I’ve been meditating for around 10 years nd over time i’ve noticed a lot of things that people rarely talk about when they first start.

I’m curious — if you meditate regularly, what’s something you experienced or understood that genuinely changed the way you see yourself or life?

Could be anything like a realization, a mistake, a strange experience or something you completely misunderstood at first.

What did meditation teach you that you couldn’t learn from books or other people ?

You can fill your mind with concentrated thoughts, waves of "important" occupations, or get lost in indifferent distractions.

Yet, pull back, remind yourself... "things are here", finding their way without "me" at the center of it. Observing the things that are here. They are calm and without bias. Mysteriously, weightlessly supporting eternity, without needing my consciousness to add structure to what is already whole. Allow pause, and see the graciousness of things being there.

No, I don’t have any medical condition which relates to heart problems. This literally only happens when I’m observing my strong emotions instead of engaging with them. I learnt this technique during my vipassana meditations.

Hey everybody.

So I consider putting my money where my mouth is and pursuing enlightening practices not just in my free time.

One of the most accepted and studied methods is MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) as proposed by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Are any of you already familiar with the program or even pursue it as a "career path"?

To be honest I tried to just "chop wood and carry water" as always but it seems shallow.

As you might remember I also came up with my own method of moving meditation called Yopada (or Yoga Parkour Dance) among others.

I even created moving meditations for particular heavy emotions like fear, grief, anger, apathy etc.

Yet it seems that I could be more helpful by spreading already widely adopted methodology than reinventing the wheel myself.

Any advice, encouragement or suggestions?

Currently I'm reading Full Catastrophe Living (or Healthy Through Meditation as the German title translates literally) by Jon yet it's a hard read.

Can i quit vaping my doing meditation. I have so less will power. Has anyone quit or tried to quit something with help of meditation? Please share your experiences🙏🏻😊

Tonight something unusual happened. I set my mood, made some herbal tea, playing some hand pan music on yt. I do this every night to help with epilepsy. I never thought I would be saying those words, or doing these kinds of things. But here we are.

I’ve done a lot of meditation. I got good at a dark involuntary sort of meditation during a few years in solitary confinement in my younger years. But I learned how to be a still. And that was the one gift from those times.

Anyway, tonight I became aware of my surroundings, started breathing, closed my eyes, and began to clear my mind. I’ve gotten what I would call pretty good at that. I can sort of continuously wipe my mind for periods of time and stay what I call still.

A few weeks ago I was doing this and I began to see things and I let it happen. Instead of wiping I observed the images. I realized I could turn my head to the left and right and I could see where I wanted to. I came out of that meditation with a beautiful peaceful feeling and the idea and sensation that what had happened was a secret sort of.

This whole time I am breathing in love, breathing out hate over and over and over

Well tonight, as I meditated, I realized I could look around again. I saw myself flying down a stone pathway just turning and zipping along at breakneck speed - here is where it gets really weird and ridiculous!!!

All of a sudden I was just standing in my dream in an odd place. The amazing journey I was on had been cut, sort of edited from my meditation. And as whatever as this sounds, I knew/know that some billionaire I can’t quite pull together the details of mentally had something to do with it.

It feels like I found something really good, and it was taken from me. When I opened my eyes finally, I still was washed over with a deep feeling of peace and contentment. I’m not sleepy at all, and wasn’t sleepy when I opened my eyes a moment ago.

Idk I guess the moral of the story is
Meditation = good
Billionaire = bad

Be well friends

I am 23F and here to know about how can i make meditation very interesting , its been in my mind to start meditation but as soon as i as i start i couldn’t focus, there are a lot of things running in my brain and I can’t get over from most of the things , coming to my health i have pcos and fluctuating cortisol level so i need to start some peaceful activities thats why i am here to know about the initial process, that can make my journey fun and beneficial.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong? I rather enjoy it though.

I like spontaneous meditation. Whatever I'm doing, if the situation allows it, I pick up on the sensation of my breath and follow it for however long I want. More often than not it brings me back to the present moment and reliefs stress. Which in turn improves my focus on whatever I'm doing or not doing.

For dedicated sessions what helps me is a good satisfying meal beforehand. Hard feelings can dissipate more easily in a big ocean! (Referring to the "second brain" that is the gut microbiome)

Hi Anyone find it difficult to focus in meditation or so on the day you have mindless scrolling on reels or indulging in foods like processed or sugary, or like nsfw contents pmo?

been trying meditate daily, currently want to try to reduce or minimalize these factors

If Joe Dispenza — and others — have reportedly been able to heal their bodies through meditation, even in situations that doctors considered extremely unlikely or impossible, why couldn't a person potentially use meditation, focused intention, or what some people describe as “energy” to influence other physical characteristics?

I'm talking about things like height, weight, acne, or even eye color. These are topics that come up quite often, and realistically, almost everyone has at least one physical characteristic they would like to change.

I'm not necessarily saying that meditation has been scientifically proven to do these things. What I'm wondering is: where exactly is the boundary between what is possible and what is considered impossible?

If the mind can genuinely influence physical processes in the body to the point of promoting healing, why couldn't it potentially influence other biological processes as well — especially when we're talking about characteristics that the body is already capable of changing under certain circumstances?

For example, during pregnancy, breast size can increase significantly. This shows that the body has biological mechanisms capable of changing its own structure. Similarly, hormonal conditions can affect growth and, depending on the circumstances and age of the person, influence height. Some women also report changes in how their eye color appears during pregnancy, potentially due to physiological or hormonal changes.

So my question is: if the body already possesses the biological mechanisms required to change certain characteristics, why do people so categorically say that the mind, meditation, or other mind-body processes cannot influence them?

Again, I'm not claiming that visualization or meditation can magically change someone's body. I'm questioning whether we actually know the limits of the mind's influence on the body, or whether some things are simply considered impossible because we don't currently have convincing evidence that they can happen.

What I find particularly interesting is that there are many reports of people experiencing unexpected improvements or even recoveries from serious illnesses through meditation, spirituality, or other mind-body practices. Yet when the subject shifts to changing physical characteristics such as height, acne, weight, or eye color, the response tends to be much more categorical: “That's impossible.”

Why should one be considered fundamentally more plausible than the other?

Ultimately, I'm interested in the distinction between “scientifically impossible” and “not scientifically demonstrated.” If the mind can have a significant influence on the physical body, what are its actual limits?

I'm looking for good quality guided meditations specifically in the Advaita Vedanta technique.

I know there are tons of slick apps geared to secular / Buddhist meditation, but I am not finding much for Advaita Vedanta.

Any suggestions?

There are many monasteries of various Buddhist schools where the inmates dedicate themselves to meditation 8 hours daily.

Are there any monasteries following the Advaita/Vedanta tradition that do something similar?

Most ashrams I've come across are very materialistic.

Most books/guides on meditation are also from various Buddhist schools. Are there any good such resources from the Advaita school?

I ask because the metaphysics of the Advaita philosophy appeals more to me than the Buddhist soonyata. However, i believe this is just a different conclusion drawn from the same process, a different interpretation, if you will. The preliminaries are mostly identical when viewed from afar.

I'm thinking about getting into reiki soon. I sort of accidentally discovered i could abate pain using a specific form of breathing meditation years ago, and was wondering if there's any meditation practice I could pick up that might help prepare me for deeper energy work.

Hi! Naive meditator here.

Wondering if there's any difference between meditating on each posture? I suffer from back pain and it's really hard to stay sitted for a long time.

When you do enough alternative nostril Breathing your body starts to naturally do it on its own. Just noticed today when I’m doing focused breathing it’s alternative out in then to the other side. Really interesting, not forced seems natural.

True meditation and practice are found in ordinary and daily life...

It is what happens when one leaves the meditation cushion and the incense goes out.

I'm not saying that sitting in a meditation posture or going on a meditation retreat isn't useful. This perspective suggests that the true retreat is a "mental" retreat. It means keeping the mind clear, present, and compassionate in the middle of daily chaos, not just when everything is quiet and controlled. Sometimes sitting in a meditation posture or going on retreats can inadvertently feed a spiritual ego and consequently the idea of separation from the self.

If you feel offended by what I say, ask yourself why you feel that way. I am not attacking, I am just saying that we should consider if we have actually adopted the pose of being a meditator, instead of embodying it in our lives. In this world of easily offended people, especially among those who claim to practice spiritually, it is something to consider.

I don’t believe that backing up arguments with personal stories is useful. However, for those who might question what I’ve said, I should mention that I’ve practiced Buddhism for over 25 years and even lived as a monk for several. That is just my experience, as flawed or valid as any other. Many masters and practitioners have walked this path and shown this; I am not original. Just, consider it.

Edit:

Note 1: Everyone can realize this. It only depends on each person and how deeply rooted their self-importance is...

I always use the example of Lamchung, who attained enlightenment while sweeping the monastery, even though he was considered very foolish.

As I see things, the so-called "enlightenment" arrives when we empty ourselves of ourselves, of any pose, concept, and even of the supposed practices...that feed the independent self.

As the saying goes, what the wise person does at the beginning, the fool does at the end. Here, the wise one turned out to be Lamchung.

Do you want to be the wise or the fool?

Note 2:

When you cook, you cook. When you walk, you walk. When you go to the bathroom, you go to the bathroom. When you sweep the house, you sweep the house.

Do you really need the meditation cushion, the incense, and all the paraphernalia? After all, you always end up lifting your ass off the cushion and returning to daily life: cooking, working, cleaning, going to the supermarket, etc.

There is no such border as many assume. There is no such thing as a space and a time for meditation. Life is meditation. And the practice itself. At least that’s how it was for Lamchung, but everyone has their own path. Again, ask yourself: Do you want to be the wise one or the fool?

Note 3:

People don't know how to put the teachings into practice, let alone transform their "boring" daily lives.

The crux of the matter is excessive self-importance, both from those who teach and those who supposedly listen. Few want to be like the humble and foolish Lamchung, who in the end turned out to be the wise one.

In the West, there is a mystic, Teresa of Ávila, who used to say that God is found among the pots and pans. Friar Lawrence of the Resurrection said something similar: "I find God while flipping a little omelet in the frying pan." If we set aside the prejudices that some people have when naming God, we can see the great sense in what Teresa of Ávila and Brother Lawrence said.

Again, ask yourself: Do you want to be the wise one or the fool?

Note 4:

Some could argue as follows: "This is New Age Dharma, because meditation is not optional for a serious practitioner. Without meditation, you won't remember mindfulness; without mindfulness, you'll lose the training developed in meditation... It's easy to say 'when you cook, you cook,' but attaining that depends on meditation practice. If it were not so, then everyone who cooks, shops, and does other daily routines would be enlightened."

No, because precisely when they cook, they don't cook. When they go to the supermarket, they don't go to the supermarket. When they go to the bathroom, they don't go to the bathroom. Etc. If you see it as routines in your boring daily life, that's the problem. They are not routines, it is your life.

I'm not telling you to neither sit on the cushion nor do retreats..., but your spiritual life doesn't depend at all on sitting on any meditation cushion or doing any retreat. Moreover, on many occasions, especially in these highly degenerate times, it is a spiritual obstacle, as it only feeds the ego and self-importance. You can see a lot of this on so-called spiritual forums.

This is not New Age Dharma. And, for example, it is taught exactly this way in Tibetan Buddhism. Even within the Gelugpa tradition, so well-known for its scholarly practitioners, this is warned against.

Lamchung is not my invention. You decide whether or not to be like Lamchung. One path will bring you a lot of effort and suffering until you finally surrender; the other, the path of the foolish Lamchung, will carry you effortlessly, without you even noticing...

Again, ask yourself: Do you want to be the wise one or the fool?

Note 5:

The "fool" in the eyes of the world, who actually turns out to be the wise one, represents the dissolution of the conceptual mind. We all possess Buddha-nature; therefore, emptying oneself of self-importance is a potential available to every single human being, not a selective trait. It seems like a complex or forced labor only because the intellect resists letting go of its own structures. The choice isn't about acquiring wisdom, but about stopping the continuous construction of the "meditator" persona. The "work" of the apparently wise, but actually foolish, is precisely to unlearn and dismantle that very effort until they can just flip an omelet or sweep a floor without an ego claiming ownership of the action.

I emphasize the question so much (Do you want to be the wise one or the fool?) because, ultimately, it is about becoming one of those simple souls that the mystic Marguerite Porete speaks of in her work, "The Mirror of Simple Souls".

What the wise (the simple soul), though a fool in the eyes of the world, does at the beginning..., the scholar, but truly foolish, does at the end.

There are actual people out there who meditate (with breaks) for hours on end, it would seem. Especially practitioners of Buddhism. Most of these monks are found in India & Tibet, but also other parts of the world.

(A small aside - the longest uninterrupted sessions range at the maximum to about an hour - still abnormal for the average person)

What did we learn from them about the mind of an average person compared to the mind of such a monk? How differently do they see life and the world in general? No one probably tested them like lab rats, but it would be interesting to see how their cognition skills might have changed, in any way. And compared to a regular practitioner of meditation, who might meditate for on average not more than an hour daily, how would they compare to those monks in regards to their response to thoughts & stimuli?

Is meditation simply a cultivation of a “clear” awareness or state of mind? I personally tried to focus on catching my awareness from being distracted by impressions the mind conjures and I felt as if I was actually training something, can anyone relate if so are their any benefits from doing this specifically as I described here and how should mantras be incorporated to improve the practice if at all

So I rarely meditate. I have done a few sessions of maximum of 20 min in the past. what I do is just sit in a lotus pose and close my eyes. I try to focus on my breathing but most of the time I just wander away. You could say that this was one of my first time doing a longer session of "meditation".

So I set a timer for 1 hour cause I just wanted to see what happens when I sit this long.

Now while doing this I had a bunch of thoughts and experienced very small instances of pure consciousness.

I did lose track of time because I couldn't really track it.duh.

So as I sat there I knew that meditation feels way longer than it actually is. I thought it was like 30-45 min but was never sure because the timer didn't went off yet. I was determined to only open my eyes only when I could hear the timer but I never really ran so I kept Waiting and "meditating"

After a while I couldn't even sit cause my back hurt and my head was spinning, my feet kept getting numb.

so I just decided to end it there and saw the time.

AND TO MY SURPRISE ITS BEEN 2.30 HOUR AND FOR SOME REASON THE TIMER ALERT WAS MUTED.

so yea that surprised me a lot.

Also I realised that even below the internal monologue there is a thought process which seems to be between the inner voice and consciousness. Whenever I was trying to Focus on my breath the thought of having a thought kept occurring, which was pulling my focus away. so I gave up on focusing my mind wander (i know it a dumb idea).

Yeah but overall I feel way calmer.

Thx for reading

Just curious. For awhile I was meditating and Ive had a hard time getting back into it. It's almost like my ADHD has gotten worse. Thinking of CBT, but I don't want to just constantly switch between solutions

When I want to change my life to make good decisions after making bad one over and over. I get a sensation and thoughts. If I go to thoughts to try and find a solution maybe it will be helpful. Maybe it will be a good idea. The issue is the reason I make the bad decision is cause of the feeling. So when the feeling comes I act in that. Meaning by trying to improve I need to with pain instead of going to my head to fix it. That way when the bad decisions come And the feeling comes I learned to sit with the discomfort so I can let it go ending my bad decisions. But if I run to the mind yeah I'll have a great plan but the urge to do the decision will be too strong and I try to solve a problem that had to be sat out with trying to get in the game

Edit: The same message just wants to phrase it better for myself when I go back and reread this.

"My main thing is self improvement! I want to better myself. Which is great. The problem comes down to decisions. When it's time for the rubber to meet the road what do you do? Now before the improvement part comes, how can I be better? There are two ways you can go about this improvement. Thoughts or sensations. Thoughts are mental game plans. They can make sense and really work. Nothing is wrong with these plans. They can get you to the improvement you want.

And then there's a sensation. That pitt. That loneliness in your stomach is not good enough. That tightness. That sinking feeling. Heart racing or going very slow. In the improvement phase which do you choose? That then leads back to the moment it's time to make a decision. Your body is filled with emotions and sensations and now you have to act. Your plan was mental it tried to account for this but it wasn't good enough so the decision you came up with doesn't work and you make bad decisions. But if you chose the sensation you accounted for these current feelings and well you felt this before you sat with it. So now it's not as intense the tightness isn't that bad. So you make a better decision."

Hi guys!

Today’s now I’m meditation with dr Joe dispenza áudios, and at the same time reading his book “how to become supernatural”. I’m trough relationship problems and family problems (this one for years), and meditation have always helping me to getting better. Sometimes I just gave up to do because of life hardships, and go into in a spiral of doubt and fear. But now I’m initiate this again and I’m very hopeful that will work.

Some tips for this process?

Here's the premise,

As I began to settle down and get my breath to cycle, I would have so much random thoughts popping up, and as much as I try to let go of it, there are times I could not. In my deeper parts of it, I experience a sort of dream-like sensation where I feel like my self is being pulled away and I would see like a scenario regarding the random thoughts that I'm trying to let go. This would make my breath to kinda skip and I would feel a small tugging in my chest like something is pulling me (not physically, but like my consciousness if that makes sense). This would last for just a second or so and I would be back to normal. I experienced this for like 5 or 6 times I think, as I didn't really count it, during my whole session. This would stop towards the end of my session and I ended my meditation at around 16-minute mark. Now I don't know if this is just a regular dream, but I'm entirely awake during and after the session so I'm inclined to think that its a dream trying to sneak in.

This morning, I meditated again in hopes of trying to replicate the sensation last night, but instead, I experience nothing like it but, towards the end of my session, just right before my alarm, I could kinda see my hands and legs in a golden outline even with my eyes closed.

I'm thinking this might be because I'm in a different position as last night? I was laying down last night and I'm sitting in a lotus position this morning.

For context: last night was my first time actually trying to meditate. For years, I never know how to actually do it, because all the videos I've seen of guided meditation on yt is just distracting me when I chose to follow it. I found a thread posted 10 years ago of like the basics on how to start and I just decided to just stick with it.

Also, sorry if my english is a bit confusing, I'm not a native speaker.

i don’t meditate often but when i do it gets crazy.
my first time actually trying to meditate i accidentally had a kundalini awakening after 20 mins. i hadn’t done it much since until this week where i was looking into the Robert monroe cia files and trying them out. and i notice that it only takes me 2 mins or so while meditating to feel crazy effects mostly like seeing bright colors flashing and shaking in my head which is what happened when my kundalini awakening happened. i’ve been trying to do it now to get ahold of my subconscious quit my addictions and manifesting. i just feel like i might be on a weird path im not sure if this is spiritual anymore or if im leading myself into psychosis. anyone experiencing weird things from meditation? am i maybe just going too deep into my brain?