>Or lay down for 30 minutes and do nothing for a while.

But you mind is never at rest. Its always thinking, ruminating. 'doing nothing' is impossible and absurd, you mind is always 'doing something' .

A lot of people just mindlessly browse online or work too much because they don't want to deal with their own mind.

Sure you can just chill and sit on the couch doing nothing, but thats relaxing only when you have the mental peace to do so.

I don't think people mean what is implied by the article as 'rest'. Its not a time issue. How can you possibly be 'alone' if you are stressed out about job, health, money, relationships or whatever. Sitting on a wooden pier with an umbrella is not being 'alone' , its precisely the opposite .

Turning off the continuous thought-churn and "stopping" the conscious mind is a large part of what meditation is for, at least to begin with. The reason they ask you to catch your thoughts and refocus them to a single point - the air travelling through your nose as you breathe, for example - is to teach you how to do exactly that. It takes time and practice but most people can do it.

>Turning off the continuous thought-churn and "stopping" the conscious mind is a large part of what meditation is for

I never really understood the 'stopping' part, how is that even possible? At best you can simply refocus it to something you find peaceful, if that is the case how is meditation any different from say watching a movie that you love or playing drums.

It's not really about turning off your thoughts, so much as "stepping back" and observing your thoughts.

How interesting that that thought wandered by just after this other one. It's "smile", that one feels pretty good.

This next one is "boredom"... Fascinating! What is that about? Why do I feel it? What happens if I use "smile" on it?

What about this monologue? Can I step back and observe those thoughts?

The Zen master says he's thinking about nothing while meditating. That doesn't mean no thought, it means observing the thing that Null pointers point to.

(Personal experience and I'm not at all an expert)

See stopping as a metaphor. You are not "not thinking" ever but you can ignore some thoughts. And we do that all the time - usually thoughts we don't like. With meditation you'll learn to do that a bit better. A thought pops up in your head and instead of following it and expanding on it, you simply let it slide. Another one pops up and you do the same. When I meditate for 15mins at most 4-5 mins of it would be close to "peace" - that's all I can manage. When I'm doing it regularly, (it could very well be placebo) I find myself to be less agitated and not following every thought that comes to my head through out the day. I learn to say "not now" and focus on what I'm working on instead.

It's not so much stopping thoughts, as it is to be able to guide your focus at will, as you said. In the end your mind isn't so much blank as hyper-aware of itself without the normal push-pull of thoughts that you described in your earlier comment. Best way I can describe it is as a place where your higher mind is at rest and your instinctive/subconscious mind is fully active.

The mystical philosophies around meditation describe it with all sorts of features and properties, but I'll skip getting into that here. I'll just mention martial arts in particular. They practice relentlessly so that the actions are instinctive, then they use meditation so that higher-brain noise doesn't get in the way of that hyper-awareness and instinctive action.

>I never really understood the 'stopping' part, how is that even possible? At best you can simply refocus it to something you find peaceful, if that is the case how is meditation any different from say watching a movie that you love or playing drums.

With meditation, if you get good at it, you can get lost in a kind of haze that's way less focused than playing drums or watching a movie. Sort of like sleeping while awake.

So that's a lot like "stopping". Sure, neurons will fire, etc, so you're not stopping anything completely, but they also do that when you are sleeping, or when you're completely wasted on weed.

Don't you ever remember a time when you had a choice between thinking and not? If not, you're far overdue for some meditation.

> if that is the case how is meditation any different from say watching a movie that you love or playing drums.

The main difference, I've found, is temporal. By focusing on the breath, you stay grounded in the present moment. Watching a movie will trigger memories or thoughts about the future, which, to me, seem to tax the mind a lot more than simple, objective thoughts about the present moment.

Playing the drums could be like this, but you have to get lost in it and be improvising or sight reading something you've never played before. If you're worried about making mistakes, remembering the music or anything along those lines, you're not as in the moment as you could be. Most people don't play that way.

I occasionally catch moments in which no outside noises are present and I'm not thinking of anything at all. Very rare, but possible (also immediately spoiled by making note of it).

>I never really understood the 'stopping' part, how is that even possible?

With practice.

I recently read something (can't remember where) about how a lot of people have trouble sleeping because lying down to go to sleep is the first chance their mind gets to do something without outside stimulation. I think most people who don't have the mental peace to do nothing would get it if they did nothing more often. That isn't an option for everyone though.

That's me. How often I've been wide awake at night because I couldn't stop thinking about my side projects.

I never have time for them, so the only moment my mind can explore some ideas is when I'm in bed.

Today's Sunday, I'll try and sit on the couch alone doing nothing for an hour and see where my mind wanders.

"How often I've been wide awake at night because I couldn't stop thinking about my side projects."

Try writing stuff down quickly on paper - just scribble the ideas. I do this with my teaching (I don't work in IT). It seems to 'earth' the thoughts and then I can relax.

When it gets bad, I usually solve the problem by listening to some suitable podcast. Preferably politics and not with headphones. I turn the volume so low that I really need to lay still and concentrate to hear what they are talking about.

Go for a walk.

heh yea. that's prbly why sleeping to TV is such a popular option.

I've started listening to podcasts to drift off to sleep.

Pro: in about 10 minutes I drift off easily to sleep

Con: I get the weirdest dreams. Probably listening to Dan Carlin talk about Mongols and Anabaptist religious fanatics in my sleep is responsible.

This is why walking works. Dont bring your phone. It just keeps that minimum of distraction to not freak you out and that makes it easier to actually face what's on your mind, to some extent.

It's called mindfulness[1], also meditation is the tool to train your mind.

[1]: https://youarenotsosmart.com/2015/10/23/yanss-061-how-to-wil...

Impossible? Try breathing meditation. You shut your mind down in an amazing way.

>But you mind is never at rest. Its always thinking, ruminating. 'doing nothing' is impossible and absurd, you mind is always 'doing something'

You'd be surprised.

For those that this doesn't come naturally (or have stress, are anxious etc), they can try some meditation techniques.

Meditation is not about some mystical mumbo jumbo, it's about being mindful and taking control of your thoughts, so think it more of like training of your "thought-muscles" to shut up and enjoy the silence, than "becoming one with the universe".

This is learned behaviour. It can be unlearned.

You seem to have misread the comment you responded to. The author cited external stimulation as a key factor, and you've somehow ended up redefining "alone" to mean "mentally still."

Doing some casual reading before sleeping has really helped.

This unfortunately ruined reading for me for a long time. I associated reading with sleep, and it became a pavlovian response: a few pages in, any time of day under any circumstances, I'd start to nod off.

This is easy to fix. Just spend at least as much time reading on a treadmill or other exercise device as you do before bed and you will learn to discriminate very quickly.

This was what I was going to say! I read at all times, so I don't associate it with sleeping.

Good advice, but I bike for exercise. I doubt I can read and bike safely :)

You could try a stationary bike.

That sounds like a significant downgrade.

I suppose that depends on the quality of the material you're reading. I like the outdoors, but unless I'm somewhere that is both beautiful and novel, a good book makes my synapses buzz a lot more.

Audio books might be helpful here. I run and occasionally listen to them.

I've had this too.

This is how I end up awake until 2am...

That said I recently went for over two months without reading in the evenings - when I resumed reading (a friend literally pushed a book on me and said it needed to be read within a fortnight) I became notably calmer and less stressed.

To have colleagues note that none of the workload had changed yet I was significantly more with it was startling, and the only change I could identify was the book.

I think my strategy backfires if the book is really good. Personally my night reading is very casual, usually a light non fiction book that doesn't provoke much deep thought.

For me it's mostly about slowing down.

I think it depends on the chapter length.

1. While I'm inside a chapter, I'll keep reading until the end of the chapter.

2. When I'm at the end of a chapter, I will stop if (and only if) I feel that I cannot invest the time to start the next chapter right now.

So short chapters are bad because I will just keep going ("oh come on, only two more pages") and long chapters are bad because I will not even start them. The sweet spot for me was two years ago when I read www.hpmor.com.

for me it's more:

1. While inside a chapter, I'll just finish this chapter...

2. At the end of the chapter "oh, I gotta find out what happens. Just one more quick chapter..."

There's nothing like cracking a book open to read a few pages before bed, then noticing that all of a sudden the sun is coming in through the window and it's time to go to work...

I feel like an entire different person when I am reading a book. It's very soothing, even if the book is dense and thought-provoking.

I can't do that. I get into a story, and go balls to the wall immersing myself in it. Next thing I know, it's 3am and I have a meeting at 8

Doesn't work at all for me. I start reading and I can't stop. Next thing I know it's noon the next day and I'm done the book.

For me it's reading things like astrophysics and cosmology. I find it peaceful to ponder that I'm a small part of a very large construct. Though I have a lot of interest in the field, the perspective really just puts my mind at ease. (Has to be dead-tree though - even a kindle has too much reminders of my work)

I'm currently contracting at a location about an hours walk away from where I live, so am walking home every day while listening to music.

Great for unplugging, and means I am recharged by the time I get home for an evening of non-work related hacking at code.

> Or lay down for 30 minutes and do nothing for a while.

It was figured out a few thousand years ago and became known as meditation. When needed I found it a good tool, but unfortunately it haven't become a habit yet.

It is good to have a moment or two each day where I don't feel like I'm being watched. I do find myself unable to rest. Ever.

> I think key to getting really good rest is to unplug. I know most people tend to sit on their phones or computer for a few hours. Some science suggest that isn't good rest because your nervous system is still being stimulated.

Why is this (being stimulated) is a problem? Sleep already ensures that one gets a good rest.

They didn't say that stimulation was a problem.

Short wavelength blue light from smart phones/computers affect circadian rhythms:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/q-a-why-is-blue-li...

The real key to getting really good rest is some good kush.

> Take a long walk, just for the sake of walking.

That's very location-specific. Many cities are very pedestrian unfriendly, for example every city in India.

...yet one observes many people walking in those same cities. Curious.

Something can be unfriendly and almost impossible to relax during, while also capable of getting you places and probably not killed.

A lot of people are also walking around war zones such as in Aleppo. It doesn't make it safe, or something you'd want to do to relax.

This is an obnoxious comparison. Gaps in the sidewalk, open drains, etc. are annoying, but they don't threaten lives in the same way that e.g. barrel bombs do.

I don't like writing long posts on HN but there are a ton of reasons why it is very dangerous to walk around Indian cities at night due to risk of being hit by vehicles.

Hence the "or". If you can't walk, just lay down in peace for a bit or read a book.

Which is unsurprising, as the author is relating their personal experience of 'unplugging'.