
Guided meditation for beginners - spaceboy
http://quietkit.com/
======
sharkweek
I'm a full-blown a cynic, but after OCD and anxiety got the best of me, my
therapist recommended I try meditation to both start and end my day, I've
started to notice huge improvements.

Can't recommend it enough. It's frustrating at first, the mind will just not
stop wandering to worries every 10 seconds, but almost always on cue, the
guided meditation would remind me "is you're mind wandering? no big deal,
bring your focus back to your breath."

Here's where I recommend starting - [http://www.nytimes.com/well/guides/how-
to-meditate](http://www.nytimes.com/well/guides/how-to-meditate)

There are a few moments now where my mind will go entirely blank, and it's the
most relaxing feeling in the world. I still get too excited when that happens
to keep it sustained, but I can sense it starting to work.

It's really helpful to check in for a few minutes throughout the day as well.
Take something in visually, observe a feeling, listen to what your body is
telling you.

Sounds hippy-dippy, sure, and I'm not pretending to be a doctor or make
medical recommendations, but for me, It Just Works (TM)

~~~
Cozumel
When you've been doing it for a while your mind will be blank all the time,
which sounds kind of bad but it's actually great, but the interesting thing is
once you can control your own thoughts you'll start to realise that not all of
them are yours.

People are like radios and broadcast their thoughts, and you'll be picking
them up without knowing it. You'll also be able to project them i.e influence
people. Those powers known as 'siddhis' are just a fraction of what you can
attain.

Much like everything western though guided meditation is a horribly
bastardised version of the real thing, if you're interested look into Raja
Yoga when you're ready.

Edited:
[http://www.yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1906-09rajayoga.pd...](http://www.yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1906-09rajayoga.pdf)

This is the definitive course guide, the first lesson can take a year, 10
years, or a lifetime, don't go past the first lesson till you're ready. You'll
know when you are.

~~~
mythrwy
If this were true I'd expect to see yogis running the world.

Instead, running the world are people who I suspect aren't much into
meditation.

~~~
noxplode
Why would yogis want to run the world?

~~~
koliber
I don't think the parent said he wanted yogis to run the world.

I believe he said that if yogis could really project their thoughts, it would
be a super-power which would enable them to run the world.

The conclusion is that since they do not run the world, they likely do not
possess such super-powers.

~~~
roansh
I do not believe that one can achieve supernatural powers with meditation
either (for I have not seen someone with those).

Assuming they have such superpowers, they also need the desire to run the
world. Hence, this way of concluding that they do not possess such powers does
not seem right.

~~~
koliber
I like this mental exercise.

I agree that it is possible that they have the mental projection superpower
and no desire to run the world. That would make sense, at least from my
cursory knowledge of yogis :).

However, their philosophy has a central tenet of minimizing suffering.
Wouldn't they use their superpower to eliminate suffering to any extent
possible?

And a counter-point to that is, what if they do have the superpower, and they
do use it, and that is why there is less suffering in the world than there
otherwise would be.

It looks like what we need is a double-blind study.

------
markestefanos
For those interested in learning more, The Mind Illuminated is by far the best
book I've come across on the topic. It's an extremely systematic college level
manual for learning how to meditate. The author has a PhD in physiology, has
been meditating for 40 years, taught neuroscience for years, and speaks Pali
and Sanskrit, so he's able to read and interpret the original Buddhist texts.
These combined allow him to teach with a unique depth and precision.

Take a look at the Amazon reviews, and ask yourself if you've ever seen
anything so highly rated: [https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-
Integrati...](https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-Integrating-
Mindfulness/dp/1501156985/ref=dp_ob_title_bk)

I hope you find it as valuable as I did :)

~~~
nonsince
Frustratingly, you can't get the kindle version if you live in the UK (I
actually live in the Netherlands, which Amazon doesn't operate in at all, but
my account is from the UK). The kindle version even shows up on the US site
until I log in.

EDIT: I tried to use Amazon.nl (they do have a kindle store, just not regular
Amazon), they have the kindle version of the book but when I log in after
buying it I'm told it's not available in my country

~~~
markestefanos
Email me (in my profile).

~~~
nonsince
It's not in your profile

~~~
markestefanos
Thanks, fixed.

------
hsitz
The recording seems okay, but I find it really odd that the scripted voice
says "feel your chest rise on an in breath, and feel it fall back down on an
out breath." Chest-breathing is something to be avoided, especially in
mediation, as it creates tension. The proper method of breathing is diaphragm-
based breathing, otherwise called belly-breathing.

This is not a trivial issue for meditation, really strange that they get it
wrong. They should be saying, "feel your belly rise on an in breath . . . "
and there should also be some instruction on proper method of breathing, since
many people are unaware of the difference.

~~~
tombh
I think "proper" is a bit strong. Sure there are some religious systems that
prescribe breathing methods, but from my understanding of mindfulness, the
entire point is the quality of awareness, not the quality of your breathing.

~~~
hsitz
I don't think it's too strong. Meditation is a wholistic activity, if anything
is. It involves putting your entire body in a relaxed state and mind being
aware. With bad quality of breathing, which is what you get from "chest-
breathing" it is impossible to properly relax. Here's what the mayo clinic
says about breathing in meditation:

"Relaxed breathing. This technique involves deep, even-paced breathing using
the diaphragm muscle to expand your lungs. The purpose is to slow your
breathing, take in more oxygen, and reduce the use of shoulder, neck and upper
chest muscles while breathing so that you breathe more efficiently."

[http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-
dep...](http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-
depth/meditation/art-20045858?pg=2)

I would challenge someone to find any (good) resource on meditation that
recommends chest breathing. I'm sure there are resources out there that
recommend chest breathing for meditation, but they are either (1) uninformed
or simply not carefully edited, as in website we're discussing in this thread,
or (2) it's something way different from the normal, garden variety,
meditation that beginners should be doing (which website in our discussion is
not).

------
anotherevan
Dalek Relaxation Tape

[https://youtu.be/e59guruVL4o](https://youtu.be/e59guruVL4o)

~~~
yardshop
It relaxes me just knowing that it exists!

------
desireco42
I hate guided meditation... to me this is complete opposite of what meditation
should be.

You can do this initial few times, but after that, you don't need any voice
but your own in your head. That is if you are really doing meditation, if you
want to pretend... then headspace yourself.

Again, this is my view as someone who actually meditated for like 20+ yrs.

~~~
koliber
I hate training wheels on my bike... to me this is complete opposite of what
riding a bike should be.

You can do this initial few times, but after that, you don't need any help but
your own sense of balance in your head. That is if you are really riding a
bike, if you want to pretend... then continue using training wheels yourself.

Again, this is my view as someone who actually rode a bike for like 20+ yrs.

\---

Comes off a bit snarky, doesn't it?

I think I see what you are trying to convey, and wrote the above so that
others could get a feel as well, using a more tangible analogy.

~~~
desireco42
:) It did came out quite a bit snarky. Completely justified criticism. It was
late in a day.

Oh, and I did rode my bike for more then 20+ years. I can prop it on back
wheel and do few stunts even today. Impresses my kids.

~~~
koliber
However it came out, I appreciate you sharing your experience and point of
view. As someone who is off of training wheels on the bike but still on
commercial guided meditation courses, it's great to know that there's a lot
more to come.

------
michaelsbradley
For those who might be interested in additional resources, a classic treatment
of discursive meditation in the Western Christian tradition, a.k.a. _" mental
prayer,"_ can be found in the Fifth Treatise (pp. 247–354, original numbering)
of Fr. Rodriguez's masterpiece:

[https://archive.org/stream/PPCV-
Manresa#page/n273/mode/2up](https://archive.org/stream/PPCV-
Manresa#page/n273/mode/2up)

And here is a fine essay on Lectio Divina, written sometime in the early
2000s:

[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QcuUot_6BQ3jgj1wJtsx-C5Y...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QcuUot_6BQ3jgj1wJtsx-C5YrSUCZE2fOdpG4k5k8pg/)

~~~
seltzered_
To add on, I've been interested in Vinay Gupta's approach to meditation, which
he recently codified/packaged with some other folks into an app:
[http://cuttingmachinery.org](http://cuttingmachinery.org)

It basically revolves around an hour of meditation, but switches from mantra,
to open awareness, to feeling negative emotions in 10 minute intervals. I'm
probably not going to say this correctly, but I believe the intent is to get
beyond just the ability to feel calm but have a better awareness of things
(how we interact in the world, our emotions, how much it really matters, etc.)
in our lives. There's also a multi-part podcast interview of him (which led to
the app) starting at [http://futurethinkers.org/enlightenment-vinay-
gupta/](http://futurethinkers.org/enlightenment-vinay-gupta/)

------
heyheyhey
"The guided meditations from QuietKit offers three main benefits to anyone who
uses them:

Decreased stress and anxiety

Increased focus

Increased mindfulness (the ability to be aware of what's occurring at any
given moment, but being able to choose how to act, as opposed to just
reacting)"

Are those three benefits purely anecdotal?

~~~
ASpring
There has been quite a bit of research surrounding mindfulness meditation for
a couple decades now.

Here are some cursory studies addressing your three questions. They are easy
to find on Google Scholar.

Decreased stress and anxiety
[http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2010.0142](http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2010.0142)

Increased Focus (specifically for people on the ADHD spectrum)
[http://www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/20825/MindfulnessADHD-
Zylo...](http://www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/20825/MindfulnessADHD-
Zylowska_et_al.pdf)

I have to imagine mindfulness is a difficult concept to disentangle from
meditation itself, however there do seem to be attempts to create measures for
this:
[http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1073191107313003](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1073191107313003)

Here's a meta-analysis summarizing many studies about the effects of
meditation. Effect sizes seem consistently positive albeit on the smaller
side:
[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-012-0101-x](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-012-0101-x)

------
ben174
I'm probably an ideal candidate for meditation because just the thought of it
is nearly unbearable. "Wasting a whole ten minutes doing nothing?!"

But it's hard for me to get past the feeling that it's a waste of time. As
someone who is on public transit for two hours a day, and an owner of a nice
pair of noise cancelling headphones - I wonder if I could make use of that
time by doing this. Guess I'll give it a try.

~~~
yathern
I've dabbled in meditation, and I should certainly keep up with it because I
noticed benefits as well, I just lack the self discipline. But your situation
of "I'm too busy to meditate" reminds me of the old Zen quote that goes
something like: "You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless
you're too busy, then you should sit for an hour."

------
pb000
A couple of things: If you want to learn meditation find yourself a teacher
who will be able to guide you with your specific and personal needs,
advantages and deficiencies in focus, character and views on outside world and
on yourself, through this process. We are never taught what meditation is and
how to do it right. None of the sources mention such important pre-requsite as
understanding of human energy movement in breathing, human energy anatomy and
physiology. So if you want to play with meditation is one thing, doing thing
right will mean you have to have guidance.

Second, As Salvador Dali said: don't be afraid of perfection, you will never
reach it. Blank minds is a good but also a very hard and advanced concept
beginner meditators will most likely not reach. It is very hard for the
uninitiated person (by previous karma or other spiritual training) who is used
to focus attention on outward to be able to go inward, let along still the
mind. The best way is to distract your mind from 'uncomfortable' nothingness
with count while you are doing breathing and visualization.

------
cptvideo2
There’s also a well-known affect on blood-pressure (lowering) that comes from
the breath control that’s at the core of most meditation practice.

[http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/stress-raising-your-
blood...](http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/stress-raising-your-blood-
pressure-take-a-deep-breath-201602159168)

I don’t think that the cause of this is completely understood, but CO2 is a
potent vasodilator. I’ve seen hatha yoga (physical yoga) practioners ditch
hatha for prana-yoga (breath yoga) because they said it's a more powerful way
to get to wherever yoga takes you.

~~~
curun1r
One small nit to what you've said. Breath control is core to yogic practices,
as you've mentioned, but it is not part of most meditative practice.
Meditation typically involves breath awareness, but specifically not control.
The idea is to observe the breath as it is, not how we would like it to be.

~~~
autocorr
I'm not the OP, but it is an important distinction, breath control (pranayama)
is yogic.

While I can't speak for other traditions that feature meditation, at least in
Theravada Buddhism, training of the breath is an essential part of the
practice for the development of mindfulness (sati), beyond "observing the
breath as it is." This gets de-emphasized in the modern vipassana movement
focusing on "bare attention", but canonical interpretations of the Anapanasati
Sutta [1] on the mindfulness of breathing to indicate that one only uses bare
attention to "discern" long and short breaths, but "trains" oneself to become
aware of the whole body, to calm bodily fabrication, and the rest of the items
on the list. This is taken to mean that one can use right effort to breath in
ways that are conducive to being aware of the whole body or ways of breathing
that calm bodily fabrication, etc. So, while definitely not as gross as
counting fixed durations like on the site linked, exerting oneself to
influence the breath has a place in at least one very prominent non-yogic
tradition.

[1]
[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html)
(perhaps the second most important sutta related to meditation in the Pali
Canon, next to the Maha-satipatthana Sutta [2])

[2]
[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html)

------
conception
[http://www.10percenthappier.com](http://www.10percenthappier.com) is my
meditation for skeptics site. Worth checking out as well. They have a lot of
good videos and a podcast.

~~~
dominotw
meditation is to become happier, make more money etc

------
westoncb
I started getting into meditation a few years ago after realizing the reason
the world felt less 'real' than it used to was because I could never 'get out
of my head' and have more direct interactions with external things. (For
example, I finally went to Tokyo and moved to San Francisco and the difference
each made was pretty minor—like looking at high res photos on the internet; it
was a stark contrast to when I visited NYC seven years prior and was blown
away just walking around. ) It soon became my number one priority after also
realizing that all the times I remembered _really_ enjoying myself, I was in
that 'out of my head' state (you have a much better sense of presence, the
3Dness of things is much more apparent, smells, tastes, interpersonal
interactions are all way richer).

Anyway, I decided to make a wide survey of meditation resources from old
religious texts to modern neuroscience inspired teaching, to a number of
things in between.

The first source that really made things click for me was watching some of the
youtube videos from Ajahn Brahm. He's English, but trained as a monk in
Thailand for many years, and has a background in physics. I think it's a
combination that makes him pretty well-suited to explaining these concepts to
techy Westerners. He's also got a light, humorous style to his lecturing, so
it's easy to watch (if a bit cringeworthy [due to corniness] at times. And
you'll get an occasionally bit of religiosity [he is a monk after all], but he
mostly keeps it out.) I'd recommend this one for starters:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEw2mHpVv9A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEw2mHpVv9A)

I also found bits of Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living" to be very
helpful in the early stages (it focuses on another form of meditation called
'body scan' which has some unique benefits, and can be easier for beginners.
It's often the choice of style when teaching for therapeutic purposes).

Edit: I'll also add the way I see meditation instruction fitting into the
practice: there aren't that many concepts, but each has extraordinary depth,
so you just have to keep revisiting regularly; you'll often find that if
you've improved in your practice, you can go back and see the same old lecture
and interpret it totally differently, even though it made a kind of sense the
first time. You'd think you wouldn't need to be told, e.g., "just allow your
thoughts to arise and disappear on their own" like a hundred times, in
different ways—but you probably do :)

------
vSanjo
A question, and one that probably shuns any kind of methodical thinking and
science, but there's always talk about 'rewriting' or 'rewiring' the brain.
Plasticity and all that stuff.

Are there thoughts I -should- be thinking, patterns I -should- be training or
ideas I -should- be following to maximise the positive changes meditation has
the potential to bring?

~~~
JamesBarney
Most of the day we are aware of our 5 senses. We notice new sounds, new
sights, and new sensations. But many times we don't notice new thoughts, new
emotions, and new feelings. We're blind to ourselves most of the the day.

When we practice mindfulness we practice listening, seeing, and feeling our
thoughts. The whole point is to strengthen the awareness of our mind. Allowing
us to notice changes to our inner world as we notice changes to our outer one.

The way we practice this is by focusing on our breath, and noticing when our
mind wanders. I first thougt the important part of meditation was the
focusing. It wasn't. It was the noticing. That's what we're training when we
meditate. And that's the part that we're rewiring.

~~~
AVTizzle
^^ this.

------
jahbrewski
Curious to hear from folks who have consistently meditated for a prolonged
period of time (6mos+). What effects have you noticed?

~~~
jupiter90000
Don't do it as much now, though have consistently over long periods in the
past. Some benefits I experienced (subjective):

\- Thoughts do not have a grip over how I act as often. \- probably related,
lower likelihood of compulsively doing things.

\- Feeling more collected and relaxed in traffic and 'stressful situations.'

\- More likely to be able to pay attention to who I am talking with, what I am
doing, etc, right now instead of thinking of things besides that.

\- Start of realization that who I am is not the internal dialog and
procession of thoughts. This one is hard to explain. I think I am certain
things due to my thoughts; that's just my thoughts though.

\- Noticing that thinking constantly about things using language puts reality
into categories that are essentially made up.

Anyway, your experience may be different. I highly suggest trying it.

~~~
chillwaves
> \- Start of realization that who I am is not the internal dialog and
> procession of thoughts. This one is hard to explain. I think I am certain
> things due to my thoughts; that's just my thoughts though.

This one for me is huge. You are not your thoughts. Took a really long time to
understand.. it's almost like I am two people, the one who is thinking and the
one who observes the thinking. Helps me distance my emotions and reflect on
them in a more rational way (not obsess over mistakes, or worry too much about
the future).

~~~
curun1r
Just to expound a bit, since I've had the same revelation during meditation...

Buddhists believe that the mind is another sense, just like sight, hearing,
smell, taste and touch. The only difference is that it's a sense that devoted
to looking inward instead of outward. And during meditation you can really
start to see it as such. In the same way that you can let your eyes glaze over
and see without processing the images or tune out what you're hearing, you can
think without paying attention to your thoughts. It's can be trippy to
experience, especially when you have the related revelations that pain or
other discomfort is, similarly, just a thought that you can likewise ignore.

------
ktRolster
It might be worth visiting a Zen center in your area to meditate with monks.
Meditating alone, it's harder to focus.

------
lappa
Is it better to meditate with the sound of rain as provided with quietkit, or
no sound at all?

~~~
autocorr
If you happen to be a quiet place it will likely be easier to concentrate
without the rain sounds. "Easier" in this sense is a bit relative, however. An
environment with fewer external distractions will lead to a selection effect
where you "catch" yourself more frequently and return back to the breath.
Thus, you may feel like you're not concentrating well, since you "keep getting
distracted." It's kind of like the Dunning-Kruger effect of the beginning
meditation :)

On the other hand I find music and background conversations especially
distracting and like to listen to pink-noise or other non-varying noise sounds
to make concentrating easier.

------
AznHisoka
Has anyone experienced an improvement in any physical diseases/ailments from
meditation?

~~~
drzaiusapelord
I think meditation's primary effect, perhaps its only noticable effect for
most, is lowered anxiety via learning how to focus thought which tends to lead
to less worrying and such. Less anxiety means better sleep, earlier bedtimes,
less cortisol in the body, etc. Over time these can affect us physically in an
beneficial way.

An eight week mediation course shrinks the part of the brain involved in
anxiety:

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-
life/wp/2015/05...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-
life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-
it-literally-changes-your-brain/)

From an anecdotal perspective I found taking a anti-cortisol herb (Rhodiola
and Ashwaganda) gave me a comparable, but stronger, effect compared to what
30-45 minutes daily meditation gave me.

Meditation lowers cortisol:

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23724462](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23724462)

------
savitur_it
is better practice meditation not alone, but with a master or an experienced
practicer of many years. Meditation can bring to light unconscious content. In
ashtanga yoga of Patanjali (yoga sutra) the meditation (dhyana) is considered
an high state of practice. For general relax and for stress, is better
learning yoga(for example yoga nidra and some light pranayamas), some forms or
chi kung and/or taichi

------
ge96
It would be funny the narrator... "Now I'm slowly reaching into your pocket...
to steal some of your money..."

I'm usually freaking out all the time in my mind... "Oh god oh god oh god...
this and that..." I find showering is where I collect my thoughts. Think about
some problem I'm trying to solve. I don't know.

------
nonsince
I use the app "Headspace" as a meditation beginner. The monthly price after
the first 10 sessions is a little steep (can't remember the exact price) but
there's a lot of extremely high-quality content covering mindfulness in almost
every aspect of life. I think it's worth the price.

~~~
daneyh
I used this and got upto the 30min sessions. After a while Andys voice becomes
counterproductive....but definitely good to get into it.

------
kordless
I'm a little late on commenting, but I'm gifted with Aphantasia. I've found it
naturally contributes to meditation as I experience no visuals in my mind's
eye. No visuals means no-thinking if you can wrangle the internal dialog under
control.

------
Willyfrog
Are there any similar resources in spanish? I'm interested in passing this
info to my wife, but unfortunately her english is not so good, so it would be
a problem for her to follow the guides in the comments.

~~~
paradisebunny
I can recommend the App Insight Timer. It is free and distributes user-
uploaded guided meditations. Lots of languages and content to choose from!
Highly recommended! edit: here is a link to their spanish content
[https://insighttimer.com/meditation-playlists/spanish-
medita...](https://insighttimer.com/meditation-playlists/spanish-meditations)

~~~
Willyfrog
thanks! I'll check it

------
joekrill
Cool! Love to see anything that promotes mindfulness and makes it more
accessible to folks. Interesting that the sessions are so short -- I'm not
sure I've seen anything shorter than 10 minutes before.

------
tshanmu
[https://smilingmind.com.au/](https://smilingmind.com.au/) is a great resource
to get started as well.

