Quote:
Originally Posted by John Wilkes Booth
does anyone here meditate?
i tried it a couple times a while back and honestly found it pretty useless. they said to still your thoughts and try focusing on one thing, like your breath. i can't really do that. my mind just keeps going no matter what. even when i try not to think, i will notice thoughts pop up in the back of my mind. and then i'm like **** i'm thinking about something. and then i'm like **** now i'm thinking about me thinking about something. and then i try to refocus my thoughts on my breath but honestly i find my breath pretty boring. and then i'm like **** now i'm thinking about trying not to think about stuff. i usually lasted maybe 5 mins tops before i got bored and decided to go do something else.
i always assumed this was just my failure at meditating, but then i was listening to sam harris's recent book on meditation when i was at work today. he was saying how a lot of people who think they are meditating are really just thinking with their eyes closed, and that it takes some practice at mediation before you truly realize how distracted by thought you really are. i thought this was interesting since it didn't take me any practice at all to notice how distracted i was. i'm pretty sure this means i'm a guru but who knows.
itt post any meditation related thoughts in this thread
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I think you're only potential failure was giving up when you got bored and deciding to do something else. Boredom would be something to look at as your first emotional challenge to overcome. This partly the point of meditation - to overcome displeasing mental states (which requires acceptance of them). You practice in your home consciously, and overcome boredom - but with practice, you can overcome boredom at any time and place. The hipster zen practitioner like myself usually utilizes it for emotional discomfort and creative problem solving in research and music. Very serious monks get to the point where they can do the same with extremely unpleasant mental states like those inflicted by physical pain.
Of course, I'll remind you that this is only partly the point of meditation. The main goal is control over your own mental states. There's a lot you can do with that with a little imagination (like get into "the zone" when you need to perform or make a memory palace).