@Kalki Avatar Notice how in your relationships, you never actually relate to the actual person. You're always just relating to your own needs, the way that person fits into your life. The relationship is always about you relating not who she is, but to your fantasies of what you want and need her to be. But the actual her never lives up to your fantasies so you try to change her over and over again, which still doesn't work, until eventually you give up and leave.
YOU ARE ALWAYS RELATING TO YOUR OWN EGO! Not to what is actual. You don't give a rats ass about what is actual. You want to live in a fantasy. But you want it to feel like its real. So you just call your fantasy reality.
EVERYTHING YOU DO IS YOU MAINTAINING YOUR OWN FANTASY. Every thought you have and every emotion you feel is part of this effort. Notice this. Then maybe you can learn how to relate to things actually.

That is already known about Octavio. He's worked with something like 5000+ people. Yeah, out of 5000+ people you will have one or two terrible cases, especially when smoking it outdoors.
A normal person is never gonna die from plugging 20-30mg of 5-MeO-DMT at home.
5-MeO raises heart rate for newbies. So if you have a bad heart condition, then it might be a problem. Although that raised heart rate is really only an ego reaction to facing ego-death. For example, if I take 5-MeO now my heart rate can stay pretty calm because I am used to the ego-death experience. It happens very gracefully now.
I think forcing newbies to smoke 5-MeO (as Octavio does) is bad practice. Smoking is far too harsh for many newbies to handle. I can see that some of them might totally freak out. The best method for newbies is plugging synthetic. I would only suggest smoking to advanced psychonauts who already had a 5-MeO breakthrough.

No, this is false. Look carefully at the present moment. It has no suffering in it.
Suffering is ALL mind. Stop fucking around, stop playing mind games, and observe how your mind is creating suffering. You ARE doing it! Notice this. Your mind is subtly interpreting and projecting negative meaning onto the present moment. You must look carefully to spot yourself doing this. From now on, every time you feel bad, you ask yourself "How am I creating this feeling? What must I believe to feel this way? What must I think to feel this way?"
I can tell you exactly what happened to you. You got lucky and caught a solid glimpse of the Ox because my video blindsided your ego. It hit you out of blue, thus bypassing many egoic defense mechanisms. But your mind did not have a solid enough foundation to permanently hold this insight. The ego figured out a way to reassert itself and now it has doubled its defense mechanisms. It will not allow another easy, lucky break. Now you're gonna have to work for it.
My guess is you are depressed because you want that enlightenment back and yet you don't know how go get it back. You thought catching a glimpse of the Ox was gonna solve all your problems and make life peachy without any serious spiritual work. And now you are starting to see that was just a fantasy. This is why you're depressed.
But the truth is, you just got lucky. It was never really gonna hold because you have not done almost any work decontructing that big fat ego. You cannot be enlightened and maintain all of your habitual daily egoic manipulations, beliefs, attitudes, etc. All of that needs to be broken down piece by piece. You need to undo yourself and your life. The way you carry yourself every minute of every day IS ego! All of your emtional reactions and thought patterns must be purified through patient observation and contemplation.
Stop thinking of enlightenment as a magic pill. You must also become deeply conscious of your daily actions, thoughts, and emotions. Enlightnement is only likely to stick if your entire mind is deconstructed. So cheer up and begin that procees.
Cheer up because you were even so lucky as to get a 10 day glimpse. That takes most people YEARS of work. You got it for free.
Yes, finding God and then losing God is very frustrating. But also totally normal and common in this work. Awaking up is not like flipping a light switch, it's more like a kid playing with a light switch, flickering it on and off many many times.

@bazera
Set out a 5 days self inquiry retreat at home. Every single day, just sit casually in your study desk and self-inquire for 10-12 hours. No one will even suspect that you are doing anything weird. Preferably do 30 minutes sessions followed by 5 minutes of walking (don't make your legs and waist sore).
By the end of 3rd or 4th day, you should have a very palpable, unforgettable and 'clean' non-dual glimpse. You'll easily see why you should work towards this mode of being. For the first time, you may encounter unmixed happiness. Also the good news is, the effects would last few days to weeks if it's a sufficiently powerful breakthrough. You may have mini glimpses here and there from day 1, but don't stop until it hit you like a thunderbolt and spontaneously stops all self-inquiry and activity. You'll know when it hits you.
The technique of Self-Inquiry:
Step 1: Relinquish all your interest and fascination from all objects of experience and try to 'focus' on the subject. Take the help of questions like ''who is aware?'', ''Who is the perceiver?''
Step 2: Any 'thing' you land on as yourself, clearly see that it is an object. Thus continue inquiring..''who is aware of that?''
Repeat...until the breakthrough comes. There is absolutely no need to think or try to figure out stuff from your part.
In the end, the key is solid determination to maintain this routine for 5 days without giving in to everyday distractions. The breakthrough is bound to happen if you put in the hours and don't stop the inquiry half-way by imagining yourself as a located object/body.

@Ninie You can't think you way out of this problem. You must make a distinction between thinking this stuff and observation of actuality. Less thinking, more observation is necessary. Learn to sit and observe without emotionally reacting to anything at all. Stop judging things, stop fantasizing about the future or the past. Stop thinking about yourself. Stop thinking about your life. Just sit and observe the present moment. In the present moment there is nothing sad or bad.
Start to notice when you are conscious vs when you are reacting emotionally to anything at all.

So, a little back story: At the beginning of 2018 I made the conscious decision to attend a meditation retreat. I was planning on attending a Vipassana retreat but was unable to because of of my life situation. So, I decided to set up my own backyard solo retreat for 7 full days to immerse myself into consciousness work. I knew this would be a challenge, because theres a lot of distraction available where i live. I've also heard people advise against making your first meditation retreat solo, so that put some doubts in my head of whether or not I will be able to complete it. However, I was ready to give it my best and see what happens. Also for the record, I didn't plan the structure of my schedule beforehand, other than the practices that I will use as well as the commitment to to put in a minimum of 9-10 hours of formal practices each day. 
I spent most of the retreat in my backyard cottage, which is small but fits a chair and my mattress. I cooked in my main house. 
 
Practices I used:
Mindfulness Meditation Do-nothing Labeling Feeling the body Self-inquiry / Contemplation Concentration practice Kriya Yoga Holotropic breathing The goal was to also remain mindful throughout mundane tasks like cooking and cleaning.
Heres what my typical day looked like:
10min concentration 60min do-nothing 15min concentration 60min self-inquiry 30min Kriya Yoga 60min Self-inquiry 10min Concentration 70min labeling 10min concentration  75min do-nothing 60min holotropic breathwork 10min relaxation meditation 30min labeling 30min Self inquiry 10min concentration  
Day 1
The first day was tough. Lots of strong emotions came up and I really didn't feel like myself. I was aware that this was not going to be a cake walk. Meditations were quite unfocused, but I did have a few points of access concentration. This was the day I realized on a deeper level what it means to practice & apply spirituality.
I felt restless, uneasy and quite melancholic. I felt many doubts of my purpose and of the retreat itself. I knew however, that I will do everything it takes to get this done.
 
Insights of the day:
Love people for who they are, rather than constantly projecting my opinion of what they should be more like. Compassion and understanding for others is deeply important. All this craziness and neurosis that we see everywhere is understandable, and this becomes deeply apparent on these retreats. I began to see how my mind has all those qualities too, and I saw how difficult it can be to channel that energy to something that raises our awareness.  
Day 2
Day 2 was easier than expected. Although I faced some boredom, my meditations were generally enjoyable. My monkey mind is still quite strong, especially in the morning, but calmed down a bit since yesterday. I also got a verification from myself that the purpose I've chosen for myself is the right one. All the doubting i had was basically just fear in disguise.
 
Insights of the day:
technology, entertainment and the media, all fuck up your ability to think for yourself. This became very apparent to me because I realized how much of my mind was filled with the media I had consumed prior to the retreat. This really opened my eyes to consider minimizing technology and media consumption after I leave the retreat. Trust your hearts deepest motive (as cliche as that sounds.)  
 
 
Day 3
Overall, this day was gruelling. So much boredom, mixed with addictions faced. It feels like I'm at war with my own mind. At the end of today however, I became certain that I will undoubtedly complete this retreat, because if I can withstand this, I can withstand it all. Thoughts about sex and money came up today. Thoughts like "maybe I should pursue more sex instead. This spirituality seems kinda boring, and its not what i thought it was."
 
Insights of the day:
 
The new refined concepts about what you are (Awareness, reality, God, the present) are all concepts still just concepts and none of them are any more superior self concepts than any of those former, less spiritual ones. You need to learn to transcend this in order to actually experience Truth. Less is more. Simplify your life. Do 5 tasks per day at the most, and do them deliberately. I've been overworking and trying to complete too many things each day. Distractions are created to hide the fact that you are limiting yourself. It was never the external causing any chaos, it was the internal - my mind. I got a deeper understanding of why people are addicted today. The mind is a tricky thing, and its infinitely deceptive. I really don't know anything about spirituality.  
 
Day 4
Another hard day. My monkey mind has been extremely severe for the first half of the day. Some life problems were on my mind, and i saw my mind strategizing and trying to solve those problems. My mind was also constantly looking into the future and creating new ideas, stories and goals to keep myself occupied and excited.
However, after about 6pm I suddenly went into a deep state of focus in my self inquiry session and was able to maintain it for 2 hours. This was the deepest I had ever gone with self-inquiry/meditation on a sober mind. After this, my concentration slowly dissolved.
I then decided to do a session of holotropic breathing, which went well.
 
Insights of the day:
You have not done real consciousness work until you've been to one of these retreats. This is where the embodiment process takes place. Lots of addictions, fears and unconscious aggressions come up on these retreats. Basically all the things you've been hiding in your subconscious mind - the shadow aspects of yourself bubble right up. This is therapeutic and healing, but it's painful. Its all the stuff you keep distracting yourself from with all the technology, socializing, work, sex, media, food, entertainment etc. Stop trying to "become everything" in existence. That concept you have of enlightenment needs to be chucked away. It isn't it. Stop clinging to it. If what you are is no thing, then mind will never ever be able to grasp it. Thats why you aren't enlightened yet. You're waiting for Mind to derive the answer, which is impossible. Notice how quickly you create stories about yourself and of life. Stop believing in them. Discipline yourself to the point where you see through the whole illusion.  
 
Day 5
Today was a good day in terms of meditation focus. I felt like I got great insights in terms of how self inquiry & meditation work. I also did 60min of holotropic breathing. At the end of the day I got a very deep vision of my mission on earth. I wrote it down and I fell asleep inspired & motivated.
 
Insights of the day:
 
Next time you get a negative thought/emotion about yourself; reflect on it. Don't push it away. Look directly into it and meet it with love and understanding, like it were your only child. To master yourself and spirituality you must face boredom head on. Boredom is the roadblock that keeps you from peace of mind. Stop judging friends and family for not being spiritual. This goes against what you're going after with this whole transformation process. Everyone is exactly where they personally need to be in their life. Enlightenment literally means you are everything. You are the exact thing that is happening right now. Nothing less. Compassion & real authentic empathy are key to positive relationships. These retreats are effective at showing what you value and what kind of life you want to live.  
DAY 6
Inspiring day. In the morning, I was feeling genuinely good about meditating, and felt really sure about my practice. But towards the evening I started experiencing feelings boredom & cravings. I decided to do another 60 minute session of holotropic breathing. During the session I felt no significant strong emotions, or feeling sensations other than the typical tingling sensations around various parts of the body & a weird strong rising up feeling in heart chakra for a split second. But after finishing the session, after going back to meditation, I started getting deep memories from my childhood, many of which came with a strong emotional charge. Memories of my family splitting as well as some embarrassing moments from my childhood. These feelings felt like they were bubbling up from the unconscious mind, and I took a positive attitude towards them, facing them head on and accepting them. I felt that all these emotions came up for me to let them go and so I did. After that i felt great.
 
 
Insights of the day:
Retreats will bring you closer to the sense of wonder, lightheartedness and playful attitude towards life that you felt when you were a kid. To be an extraordinary human being, you must think, act, talk, eat and create like one. Start doing this right now and it will become a reality. Sounds like some new-agey stuff but it works. Perfectionism is something I struggle with. I need to work on that. Mood is mood. Don't identify with it. Let it be there and accept it with all your heart. This is emotional mastery.  
 
DAY 7
Woke up feeling unmotivated to do the practices. Heaps of thoughts about what I will do when I leave the retreat. The last day was the hardest in terms of focus ability. I really got a close look at all the addictions that i have. Many of which I was not even aware of before. I even felt like playing video games - something I haven't felt like doing much for nearly 5 years. Ego also got really dramatic today. Towards the end of the day I got fed up with formal practices and decided to take a mindful walk. I walked down my street and started observing ants on the sidewalk. Ended up spending a good 20min just observing a group of these little guys devouring a decent sized earth worm. Fascinating stuff.
 
Insights:
A solid retreat like this will show you where you are at in terms of addictions. If you think you're not addicted, and have never been to one of these retreats, I urge you to complete one and then we can talk again. Theory is important in terms of meditation/ non-duality. Self-deception will otherwise take over completely, which will greatly hinder your ability to transcend your Self. Rude awakening: I thought concentration and focus will have exponential growth as the retreat progresses. For me it turned out to be quite the opposite.   Here are two grapths to show you what I mean:
My expectation:

 
The reality:

 
End of retreat:
I felt excited to leave the retreat, but equally melancholic. There is something beautiful about living in solitary silence, immersing yourself in spirituality. In a sense, it feels like home, since it brings you back to what it felt like to be a kid. These retreats will also be effective at deepening your vision for your life, and what it means to have a life purpose.
When I came out of this retreat, after a couple days of afterglow, I started to feel quite sad and depressed. This shocked me quite a bit. I started feeling insecure and I felt my ego wanting to kick back (something to watch out for after one of these retreats or a psychedelic trip.) After a week, I'm still not fully out of this rut, but hearing various perspectives on it from this forum has helped me tremendously. Also just the simple reminder that these kinds of reactions are normal can be enough to lift you up from that little aftershock that you may feel after one of these retreats. 
 
 
Tips for people who want to do a solo retreat:
Make sure to do a pre-mortem for your solo retreat if you plan to do one. Watch Leo's pre-mortem video for details on how to make one. Decide strictly on how many days you will do and commit to it with all your heart. Shut off all technology, close all the books and put it all away into a closet. Commit to not using any of it throughout the retreat. One exception is the Kriya workbook if you are using it. Don't get discouraged by monkey mind. There will be a lot of it. Push through. Writing down insights can be a good idea, but don't use it as a distraction from doing the formal practices.  Watch out for subtle distractions, like cleaning the place constantly, fixing things that don't really need fixing, taking "mindful walks" & snacking all the time etc.  Long-term thinking will motivate you to finish the whole retreat. Many benefits will come from doing one of these retreats.   
 
 

Yes, I know.
Which is why I wrote that warning. Doesn't sound like you're ready to handle an actual bad trip. They can get real hairy and require enormous maturity, otherwise you might do something stupid like try to get inside a car and drive yourself to the hospital and end up crashing the car.
Rule #1 for tripping: As soon as you swallow the substance, you commit 100% to riding it out. No doctors, no parents, no phone calls, no running around, no screaming. Just sit and surrender. Don't go anywhere, don't do anything.
If you're feeling negative during a trip, play some happy and energetic music and dance around to it. That will change your mood. It's safe and effective.
And when all else fails, pray to Jesus

Learn to discipline yourself and stick with projects.
Without that skill, you're basically fucked in life.
But also, only start projects which are highly meaningful to you.

@Vingger Like that girl in black, but with the top leg laying on the floor.
I am suggesting a more relaxed and easy pose. Anyone can do it. You don't need to lift your leg up anywhere fancy.
That guy in the picture is not in a good pose. His legs are too high and his heel isn't touching his taint. The legs should be more touching the floor, holding more of your weight. Knees lower to the ground. Use a firm cushion to raise your butt and lower your knees.

No, it will not give you want I said. I was talking about a serious full-length Kriya practice.
What you are doing is dabbling in one technique. That will not produce a sigificant change.
Yoga must be done seriously. If you are too cheap or too lazy to get the book and follow it rigorously, then yoga is not for you.
Yoga routines must be done perfectly. DO NOT HALF-ASS YOGA!

@Timothy Sex has nothing to do with club or party culture or pickup. Yes, all of that stuff is corrupt and very low consciousness.
But there's nothing wrong with dating people and having sex with people you're into. Don't do it for validation. Do it because you want to find a partner you can be intimate with. Sex is but one aspect of that deeper relationship. Your relationship should be about friendship and mutual growth, not sex. But the sex is a nice bonus.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/2cj4zr/lethal_dose_of_mdma/
Just to be clear, I am strongly against psychedelic use in any kind of party setting. The one taking the dose must be personally knowledgeable about dosage strengths and must weigh the substance using an accurate milligram scale. The one taking the dose MUST do research into this field. Never take psychedelics blindly, just trusting some friend to have figured it out for you.
Anything short of that, I do not condone.
MDMA is notoriously impure. Most MDMA pills are not true MDMA but contain up to 50% of dangerous filler chemicals.
MDMA is also not a true psychedelic. And I do not recommend using it for consciousness work. The brain develops life-long tolerance to MDMA very quickly. MDMA will wear out your brain, unlike other psychedelics. So watch out!
@John Lula That kind of situation will never happen to you if you follow proper protocol. You absolutely CANNOT treat psychedelics like toys or party tricks. Handle them like a loaded gun, and you will okay. Although bad trips can and will happen if you do them long enough. But they can be coped with and they tend to be very healing in the end.
The whole key is being extremely responsible and careful. If you cannot do that, then don't even think about trying psychedelics. You will seriously regret it.
But if you are responsible and careful, psychedelics will be the best thing that's ever happened to you.

There's nothing wrong with focusing on getting your life together.
Just keep your meditation practice going. It's not a big weight. Plenty of people manage to run their life and meditate an hour a day.
Kriya yoga, for example, was designed to only take about 1 hour per day. The instruction was: spend 1 hour per day on yoga and enlightenment, and the rest of your day handling your business and family obligations.
You do not need to become an ascetic to become enlightened.
Just do your practices more diligently. Quality > quantity.
I know people who do 2-3 hours per day of yoga and still manage to run a busy life.
A very effective structure is this: 1-2 hours per day of inquiry + four 10-day solo retreats per year. The rest of the time, do whatever business you got.
Another option is: take 3 months off and go balls-to-the-wall with inquiry. 24/7. Get your awakening breakthrough and then return to ordinary life, deepening your realization with 1 hour per day of meditation/yoga.

1) It will happen, just accept it. This journey is often 2 steps forward, 1 step backward. Sometimes 2 steps backward. Sometimes 3 steps backward. The key is to just keep going and re-commit yourself every new day.
2) Have a strong vision and think about it frequently. So you have some noble beckoning you.
3) Pace yourself intelligently. If you bite off too much too fast, you're actually slow down your progress. You need to learn -- through trial and error -- just how much change you're able to stomach in a given week, month, year. The more noble and compelling your vision, the more change you will be able to stomach. When my vision is really HOT, I find myself able to make lots of changes and they stick pretty well. When my vision is weak, I find myself backsliding a lot.
4) Learn to be your own cheerleader. When you fail and backslide, learn how to console yourself, reassure yourself, and cheer-lead your spirits back up. Learn positive self-talk rather than dumping all over yourself.
5) Mindfulness is huge
6) Psychedelics are huge. I've found that nothing gets me in touch with my authentic motivations better than psychedelics. They clear out all the extraneous materialistic crap. Although they too can have their own backlashes.

Nonduality is the philosophical, spiritual, and scientific understanding of non-separation and fundamental intrinsic oneness.
For thousands of years, through deep inner inquiry, philosophers and sages have come to the realization that there is only one substance and we are therefore all part of it. This substance can be called Awareness, Consciousness, Spirit, Advaita, Brahman, Tao, Nirvana or even God. It is constant, ever present, unchangeable and is the essence of all existence.
In the last century Western scientists are arriving at the same conclusion: The universe does indeed comprise of a single substance, presumably created during the Big Bang, and all sense of being – consciousness – subsequently arises from it. This realization has ontological implications for humanity: fundamentally we are individual expressions of a single entity, inextricably connected to one another, we are all drops of the same ocean.
Science and Nonduality is a journey, an exploration of the nature of awareness, the essence of life from which all arises and subsides.
What is nonduality, anyway?
There are many shades of meaning to the word nonduality. As an introduction, we might say that nonduality is the philosophical, spiritual, and scientific understanding of non-separation and fundamental oneness.
Our starting point is the statement “we are all one,” and this is meant not in some abstract sense, but at the deepest level of existence. Duality, or separation between the observer and the observed, is an illusion that the Eastern mystics have long recognized, and Western science has more recently come to understand through quantum mechanics.
Dualities are usually seen in terms of opposites: Mind/Matter, Self/Other, Conscious/Unconscious, Illusion/Reality, Quantum/Classical, Wave/Particle, Spiritual/Material, Beginning/End, Male/Female, Living/Dead and Good/Evil. Nonduality is the understanding that identification with common dualisms avoids recognition of a deeper reality.
So how can we better understand nonduality?
There are two aspects to this question, and at first glance they appear to be mutually exclusive, although they may be considered two representations of a single underlying reality.
The first aspect is our understanding of external reality, and for this we turn to science. The word science comes from the Latin scientia, which means knowledge. The beauty and usefulness of science is that it seeks to measure and describe reality without personal, religious, or cultural bias. For something to be considered scientifically proven, it has to pass exhaustive scrutiny, and even then is always subject to future revision. Inevitably human biases creep in, but the pursuit of science itself is intrinsically an evolving quest for truth. But then quantum mechanics turned much of this lauded objectivity on its head, as the role of the observer became inseparable from the observed quantum effect. It is as if consciousness itself plays a role in creating reality.  Indeed, the two may be the same thing. As quantum pioneer Niels Bohr once put it: “A physicist is just an atom’s way of looking at itself!”
The second aspect is our inner, personal experience of consciousness, our “awareness of awareness.” We have our senses to perceive the world, but “behind” all perception, memory, identification and thought is simply pure awareness itself.  Eastern mystics have described this undifferentiated consciousness for thousands of years as being the ultimate state of bliss, or nirvana. Seekers have attempted to experience it for themselves through countless rituals and practices, although the state itself can be quite simply described. As Indian advaita teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj said: “The trinity: mind, self and spirit, when looked into, becomes unity.”
The central challenge to understanding nonduality may be that it exists beyond language, because once it has been named, by definition — and paradoxically — a duality has been created. Even the statement “all things are one” creates a distinction between “one” and “not-one”! Hardly any wonder that nonduality has been misunderstood, particularly in the West.
Excerpt above from: https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/about/nonduality/
Other resources, explanations, & pointers to nonduality:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-O_KhOnJ62o
http://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/writings/what-is-nonduality/  ,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism
https://endless-satsang.com/advaita-nonduality-oneness.htm
 
 
Meditation Preparations & Considerations of The Temple (The Body)
Make changes in accordance with listening to the body via feeling. Let go of assumptions about what you know, what you can & can’t do, and who you are & are not. Be mindful of the distinction between what you directly experience, and your thought about something. Be mindful the term direct experience does not refer to a past, a now, a present, a future, or a self (these are thoughts). 
Be conscious of breathing, and breathe from the stomach. Notice the increase in awareness of feeling in the body when you do so. 
Maintain toxin free care & hygiene, such as with: preservatives, fluoride, aluminum, mercury, & neurotoxin free products and water. 
Get a routine physical & full comprehensive blood report, and review it with your doctor (preferably a Holistic Dr).
Eat clean. Food is mood, mood is clarity. Listen to your body & educate yourself about food; calories, nutrients, vitamins, supplements, etc. Your second best friend in this whole world, should be your stomach. Try several approaches to eating. Realize you only know about food from direct experience and let assumptions go. Listen to the body, put habit & preference of taste secondary to energy and clarity. Put direct experience, of how you feel, first. 
Exercise to the extent you are able, as early in the day as you are able. Don’t eat after 8pm, drink water instead. Be mindful of honesty, humility, & compassion. Pause to allow the presence of love when creating responses, vs mindlessly reacting.  
Get 8 hrs of sleep.              
Meditate early in the morning, before eating, and before any thought engaging activities like;
    - All screens, reading anything, listening to any thing or anyone, talking to anyone, etc. Instead, step outside and express gratitude. 
    - Thinking. Develop letting thinking go from waking up until after meditation. Every thought that arises, let it go by being aware of breathing & feeling. Use ”not till after meditation” as needed.
Love yourself enough to do this, your quality of life will be greatly enhanced by your commitment and followthrough with daily meditation. This is putting your inner well being first -  and then going about your day. It is a total game changer. Get up as early as needed to make this possible for yourself.  You’ll only fall asleep earlier as a result, and get a better night’s sleep. 
Maintain a dream journal. Every morning when you wake up, write any recollections of dreams in the journal. If there were none, write “no dreams last night” in the journal. Doing this daily develops connection and communication. After writing a dream down, let it go completely. Revisit it after meditation. Consider that in between the pure peace of sleep and awakening, the dream is the reconciliation of those two states. After meditation, contemplate the dream message. Consider it from the perspective that you are dreaming right now, and the message is that everything is fine, even this (whatever the dream was about). You will notice perspectives you’re believing, as to how ‘everything is not fine’. Those, can be let go in meditation. 
Maintain a journal for writing about how you feel. If meditation is overwhelming, don’t persist against the grain, write about how you’re feeling in your journal. Expressing in key. It is a ‘getting it out’, or emptying, by which being fills in. This is the same as saying misunderstanding is let go, and understanding arises.
Add creative expression in your days with what feels right for you, such as; creative writing, drawing, learning an instrument, singing, sculpting, building, carving, dancing - any act of creating and expressing, which feels good to you. Sign up for a drawing or painting class, etc. 
Clarity, emotional intelligence, understanding, focus, patience, and more feeling / connection, are natural outcomes of this. 
Regarding meditation, loving yourself, journaling, expressing, and making changes:
Do not ask others to accommodate you so that you can do this. Accommodate them, if needed, so that you can do this. Do not create conditions or contingencies which “allow” that you can do this. Refrain from entangling any other person in ‘enabling’ you. Simply get up earlier, and be patient when tired, you’ll be falling asleep earlier soon enough. 
Past trauma may be deeply entwined in the body, with regard to perspectives, and unknowingly suppressed, held out of the light of understanding. It is important to be humble, and be smart. Take advantage of all resources available to you. In addition to the things mentioned above, experience assistance bringing things to the surface, into the light, out into the open. That is relief. ’Getting it out’ is the key. Schedule time with practitioners of well being; massage, reiki, therapy, yoga, liberated experienced meditators, etc. Making the choice to directly experience is 99% of ‘the work’. Choose to experience the combination that feels best to you, but do not rule anything you have not experienced out. You will be glad. 
 
Proper Foundation
The quality of tomorrow’s meditation is impacted by all of the above. Recognize those as the basics, your foundation. This is - first “cleaning the house”, “emptying the cup”.  If you are not yet finding peace in meditation, the things above are likely insightful and actionable. Use them as a checklist, add to it what you learn works and doesn’t work for you. Understand why. Be mindful of the direct experience always, not the goal or outcome. Never do practices for the sake of getting them done. Never do practices with the intention or expectation of attaining, achieving, or becoming. Let go of these in your practices. Never force pracitices, and never guilt or shame yourself regarding practices. Let go of these in your practices. Likewise, never pride yourself on or claim the benefits of your practices. A phone which knows the truth of wifi, yet claims it as it’s own, is no longer listening to the wifi. It is always about letting go, and feeling the inner being, the source, within. 
 
Posture, Balance & Relaxation
Sit with spine straight, entire body equally balanced, head tilted slightly forward. 
Scan for any muscles in tension - from balancing the body, and reposition in better balance. Repeat until seated in balance; drop all muscle tension, and see if you lean; if so, adjust again / reposition for balance.
Relax every muscle, from crown of head, through body, to the toes - in waves of letting go, over and over. If you struggle to ‘find the particular muscle’ to be able to ‘let it go’, simply tense that muscle with the appropriate thought, ex: “tense the right shoulder” - this is to locate it specifically - only to relax it / let it go, specifically (only needed initially, if at all).
Stay with each muscle until you feel it release: Feel the crown of the head muscles release, feel the temples release, feel the eye sockets release, feel the cheek muscles release, feel the neck muscles release, the shoulders, the upper back, the lower back, the arms, the hands, the fingers, the chest, the stomach, the hips, the thighs, the knees, the calves, the ankles, the feet, the toes - all tension pouring out through the toes. 
*Stay with each muscle until you feel it release, then move to the next. Be mindful, vigilant of any habit forming. Feel every step. Feel each specific muscle release. 
* Repeat this, from crown to toes, over and over, feeling each “pass” more deeply relaxing each targeted muscle than the pass before.  Notice the entire body unifying in relaxation. 
 
Meditation
Do not move the body, allow it to relax into deep sleep and disappear from sensation & awareness. 
Mind fully alert & present; awaken every cell, enthusiastic presence,  a tiger at-the-ready to pounce.
Notice all senses are one sense, being.
Being is breathing, being is breathed in, being is breathed out. 
Notice the ineffable spaciousness, the silent emptiness.  It is whole, perfect, calm, peaceful. It continues on in all directions. 
Revel in the perfect peace, in innocence, as you recognize the purity that you have always known.
 
Allow Meditation “Practice” To Become A Meditative Lifestyle
As you go about your day, notice this peace is still present, this silence, this being - is always present, always the soundbed underlying and allowing all sounds, the spaciousness underlying and allowing all objects and activities, the emptiness allowing all thoughts to arise.
Carry this into each day, mindful of the effortless nature of awareness. Conscious of any tension in any muscle, relax it, mindful of the one sense; without identification, without reaction, peaceful non-engagement. 
Notice the arising perspectives of unification & connection. Surrender perspectives of separation by allowing them to pass, and return to the everpresent peace and silence which allows all things. 
When you notice reaction, wether muscular or mental, relax, detach by being again aware, non-reactionary. 
Even as reactions occur, wether physical, mental, or verbal, be aware of, not involved in. Relax crown to toes, effortless awareness is always available & ample.
Notice the sound of a voice, is not the sound of your voice. Be that unattached, and that aware, ‘that’ voice is no longer your voice, it never was. You are all sounds, all voices, all things. Be aware all transpires in the ‘one sense’, precisely where it is seen, exactly where it is heard. One Sense, one awareness. 
Notice thoughts are not your thoughts,  be aware thoughts are things, like trees are trees; there is no mechanism found for justification of  “yours”, that is just another thought; awareness is unconditional and omnipresent, and never appears in pieces, and has never not appeared, it will never let you down. Notice there is one sense, one awareness, notice the body and mind are a body and mind which transpires in this peaceful awareness, notice a body and mind is not your body and mind, notice there is one sense, one awareness, all is transpiring and arising in. 
 
After some practice a couple new things arise...
When you have ‘returned’ home, in the peace of non-reaction, the ‘finite ceo’ / “decision maker”/ over thinker/over thinking - naturally recedes, and well being of infinite intelligence will manipulate the body (it actually is “the body”) , aligning things, stretching things, cracking things, etc, just allow this. It’s difficult not to mentally react to this at first because it’s new, but just relax, it is curative, trust it - notice a person is not doing this, infinite intelligence is. Mindfully revel & appreciate this miracle. 
 
A word of caution regarding thought stories & dualistic narratives
Meditation at it’s most basic level is focusing on breathing in the stomach & relaxing the body, thus indirectly detaching attention from thoughts. Thought ceases in activity, simply from not receiving attention. The body is infinite intelligence, but the thinking dualistic mind believes it’s running the show. This is brought to an end in meditation, in ‘returning to’, or realization of, who you really are. 
When the body relaxes deeply, it releases contractions; tension from emotions created in misunderstanding via one’s forgetting who one is and  “making sense” of self & reality in an apparent physical universe & separate body. These ‘held’ tensions are the root cause of overthinking. The mind keeps churning in an attempt to resolve with thinking, what is only resolved in feeling. 
When the body (infinite intelligence / nothing to know) begins releasing the suppressed falsities (all knowledge & specifically the idea of “me”), the mind creates narratives of the experience to perpetuate “it’s control”. In perpetuating the misunderstandings, rather than relaxing & releasing the suppressed emotions by maintaining focus on stomach breathing, the mind (thinking) weaves & latches onto varies models of duality to control the narrative. (Kundalini, demons, assertion, death, nervous disorders, past “bad” trips, guilt, shame, unworthiness, fear, anxiety & past stories, depression & future stories, projections, deflections, identity, loss, sacrifice, etc)
But meditation is focusing on breathing from the stomach & relaxing the body, and thus indirectly detaching from thoughts. To believe any narrative which arises in meditation, is to sustain and perpetuate the “idea of you”, so as not to ‘directly experience’, you. 
So if you don’t want to awaken, but enjoy the fundamental benefits of meditation, just meditate for twenty minutes a day. Ideally in the morning. 
If you do want to awaken, realize you got caught up in a thought story, and meditation was focusing on breathing from the stomach, and thus indirectly letting thinking go. The truth is the mind is making it all up, and the “fear” is the mind’s label to justify denying the truth “of itself”, the profound love that is, that you actually are.
Write about how you feel and why, in a journal, to understand yourself & develop emotional intelligence. 
Talk to someone who listens, so you can express yourself and your emotions.
Write what you want in this experience of life on your dreamboard, and allow the surfacing of desire & authenticity to help you realize & release resistance thoughts. Live the life you actually want to live, the way you actually want to live it.
 
https://sites.google.com/site/psychospiritualtools/Home/meditation-practices
Posture Meditation
This body-based meditation is a very effective way to get grounded and centered. It encourages an embodied, calm, and open awareness, and discourages disassociation. If you have a tendency to "leave your body," feel ungrounded, or disassociated, this is a good practice. 
Sit with your spine straight and aligned, and the rest of your body relaxed. Keep bringing yourself back to this condition. 

1. Take a reposed, seated posture. 

2. For this meditation, it is very important that your spine is straight. Your neck and back should be in perfect alignment. Your chin should be down very slightly. 

3. If you are sitting in a chair, do not rest your spine against the chair. Sit forward so that your spine is supporting its own weight. Let the muscles of the spine be engaged. 

4. All the other muscles of your body can be completely relaxed. Allow your face muscles to let go, and your jaw to drop slightly, so that your teeth are not touching. 

5. Let your shoulders hang freely, and let your belly be soft and open. 

6. This is the posture you are aiming for, with your spine erect and your body completely relaxed. 

7. As you sit, keep bringing your awareness back to the fine details of your posture. Notice any time your spine slumps even slightly, your head leans to either side, or any other deviation. Correct these gently and repeatedly. 

8. Also notice if any other areas of your body tense up even slightly. If anything is tensing, relax it in a gently and soft manner. 

9. Keep checking in with the body, using your body (somatic) awareness; the feeling in your body. Mental images of your body will probably arise, which is fine, but these are not what you are concentrating upon. Instead, concentrate your awareness in the sense of your body. The sensitivity in your muscles, tissues, viscera, skin, and so forth. 

10. The more detailed and minute you get with this awareness, the better. Each tiny area of the body has its own sensitivity to contribute. 

11. Every once in a while you can zoom out to cover the entire somatosensory field -- the awareness of your entire body -- to bring the overall body back into alignment. 

12. Keep relaxing every muscle everywhere. Use just enough tension to keep your spine erect, but no more. 

13. Continue this meditation for at least 10 minutes, continuously contacting your body awareness. 
 
CAUTIONS:
If you have any spinal injuries or severe back pain, it is fine to allow your spine to rest in a pain-free position.                    If you find yourself distracted by a lot of mental chatter, you can use verbal labeling as an aid to concentration. 
For example, when checking on the spine, you can say to yourself, "spine in alignment." 
When checking on the body, say, "body relaxed." 
 
 
Awareness of Thoughts Meditation
By learning to watch your thoughts come and go during this practice, you can gain deeper insight into thinking altogether (such as its transience) and into specific relationships among your thoughts and your emotions, sensations, and desires. This practice can also help you take your thoughts less personally, and not automatically believe them.  Additionally, this meditation can offer insight into any habitual patterns of thinking and related reactions.  
Observe your thoughts as they arise and pass away.  
·       By “thoughts,” we mean self-talk and other verbal content, as well as images, memories, fantasies, and plans. Just thoughts may appear in awareness, or thoughts plus sensations, emotions, or desires. 
·       Sit or lie down on your back in a comfortable position.
·       Become aware of the sensations of breathing.
·       After a few minutes of following your breath, shift your attention to the various thoughts that are arising, persisting, and then passing away in your mind. 
·       Try to observe your thoughts instead of getting involved with their content or resisting them. 
·       Notice the content of your thoughts, any emotions accompanying them, and the strength or pull of the thought.
·       Try to get curious about your thoughts.  Investigate whether you think in mainly images or words, whether your thoughts are in color or black and white, and how your thoughts feel in your body.
·       See if you notice any gaps or pauses between thoughts.
·       Every time you become aware that you are lost in the content of your thoughts, simply note this and return to observing your thoughts and emotions. 
·       Remember that one of the brain’s major purposes is to think, and there is nothing wrong with thinking.  You are simply practicing not automatically believing and grasping on to your thoughts.  
·       When you are ready, return your attention to your breath for a few minutes and slowly open your eyes.  
Optional:
·       There are various metaphors and images you can use to help observe your thoughts.  These include:
o   Imagining you are as vast and open as the sky, and thoughts are simply clouds, birds, or planes passing through the open space.  
o   Imagining you are sitting on the side of a river watching your thoughts float by like leaves or ripples in the stream.  
o   Imagine your thoughts are like cars, buses, or trains passing by.  Every time you realize you are thinking, you can “get off the bus/train” and return to observing.

Awareness of thoughts and emotions is one of the areas of focus developed when cultivating mindfulness.  In Buddhism, mindfulness is one of the seven factors of enlightenment and the seventh instruction in the Noble Eightfold Path.  
The Seven Factors of Enlightenment:  https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/wheel001.html
The Four Noble Truths:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths
The Noble Eightfold Path: https://tricycle.org/magazine/noble-eightfold-path/
 
CAUTIONS:
Please be gentle with yourself if you notice that you are constantly caught up in your thoughts instead of observing them.  This is both common and normal.  When you realize that you are thinking, gently and compassionately return to observing your thoughts.  
If the content of your thoughts is too disturbing or distressing, gently shift your attention to your breathing, sounds, or discontinue the practice. 
·       Remember that you are not trying to stop thoughts or only allow certain ones to arise.  Try to treat all thoughts equally and let them pass away without engaging in their content. 
·       This practice can initially be more challenging than other meditations.  As you are learning, practice this meditation for only a few minutes at a time if that is easier. 
·       It can be helpful to treat thoughts the same way that you treat sounds or body sensations, and view them as impersonal events that arise and pass away.  
·       Some people like to assign numbers or nicknames to reoccurring thoughts in order to reduce their pull and effect.
 
 
Breath Awareness Meditation
Stress is an extremely unhealthy condition. It causes the body to release the chemical cortisol, which has been shown to reduce brain and organ function, among many other dangerous effects. Modern society inadvertently encourages a state of almost continuous stress in people. This is a meditation that encourages physical and mental relaxation, which can greatly reduce the effects of stress on the body and mind. 
Sit still and pay close attention to your breathing process.
Take a reposed, seated posture. Your back should be straight and your body as relaxed as possible.

Close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breathing process. Simply notice you are breathing. Do not attempt to change your breath in any way. Breath simply and normally. 

Try to notice both the in breath and the out breath; the inhale and the exhale. "Notice" means to actually feel the breathing in your body with your body. It is not necessary to visualize your breathing or to think about it in any way except to notice it with your somatic awareness. 

Each time your attention wanders from the act of breathing, return it to noticing the breath. Do this gently and without judgment. 

Remember to really feel into the act of breathing.

If you want to go more deeply into this, concentrate on each area of breathing in turn. Here is an example sequence:

    1. Notice how the air feels moving through your nostrils on both the in breath and the out breath. 

    2. Notice how the air feels moving through your mouth and throat. You may feel a sort of slightly raspy or ragged          feeling as the air moves through your throat. This is normal and also something to feel into.

    3. Notice how the air feels as it fills and empties your chest cavity. Feel how your rib cage rises slowly with each in breath, and gently deflates with each out breath.

    4. Notice how your back expands and contracts with each breath. Actually feel it shifting and changing as you breath. 

    5. Notice how the belly expands outward with each in breath and pulls inward with each in breath. Allow your attention to fully enter the body sensation of the belly moving with each breath.

    6. Now allow your attention to cover your entire body at once as you breath in and out. Closely notice all the sensations of the body as it breathes. 

Repeat this sequence over and over, giving each step your full attention as you do it. 
Suggested time is at least 10 minutes. Thirty minutes is better, if you are capable of it. 
If you find yourself distracted by a lot of mental chatter, you can use verbal labeling as an aid to concentration. For example, on the in breath, mentally say to yourself, "Breathing in." On the out breath, say, "Breathing out." Another possibility is to mentally count each breath. 
 
 
Self Inquiry
This is a meditation technique to get enlightened, i.e. "self realization."  By realizing who you are, the bonds of suffering are broken. Besides this goal, self-inquiry delivers many of the same benefits as other meditation techniques, such as relaxation, enhanced experience of life, greater openness to change, greater creativity, a sense of joy and fulfillment, and so forth. 
Focus your attention on the feeling of being "me," to the exclusion of all other thoughts. 
1. Sit in any comfortable meditation posture. 
2. Allow your mind and body to settle. 
3. Now, let go of any thinking whatsoever. 
4. Place your attention on the inner feeling of being "me."
5. If a thought does arise (and it is probable that thoughts will arise on their own), ask yourself to whom this thought is occurring. This returns your attention to the feeling of being "me."
Continue this for as long as you like. 

This technique can also be done when going about any other activity. 
 
CAUTIONS:
Many people misunderstand the self-inquiry technique to mean that the person should sit and ask themselves the question, "Who am I?" over and over. This is an incorrect understanding of the technique. The questions "Who am I" or "To whom is this thought occurring?" are only used when a thought arises, in order to direct attention back to the feeling of being "me." At other times the mind is held in silence. 
 
This practice of Self-attention or awareness of the ‘I’-thought is a gentle technique, which bypasses the usual repressive methods of controlling the mind. It is not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs. The method and goal of self-enquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not. In the early stages effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential, but once awareness of the ‘I’-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive. From then on it is more a process of being than doing, of effortless being rather than an effort to be.
 
 
Do Nothing Meditation
Many respected spiritual traditions, including Buddhism and Hindu Advaita just to name two, claim that the highest state of spiritual communion is actually present in our minds at all times. And yet many meditation techniques focus on  creating some special state that wasn't there before the meditation, and which goes away at some point after the meditation. If the highest state is actually present all the time, shouldn't it be possible to simply notice it without inducing some change, or special state? 

That is exactly the purpose of the Do Nothing Meditation. This technique (which is really an un-technique) will allow you to contact the highest spiritual state without actually doing anything. Each time you notice an intention to control or direct your attention, give it up. 
1. There is no need to get into any particular posture, unless you feel like it.
2. Do not position your attention in any particular way.
3. Let whatever happens happen.
4. Any time you notice yourself doing anything intentionally, stop. 
Doing anything intentionally means something you can voluntarily control, and therefore can stop. 
If you cannot stop doing something, then it's not intentional, and therefore you don't need to try to stop doing it. 
So. Anything you can stop doing, stop doing. 

Some examples of things you can stop doing are:
* Intentionally thinking
* Trying to focus on something specific
* Trying to have equanimity
* Trying to keep track of what's going on
* Trying to meditate
Let go of doing anything like this.
5. Keep doing nothing for at least 10 minutes, or as long as you like.
 
CAUTIONS:
It may be difficult for some people to notice any difference between the Do Nothing meditation and gross "monkey mind," that is, the ceaseless, driven and fixated thoughts of the everyday neurotic mind. If this seems to be the case for you, it may be helpful to do a more structured technique. 
 
 
Concentration (One-Pointedness) Meditation
One of the hallmarks of modern life is the proliferation of distractions. As media become more pervasive, and media connections more ubiquitous, time away from distractions becomes ever harder to find. Previously, people were content to sit in restaurants, or stand in line, without a television screen to stare at. Now these have become standard. The result of all this, and many other causes, is that people find it increasingly difficult to focus their minds. 

Concentration is a necessary human skill. It makes proper thinking possible, increases intelligence, and allows a person to calm down and achieve their goals more effectively. A concentrated mind is like a laser beam, able to use all its powers in a single direction to great effect. 

Concentration is critical to many human endeavors. Being able to listen to another person, for example, in a compassionate and connected manner requires being able to shut out distractions. The experience of making love can be greatly enhanced when one is not, for example, thinking about other things. 

Concentration allows a person to stop being a "reaction machine" or "robot," simply responding to stimulii, and instead to become more thoughtful, self-directed, and confident. 
Concentration is an interesting thing. It is a very general ability. That means developing concentration in one area will help you concentrate in ALL areas. So, for example, if you learn to concentrate on a particular idea, it not only helps you think about that idea (which would be very limited), but actually helps you to concentrate on anything, which is very generally useful for everything! It's like lifting weights. It doesn't just make you strong for lifting weights, but strong for anything else you want to do!

Think about one thing. Every time you get distracted, return to that one thing. 
1. Find an object on which to concentrate. This can be a physical object, like a pebble or a feather. Or it can be a mental object like a particular idea. It could even be, say, your homework.

2. Cut off any sources of distraction. These include, but are not limited to, telephones, emails, computers, music, television, and so forth. Turn all of these off during your concentration practice. 

3. Begin your period of by mentally reminding yourself what you are concentrating on. 

4. Now begin to concentrate. If your concentration object is an external object, this may mean looking at it. If it is a mental object, then think about it. If it is your homework, then do it now.

5. Each time your mind (or eyes) wander from your concentration object, bring it back to the object. It is important to do this very gently and without judgment. 
6. Repeat this process of coming back to the concentration object for as long as you wish, or until your homework is done. 
Cultures worldwide have developed concentration practices for both spiritual and practical reasons. 

Concentration is called dharana in Hinduism, and samadhi or shamatha in Buddhism. It is considered to be a key skill for meditation.
 
CAUTIONS:
Concentration can at first seem to trigger a lot of anxiety. This is, however, not the fault of the concentration practice. Rather, it happens because many people use distraction to avoid feeling emotions. Then when the distractions are removed, a tremendous amount of ambient, unprocessed emotions (i.e. emotions you are feeling but were unaware of feeling) are present. So it is not the practice of concentration that is causing anxiety, but instead it is the habit of distracting ourselves from our emotions. This may be the root cause of much inability to focus and concentrate. If that is the case, try meditating on emotions (below). 
Concentration and meditation are not the same thing, although they are related. Meditation (usually) requires concentration, but also requires relaxation or equanimity.
 
 
Emotional Awareness Meditation 
This meditation brings about a great deal of equanimity with emotions. They will not seem to affect us as deeply or adversely. 
Many people have trouble contacting their emotions directly. Even if we feel that we know what emotion we are having, that does not necessarily mean that we are contacting it directly. 

To contact an emotion directly means to feel it in the body. This is the opposite of most people's experience, which is to related ideas about the emotion.

Here is an example. A person asks you how you are feeling. You respond by saying, "I am angry, because..." You then go on to tell the person all the reasons you are angry.

In this example, only the first three words, "I am angry" have anything to do with contacting emotion. All the rest of the explanation is about concepts.

A fuller example of contacting emotions directly, that is somatically, would be to say, "I am angry. I can feel a sort of gripping tension in my belly that is uncomfortable. The tense area feels kind of twisted and sharp. Parts of it are throbbing. It also feels like it is radiating heat outwards." 

Notice that the cause of the anger is irrelevant. The practice here is to feel the physical expression of the anger as completely as possible. 

Extended practice of this meditation will bring about "skill at feeling," that is, a tremendous amount of clarity in the emotional world. Emotional intelligence. 

It will also help emotions to process and release much more quickly and completely, because we are not holding on to ideas about the emotions. The body processes emotion quickly, naturally, and fully. 
Feel the physical expression of an emotion as completely as possible. 
1. Settle into a comfortable meditation posture. 

2. Breathing normally, bring your attention to your emotions. Notice if you are feeling any emotions, no matter how faintly. It is not necessary to know precisely which emotion you are having, or why you are having it. Just knowing that you are feeling something emotional is enough. Guessing is OK.

3. Once you detect an emotion, see if you can find its expression in your body. Maybe there is a feeling of tension, gripping, tightening, burning, twisting, throbbing, pressure, lightness, openness, etc. 

4. If you like, you can mentally make the label "feel" when you detect a body sensation of emotion. Other labels are possible ("emotion" for example). 

5. Each time you detect an emotional body sensation, try to actually feel the sensation in your body, as completely as possible. Feel it through and through.

6. Completely let go of any ideas you have about the emotion, or self talk you might have about why the emotion is arising. Return to the body sensation of the emotion.

7. Continue contacting these emotional body sensations for as long as you wish.
 
Meditating on emotions is a traditional part of Vipassana practice in Buddhism. It is, for example, one of the four main techniques covered in the Vissudhimagga (The Path to Purity), an important Buddhist text.
(The version presented here is a summary of a practice given by American Buddhist teacher Shinzen Young.)
At first, practicing this meditation may make it seem as if the emotions are getting bigger. If they are negative emotions, this may seem overwhelming for a while. This is natural. It is occuring not because the emotions are actually getting bigger, but for two interesting reasons. The first is because we are no longer suppressing them. We are allowing them to actually express themselves fully. The second is because we are observing them (actually feeling them) very closely. Just as a microscope makes small things look bigger, the "microscope" of attention makes the emotional body sensations seem larger than they really are. 

The good news here is that as the emotions express themselves freely in the body, they are being processed. Usually this means that they will pass much more quickly. 

If we are feeling a positive emotion in this way, it may pass quickly, but we will also derive much more satisfaction from it, because our experience of it is so rich and complete.

If we are feeling a negative emotion in this way, we will experience much less suffering from it, because we are not resisting and suppressing it. 
 
 
Equanimity Meditation
The cause of much of our upset and emotional instability is clinging and neediness around people we like, and aversion and negativity towards people we don't like. We also have an unhealthy indifference to strangers, who may need our help, or at least our good will. 

This equanimity meditation helps us to examine our feelings towards people, and correct them where they are mistaken. This leads to a more balanced, wholesome, and helpful viewpoint. It also cuts off a lot of emotional turmoil at its root. 
Meditate on three people (a loved one, an enemy, and a neutral person), examining and correcting your feelings toward them. 
1. Sit in a comfortable meditation posture. Follow your breath until you feel centered and grounded.

2. Bring to mind the images of three people: someone you like, someone you dislike, and someone towards whom you feel indifferent. Keep these three people in mind throughout the meditation.

3. Focus on the friend, and look into all the reasons you like this person. Try to see if any of the reasons are about things this person does for you, or ways they uplift your ego. Ask yourself if these are really the correct reasons to like someone. Then do the same thing with the person you dislike, instead asking about the reasons you dislike them. Finally, do this for the person you are indifferent towards, asking about the reasons for your indifference. In all cases, notice where your ego is involved in the judgment of the other person's worth. 

4. Next, ask yourself whether you consider each of these relationships as permanent. Would you still like your friend if they did something terrible to you? What if the person you dislike really did something nice for you? What if the stranger became close to you? Think about all the relationships in the past in which your feelings about the person have dramatically changed. 

5. Now, visualize the person you like doing something you dislike or that is unacceptable to you. Would you still be their friend? Remember that many people have changed from friends to enemies in the past. There are people who you used to like, toward whom you now feel emnity. Think about how there is no special reason to feel good about a person who is only temporarily your friend. 

6. Next, visualize your enemy doing something very kind for you. They might visit you in the hospital, or help you to fix your home. When you imagine this, can you feel positive emotions toward this person? Can you remember times in the past when an enemy became a friend? Is it necessary to feel that your strong dislike for this person will last forever? Isn't it possible that they could someday become your friend? 

7. Now visualize the stranger. How would you feel about them if they did something very kind for you? Isn't it the case that all your current friends were at one point total strangers? Isn't it possible that a stranger could become your best friend? It has happened before. 

8. Think carefully about how everyone deserves equal regard as human beings. You must discriminate and make decisions based on your knowledge of a person's character, but you do not have to hold strong feelings or judgments towards them. It is very likely that your emotions around a person will change many times, so why hold onto these emotions so rigidly? 

In Buddhism, equanimity means a very deep, even profound, state of mental balance and stability. It is considered one of the seven factors of enlightenment, and a hallmark of the third and fourth jhanas, which are deep states of meditative absorption. 
This is a traditional meditation from Mahayana Buddhism. Its goal is to arouse "bodhicitta' or the mind of enlightenment. There are other equanimity meditations from other Buddhist lineages (e.g., Theravadan), as well as from other contemplative traditions.

(The version presented here is adapted from the book How to Meditate: A Practical Guide.) 
 

CAUTIONS:
It can be upsetting to bring an "enemy" to mind. When working with the mental image of an enemy, be careful not to get lost in negative thoughts and feelings. If you find that you can't handle working with a specific person without getting very worked up, switch to someone less upsetting.
 
 
Body Scan Meditation
The Body Scan is designed to help you feel and bring awareness to the myriad of sensations that occur throughout your body.  By practicing this meditation regularly, you can improve your body awareness and also better work with pain and difficult emotions in the body.  Additionally, people report feelings of relaxation and renewal after this practice.  
Sit or lie on your back and systematically bring your attention to each region of your body, beginning with your feet and moving upwards.  
 
As you begin:
·       Sit or lie down on your back in a comfortable position with your eyes open or gently closed.
·       Take a moment to check-in with yourself, observing how you are feeling in your body and mind.
·       Begin to focus on your breath wherever the sensations are most vivid for you.
 
During the body scan:
·       Try to bring an attitude of curiosity to the practice, as if you are investigating your body for the first time.  
·       Notice and feel any and all sensations that are present, such as tingling, tightness, heat, cold, pressure, dullness,  etc.  
·       If you do not feel any sensations in a particular region, simply note that and move on.  
·       See if you can be aware of any thoughts or emotions that arise as you move through the regions of your body.  Note these thoughts and emotions, and then return to the bare physical sensations that you are experiencing.  
·       Whenever you come across an area that is tense, see if you can allow it to soften.  If the area does not soften, simply notice how it feels and allow it to be as it is.
·       Feel as deeply and precisely as you can into each region of the body, noting if the sensations change in any way.  Also notice where they are located.
·       If you notice any pain or discomfort in a region of the body, see if you can practice allowing and exploring it for even a few seconds, feeling the various aspects of the sensation(s).  
 
Suggested sequence of body parts:
·       Begin with your left foot and toes, then move awareness up the left leg until you reach the left hip.
·       Right foot and toes up the right leg until you reach the right hip.  
·       Pelvic region and buttocks, stomach, low back to upper back, chest and breasts, heart and lungs
·       Hands (both at the same time) then move up the arms until you finish with the shoulders.
·       Neck, throat, jaw, mouth (teeth, tongue, lips), nose, eyes, forehead, ears, skull and scalp.  
·       Finally, become aware of the whole body and rest for a few minutes in this expansive awareness.  

The Body Scan is a variation of a Burmese Vipassana meditation practice that involves scanning the body for physical sensations.  This meditation is also done in various yoga practices.  The Body Scan is used in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), created by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.  

CAUTIONS:
If you have experienced physical abuse or trauma in the past, it is not recommended to do this practice without a trained professional.  Additionally, if you notice intense fear or other strong emotions related to a particular part of the body, please discontinue this practice.  
It is generally advised to take at least 30 to 40 minutes to complete the body scan.  However, if you wish to do a shorter body scan, spend less time on each region of the body, and/or focus on both feet, legs, and arms together as you move through these regions.  
If you wish, you can practice the body scan in the opposite direction, moving from your head to your toes. 
 
 
Walking Meditation
Walking meditation is a great way to begin integrating the power of meditation into your daily life. It is the first stage of meditation in action, that is, learning to be meditative while "out and about" in the world. 

It is great to do while, for example, taking a walk in the park, at the beach, or in another natural setting. 

Walking meditation is often recommended for people who are doing a lot of sitting meditation. If you are getting to sleepy, or your awareness is getting to "muddy," walking meditation can perk you up. Alternately, if you are getting to concentrated and mentally "stiff," walking meditation is a perfect way to loosen up a bit. 
Walking meditation is a common practice in Vipassana and Zen Buddhism. 


Pay close attention to the physical activity of walking slowly
1. Before walking, stand still in an open, balanced posture. Bring your awareness to the feeling of your feet touching the ground. 

2. Now begin walking. Keep your gaze fixed on the ground about six feet in front of you. This will help you to avoid distraction. 

3. Note and mentally label three parts of each step you take. The labels are "lifting," "pushing," and "dropping." 
 
     Lifting - when you are picking your foot up

     Pushing - as you are moving it forward

     Dropping - as you are lowering it to the ground

 As you make each label, pay very close attention to the actual physical sensations associated with each of these actions. 

4. After these three components become clear, you can add three more, so that the entire sequence is: "raising," "lifting," "pushing," "dropping," "touching," and "pressing."

5. Your mind will probably also engage in thinking extraneous thoughts, but just allow these to go on in the background. Your foreground attention should stay on the physical sensations of walking.

6. If you find that you have been completely lost in thought, stop walking for a moment and label the thinking as "thinking, thinking, thinking." 

7. Then re-establish your awareness on the feeling in your feet, and begin the walking meditation again. 

8. A typical session of walking meditation lasts a half an hour. 


CAUTIONS:
Make sure to watch where you are going, especially if you are around traffic, other people, etc. 
 
https://sites.google.com/site/psychospiritualtools/Home/meditation-practices
 
 
 
The Yoda Meditation
https://www.thedailymeditation.com/learning-to-meditate-with-jedi-master-yoda-online-meditation-course/amp
The Neo / Matrix Meditation
https://www.dc-acupuncture.com/lifestyle-personal-transformation/how-meditation-makes-you-more-like-neo-from-the-matrix
F That - A guided Meditation
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=92i5m3tV5XY

This is a topic that needs to be very seriously contemplated, and not debated or discussed.
You have to sit down and force yourself to contemplate your rock-bottom assumptions about reality:
Why do I assume reality exist? How can I be sure reality is real? What does "real" really mean, anyway? What is existence? Could I be deceiving myself? Does consciousness exist in a brain? Or is "the brain" existing within consciousness? If the brain is inside the universe, how can the universe be inside the brain? Etc. This contemplation must be done extremely carefully, avoiding all personal self-biases and cultural assumptions.
Very few people do this kind of contemplation seriously. And discussing it with people will not help you, but only distract you. It works like doing a mathematical proof. You have to trace through the logic of it to see how the materialist paradigm contradicts itself.
And it definitely DOES contradict itself.
I can tell you right now, having spent years doing this contemplation, and experiencing the Absolute many times now, there is no such thing as reality. But believing me is totally useless. You need to go through the proof yourself. I'm just telling you what you will discover in the ultimate end. Don't be surprised if this process kills you. That's precisely the point. You are deeply involved in this process. The misunderstanding of reality runs straight through you. Which is why it's so difficult to correct. But it's doable for those who are really serious about life.
Good luck and have faith that it will be worth the effort. You will be pleasantly surprised if you succeed

Just don't swing the pendulum too far in the opposite end.
The distinctions you make still matter very much.
To be effective in the world is to make finer and more accurate distinctions than other people make.
An expert is someone who has a collection of really good distinctions in a particular field.
In this work you must learn to both destroy all distinctions, and make a ton of highly accurate and useful distinctions, all at the same time.
The mind is like a horse. It needs to be properly reigned in and tamed, then it is good. Living without mind is not an option. So your only options are to learn to use it well, or not.

@Jonson As close to raw organic whole foods as possible. Try as much as possible to avoid:
Proceeded foods Packaged foods Sugar/Syrup Processed meats Products containing wheat Non-organic fruits/veggies Soda Junk food Candy Fried food Blackened food Transfats Artificial butters/oils Artificial colorings and chemicals Products containing dairy: milk, cheese, butter, etc.

Hey guys. Hope you're all good. After my awakening and permanent self-realization in May, 2017 my spiritual interest died down a lot. My participation on this forum went down, my spiritual practices came to an end and my whole journey imploded. This happened because I found the answers and tranquillity I looked for when I started. The answer that awakening and permanent self-realization gives you is the vanishing of the question you posed in the beginning of your journey. Your whole conceptual world comes to an end (mostly) and you live, think and talk mostly spontaneously and not pre-mediated. That's quite nice.
In the beginning of this new phase I had to adjust my entire life to this situation, so I needed quite a bit of time for that. A lot of new experiences and perspectives opened up to me and I took my time to investigate those. Right now it's the end of 2017 and I am still stable in non-dual awareness and mostly not contracted in my body. I also start to deepen my self-realization and push it towards "God Awareness" to go on with my journey. So I figure it's time to let you in on the techniques I researched and developed shortly before I woke up and that helped me to wake up permanently.
+++ Enter Azrael's Awakening Anchor #1 | How To Solve Emotional Suffering +++
I'm a big proponent of meditation. It's a great practice and the basis of everything we do. If you cannot sit with yourself and enjoy it, how can you ever understand your self? However, as we meditate and go on with our journey it gets clear that regular meditation is too slow and mild of a practice to give us the transformation that we want. That's why we have to develop accelerators on top of this basis.
The process I'll describe in a second is such a accelerator. It was developed by myself in January - February of 2017 and is based on a few other practices I know. It's main purpose is to solve emotional suffering and contraction of energy in your body. One of the big reasons you are not enlightened and always go back to sleep after a temporary awakening is that your body and mind are full of contractions that keep your ego in place. It is the energetic anchor in the nervous system that makes your ego, persona and body feel quite real and connected. It also makes your suffering feel quite real.
The method was tested on myself, @Huz and a friend of mine. I used it maybe 5-10 times in a span of 3 weeks to get rid of a lot of emotional suffering and contraction in my body. I did it with @Huz and he did it on himself as well and it died down most of his social anxiety almost instantly. My other friend cured most of his anger and had weeks of temporary awakening experiences after we did the technique once.
In my opinion the technique works best when you do it on someone else. The shift that happens seems to be deeper and its good to have someone to lead the process. However, it is possible to do it on yourself and still have a lot of changes happening. I am thinking right now to give away 3 free skype sessions for you guys to do this process - led by me. If you are interested, let me know in the comments. Also, I'm thinking to make a product out of this and help people with this process over a couple of weeks + consultation (also via a series of skype sessions). So if you'd be interested in that, let me know as well.
+++ The Technique: An Interview With Your Inner Children +++
The process is rooted in the observation that all of the egoic and unintegrated roles that your ego plays arise from an contraction of your basic emotions
fear / sadness anger / rage happiness / inspiration love Every role that you play takes the raw energy of a subset of these emotions, contracts them in your body / mind and lets a thought story arise out of this contraction to express the energy. The problem is that these roles -> thought stories -> contracted emotions -> raw contraction of energy are anchored in your body / mind (aka nervous system) and get triggered all throughout your day. Because you have a lot these contracted roles and one role can trigger another role, you live in the illusion of a conceptual world of suffering.
if you were to experience a subset of these 4 basic emotions in their uncontracted normal form, you wouldn't suffer. You would only have an intense, emotional experience. That's why it sometimes feels good to be in anger / rage or to melt in fear / sadness. Although other times, it seems like it destroys you (-> contraction).
Based on this conceptualized observation, we need to find a way to unravel these contractions to let them out of your system. One very direct way to do this is to give a subconscious, uncontrolled emotion a conscious voice to express its situation and to understand its position.
+++ The Technique's Technicalities +++
The actual technique works in the following way (if you do it on yourself).
Sit down comfortably on a chair / cushion. Repeat the following steps for every basic emotion {fear / sadness, anger / rage,  happiness / inspiration, love} Close your eyes and visualize a moment in your life in which you experienced the current emotion very strongly. Let your whole body sink into the emotion. Let it arise where it typically arises in your body. Think the thoughts it triggers when it comes up. In other words: Let the damn thing come on. Interview the emotion. That means ask the emotion a question and then answer the question from the standpoint of the emotion. Your questions should aim to "get to know" the emotion, its purpose, goal, its relationships with people, other emotions, yourself and the work that it does for you. Find a way with the current emotion to work better together with it in the future. That means work out a solution so that it can flow freely and you can live with it uncontracted and free. Open your eyes, stretch, think about what the emotion said and how you can live with that and go on with the next one. When you start working with this technique you will have to "play" the emotion's role. That means that you ask a question and you have to answer it from the perspective of the emotion. After doing this for 2-3 minutes, the emotion will come on so strongly that it'll take over and it will feel very real. I had numerous psychedelic-like experiences doing this technique. You might also experience big shifts in consciousness / awareness + a big opening of your body.
+++ An Interviewer's Template For Each Emotion +++
To make the process even simpler, I'll share with you a template that I developed over time that works quite well. Use this in this order for every emotion you interview and add follow-up / deepening questions for your own usecase:
Question: Who are you? Possible Answer: I am fear. Question: How do you feel? Possible Answer: I feel quite ... Question: Where are you located in my body when you arise? Possible Answer: I typically arise in your ... Question: How and when do you arise? Possible Answer: I come up when ... Question: When was the first time you can remember that you came up? Possible Answer: When you were ... years old, I came up while you were ... Question: What is your job and main goal? Possible Answer: My job is to protect you from ... Question: Do you sometimes work together with other emotions? If yes, with which and how? Possible Answer: Yeah, I sometimes work together with ... Question: Do you have enemies? If so, which ones and why? Possible Answer: Yeah, I hate ...          [...]
Question: What could we do to live more integrated together in the future? Possible Answer: You'd have to ... I hope you get the idea. Your main goal here is to fully understand and characterize every basic emotion and through that integrate it. It's very important when you do the interview, that you speak as "I the interviewer" and "I the emotion" so that you fully identify with your current position. It'll be strange at first, an then it'll be awesome and deep. Trust me.
+++ Further Notes +++
So that's the basic technique. When you do it with someone else over a series of times there are more elements to it. But this is the main bullet that you need to do it with yourself. if you do it formally as I described it, close your eyes throughout the interview of each emotion an then open your eyes at the end of each interview and contemplate what just happened and what to with it. Then get out of your current state (as good as it might feel) and hop on to the next emotion.
Explore how they work together, where they come from, how they contract and how they are triggered. Get the most accurate characterisation of each emotion on the intellectual, emotional and energetic level that you can get. Especially the first few times you do it, get deep and take your time. You'll notice a big release of tension in each sitting and after it which will be permanent.
When you notice throughout the day that you feel contracted, you can also make a mini-interview and just ask yourself "Fear, are you that? Rage is it you? ..." and ask what is happening and why it is happening. That'll in most cases end your contraction pretty fast and bring you an even deeper understanding of your emotions.
--
Try it! Let me know how it works for you and ask any questions that you have. Are you interested in a one-on-one skype session with me leading this? Maybe I'll throw 3 free sessions out there, if you guys are interested and it works for you. Are you interested in me making a product out of this, where we'd have multiple skype sessions with consultations + this technique over a period of time to integrate your emotions completely? Let me know. I will think about that.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to make more of these Azrael's Awakening Anchors to share what helped me to wake up. Peace out and be good to yourself.
Cheers,
Az

@Phill You need to realize that there is no substitute for action.
How do you develop discipline?
You just fucking do it.
You take that lazy ego and you force it to submit, like a dog.
And if you are too lazy to do that. That is it. You're stuck forever.

@OnceMore Imagine being dead, but still being able to see out your eyes.
That's it in a nutshell.

@Ryan_047 You have classic low self-esteem.
That's a big obstacle that you need to seriously work out before you can move forward with other work.
Do all the exercises in Nathaniel Branden's books on self-esteem. That's your solution. Take the exercises seriously and do them daily for a whole year. That should lead to a significant improvement.
Also, I would recommend a few years of daily Holosync for you.

Imagine your entire life ending. Like you woke up from bad dream.
That is enlightenment. It is the end of life as you knew it. So yes, "you" will fear it. It is the mother of all fear. You entire life is designed around NOT finding enlightenment. Because that is what "life" is, unenlightenment.
This is only a path for people who really care about truth, at the cost of death.
This is hardcore stuff. It's very radical. This is not some feel-good Tony Robbins motivational mumbo-jumbo. This is deadly serious. You pretty much have to be willing to throw your entire life away to see what lies beyond. Which requires enormous curiosity and wisdom.
Once you discover what lies on the other side of life, it will be so shocking, it kills you. The whole point is that you will not survive this process. But then again, you aren't gonna escape life alive no matter how you slice it.

@egoless You set an intention for what you want to know, and you apply your keen observation skills to the issue. As you observe a thing with an open mind and genuine intent, the answer will be revealed with time spontaneously.
See video: Learning = Observation
Boredom is usually just an illusion you have to bust through by becoming more curious about the thing at hand.
It sounds like you lack discipline, focus, and follow-through. Without those, you will never succeed at anything. You must learn to discipline yourself to have a work ethic. Or accept that your life will forever be mediocre.

@Slade There is a snowball effect that will happen.
You start with a little nugget of LP, like telling jokes, and as you work on it over the years, it will deepen, and as you contemplate the essence of what impact you're trying to make, and who you authentically are, everything will deepen in an amazing way.
Don't expect super depth from the get-go. It's like you found a diamond in the rough. Now you gotta polish it to see its full glory, which will take some years to see. Be okay with that.