Ry4n

I was watching Leo's "How to deal with strong negative emotions" video, where he talks about opening yourself up to feel and accept all your emotions, and remembered a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh (sorry if I screwed up the spelling). "When you learn to suffer, you suffer much less." Sounds counter-intuitive, but I feel it really sums up the concept. So much of our pain is born from resistance, and believing that having painful emotions make us weak and mentally ill, when in fact that's only the case for those who resist these feelings.

Face your fears. Expose yourself to the cockroaches and resist the urge to push away your feelings or run away from it. The more you run away from this fear, the more you fear it. Every time you react you tell your brain it needs to be afraid. Exposure is scientifically proven to work for phobias, so trust me it ain't no bs. "Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

@Sagar Takker Hopefully these meditations will help you find equanimity amongst difficult emotions and be able to defuse from thoughts more effectively.

Stop trying to calm it down, you're wasting your time. Accept the fact that your mind goes crazy. There's nothing wrong with monkey mind. Don't judge it, simply accept it and view it with mindful awareness, knowing that these thoughts are not facts and are not you. Same thing goes with any feelings of anxiety or agitation. The goal is not to get rid of these experiences, it's to accept them and use mindfulness in such a way where it no longer has power over us. Besides, the monkey mind will pass in time, just have faith.

@electroBeam I'm no expert when it comes to these things, but maybe you could try simply being extremely introverted for a certain period of time and let the desire for social interaction slowly build up, and once you start to crave it then you start talking to people often again.

@Joel3102 maybe you're not real, and maybe you are... Accept that uncertainty. Trying to get rid of that uncertainty about whether this is all real is the problem. Avoiding these feelings will only cause them to happen more!

Was wondering if there is any meditation techniques you guys would recommend for having experiences similar to those reached with psychedelics? Doesn't have to lead to any visuals, just any technique that has a similar effect. I might add that at this moment self inquiry seems a bit advanced for me, so was hoping the technique wouldn't be too difficult.

@pluto holy shit, I definitely wanna try that.. ive heard of Wim Hof but I didn't know his methods could do that.

@Shiva haha when I can sure ahahah

Hey, because of me being cautious about my mental health being affected by drugs, I was wondering if there's any issue with doing 5meo dmt only? It seems to be safe if you are not pre-disposed to skizophrenia or psychosis. Also as far as using psychedelics for personal growth it seems like the most worth while, so I was thinking of (in a few years when my brain is more developed) using only 5meo dmt and no other psychedelics. Let me know your thoughts.

@Snick-The ThinkTank thanks, I think I'm just going to have a few experiences with mushrooms before I jump into 5meo, although after I start 5meo I don't see a reason to continue using mushrooms. I definitely want to limit any substance use to what I think is valid.

@Be Yourself do you think just a few experiences with mushrooms would prepare for the 5meo trip? Like if I did 2 grams first, then 3, then 4-5, after which I do 5meo?

@Be Yourself nah I haven't, but I was thinking just start with a really low dose than work my way up very very slowly.

Hey, found this meditation that is based off of Buddha's "Five Remembrances" or contemplations about the reality of life, in order to become more accepting of it. Translated by Thich Naht Hanh. This will most likely be hard/depresseing at first, but over time you learn to embrace these things and no longer be afraid of them. Hope you like it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQJCOOWJ-Uw&feature=youtu.be

@The_spanish_guy I'm glad to hear you're meditating now. A quick warning about meditation for someone with OCD: Make sure you are not using meditation as another way to not feel things you consider painful, if you approach meditation that way it is no different than trying to use alcohol to get rid of painful emotions (another ritual essentially). Meditation is a way to accept the stuff in your head and live a meaningful life.

Hey @The_spanish_guy, sorry to hear what you have been going through. When you say OCD without rituals (a word I like to use instead is compulsions), that's probably because you may not realise that there are mental rituals that you are doing such as reassuring yourself something isn't true, checking, blocking out thoughts, or just ruminating. These are all rituals. I would recommend doing Exposure and Response Prevention with a trained therapist for both your OCD, and with your anxiety around others. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy may also help with your OCD intrusive thoughts as well as any anxiety or other painful emotions, and will most likely increase your quality of life. Make sure you see a good psychologist. Antidepressant medication may also help you, I would recommend prozac but I could be wrong. Exercise and a healthy diet as well as support from others close to you should help. It seems like you have some symptoms of depression also, if I am correct psychotherapy and CBT may help. Another recommendation is clinical hypnosis. Meditation may also help, but for now anymore than 5 mins a day would be too much considering your state of mind currently. Hope this helps.

Just wondering for those who have used the tank what practices do you think are good to try? The ones I think would be good would be mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation (on the breath), self hypnosis, lucid dreaming or astral projection. Any more ideas that are worth looking into?

@Evilwave Heddy yeh it does have some similarities to meditation. They are both relaxing to do however I find hypnosis more relaxing. The main difference between the two I would say is that with hypnosis you lose a lot of your awareness with regards to what is happening outside of yourself, and the state is kind of like a sleeping state, whereas with meditation, at least mindfulness, you become more awake, alert and aware of everything, Ive never felt disassociated as a result of meditation, if anything I feel more connected to my surroundings.

Specifically clinical hypnosis I am talking about. I have done hypnosis about 10 times, learning from a psychologist who has been trained with the skills to put someone into a state of hypnosis. The first time I did it, it was the most relaxed I had ever felt in my entire life. A weird thing though happened when he clicked his fingers and I opened my eyes at the end of the session, it was like I was disassociated from the external world and deeply inside myself, and as soon as I opened my eyes the whole word flooded back in. The first time it took about 20 mins to enter a genuinely deep state of hypnosis, now it only takes about 5 minutes. I have found it very beneficial for becoming a calmer person overall, and changing your beliefs around yourself, so it could definitely be used for self esteem. If you're interested there are some recordings on youtube that are really great. Have fun relaxing!

It'd be interesting to see you Leo make a video about hypnosis for general personal development! I personally have found it very useful and I think you would benefit from as well.

I don't much about enlightened to be honest, so bare with me if that seems like a silly question. Do those who have realised their true nature no longer experience painful emotions such as grief and anger, or do they continue to but simply see those emotions in a different way? Like they were so separate to their emotions that they wouldn't react to them.

@Prabhaker not quite sure I know what you mean guess I'm just gonna have to get enlightened to find out.

@Bebop ah yeah I thought this was the case. Very wise way of being.

Hey @clytaemnestra, sorry to hear what you have been going through, that certainly sounds painful. While it does sound like you are having some mental health issues it's clear your past has been a big influence in that. If you are planning on leaving to live somewhere else that may be a good idea. Also I would probably see a therapist/psychologist, a good quality one will support you through your struggles and should give you some good tips for dealing with these issues. While I am certainly not qualified for advice (so don't take my word on it) I have a few tips for your issues. First of all as well as seeing a therapist, eating healthy and exercising regularly can be a good way to get you back on your feet. Also for your social anxiety I would recommend exposure therapy. The gist of this therapy is that you expose yourself to what scares you, in this case it would be social interactions, and to accept that fear and continue to socialise. Make sure you START SMALL and work your way up to more extroverted/scary scenarios. By doing this you show your brain that there is nothing to be afraid of, and eventually the primitive part of your brain will realise this and stop throwing those alarms inside your head telling you you're in danger when you're not. Also Acceptance and Commitment Therapy may also be of use to you. It combines cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness and living a life based on your values instead of your feelings. It teaches you how to not take your thoughts seriously, how to deal with painful emotions more effectively and live a better life. Also once you have made a recovery and reach a much happier place (and trust me if you do the work you absolutely will) I would recommend mindfulness and loving kindness meditation. Learning how to be kind to yourself will be super beneficial.

This may be a little controversial for some of you, but Ive been reading an interesting book called the happiness trap by Dr Russ Harris (Get out of your mind and into your life by Steven Hayes seems good also) and it talks about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which combines cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness and living a value based life. I think the fact that it says the word "therapy" is misleading, since it can be used for anyone. I have found it extremely useful for dealing with negative thoughts, emotions, and painful physical sensations. It essentially asks you to defuse from thoughts, accept whatever you experience, be in the moment, pay attention to the observing self, assess your values and live your life according to those values, instead of living a life of things you feel like doing. Ive also found it useful for ending procrastination, because while I don't feel like doing a task, I value it, and so it always gets done. I definitely recommend it if you're suffering. With ACT, you can use negative emotions as a way to improve your mental health, rather than have it be a barrier to having good mental health and happiness. Keep an open mind and let me know what you think guys.