They seriously want you to pay for meditation? That's absolute bull crap. The best advice I've ever gotten for meditation: Just sit. Make it at least 15 minutes. Maintain good posture; some of the positive effects of meditation relate to spending time with your spinal chord straight, stomach a little out, rib cage supported, leading to good blood flow to the brain. Let your mind wander, but don't lose focus of your posture.
It is said that when one is still for long enough, the brain switches modes. The unmoving mind. We spend all day interacting with the world, filling our brains with facts, experiences, feelings, etc. Take a step back and empty your mind. But don't pay money for it.
I havent started paying yet, but I wonder if its worth it? I have been using the free version and find it very good.
Having said that, it sounds like if I just followed your advice above I may get the same results as I get from listening to the tracks getsomeheadspace provides.
They do have some useful videos as well that explain more about meditation.Meditation was a bit of mystery to me before watching them.The gamification element also helps.
> Having said that, it sounds like if I just followed your advice above I may get the same results as I get from listening to the tracks getsomeheadspace provides.
Perhaps. Some like to listen to light jazz or classical music while meditating, but I like white noise, wind blowing, and passing traffic best. I think it's very important that you don't meditate in front of your computer because it puts your brain in a high-activity, instant-gratification mode, which is the opposite of what you want. Just the fan on my computer in enough to make me think about checking reddit or my email or whatever. Even something as simple as moving to a room you don't normally stay in can be enough to wind down your mind and become more relaxed.
> Meditation was a bit of mystery to me before watching them.
Meditation IS a mystery. If anyone ever tells you "IT IS THIS!", they are wrong. There are countless methods devised by people from all over the world and they all work. Some think you must lay down and listen to music. Others think you must sit cross-legged. Some even believe you must to it standing up! Some think you must count to ten, others say do it backwards. There are those who say think "nothing", and those who say think "anything". Some say "concentrate", some say "relax".
These appear to be daily guided meditations, not just doing Zazen every day.
That said, I think the guy doing the videos (Andy Puddicombe I believe) does not have a good voice for this, or at least needs additional vocal training. He's nasal and too high pitched for me to be relaxed by it. I'm on edge after listening to one video. Perhaps a sound guy could fix it, but I'm guessing he's doing to have to go to a coach to learn how to get the nasal out and how to boom his voice a bit.
It is said that when one is still for long enough, the brain switches modes. The unmoving mind. We spend all day interacting with the world, filling our brains with facts, experiences, feelings, etc. Take a step back and empty your mind. But don't pay money for it.