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Always thought that meditation entailed deep contemplation, e.g., the meaning of life. Planned to explore this discipline hopefully to remember certain childhood experiences. But I am floored to learn that meditation involves nothing more than clearing the mind of all thoughts except for the self-awareness of .... breathing! Focus on inhalation .... now focus on exhalation. That's it.
Guess for my goal of opening the memory banks, I should've pursued hypnosis rather than meditation.
Meditation probably does have value to insomniacs if it's really true that by clearing your mind of all thoughts and slowing down your breathing you can actually change your brain waves from beta, to alpha (daydreaming state), and then theta (light sleep), and ultimately delta (deep sleep). But other than that .......
Meditation is quite beautiful and entrancing when you're in the zone. Something about being at peace with yourself, your inner world allows you to feel more at ease with any pain or suffering you're going through.
Try sitting along a mountain side and watching the clouds roll by. Very transcendental. Or meditate underneath the stars at night in the stillness of the moment. The crickets chirping and the midnight sky... can be quite calming.
Always thought that meditation entailed deep contemplation, e.g., the meaning of life. Planned to explore this discipline hopefully to remember certain childhood experiences. But I am floored to learn that meditation involves nothing more than clearing the mind of all thoughts except for the self-awareness of .... breathing! Focus on inhalation .... now focus on exhalation. That's it.
Guess for my goal of opening the memory banks, I should've pursued hypnosis rather than meditation.
Meditation probably does have value to insomniacs if it's really true that by clearing your mind of all thoughts and slowing down your breathing you can actually change your brain waves from beta, to alpha (daydreaming state), and then theta (light sleep), and ultimately delta (deep sleep). But other than that .......
It's not for insomnia, meditation is a practice of taming your mind, mastering your thoughts so they don't control your life. The "monkey brain" that thinks false thoughts, and races a mile a minute, the ego...it is to find inner peace and to learn to self-calm and remain peaceful despite stress. I'm sure that does lead to better sleep, but that is not what it's meant for.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Daily meditation as a self-discipline helps reduce the mental "noise". It's a slow, subtle, but definite 'cumulative' effect. And everything… including clarity & personal insight, creativity, peace-of-mind, awareness of your other 'selves' (including your unconscious side)… all benefit from the practice.
One way to think of it is, if your consciousness is your central 'air traffic controller', then is it really gonna 'direct traffic' better while working in a room where the radio's always "blaring" (with worries, fears, anger, doubts, petty distractions, etc.)?
I would also like to add: breathing exercises can really help. I like the clouds exercise where you imagine breathing in clear white clouds, inhaling, then exhaling to darker clouds as they clear and dissipate into white clouds. It's a nice visualization technique.
Try meditating in different places. I love sitting in the sauna and meditating there too, especially since it's warm and the smell of the coals really helps to relax.. not to mention the body detox of heavy metals.
If you like, burning incense and candles can also help to set the mood for some contemplative thinking and then clearing of the mind.
If you grew up praying and are used to saying certain prayers, that's also a form of meditation (even if you are non-religious).
Meditating is about being in the moment and getting in touch with your inner calm, balance.
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