ZZZZ

For 5000 pounds you could sleep with dozens of shallow women and gain the confidence yourself... There's also nothing he could teach you that you can't learn yourself.

Could be calculus if dental hygeine is poor, but it would be pretty obvious (especially if it's starting to cover the occlusal surface)

Without disclosing my personal details too much, I know quite a bit about teeth and the oral cavity. @Michael569 is a little off on his description of periodontitis. Periodontisis is due to bone loss under the gums which cause the gums to recede (doesn't sound related to what you've mentioned, and you can't spontaneously regain bone). Remineralization of enamel IS possible, which is typically achieved with fluoride. This can prevent a cavity from forming deeper in your tooth (to a layer called dentin), but teeth do not grow thicker beyond their natural anatomy. Fruit/vegetable juices are acidic and sugary, which will actually erode your enamel if consumed multiple times a day for long periods of time. You can rinse your mouth or brush after to prevent this. Same concept with GERD and bulimic patients who expose their teeth to stomach acid frequently. I will say that there could be some subtle changes in your TMJ, muscles of mastication, periodontal ligaments, etc. based on a lack of pressure for long periods of time that you may be picking up on somehow, but I honestly think it might just be mental. Hope this helps

Hey guys, I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips/resources for rewiring habitual, impulsive judgments about others. I've noticed that my awareness is so many times better when I'm alone, and being around others distracts me quite a bit. What I am most unsettled by is how rapidly my mind immediately and impulsively picks out any judgement it possibly can about another person, doesn't matter who it is. If it's an attractive woman its usually something sexual, but if not, its really any possible (usually) negative judgement that comes to mind at the time... I know that I'm not necessarily in control of these thoughts occurring, but there must certainly be a way to decrease their occurrence, or turn these negative judgments into objective or positive observations instead. It really affects the way I see and interact with other people, and it is one of the last byproducts of lower level consciousness that I've got left to address. Any insights are appreciated, thanks.

Yeah, exactly. A thought is a thought, interpreting it any further is just assigning an additional layer of meaning to it. So instead of fixating on one "theme" of thoughts I've noticed, I am just going to treat them like any other thought, and continue to let them go until they are no longer a part of my awareness EDIT: I am extremely pleased with my ability to go back and answer my own questions with a little prompting and deeper thought now. It's as if I have finally grasped this whole consciousness thing and only need to continue to put it into practice until it is seamless and automatic

@Faceless You lost me there... I was mostly referring to what @Nahm mentioned about focusing on the breath and attaining awareness without thoughts, judgement, etc. I was saying that after thinking about it, I don't see why I need to discriminate one thought from the next; the content is inherently lacking in substance/significance, so I do not see why I need to assign it any more meaning by creating further dualities.

Thanks for the responses guys. I know not to judge myself for having my thoughts. These thoughts are just very quick to occur and consistent, versus the other random subjects of monkey mind that I find myself observing, so I didn't know if there was anything specific I could do to work on this subject in particular. Getting rid of all thoughts follows the same logic though I suppose, so I'll keep at it with meditation and awareness.

So recently I've come to a crossroads with authenticity and dating. On the one hand, I have come to realize that I am not the body, I have no reason whatsoever to care about what people say or think about me (especially my physical appearance), and that I should be as authentic as possible in just about every aspect of my life. On the other hand... I have been dating off and on with more success than I've had in the past, but realize that part of this success is due to various levels of inauthenticity on my part. Some examples that come to mind: Lifting weights to build muscle mass with a primarily aesthetic motive, cutting and styling my hair/facial hair a certain way, wearing certain clothing and combinations of clothing that I do not typically wear (ie a collar to make my neck look shorter or smarter clothing in general), body language/demeanour, specific converational topics, etc. Now with each of these points there are aspects of each that also make me happy, and I've recently altered my lifestyle and choices to be more authentic in general. However, I find that I am still plagued with this crossroads on a daily basis. I catch myself being influenced by the fact that women have responded more favorablly to these things than they have to various alternatives in the past. Experience has steered me in a certain direction, so to speak, as I've gotten indirect and direct feedback from more and more women (hell, think "likes" on a photo for a crude example of this). While I am primarily interested in reaching higher levels of consciousness and authenticity, I realize that the majority of women are extremely influenced by cultural and social norms that dictate what they should and should not find attractive or desirable in a potential partner. While it would be extremely easy to just say screw it and do whatever I want to do in the name of authenticity, I honestly think my success in finding suitable women to date would diminish drastically. Do I continue playing the dating "game" and reel women in with some initial inauthenticity, or do you think I'm better off putting dating on the backburner and strictly just being myself? I've kind of answered this for myself already, it's just extremely difficult to take this plunge, and I don't know where to draw the line. "I don't like shaving my face so I'll let my neck beard go an extra couple days... This green shirt is more comfortable than my blue one so it doesn't matter if I'm not matching... Sweatpants are more comfortable than jeans so may as well wear those out???" Idk, just throwing stuff out there. At a certain point these hygeine standards etc. also indirectly make me feel better about myself too, which is another tough aspect. The whole "look good, feel good" thing. Being clean, groomed, and well dressed makes me feel better than when I am unkept in bummy clothing, but this still doesn't change the influence I've described above on a finer level.

(tl;dr at the end) Hey guys, I have been a long time lurker and watcher of Leo's videos for about a year now. I figured I would finally make an account and ask a question about a reoccuring theme I've noticed every time I start to make mindfulness a priority in my life. Leo's video on lonliness kind of comes to mind as I'm thinking about this, and I will probably rewatch it soon. I'm just curious if anyone else has shared an experience like this, and what exactly it could be attributed to. I don't have a ton of really good friends, and I generally have to put in some sort of effort (even minimally) to find myself in social settings, especially with larger groups. I guess that's pretty standard, but I find myself wanting to put in that effort less and less every day, which is also a vicious cycle in terms of what social opportunities are available to me. I've always been capable of being alone, and I generally enjoy my own company just fine. That being said, I haven't necessarily felt "lonely" in a while like I used to in the past. The more I meditate, self inquire, and practice mindfulness, the more I no longer feel the urge to "put myself out there" and wedge my way into social situations. This has deteriorated what would be stronger relationships with those involved in these social situations, however, I just don't feel like I "click" with almost anyone anymore like I used to in the past. I'm not interested in the same filler activities and conversations, and I'm just as content sitting in my room doing those things alone if I really want to. At first I feel a bit of FOMO whenever I'm making this transition back into mindfulness work, but whenever I really delve deeper into my development, the more I feel like it just doesn't matter to try and maintain these superficial connections with people anymore. I guess I've become somewhat of a recluse, and I still question whether this is something I should be focusing on or worrying about. I've cycled in and out of making this work a priority in my life, and this response has only become stronger, with the lonliness being less and less of a factor each time (which would typically pull me back into my old ways). Has anyone experienced something similar? I guess I'm just looking for a way to make sense of all this, because it has been a pretty stark shift in my outlook which I feel is generally frowned upon. (tl;dr: As I meditate and become more mindful, I find myself wanting to involve myself in social situations less. I no longer feel lonliness or FOMO like I used to when I have experienced this inthe past. What are your thoughts/experiences with this?)

I think the best way to trust anything is through direct experience. The tricky part is having a "true" experience, instead of just taking something for face value, or tricking yourself internally that you've experienced something when you really haven't. This is a pretty vague answer for a pretty vague question. I will say that even someone like Leo could be "deluding" you (intentionally or otherwise), so it is a good skill to be able to take a step back and evaluate anything that is presented to you at face value. Sometimes you just have to fuck up to rule things out too, and that's okay.

Hmm, so being conscious of wearing the mask is different than unconsciously wearing the mask. That makes sense. I guess I need to work on the inverse; not doing things out of fear, ie not wearing something different or unique because of whatever potential reaction from others may occur.

Sounds like what I remember of afterglow from MDMA/psychedelics or something. Maybe you just had a lot of seratonin going that day and you were a little extra conscious/attentive? Life is awesome, I'm glad you could experience that naturally

Like @Nahm said above, perhaps the meditation gives you a temporary clarity/higher level of consciousness that allows you to clear your mind and drop the anxiety associated with your exams (that you are mustering up on your own). Your reasoning for doing so may be rooted in ego, but I do not see why you should view all meditation in this way. The positive habit has obviously beneffited you in some way... No need to worry further

Could you elaborate on my mind/thinking catching up? I was thinking this might be the case though, thank you.

@onacloudynight Hmm, good to hear I'm not alone. I remember having very enjoyable experiences with other people in the past, but I also find it more difficult to stay highly conscious when I'm around other people (which then begins to interefere with the consciousness work). I guess there are just more distractions and tricky trains of thought to wade through. My ultimate goal would be to have any sort of interaction and remain on the same level of consciousness, but it just seems like I might be spending a lot of time alone for a while.