Meditation... does it work?

[R_P_A_S]

Im too caught up and aware. It's taking a toll on me.. I wish I was blissful. I'm contemplating meditation to sort of regain balance and energy lol.. that sounds funny... Because I don't really believe in that stuff BUT! it's pretty well backed by science. Any of you guys meditate? is it real? or is it just some BS?

[Tablo]

It's real. I know some people that do it and it seems to help them a lot.

[kitsune]

Yes, it is very beneficial, physically and psychologically. Some of the studies I've seen have been somewhat questionable methodologically, but even if you discount those there are hundreds of good studies supporting benefits. Lately I've heard a number of good things about the therapeutic use of mindfulness meditation in particular.

I would suggest some binaural beat meditation music. Hemi-Sync is good, and Dr. Jeffrey Thompson's neuroacoustic stuff.

[R_P_A_S]

I've heard about those binural beats. Here's the thing... I think I'm too caught up in the material world and since I don't believe in god any more I sorta have been too busy being rational, logical and "tough". I just feel that I need to close my eyes and feel this fucking energy from all the living things around us. Appreciate the wind more or whatever. Shit.. I want to know what that feels like.

[graymouser]

I've found benefits from Vipassana meditation, but I'm too busy to stop and do it too much of the time. The main thing you need to do in Vipassana is observe the flow of breath in and out of your nostrils, and learn to observe phenomena in your body, note them and move back to a centered concentration. If you look for it the book Mindfulness in Plain English is available in its full text online.

[kitsune]

I've heard about those binural beats. Here's the thing... I think I'm too caught up in the material world and since I don't believe in god any more I sorta have been too busy being rational, logical and "tough". I just feel that I need to close my eyes and feel this fucking energy from all the living things around us. Appreciate the wind more or whatever. Shit.. I want to know what that feels like.

Meditation can be done simply as an easy way to release stress and anxiety, without embracing any specific philosophical system of thought, though meditation does tend to help develop a more relaxed philosophical view. In that regard, the most important concepts that make up my own view of life are emptiness, impermanence, and dependent arising.

[eyedrop]

I always go by a 59 point method, where I consentrate on that point and consider the rest of the body as attachments to that point that is the me. It gives that tingly feeling when you imagine you being your finger and the rest of you being an extra part.

It really helps me relax, although I do it way to seldom.

[R_P_A_S]

sounds really good guys. I have a meeting with a good friend who's like a pro at this kind of stuff. Watch me convert to Buddhism :blink:

[FreeFocus]

Meditation works. It has psychological and physical benefits - improving your focus, loosening up your body, improving your breathing, etc. It's a good, healthy way to relax that pays dividends when you invest the time to do it.

[Vanguard1917]

I've found benefits from Vipassana meditation, but I'm too busy to stop and do it too much of the time.

I'm very glad to hear that.

[Ele'ill]

Yeah, it's basically quiet time with or without your thoughts. Lucid dreaming works too- until you lose control and it becomes free-fall nightmaring.

[Tablo]

Yeah, it's basically quiet time with or without your thoughts. Lucid dreaming works too- until you lose control and it becomes free-fall nightmaring.
Those are the worst! :ohmy:

[Ele'ill]

Those are the worst! :ohmy:

Yes, 'you are a lioness- receiving affection and loving interaction with your pride- just kidding you're a human in the middle now and RUN, QUICKLY THROUGH THE ONLY DOOR THAT YOU'LL SHUT BEHIND YOU JUST TO HAVE IT OPENED AS YOU GO THROUGH THE NEXT AND ETC..'

[Rafiq]

I don't think the fact that Meditation can work is Anti-Materialist. As a matter of fact, it may be quite the opposite.

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

Meditation: what is it and how can we fight it? I tried meditating but I can't do it for long with out screaming and freaking out.

[Jazzratt]

Pubmed has a number (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21197347)of interesting (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10841380)studies (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10841380)on the subject (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9142560) - from a cursory look on google. It seems, from reading the abstracts of these few things (so take that for what it's worth), that meditation could have better than placebo benefits. I find personally (and this, you really have to take with a pinch of salt given its anecdotal nature) that it has helped me with stress and has taken the edge off of depression although I would never recommend using it clinically in place of medication.

As for becoming blissful and "regaining energy balance" I'm fairly sure those are entirely psychological things so it's more than likely that meditation would work for that.

[graymouser]

Meditation: what is it and how can we fight it? I tried meditating but I can't do it for long with out screaming and freaking out.
Doing meditation properly takes practice, you have to ease into it. You really shouldn't do more than 5 or 10 minutes at a stretch until you are quite used to the practice. It becomes a question of getting used to your own mind, which can be quite a task for someone who's never done it.

Meditation's benefits are purely secular IMO - done properly it's a good way for someone to understand themselves, reduce stress and anxiety and so forth.

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

Doing meditation properly takes practice, you have to ease into it. You really shouldn't do more than 5 or 10 minutes at a stretch until you are quite used to the practice. It becomes a question of getting used to your own mind, which can be quite a task for someone who's never done it.

Meditation's benefits are purely secular IMO - done properly it's a good way for someone to understand themselves, reduce stress and anxiety and so forth.
Which explains why I make it an entire minute at best when I try.