r0ckyreed

@Leo Gura I’m gonna start reading the life coaching books you have on your booklist. What are some of the traps to avoid and how do you recommend I get started? I’m a licensed therapist, but I mainly want to get involved in coaching to have more freedom since being a therapist, I cannot practice out of the state I’m licensed in. I think I already have sufficient training and now I just need to create a website and market myself to get clients.

@Leo Gura @Davino What do you think of The Mind Illuminated meditation by John Yates? I’m going to try that out this week. I got the book and am going to do the work.

Thanks. I will make that a goal to meditate 10 days no concepts when I accrue enough PTO at work. Until then, I will aim to do 30 minutes to 1 hour a day and then do an intense weekend retreat and will do psychedelics whenever I can get them again. Thanks for all your help and support!

Thanks. I just now did a 30 minute practice and felt a wave of joy and gratitude move up my spine. The practice I did involved 4 techniques/stages: 1. Grounding (Mindfulness) 2. Self-Inquiry 3. Vision/Goals Reflection 4. Gratitude (or Satisfaction Meditation) It sounds like you recommend strict mindfulness practice. I will give that a try for the next 10 days. Thanks.

It’s Deepak Chopra. Russell is the participant. Trump could’ve been the participant and it still would’ve been a good meditation. Chopra is the facilitator.

Thanks. I will give it a go. I will vary breath-awareness with self-inquiry. It’s hard for me to devote to a 10 days straight of meditation due to my career. The best opportunity to do psychedelics and deep meditation is on the weekends. The reason for me combing self-inquiry with breath-awareness is to get the benefits of contemplation and stillness. I find if I focus too much on breath-awareness, my curiosity is stunted. If I focus too much on self-inquiry/contemplation, then my stillness is stunted.

Wanted to share a cool guided self-inquiry meditation that I really like. Enjoy!

Do you do breath-awareness meditation like described in Mind Illuminated or do you do self-inquiry/contemplation?

Is it reasonable to do multiple meditation techniques during a day sit or just stick with one technique for the day? I find that using a combination a breath-awareness, self-inquiry, looking at my hands, and existential contemplation seem to work well for me. @Leo Gura You don’t think self-inquiry would be more fruitful than mindfulness meditation? Is your go-to meditation technique still looking at your hands to stay in actuality or do you do the see, hear, feel meditation or The Mind Illuminated?

@Leo Gura Do you ever do contemplation retreats? My biggest issue with meditation is that when I quiet the mind via focusing on the breath, I find myself dissociating and falling asleep. It’s like if my mind is inactive, I either fall asleep or dissociate. What I have done to help this is keep my eyes open and look at my hands and contemplate my hands and consciousness. For some reason, I find that me looking at my hands and contemplating the mystery of the present moment raises my consciousness even more than quieting my mind via focusing on breath. It is easier for me to be more present and have higher consciousness via contemplation/self-inquiry. My main meditation technique these days is looking at my hands and the room, returning the mind to the breath and the questions “Who am I, what is consciousness, what is the present moment?” And I just sit with that question and connect with deep not-knowing and the mystery of the now. I find this method better than traditional anapanasati/vipassana. Thanks.

Which meditation retreats do you recommend? Are there any websites you recommend?

Thanks mate. That guy must’ve been dissociating instead of meditating. No way you can claim your mindful but yet so clueless. I am thinking that retreats might create some kind of excuse or attachment to them. Why can’t I just do it at home? Why am I dependent on the structure of a retreat? At some point, I think these retreats become money grabs because the ancients didn’t have the luxury that we have today. They meditated in caves in which case I wonder why I get a fancy retreat when my closet is closest to a cave? When you do vipassana, do you just focus on breath? What is your technique that you do?

What are the best, most recommended meditation retreats? I have been getting back into meditation. My main meditation technique is self-inquiry. Any time my mind wanders, I bring it back to the breath and to the question "What am I? What is Consciousness?" I am considering doing a full day at-home meditation retreat in my dark closet, doing the self-inquiry meditation technique before I consider going to a Vipassana Retreat. Is going to Vipassana Retreats even worth it or is it a group-think distraction? Are At-Home Retreats better than formal retreats?

Low quality. If you did awaken, congrats. Now you realize you are a figment within my imagination.

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