Asklemmy

!meditation@leminal.space

Fify

Out of genuine curiosity, how do you meditate properly and what are the benefits?

The closest thing I do to this is take naps, though I take a lot.

Aye. It helps with my anxiety, can be an excellent escape and provide a different frame of reference on things, is a way I deal with extreme pain, and overall just enhances quality of life.

Highly recommended.

Yeah, every morning for the past 2 years. It's part of my morning routine and I wouldn't skip it for anything. It's only 10min and it's been really transformative.

I want to, but I always get lost in the past and end up shouting a curse word and getting flustered 😂

The moment I start to think about meditating, my mind explodes with alternative ideas until I forget. In fact it's so efficient at not meditating, that even though I have time and space set aside for it daily on my calendar, some subprocess in my brain still often subverts the whole thing. It's a scary place before I get there.

But I have never once completed a meditation that I regretted. Even the meditations that are difficult to get through - usually because my mind is really jumpy - still feel like a nice piece of self care at the end.

I think the more routine the practice, the easier it is to start and better your mind becomes at focusing on your breath without allowing all the various stressors of the moment take control. And that is a powerful muscle to build up.

I don’t meditate as a regular practice, but I do try to catch myself if my brain’s getting extra buzzy so I can stop and try to centre myself again. I have ADHD, so it can be difficult.

So far as I understand it, meditation isn’t literally emptying your mind, but trying hard to focus on one thing, then coming back to it when you realise you’ve slipped away. On that basis, I might do it for a few minutes a couple of times a week. Any longer than a few minutes and I get sleepy.

Nope, too hard. My mind is all over the place as long as I'm awake. Work, video games, book storylines, politics, a constant background soundtrack of music, from TV commercial jingles to the chorus of whatever song I heard last, plus my own inner monologue are all constantly going on in my head. It's generally not a distraction except when I'm trying to fall asleep at night, but if it was, I'd assume that's what having ADHD is like? But trying to "Silence" my mind is impossible, it just never shuts up, even in sleep I have ridiculously vivid dreams that feel real until I wake up.

In the drive through line

I do, but not as frequently as I used to. I think it is helpful though, and I wish I’d do it more often.

Yes, at least 30 minutes a day

I did, back when I was a more disciplined and overall kind of better person--not to mention not riddled with chronic disease yet. That is probably a factor.

This is the biggest cognitive dissonance sort of thing that exists in my life. I know from scientific studies and personal experience that meditating just makes life better. But it's also so hard to get started.

I like to say I try to meditate at times. Worse case I occasionally relax with deep breaths. I think its a good thing to do when opportunities come. Any time im not doing anything in particular I tray. Riding a train, waiting rooms, etc. I don't use a smartphone so likely more opportunities for me than most these days. I don't do it or anything in a disciplined structural way.

Every morning for the past 20 years. Mostly TWIM, but only for 20 minutes as a formal sit. Lots of short meditation breaks during the day, though. It has made me way less of an asshole, and a happier person.

I meditate as part of a dedicated yoga practice. When I am doing a group practice, i arrive early and perform a physical warm up and then spend ten minutes in a seated meditation before the class begins. It makes a huge difference in the quality of my workout to get my mind firmly rooted in the immediate experience.

I'm surprised you haven't found many people who meditate. There are a lot of people who follow abrabamic traditions on meditation (though they use a different word for it), and they can be found pretty much worldwide except for a few scattered spots.

I should caution you, though, the terminology used by these groups may seem quite foreign, but you'll have to trust me -- they meditate even if some of them don't call it that.

I've tried, and weirdly it made me feel rage. I was really surprised but most times I've tried meditation it ends in rage or a weird feeling of grief. I don't know what that's about but no thanks!

I'd love to keep doing so, but never found a quiet place to do so on a regular basis. My new house is too noisy at all times.

And I cannot meditate with neighbors noise.

When I used to do I did before sleeping and greatly improved sleep quality for me.

I suffer from chronic migraines. Mindfulness meditation is a good way of delaying the onset a bit, a 20minute meditation can sometimes save me taking a sick day or get me through a bus ride home. Sometimes if I can't sleep I meditate and I find that either helps me sleep, or makes me feel better without sleep. I don't really know if I would want to be in a community about it though.

Yes. I find it helpful.

Time to time. I lack the focus to slow myself down and do it daily.

What a nice though, is because I learned 30 years ago and have done it regularly at various points, I can get my head into a meditative state in moments when needed.

Yeah, I prefer guided meditations.

If lighting up a red candle dedicated to Lilith and focusedly look at its flame count as form of meditation, then yes I do, although not for the purpose of meditation, bc I sometimes do it more for invocation/inspirational purposes. It's good to see occult/esoteric communities, though, because I'm new to Lemmy and I couldn't find any communities dedicated to esoteric/occult/mystical concepts (such as Hermeticism) nor communities dedicated to entities and deities such as Lilith and Lucifer.

It's been on the back seat for a couple of years due to life. Denial and dissociation remain my friends for now. I've missed it greatly.

But, I'm taking it seriously and sowing the seeds so to speak.

I hate being trapped alone with my mind so no

I have a few meditations but usually hobbies like playing video games for a bit or reading or practicing/playing music can provide a similar effect.

I can't do it. I feel asleep too quickly.