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30 Comments
- sxtxixtxcxh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14no one's commented 'cause everyone's meditatin'
- beesucker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Meditation is easy to start with. There's lots of different ways to do it but it starts with just concentrating on one thing. Our minds are usually spread all over the place with all kinds of issues - meditation brings all that mental energy to a focused point. Here's the basics:
Sit comfortably in a chair or cross legged on the floor. If you are on the floor, prop yourself up with a blanket so that your knees are lower than your hips - this keeps lower back pain from developing. If you are in a chair, sit up straight without leaning against the back. Use a chair with no arms and have both feet flat on the ground. Sitting this way keeps your mind alert. Your spine should be straight, with your crown just over your tail bone. The posture is strong but not tight. Try to find a comfortable position by making very small adjustments - lean a little forward, or backward, etc - until you find a balanced position
Close the eyes completely or leave them half open. Closing them completely can bring on daydreams and be distracting, so opening them just a slit so that light can come in helps to keep that from happening. The gaze is 5 feet in front - so the head is tilted down just slightly. Again, this all helps keep the mind alert.
Now bring your attention to your breath. Breathe naturally. Just notice the breath in your body - going in and out. Breathe in, breathe out and count 1. Keep counting your breaths like this until you reach 7, then start over at one.
Whatever comes up in the mind, just take notice of it. Just see it as a thought - not good, not bad, and let it go. It is fine to think, just notice that you have made a thought, and let it go. If you get distracted completely from focusing on your breath, just notice that this has happened, and bring your attention back to the breath - start at one. It's not important for the counting to be perfect - so if you have forgotten what number you were on, start at one.
Try this for just 5 minutes and build up the time you sit over time.
This is the instruction for watching the breath, but you can make anything your concentration object, for instance, looking at a stick. The point is that you are bringing your mind into a concentrated state. So people meditate on compassion, breath, a bodily sensation, a visualized image, all kinds of things. But the breath is available and accessible to everyone, so generally we start there. Hope this helps! - mnewlin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"Diane, I'm starting my meditation now. But first, some cherry pie and a good cup of joe."
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8vipassana
- bertwagner, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9"Performance: Researchers Test Meditation’s Impact on Alertness
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Published: October 24, 2006
Meditation is often credited with helping people feel more focused and energetic, but are the benefits measurable?
A new study suggests that they are. When researchers tested the alertness of volunteers, they found that the practice proved more effective than naps, exercise or caffeine. The results were presented at a recent conference of the Society for Neuroscience.
The researchers, led by Prashant Kaul of the University of Kentucky, took 12 students who did not meditate and taught them the basics in two short sessions.
Then, over a series of weeks, the students were asked to come in and take a test devised to measure skills like reaction time. The tests involved a series of visual cues on a display screen that the volunteers had to react to by pushing the correct button.
The students were asked to take the tests in mid- to late afternoon, when people tend to be sleepiest. They did so before and after 40 minutes of meditating, napping or exercising, or after taking caffeine. Napping produced poor results, presumably because of “sleep inertia,” the researchers said.
Caffeine helped, and exercise was unpredictable.
Earlier studies have found that people are awake while meditating but that their brains undergo changes similar to patterns found in sleep. Some studies have found that people who meditate a lot report sleeping less, so the researchers were curious to see if meditation could serve the same function as sleep. The results support the idea that it can.
In fact, when some of the students were asked to skip a night’s sleep and then take the test, the researchers said, meditation was even more helpful.
They said they did not know if caffeine and meditation combined would be even better." - freakofnature, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5kamehameha
- Buddhist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Just more proof of why we're so cool. :)
- farstar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@ sxtxixtxcxh
Actually, the more difficult it is for you to meditate, the more you need it. - MatthewDuke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5You don't see many Twin Peaks references on digg. Respect!
- Nick42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Diane, last night I dreamed I was eating a large, tasteless gumdrop,
and awoke to discover I was chewing on one of my foam disposable earplugs.
Perhaps I should consider moderating my nighttime coffee consumption."
I guess caffiene and meditation combined is indeed even better. - stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4kamanawanaleia
- there4iam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3mahayana
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Zencast is a great podcast, available on the itunes network that puts up dharma talks , once a week, from various teachers. One guy inparticular who is just amazing to listen to is Gil Fronsdal. I would highly suggest listening to his talks on meditation and other topics if you are interested in learning more about meditation and/or buddhism.
A collection of Gil Fronsdals dharma talks: http://www.audiodharma.org/talks-gil.html
Zencast: http://amberstar.libsyn.com/
"Gil has practiced Zen and Vipassana since 1975 and has a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Stanford. He has trained in both the Japanese Soto Zen tradition and the Insight Meditation lineage of Theravada Buddhism of Southeast Asia. Gil was trained as a Vipassana teacher by Jack Kornfield and is part of the Vipassana teachers' collective at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 he received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He has been the primary teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California since 1990. He is a husband and father of two boys." - Nick519, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2thanks for the tip on Zencast, maiku -- that sounds great. nice to hear that meditation is finally getting the respect it deserves in our western world!
- Blah_Blah_Blah, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Sounds good. This seems to be a good intro to the basics:
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/body_and_mind_100/147_better_living.html - rocull, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Any mental exercise will help focus, that's why it's a prescribed way of delaying the onset of diseases like Altzheimer's and dementia.
- vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Gah. It costs nothing... Go search for Meditation online for free MP3s.
http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-meditation.htm
There is a better site but I can't seem to find it, but there are plenty of free mediation MP3s out there. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Can you really make yourself fly as well?
- Oriqui, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Goosfraba... alright, slower.... Goosfraba
- JShorr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Anyone know what forms of meditation were used? This is something I've been looking in to, but the cost of the "more famous" courses are a little high for my budget...
- smoothly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1maiku,
check the second mp3 on the left column. it goes into meditation for life goals and pain management http://www.meditation-mantra.org/free-audio-books.html - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1vipassana is taught for free...
- SoniaGallagher, on 05/20/2009, -0/+0This is great news especially now that we are all facing layoffs, pay decreases, etc. Now is the best time to start meditating and making yourself more efficient at work.
- JShorr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Everyone I've ever talked to has told me that it is nearly impossible to learn proper meditation techniques on your own. You really need someone to walk you through it. Its kind of like learning how to golf from a book. This is why I was asking for reccomendations of styles...
- smoothly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0mantra yana meditation:
http://digg.com/health/Yoga_Meditation_Podcast_HowTo_Architect_Your_Life_With_Mantras - smoothly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0real short answer on how to meditate:
fall asleep without becoming unconscious.
take your waking alertness into your dreams:
source: http://digg.com/health/Old_School_Lucid_Dreaming_Zen_Meditation_Hand_Positions - sxtxixtxcxh, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2really... if you need help meditating... i don't think it's going to help you.
- 2tec, on 10/12/2007, -12/+0My advice ... don't get caught meditating at work.
Imagine that! Being paid to chill. Only in my dreams ... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -16/+2I just knew Kevin Rose was going to digg this...
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