It’s hard to find people who do. There isn’t a meditation community here so I made one ( !meditation@leminal.space )
Meditation is pretty great.
Out of genuine curiosity, how do you meditate properly and what are the benefits?
That is a large question.
Meditation is the art of controlling and cultivating your awareness. And by awareness I mean what you direct when you pay attention, what you concentrate when you concentrate and what gets jerked around when you are distracted.
We basically have 2 techniques. Briefly.
The first technique is “concentration” (it goes by different names). Hold your awareness upon a thing as perfectly as you can for a while. One good thing for this is the feeling of breath in the tip of your nose.
The second technique is “vipassana” (it also goes by different names). Watch all these experiences that you are having right now. All the sights, sounds, thoughts, etc. Watch all that and also watch your awareness. When you feel like you are about to react to all that by directing your awareness at this or that, to concentrate, to think, to enter a daydream, don’t do it. Just refrain from doing anything like that. Just keep watching and keep your cool.
The first technique is dead easy, just takes perseverance. Pays off fast. Shows you what we’re dealing with, with this “awareness” thing. It’s educational that way. We generally get good at the first technique then try the second technique (which is trickier). The first technique can also be used as prep for the second technique. It works very well for that. Makes it stronger.
Meditation makes you smarter, it gives you energy, it opens doors and windows that you didn’t even know were there. And there’s a lot there. It gets you high too.
(Ok, specifically : Concentration improves your ability to concentrate. Improves your memory. Makes it easier to get things done. Makes your thinking sharper. Makes your willpower more powerful. Pumps up various crafty powers like art and software dev. And as for vipassana. It makes you happier. You start lucid dreaming. You become better with people. You become more aware. Your reality gets bigger.)
I learned with calm.com
They have a course of mediation for beginners or something like that and they “teach” different methods so you can choose whichever suits you the most
There used to be a 3-month trial which is enough to go through the course (I didn’t keep my subscription), I’m not sure if they still offer trials like that
I do a lot of concentration meditation. Sometimes I start to feel a bit “raw” if I do too many heavy sessions very close to each other, and so I take a break. It’s a great tool :)
I relate. I used to do it so much that I got a bit crazy. But it was a good crazy.
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.
You don’t use a smartphone? What do your friends say? What about maps? What weirdness do you encounter by taking this course?
Im from a time before them. I don’t need maps to get around day to day as I know my local area. I do have a tablet when going somewhere strange instead of using a paper map although I still often just look at it before I leave and remember. My family and friends know the best way to contact me is email or voice call. The wierdness I encounter is corps and businesses in general. From banks to doctors offices to rewards programs they all try to shove apps down your throat which ticks me off pretty highly.
Yes, at least 30 minutes a day
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.
Yes. I find it helpful.
Yeah, I prefer guided meditations.
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.
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’ve always been super chill. Never really needed to focus to meditate. Nor really needed to in general.
I pray instead: I prefer praying over meditating.
Unless I were meditating on God’s Word.
When you lift weights do you prefer to lift heavy bundles of bibles?
I kid :)
It just kind of happens when I’m learning about philosophy, there will be a sentence that will make me zone out for a second or a few minutes. The closest thing to a spiritual experience I get.
Yeah but I’m not into the void. I just meditate on images that are far away from people.
They come to me naturally and develop into their own trains of thought which I abandon one after another.
I hate being trapped alone with my mind so no
