Re:Regular meditation more beneficial than vacation (2016)
by skadamou on Sunday July 12, 2020 @05:45PM
(#23815029)
The closest I've ever come to really using a "technique" to meditate was in college when one of my roommates went to a transcendental meditation retreat and tried to teach us how to meditate like he did at his retreat.
The last time I tried meditating though was on the headspace app though I'm not sure what technique you would call that.
The vibe I'm getting is that the best way to get started with meditating is probably to go to a teacher or a retreat neither of which I have tried so maybe there is hope yet!
Re:Regular meditation more beneficial than vacation (2016)
by pmoriarty on Sunday July 12, 2020 @06:10PM
(#23815185)
Yes, teachers and meditation retreats could be helpful. But just bear in mind that there are lot of different ones, and they're not interchangeable. I'd suggest you do a lot of research and talk to some people you respect and trust who've been to the retreat/teacher you're contemplating.
Also, I can recommend a couple of books: The Heart of Buddhist Meditation and Mindfulness in Plain English.
Re:Regular meditation more beneficial than vacation (2016)
by dumdaar on Sunday July 12, 2020 @06:13PM
(#23815214)
I had also tried meditation for years and never "groked" it. What ultimately helped me was using "One giant mind" app. It has 15 minute session for everyday. Doing it everyday for a week I didn't feel anything different but one weekend on a whim I decided to meditate using the app for 3 hrs straight and that's when I felt I finally got it.
Like others have said you can take help of teachers or try meditating in a group. Although I do feel because there so many choices available discovering what works for you may require a little bit luck too.
There are probably dozens if not hundreds of different ways of meditating, and many mistakes one can make in implementing those techniques.
If the one particular way you tried did not work for you, I would not necessarily jump to the conclusion that no kind of meditation would work for you, or that there was no room for improvement in your technique.
Sometimes going to a teacher or experienced meditator with the particular difficulties you're running in to can help. Also, sometimes meditating in a group can work, as you're then all in it together rather than having to motivate yourself all on your own.
Something else to keep in mind is that meditation can take some time to yield results, especially if your practice is brief or sporadic. The more regular and extended your practice is, the more likely you are to notice some results.