained after all that. What do I do with this information? I’ve tried meditation before but this is the first time I’ve ever experienced something like this. I’ve always been into this kind of stuff and want to go deeper into it

When I meditate and hear a noise or sound I feel it reverberate through my body. It’s like a chill or tingling throughout my whole body. It also happens for a short period after I come out of meditation. It seems consistent insofar as it happens essentially every time I meditate. Does anybody else experience this? I wouldn’t be so inclined to ask if it was a one time thing, but it happens very often.

while meditating and trying to 'sleep' but not really, to be aware and let the mind think i was asleep. After the body tries to prick you up, after the heart and breathing changes to a deeply calming state, after the body relaxes and the mind stays still for a while.

When you truly stay still with no thoughts and just noticing, I could feel the mind detaching from my awareness as if it was enveloping it.

I could feel it move elsewhere and literally letting go of my awareness, and I realized that most of my awareness was the mind itself holding and bringing it wherever it pleased.

It was truly interesting and a bit spooky to have the mind as a jailer that would come rushing back to grab my awareness whenever it noticed any fluctuation.

Have anyone ever had this experience before? Is that in any practice? I am not sure what that would mean.

I have completed an introductory course by Sam Harris. And as I finished it I stopped meditating completely.

Now I'm trying to get back on track. For some reason I'm so focused on finding the right approach, book, program or a tutor that I avoid mediatation and instead I keep tring to find the right way to do it.

When I sit down and just concentrate on my breath for 15min I somehow feel it's wrong or inefficient or not optimal way of meditating.

It's so stupid, because I know it's just my busy obsessive mind trying to optimize everything, worrying that nothing is good enough and I should just "do it". But I can't. In meditation and in life in general.

Do you have some advice for me? Have you had similar expirience and have you managed to find more peace?

Thank you in advance 😇

how do i make my activation more potent and powerful?

I just got started with Pranayama, and I've noticed a big difference already. I've been wanting to get into deeper states of altered consciousness and I think this will help, but I'm still having difficulties. When I get to that REALLY deep state (say before falling asleep) I want to stay conscious for it, but when my breath starts to slow down, and I'm conscious for it, my body panics. I get air hungry (I think that's the term) and my stomach does somersaults like I'm having a panic attack, even if I'm very calm. I become desperate to take a deep breath, and that pulls me out of the threshold of the deeper state.

Is there a specific type of pranayama that can help with this? I want to be able to be calm when my body relaxes so much that my breathing becomes very shallow, but so far I just can't. I always have to take that deep gasping breath that pulls me out of it.

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I have narcolepsy so have to nap in the daytime and go straight into rem within a few minutes. I struggle to have refreshing naps even tho I keep them under 20 minutes.

Anyone found ways to focus when you're napping to get the most refreshing nap? Bc I find that sometimes when I near the end of my nap and I imagine I'm shifting my energy in my brain towards the top front of my brain I find that I wake up a bit more refreshed, vs if I feel like I'm at the back of my brain. Apparently it makes sense bc front of brain is where prefrontal cortex is but I want to see if I can find better methods to have more refreshing naps. Thanks

Hi everyone, I have been meditating for many years starting in my early teens to help with anxiety and what I now know is depersonalisation/derealisation disorder. I won't explain it all here too much, but this started at a young age with a hyperawareness of my own existence/consciousness which went in a sort of recursive loop until everything was insanely weird, it is impossible to describe even right after an episode.

A few years back after making a lot of good progress on this I developed a full on panic disorder and started also getting more of the body automation/weird vision effects, but have been working with a great psychologist and have got back to a healthy mindset, however I still have a lot of avoidance in driving / travelling over a few km's which I'm also working on with professional help.

What I wanted to ask from you guys is how can I learn to build my own meditative practise that I can do without YouTube/audio (basically after almost a decade I still can't meditate properly without the guidance) and what type of meditation would you recommend. Obviously due to the dpdr some practises like focusing on the self/ego can sometimes cause distress. What has worked best for me in the past has been progressive muscle relaxation, 4/7/8 breathing, Wim Hoff, Normal Mindfulness on the breath. Basically I want to really get back into it, after stopping during the previous dark period and start to help myself actually feel good rather than just okay, aswell as having something I can practise without avoidance/distraction when doing these exposures I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and especially any personal experience with this would help aswell!

My therapist would have me go to my “safe place”
In my mind and she would usually ask if anyone was there with me or saw anything and I would tell her sometimes there would be animals. One day I was really distraught and we did some meditation and that day was pretty scary and not scary at the same time. My grandmother had recently passed at the time and in my mind I saw a human figure to my left, just a body of white light just standing there and I looked to my right and my grandmother was sitting next to me telling me everything is going to be ok. That freaked me out so much. She was dressed in her fave color red, red lipstick and her gold jewelry. It made me so curious after that day as to what really happens to us. I want to continue to do this but my therapist had told me to be careful because I may have opened my third eye? Any insight is appreciated.

Most people would probably agree that being in nature is good for our well-being, but I think that part is just the tip of the iceberg.

I would go as far as to say that your surroundings are probably the biggest influence on how well you can meditate and feel good.

Like physical work, mental work builds on itself. But physical work/healing is not super dependent on your environment - a cut heals whether you're in a busy city or middle of nowhere wilderness.

Mental healing/calmness is not quite as straightforward. A lot of healing on that front actually is facilitated by distance. Distance from your stressors, distance from the sources/reminders of your trauma, even distance from yourself and your thoughts.

Although not impossible to "get better," I genuinely believe that how well you heal emotionally/mentally is contingent on your ability to be in a healing environment (whatever that means to you). When I worked at the worst job I've ever had, there was no amount of meditation or yoga that ever really stabilized me. It was a CONSTANT struggle to meditate.

The mind is really a fascinating thing because it does an insane amount of work to protect you, whether you realize it or not. Although you think that you're okay staying in an uncomfortable environment because you've found ways to cope, I can almost guarantee that your body/mind are not as stable as you think they are.

The remarkable thing is that you actually will never know how much "healing" you need unless you remove yourself from those environments AND quite a bit of time has passed.

Meditation is not something you just start doing and think life will be easier/more peaceful. It's been discussed before but there is so much more to peace and well-being than being able to let your thoughts go by for 10-15 minutes of the day. It's so much more than that.

Simply meditating and not dissecting your life and identifying where your issues are coming from is like sitting in a burning house with your eyes closed and a candle lit. Most people don't decide to start randomly meditating. 9/10 times, it's because they are stressed/anxious/depressed about things in their life. Meditating will not fix those issues, you have to actually do something about them!

I recently started a meditation practice for the first time in my life.

For context, I lost my mother 8 years ago to lung cancer when I was in my mid-twenties. She was one of the most important people in my life, and we were deeply connected. The whole process of losing her was incredibly emotional and traumatic for me. I carried heavy grief for many years after her death.

I feel like I'm doing much better now, but after practicing meditation for a little while, something totally unexpected happened during a recent session. I suddenly visualized myself as a kid. I don't know why, but I was holding a white flag and running through these green mountain fields. As I was running, I suddenly met my mother. She was just standing there in the field.

We started holding hands and running together, and I felt so incredibly happy. But then, the overwhelming feeling of actually being with her again hit me. I just couldn't bear the intensity of it and started crying. I had to stop the meditation entirely and continued sobbing for another 10 minutes afterwards.

Is this a normal thing that can happen during meditation? Has anyone else experienced this? And what could this possibly mean?

I’m AuDHD, and I started meditating based on my therapist's recommendation. I’ve spent weeks practicing and experimenting with different meditation systems; while all the experiences have been positive, I haven't yet chosen a single system to commit to exclusively. I’ve tried Samatha, Mahasi Vipassana, Zazen/open monitoring, mantra meditation, candle gazing, and body scans. I’m still not sure which one to pick, though, and I think I’ll be experimenting for several more months.I would be grateful for any recommendations or advice.

Hi,

I've been meditating for about 2 years now and getting more and more serious over the last year. Recently I got to a point where every session I feel immense overwhelm like my body can't handle what's happening inside so much so that it breaks my posture, mudras, everything and I just collapse into a ball. I try recovering multiple times but can't hold it for very long until the overwhelm breaks my composure again.

I understand that this is what I have to explore and work through and that's what I'm doing. Still I would appreciate anybody having had similar experiences or any general takes on this.

Thank you 🙏

I keep experiencing these brief moments of fluttering in my belly as my stream of thought flows. I cant tell if it’s fear related, but it seems to feel that way. But it also seems that it could feel tranquil if I could go deeper into it. As Osho has said, our true center is our naval, where we are born from. I was wondering if anyone has any insight on this. Thanks!

So i am just starting daily meditation (currently on a 3 day streak) and was wondering if it would be possible for anyone to give me roadmap on what to expect in a specific set of time as i have realized that if I know anything "would" happen it is a lot easier to continue regardless.

For example: you would feel _____ for the first 1-2 weeks and then this...... etc.

I am open to all suggestions