Considering yoga and meditation.
Thoughts?
Discussion
How about weight lifting?
As few as possible?
Lol
I actually have tried meditation before and found that I never had fewer thoughts. I actually had more because I wasn't distracted. But, I had severe anxiety. One key thing I got out of it was to let thoughts flow like a river instead of trying to create a dam in the middle of it.
Maybe I missed something the first time I tried it, but it was a healthy experiment.
My attempt at humour aside, I think it's fine to 'go with the flow' 😑👍 Have you read Avi' book "24"? You may experience something like that, or zero thoughts at all. I think it's all valid.
I'm not sure I believe in the idea that a brain can have zero thought. But you start getting into the weeds of philosophy to define what thought even is and whether it happens at different levels of consciousness.
10/10 would recommend
I have been working at meditation for about 6 years. TBH, can’t identify any ROI. In fact, starting to think it may have had a negative impact. I also do what I call a slow mo flow. If you were watching from a distance you would think it was a form of yoga but it’s not. ROI has been great! Have lots of thoughts about both but not sure what questions are top of your mind.
I really enjoyed the style of meditation where the focus wasn't on just not having thoughts, but instead was about focusing on the sensation of vibration within the body around the mantra like aum. I really enjoyed Sadhguru's inner engineering program but your results may vary. To me stretching is very linked to this type of meditation because you can feel more vibrations when you are limber and well stretched!
I don’t feel any vibrations when I meditate. I think you’re doing it wrong.
When i say "aum" loudly I can feel vibrations at the back of my throat around the "a" sound, at the sinuses close to my ears at the "u" sound, and around my nose when I close my mouth for the "m" sound. It's subtle, but those vibrations are what's making the sound so it's for sure there. The subtleness of this vibration is what I focus on when I meditate 🥰🔊🥰
🤯
I do something similar with muscle relaxation. You can literally feel it in muscles. It's a humming vibration type feeling. I didn't realize how tense I was in some places until I started doing this. It helps me fall asleep or ease pain too
I'm seeing now that meditation may have different meaning for some people. It could be that trying to do it according to a set definition is why it doesn't work.
Sitting with my legs crossed and all that stereotypical stuff actually hurts for me and I don't find it helpful. But sitting with a cigar and contemplating or just existing in the moment with the cigar has a calming and productive outcome for me. Is that meditation? I don't know, but it's worth thinking about if you have been at it for 6 years. Is it possible that meditation for you is something different than what you have been doing?
How I meditated to address anxiety probably isn't how I'd do it today. Lots to think about. I have no specific questions. Open ended conversation like this is what I'd hoped for.
Super gay, dude. Deny your feelings, act like you have answers!
AML, any chance you could elaborate on who you're responding to?
Matt, the guy who posted the note. I’m being facetious. Yoga and meditation are excellent for a broad stroke of society. Yoga is code for stretching but the actual meaning is a bit deeper. In fact, I’d argue that “Yoga” is good for every single person because it’s a “union of the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness.” I think everyone could use that!
Just manifest stuff.