
Ask YC: Meditation Advice - andr
I am getting a lot of stress lately and have trouble focusing, so I'm looking to start meditating to help my case. I failed to find something useful on searchyc.com. My only experience with this are the 5-minute meditations a professor made us do in class. I am basically failing to see the difference between meditation and sitting on the couch and watching empty space for a couple of minutes.<p>So, what is the hacker way to meditation? Do you have any tips as to how to approach it? Thanks!
======
coffeemug
Be careful. Meditation is a buzz word and has a big industry built around it.
Most of it is junk. The best meditation advice is offered by people that have
taken a vow not to accept money (other than donations), so if you're being
charged something other than a nominal fee, it's likely a scam.

Meditation is _not_ about relaxation, stress relief, and being in peace with
yourself and the world. These things only come as a byproduct.

Meditation is _not_ a band aid you can apply to your life to make it better.
You cannot continue living your life exactly the way it is now, medidate for
half an hour a day and expect improvement. It is psychological self
exploration. If you maintain your life the way it is now, you will very
quickly hit a boundary and will make no further progress in meditation until
your life is changed.

Meditation is about observing the way your mind works. The only way to do that
is to anchor it by sustaining an incredibly focused attention on a single
object for prolonged periods of time. It doesn't matter what the object is
(although it's normally breath) - your mind responds to any object and by
learning to sustain uninterrupted attention you will observe how your mind
works.

I would suggest you to seek instruction in Anapanasati from a competent
teacher. Ignore new age stuff, buddhist cosmology, relaxation and stress
relief business, or any related stuff. None of it will make any lasting
difference.

In a nutshell just follow your breathing, one breath at a time. When you
discover you've lost attention, relax, smile, accept whatever emotions you're
feeling, and go back to the breath. Seek a teacher once you discover how
incredibly deep and subtle this process can be.

Good luck!

EDIT: I suppose I should add a disclaimer. I am far, far from an expert. If
someone (including me) claims they completely understand meditation, they
probably do not.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
"The only way to do that is to anchor it by sustaining an incredibly focused
attention on a single object for prolonged periods of time." -- This is one
way. You can learn to attend to your attention without the focus on a mudra or
sutra, but for most people this is not the easiest entry point.

------
staunch
Meditation isn't a silver bullet. If you're not sleeping enough, you should do
that first. If you're not exercising enough, do that second.

~~~
khafra
I do internal martial arts (Which are Chinese arts which partake of Chi Gung a
bit '(Xingyi Bagua T'ai Chi)) in a class where we actually hit each other--
near full strength, but slowly. There's nothing like it, in my experience, for
stress relief; it's far beyond static meditation or hitting the open road on
my motorcycle or dancing at a club.

Having a punch completely take your equilibrium because you let your mind get
trapped in an analysis paralysis loop is a wonderfully effective biofeedback
mechanism.

~~~
jscn
In my experience, punches take your equilibrium due to physics, not your
thoughts on the punch...

~~~
khafra
I don't think I'll be able to explain it to your satisfaction with words; if I
had a good CAD program with a skeletal model that'd show heat-maps for the
amount of pressure applied across various bones, joints, and connective tissue
I could probably get closer: holding and moving your body in a way that keeps
the soft tissue deformation from strikes as shallow as possible, while
minimizing skeletal deviation from a stable but agile base is the key.

The trick, of course, is that nobody's fast enough to do that kind of
calculation in the middle of a fight. A simplifying model helps--the most
popular model involves "chi"--but even using that model, conscious analytic
thought is too slow for anything but mostly-scripted practice.

~~~
IsaacSchlueter
Yes, you summed it up nicely. A "simplifying model".

In other words, chi may be magic fairy mysticism, but if you believe it, at
least temporarily, it works anyway.

~~~
mnemonicsloth
As written, I hear Mary Martin in Peter Pan saying "Clap your hands if you
believe in fairies."

Instead, what about this: "You willingly suspend the disbelief being thrown up
by one part of your mind so you can get something useful done in a different
part."

Formulated that way, it covers fiction too.

See also: <http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/01/why-fiction-lies.html>

[http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/01/a-tale-of-two-
tradeoff...](http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/01/a-tale-of-two-
tradeoffs.html)

------
aristus
Best meditation advice I got was completely unexpected so I took it to heart.
It was in a footnote in a book called "Ventriloquism For The Total Dummy".

1) Dark room. Dark.

2) Lie in bed or on the floor.

3) Breathe.

4) More slowly.

5) Nope, slower. Hold it in tension.

6) Concentrate on breathing. This is not a nap.

~~~
skmurphy
This is good advice. I learned Transcendental Meditation a while ago and found
that it did relieve stress. I also found that when I was tired I would fall
asleep instead of meditating since that's what my body needed. I try and do it
when I first wake up in the morning for 20 minutes and again sometime before
dinner. Sleep and exercise are also good at reducing stress, but I have
definitely found that meditation helps me to relax and reframe my perceptions.

------
bumbledraven
<http://dhamma.org> puts on 10-day silent Buddhist meditation retreats at
retreat centers around the world. They're supported entirely by donations:
they don't charge for the retreats, nor do they accept donations from people
who haven't attended one.

I've participated in retreats at a few of their locations and helped out on
the volunteer staff a few times. The stuff they teach, though basic -- observe
your breath & observe the sensations in your body -- is really useful.

~~~
cool-RR
I recommend this organization too. I would recommend to anyone to attend one
of those 10-day courses.

They assume you have no background knowledge whatsoever about meditation, and
they teach you everything you need to know. The course is very intensive and
hard, but it's really really rewarding. It's a life-changing experience.

I attended this course a few years ago, and while I don't meditate regularly,
I do meditate sometimes for 30 minutes. I do it when I feel stressed, or
overworked, or when I feel my urges are controlling me. It works great against
these things. I feel like this meditation is a sort of super-powerful weapon
that I can pull out when life gets tough.

As I said, highly recommended.

~~~
jodrellblank
Can you explain more about what it involves and in what ways it is
intensive/hard, please?

(Genuine curiosity not dismissiveness)

~~~
cool-RR
I will attempt to summarize Vipassana as I understand it.

According to Vipassana, all misery comes from "Sankaras". A Sankara is either
a craving or an aversion. In other words, wanting something badly, needing it
emotionally. The feeling associated with addiction.

You have a lot of different little sankaras going on in your daily life.
Vipassana is all about systematically eliminating them. It's a sort of ultra-
rehab. But they deal directly with sensations: It doesn't matter what the
object of the addiction is. They won't talk with you about cigarettes if
you're addicted to smoking. They just teach you to feel yourself all over your
body, and whenever you feel a sankara, you have to (gently but firmly) destroy
it. You destroy it by simply observing it objectively. Over time, you notice
that you have less and less sankaras.

 _Why is it intensive/hard?_

The hard part is having to deal with your sankaras all the time. This is very
hard.

The intensive part is because there is so much meditation. It's somewhere
around 10 hours a day, if I remember correctly, with the biggest chunk being
two hours long. You wake up real early and start meditating right away. You
have few hours to sleep. There is no dinner. (This is intentional: it's
supposed to be better for meditation.) You aren't even allowed to exercise.

I think it's worth it though. I took it twice.

You can check out their site too: <http://www.dhamma.org/>

------
jpancake
<http://www.dogensangha.org/video.htm> has a couple (slightly tilted) videos
explaining the basic posture of zen meditation.

Your body needs to be in an alert or awake position in order for you to be
able to settle into yourself. Sitting on a couch will just make you sleepy.

It's also hugely important not to expect anything out of your meditation.
"Having trouble focusing" is only a symptom of what's actually going on.
Meditation won't make it go away; but, if you stick with it, you'll likely
gain insight into the causes of it, and hopefully find more productive ways of
dealing with it.

~~~
llimllib
> It's also hugely important not to expect anything out of your meditation

Thanks for saying that... it's such an important bit, but so difficult to
actually live, and it's ignored by most.

------
michael_dorfman
I'd suggest finding a meditation teacher, most likely through a meditation
center. Meditation is not easy to learn from books, and the instruction really
benefits from discussions around how it is going for you in particular.

Personally, I learned to meditated from a Shambhala center. They teach
shamatha/vipassana meditation, which are the two most common forms of Buddhist
meditation. The (over-simplified) explanation is that Shamatha is about
quieting the mind, and Vipassana about awareness/insight.

In terms of your basic question, meditation _can_ be as simple as sitting on
the couch and watching empty space for a couple of minutes, if you are sitting
on the couch and watching empty space the right way. Generally speaking, there
are postures that serve better than couch-sitting, and instructions that are
more sophisticated than "watching empty space", and a qualified meditation
instructor can help you with those.

If you really don't have access to a local instructor, get in touch with me
privately, and I'll see what I can do for you.

------
zensmile
I have tried meditation at the local Shambhala center (2 years) and also
meditation after Vinyasa Flow Yoga session (1 year so far). I found both
rewarding. They were rewarding for different reasons though. It would take
volumes to note the differences. Essentially, the first was more spiritual and
the second was physical and spiritual. This book may help you...
<http://tinyurl.com/bfqdq9> I go to yoga class weekly and practice sitting
meditation less, but try to fit in a session once or twice a month. Good luck.

------
robg
If stress is the problem, I would try a more active martial art like karate,
tai chi, kung fu, etc. Exchanging sitting in one place and breathing for
another place and breathing doesn't seem like an optimal solution. Better to
get moving around while learning to control your breath. Running does that
too, but I find it's rough on my joints.

EDIT: I neglected yoga, which is excellent for de-stressing and working out
daily kinks. The problem is it's popular and so it's expensive. As an extra
bonus, if you're single, there are many worse places to be than in a yoga
class.

~~~
cadalac
I play on a hockey team. Helps you forget about other things. Plus smacking a
puck, or people occasionally is good for relieving stress. The only draw back
is getting an intense work out right before going to bed doesn't really help
your sleep.

------
rsheridan6
Five minutes just doesn't cut it. Think about how long it takes to get in the
proper state of mind for hacking. I don't even bother if I know I'm going to
have to stop in less than an hour. Meditation is similar (but I'd say you need
20 minutes, not an hour).

I did a ten day course with these guys: <http://www.dhamma.org/>

I found it to be difficult, but worthwhile. I'm not going to do a brain dump
of my experiences here, but I came back with no shortage of focus, that's for
sure.

Here's a thread where people talk about their experiences at this course:
[http://www.yoga.com/forums/forums/thread-
view.asp?tid=18216&...](http://www.yoga.com/forums/forums/thread-
view.asp?tid=18216&start=1)

They tell you at the retreat that you should practice for an hour twice daily
after you get back. I did that for awhile, but you feel like you're
backsliding doing it for "just" two hours daily, after having put in roughly
100 hours in 10 days, and I was working 12 hour days at the time, so all I
really did was work, meditate, and sleep. I ended up switching to this mantra-
based approach: <http://www.aypsite.org/13.html> instead, because it only
takes 20 minutes twice a day and seems to give you more benefit per time spent
(this is not to say that this program is necessarily better than Vipassana,
but it's easier to maintain while you're living in the real world). This is
basically the same thing as TM, except you don't have to pay $2000 for a
mantra. The people involved in this are too new-agey for my tastes, but the
techniques will get you out of that permanent fight-or-flight reaction that
does nothing but harm in the modern world.

The bottom line: do the 10 day course or something similar if you can and you
are up to it. If not, a mantra for 20 minutes or so will help you deal with
stress (although working out might be a good way to deal with too).

~~~
chris11
While I'm sure there is a difference between 5 and 20 minutes, I do find a
five minute meditation break useful. It's a nice break between classes, and I
end up feeling more focused.

------
jscn
Try reading <http://thegrowinglife.com/2008/03/meditation-guide/> followed by
<http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html>

------
rscott
You have to realize it IS different than staring into empty space. The
breathing is the most important part, as aristus mentioned. Just try some deep
belly breathing with your eyes closed for five minutes. The effects can be
drastic. Good luck.

------
unohoo
if you're looking for yogic meditation, then its true essence lies in the
breathing technics.

There are variations to the breathing technics - so its important that you do
a little research on it rather than just randomly trying out something.

Search for 'baba ramdev' in google/youtube - he's a yoga guru in India who's
achieved cult status.

~~~
nose
Have you read "Autobiography of a Yogi"? I'm half way through the book and am
loving it.

~~~
zupatol
This book tells about so many miracles that I mostly appreciated it for its
weirdness.

I liked the part where the immortal himalaya yogi instantly makes a palace
appear, walks in it for a while with his pupil, and makes it disappear again.
The point was just to get rid of a desire for luxury that remained in the
pupil's karma (or something like that).

------
vikram
Mind Performance Hacks by Ron Hale-Evans has a bunch of recipes which deal
with meditation. You could probably get it on <http://safari.informit.com> I
think the first couple of weeks is free.

Fourfold Breath is the basic technique. Or google pranayama yoga. I idea is to
control your breathing and through that control your being.

------
10ren
An aspect of some meditation is getting into a _sensing mode_ instead of a
_judging/thinking mode_. One way to do this is to focus on perceiving:

\- focus on your breath (count to N as you breath in; count to N as you breath
out - where N=4 or some other integer that is comfortable for you. I sometimes
use N=2 if I'm very stressed).

\- focus on the texture of something in the real world - trace the _actual_
edge of a rock, or a doorway, or a road. Don't skip ahead with your idea of
the edge - trace the actual edge, observe the actual texture of it.

\- focus on the sounds around you, middle, near (your own sounds, breath,
cloth moving) and far (traffic hum, birds, wind).

Being in nature, and thinking about what is stressing me, then observing
infinite reality around me (sky, ocean, plants, earth) somehow calms me and
puts things in perspective: those things are _much_ more complex. I also get
ideas from this new perspective. :-)

Not saying these will work for you. But one of them might.

------
rokhayakebe
Work out daily (even for just 20 minutes). Have more sex (differentiate).

------
MaysonL
Sit on the couch, stare into empty space, and notice your breathing. Now,
notice the thoughts that creep in - don't fight them, don't obsess over them:
just observe them. Welcome them, and let them go. Keep noticing your
breathing.

Rinse, repeat (daily).

------
IsaacSchlueter
Disclaimer: I am not an expert. What follows is what has worked pretty good
for me. YMMV. Consult your doctor before beginning this or any exercise
program. Etc.

The best book that I've seen on the subject is "How to Meditate" by Lawrence
LeShan. <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316880620>

Meditation isn't magic, it's not stress relief, and it's not easy. Approach it
like working out, because that's what it is. Do some research, formulate a
routine, keep track of your progress, and maybe even get a friend to join you
on the path so you can help each other stay motivated. It's easy to quit, and
there will be LONG stretches when it seems like you've plateaued and there's
no point.

Imagine if your legs got sore and tired every time you walked from your
apartment to the car. You might conclude (correctly) that you need exercise
your legs to make them stronger so that you won't get sore so easily. However,
the first few times you work out, you'll be much _more_ sore than otherwise.

Similarly, stress may be indicating that you need more balance and self-
awareness. Meditation can give you that, but it can be a very stressful
experience! At first, it may seem like it's making things worse. In fact, if
you're doing it right, you'll probably hate it a little, because it won't be
comfortable.

On the other hand, stress may be indicating that you need to make your heart
and lungs stronger, and increase your muscle mass. So get out and move around.

I've had great results from physical activity like biking regularly. I just
recently started taking taekwondo, and it's pretty incredible. It's best if
it's something repetitive that you can gradually get better at with practice.

You might also consider seeing a shrink to talk about what's stressing you
out. No one gets out of childhood without scars, and there's no shame in
tackling the problem head on with a professional. Do you fix your own pipes?
Remove your own wisdom teeth? Sew your own clothes? Isn't your mind even more
complex than all of these things? Get help. Like meditation and exercise,
therapy might not "feel good"; it's work that you do for long-term benefit,
and it should hurt a little.

------
edw519
Training wheels for aspiring meditators:

<http://www.mindfold.com/>

(Don't laugh, _nothing_ has ever worked better for me.)

------
vivekkhurana
I do couple of meditations like whirling, vipsana, gibberish etc. depending on
the need of my body. Meditation is not a quick fix, infact initially
meditation might result in fall in productivity as your body energy is re-
balanced. Meditation is a long term solution and if learned properly, it will
improve your productivity and make you less stressful. So, the most important
point is to learn meditation from a master. I will suggest you stay away from
the websites etc. which talk about meditation as most of them are money making
pockets which teach half cooked ways to make you flowing money towards them.
Btw, a proper sleep is one of the best form of meditation and if you are
suffering from lack of sleep, you should increase the physical activity, for
instance play tennis for one hour daily. This will de-stress you as well as
ensure good sleep at night. Ensure 6-8 hrs of sleep everyday, this is the
natures way to get rid of stress....

------
lallysingh
Mine's pretty simple:

1\. Get a good noise-blocking pair of headphones. Such as the Etymotic ER-6is
I have.

2\. Get some relaxing music. I usually pick up an album a month of new music.
It keeps the music effective.

3\. Walk around a bit with the headphones playing the music. Just outside the
office is fine, maybe up & down a street or two -- depends on where you/the
office is.

~~~
tjr
Shameless plug: <http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/trevisr>

------
abijlani
Meditation is not a quick fix. It is a journey inside oneself where you
uncover a lot of things about yourself and especially your mind.

Stress relieving can be done in several ways such as: running, yoga, swimming
or even just something simple like doodling or painting.

Few good books if you really want to look into meditation are:
[http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-
Mindfulness/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-
Mindfulness/dp/1401307787) [http://www.amazon.com/Minute-Meditation-Quiet-
Mind-Change/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Minute-Meditation-Quiet-Mind-
Change/dp/0399529950) [http://www.amazon.com/Book-Secrets-Keys-Love-
Meditation/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Secrets-Keys-Love-
Meditation/dp/0312180586)

------
JesseAldridge
_"I am basically failing to see the difference between meditation and sitting
on the couch and watching empty space for a couple of minutes."_

For me, they are the exact same thing. Just relax and stop working on anything
for a while. Just sit there. Think about work, think about people you know, or
don't think about anything at all, it doesn't really matter. Time passes
amazingly slowly when you're not doing anything. I find random thoughts start
naturally flowing through my head when I do this.

I've also known people who seem physically incapable of doing this. They sit
for maybe twenty seconds, then some neuron fires in their brain, and they're
off running again like a hamster in a wheel. Those people never seem to do
well in the long run. Don't be a hamster :)

------
seed_funding
Simple advice of avoidance: Think of the fire in a fireplace. You can get
close to it, you can stare at it. It's in front of you, but it's not burning
you. If you get in the fireplace, you will instantly burn yourself! Stress is
like that. Even if the environment is stressful, catch yourself when you
realise its taking you (i.e. the moment you feel a tension inside you). Stop
and think. Calm yourself down. You can tell yourself that nothing is as
important as your well being - and its true. You can also tell yourself that
as long as you feel calm and well, you can always fix the problem - also true.
This is my way of avoiding the fire. You do get a few burn marks here and
there, of course :)

------
subwindow
Try progressive muscle relaxation. That works better for me than meditation
because I'm doing something to keep my mind from wandering.

After you get used to it, you can do it by yourself, but starting out I find
it better to do it along with a recording. I have rhapsody, so I use the
tracks on this album. Both of them are good, but I think the progressive one
is better.

[http://www.rhapsody.com/phd-edward-a-
charlesworth/relaxation...](http://www.rhapsody.com/phd-edward-a-
charlesworth/relaxation-and-stress-management-program-progressive-and-deep-
muscle-relaxation)

If you don't have rhapsody, you can listen to them with the trial, or maybe
try to get them from iTunes or Amazon or something.

------
dcnstrct
If you want to explore a full range of meditation techniques, check out Osho's
"The Book of Secrets". It explains the 112 methods from one of the ancient
texts describing the various methods of meditation (or dhyana in sanskrit).

Read through it, try a few, see what works for you. Different techniques work
for different people.

The best is to learn in a live environment from a trained teacher. I recommend
Isha Yoga (www.ishafoundation.org) They have a program called "inner
engineering" which imparts a yogic practice which is quite effective at
lowering stress and bringing clarity to the mind. There have even been some
scientific studies looking at changes in the brain through doing the practice.

------
FlorinAndrei
1\. Do the MSF class 2\. Get an M1 driver license 3\. Get a sportbike, start
riding

There are some risks involved...

<http://florin.myip.org/blog/node/22>

...but it will disconnect you from all stress and worries in a tremendous way.

------
subbu
I was under a lot of stress some time back. I started exploring meditation,
and other related stuff to solve my problem. But the actual problem turned out
to be something else. I was not sleeping enough. I had a shitload of debt. I
was traveling every weekend for about 1400 kilometers to be with my family. I
wasn't meeting my friends. I ignored my back problem.

In the last months, I cleared a major portion of my debts, relocated to my
home town, started doing yoga/exercise regularly took care of my back
problem... I am solving each of my problems one by one. The stress levels are
slowly coming down.

------
holaamigos
I have a meditation hack that works real well for me.

Imagine a sine wave, a real smooth one (or a circle, with a revolving point on
the circumference). Breath as a sine wave, very slowly and gently reversing
the direction of your breathing. Reverse so gently, that there is no clicking
or jerking. It is actually quite hard and requires a lot of patience and
focus. It is incredibly relaxing.... give it a try.

In contrast to the majority of the rest of the posts, I have found meditation
to be very valuable to relieve work related stress.

------
llimllib
If you're interested at all in what zen is, I really enjoyed this very small
book: <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0802130550/> .

------
johnm
(0) Get a check up by your physician. I.e., check for and treat any medical
factors (high blood pressure, obesity, sleep disorders, etc.).

(1) Start regular exercise. For stress, it's better to do smaller
amounts/intensities more often than to do too much but infrequently.

(2) Check your diet. Too much processed sugar and caffiene in addition to the
usual issues around sodium imbalance. Also good to look into what and how much
you eat later in the day and how that affects your sleep. Also, make sure that
you're staying well hydrated.

(3) There are lots of different things that people jumble together under the
notion of "meditation" -- especially as it's accreted into a big business for
some people. Serious, hard-core forms of meditation that have been shown to
have long-term transformative effects physiologically often induce (certain
forms of) stress (otherwise, how are you going to learn to deal with it? :-).
I'm all for learning this but it's not a quick fix to stress management.

(4) A lot of the basic, introductory techniques that are often passed on as
being part of "meditation" are really just relaxation techniques. They are
great to learn because you can often apply them nearly anytime and anywhere.

In particular, self-guided relaxation of each area of your body is a fantastic
tool to help with stress. It's also each to fit into whatever chunks of time
you have available (3 seconds, 3 minutes, 3 hours, whatever :-). For those
quick, at your desk, self-checks I would suggest especially focusing on
tension being carried in and around the mouth, face, head, neck and then
shoulders. Also a good time to tune up one's posture.

(5) Do more (light) stretching. The lighter side of yoga, etc.

(6) Take more small breaks. Get a drink, pee, stare off into space, stretch,
do some relaxation, take a walk, listen to some music, etc.

(7) Get enough rest.

(8) "Clean your plate." I.e., really finishing things so that you can let them
go. Even seemingly silly things like keeping the sink clean, dishes washed and
put away, etc. can have a bigger affect on stress levels than you might think.
Doing a nightly list of things you need to deal with tomorrow is also a good
ritual to start.

(9) Write in a journal. Self-reflection, venting, etc. but be sure to also
celebrate, too.

Hope this helps, John

------
bad_user
<http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/author.html>

------
jonmc12
Meditation, lazy style: <http://www.centerpointe.com/>

I've experimented with positive results. The program has also been recommended
by 2 trusted friends. I'm not sure just how effective it is compared to
typical meditation practices, but worth checking out.

------
gcheong
<http://www.relaxationresponse.org/steps/>

------
rgrieselhuber
Others have similar advice, but I get my best stress-relief / combined workout
and meditation from martial arts (Shorinji Kempo), yoga and hiking. Zazen is
something I've started a little bit. It's very challenging but fascinating in
its own right. Also pottery has been good.

------
CulturalNgineer
try biofeedback... with meditation type exercises... search for WildDivine I
think...

I found it helpful..

~~~
andr
That looks useful, but I would prefer not to have to sit in front of the
computer.

~~~
CulturalNgineer
Agree and understand.. after brief basic use can use the biofeedback feature
alone (i no longer use the "game" aspects) with simple finger clip... (get
"grapher" option) and then may not even need that...

------
abl
I often found meditation easy to transition into after yoga. If you don't feel
like going to a pure meditation course, try a yoga class at your local gym,
and ask the instructor if they allocate any time toward meditation.

------
awfabian
Focus is really easy. Or at least simple. Pick something, and focus on it.
Take it deadly seriously. Focus like your life depends on it. FOCUS. Keep
doing it. Do not stop for anything. Do it many times per day for long periods
of time.

That's how I got started. Since I was REALLY planning to focus, I wanted some
basic assurance that I wasn't throwing my mind into some kind of black hole I
couldn't get out of. (Remember how seriously I was planning to try to focus.)
I decided that an alarm clock or timer would be my signal that I could release
my focus. I was sort of worried about losing myself or my ego entirely, so I
would tell myself that there's no possible way that could happen. (I'd
eventually fall asleep, wake up, and my personality would be reloaded.) I made
sure that everything could stay on hold for a couple of hours--no fire on the
oven, whatever. Mostly, this was just to get rid of any possible excuse for
not focusing to the highest degree I could ever achieve. Anyway, I did this
for many hours per day while I was unemployed, and ... it works. You will
focus like you've never focused before. Amazing things will happen--I remember
meditating in my room, and hearing a family member call my name... except that
I only perceived it as physical sensation. It was only after I was done
meditating that I recalled the sensation that had hit my ears and knew that
someone had tried to call me--it had no meaning during the duration the
meditation. It actually can be kind of dangerous if you do it like that
because you can go past the level of unresponsiveness would you get in sleep.
You reach a point where even if you felt pain, you just wouldn't respond. The
neurons would fire, you would perceive it, and your mind would assign no
meaning; you just wouldn't "care."

If you focus to that degree, you can't be stressed, because you simply have
absolutely no thought of anything that can stress you, and even if you did,
you would not comprehend / respond do it. Getting good at meditating like this
can steam-roll _everything._ I swear I was in states of mind where losing an
arm wouldn't have concerned me in the slightest.

I remeber afterward, in times of stress, I would start meditating like this
again. Eventually, you're just different. Like, I would feel stress start to
rise, and then just decide to block it out. I don't know exactly how to
describe it, but it's like if you can push your attention around so rigidly,
you can just refuse to pay attention to anything, and it just goes away. You
can feel the stress rise, then just focus on it an ... extinguish it. It's
hard to explain. You can stop it as if it were an ordinary voluntary thought.

------
mrbuwch
I found this book to be a good introduction: [http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-
Mindfulness-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Mindfulness-
Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/0807012394)

------
nsrivast
This is pretty good:

<http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm>

------
rw
I agree with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. My goal in meditation is to stop
"thinking in words".

~~~
coffeemug
Your only goal should be to notice what you're feeling and thinking and to
return to the object of meditation.

If you set a goal such as "stop thinking in words" you will never actually
stop thinking in words because this is what you're thinking about.

~~~
rw
I mean that that is the object _of_ my meditation, not what I think about
while I am meditating.

------
sutro
I would recommend a different m-word ending in "-ation."

------
longfellow
I sat down for a long time in a deep, calm, state of meditation and achieved
the realization that yogic meditation = bullshit.

