Gabriel Antonio

That's just a phase. If I were you, I would switch to do nothing because it will give a sense that "whatever I'm doing, it's ok. The important thing is that I'm here sitting."

Thanks for sharing this video with us!! I don't know if I'll ever do the whole technique, but it's crazy that I do some of those things sometimes. Like breathing very chaotically (actually, it's called the fire breath in kundalini yoga). and I am enjoying dancing a lot lately! I wouldn't trade this for regular meditation, but I bet the most energetic people can profit a lot from this method!

oh yes! the first few times I did do nothing I had this amazing insight: "I'm not doing the thinking!" Today I had a realization that when I'm expressing emotions through thoughts I can accentuate the thought instead of repressing it. For example, I feel angry. So I start judging everything around me. When I catch myself doing that, I usually try to lessen the thinking; but today... no! Just the opposite: I let my mind get as judgemental as it can. "Allow my mind to go crazy." It was wonderful! I feel very purified!

I tried for a few days to sleep on a tatami. I stopped because I was having discomfort and headache as well. I think that both of these happened because my body is not used to what is "healthy," so the discomfort is how my body is readapting itself to a more natural way. It's just like when I started to keep my spine erect. In the beginning, it was hell because I had accumulated tension of my entire life, but now that I have gotten used to it, it's wonderful! One thing I am experimenting with is walking barefoot on the concrete. I have tried a couple of times walking with socks (so there's at least a layer of protection); they were great experiences because I felt much more mindful and there's this cool feeling of "groundedness" because I'm connecting to the Earth (even though the concrete is a layer). (Btw, my socks got ripped, so I don't really recommend doing that.) Anyway, my point is it was pretty uncomfortable but I can see how more natural and even healthier it is to walk barefoot.

I don't practice counting my breaths, but I focus on my breathing when I'm in bed. I set the timer for 30 minutes. I focus on the rise and fall of my belly by saying silently, "In" (inhaling) and "out" (exhaling). It does wonders to calm my mind and allow me to sleep. If I can't sleep after 30 minutes of practicing this, then I get up and try sleeping later. I remember one time about a year and a half ago that I practiced counting my breaths. I felt so concentrated. It was a really cool feeling! However, I clinged to that "concentration high" I got. I wanted to have that same feeling after every time I practiced; however, in the next few times, I was barely able to keep my attention on 5 or 6 breaths. I got very frustrated and gave up. I wonder if this technique work be easier for me now, as I feel like I have increased my concentration a lot. What works best for me is the do nothing because it requires no effort, and it is pleasant. This way, I can meditate for hours and hours.

It's really crazy!! I took several classes of Kundalini. I felt part of my awakening freakout I had the beginning of this year was due to those classes.

I was doing a guided meditation on forgiveness & loving kindness daily. It helped feel love for people. I remember one day I was waiting for my 10-year-old cousin at his school, and lots of children were passing by. And started to practice loving kindness (that is, saying, "May you be well. May you be peaceful. etc") I just felt pure love. But it didn't really last. I was kind of neurotic about practicing loving kindness all the time. Just drained by energy... Ever since I came across the Do Nothing technique, and I am focused on it. So I very rarely practice loving kindness. And I don't really miss it. I prefer forgiveness meditation, which helps me to become aware of the suffering I cause to other people, and the immense suffering I cause to myself.

I used to hate meditation because all the techniques I knew were related to concentration. Letting go of thoughts, counting the breath etc. With the Do Nothing, I don't concentrate on anything, and my concentration has gotten so sharp like a razor; focused like the sun on a magnifying class.

I also have a hard with mindfulness practice. I don't know on what to focus on: the impermanence of the phenomena or my memory of when I first became conscious of the phenomena. I think that, with practice, questions like ours will automatically dissolve. Some guidance can be helpful for us to save time though.

Cool! I have been putting off watching that video for months! I will try it! I wonder what it is... Kind of like a strange name "Neti Neti". My guess: questioning our identity over and over again. I will see the video, but I don't think I'll focus on that for now. I'm concentrating my energy on Shikatanza. If I get the desire of doing this method, I will. Anyway... just some rumination here

The smell of palo santo makes me feel very spiritual, as if I could remember "who I really am" I got a Burmese product which has a very potent purifying smell. It helps a lot to deepen my breath. I think that aromatherapy works the most when we're not overstimulated; that is, a palo santo would make me feel so connected if I had watched a 6-hour marathon of a TV show, then overate a bunch of greasy food, and then jerked off twice. But even in a case like this, it would help. After all, at some point we have to get back on track, right?

Sometimes I doubt that awareness is curative. But that happens when I'm not aware, when I haven't been meditating seriously. It's crazy how I am--with virtually no effort--dropping so many habits & gaining so many positive ones.

Yes! One time I was meditating at a mountain, and lots of flies start bitting me. I even started to hallucinate. When I surrendered to the experience, I clearly experienced how pain is merely a creation of my brain & how I can desidentify from it. That being said, the next weeks after this experience were wild. I kind of had an awakening freakout. I feel like I was seeing more than I could take. Now, I'm back to normal. And I am slowly working to get back to that state but in a more gentle way. After the ecstasy, the laundry. Years of work till I get there!

Enjoyment is relaxation

It's good to hear that someone else was as impacted as I was with the moralizing video. Booo for should statements

I see myself 5 or 6 months ago in you. I was trying to install a lot of good habits. For example, waking up at 6, meditation + affirmations + visualization, journaling, and so on. What I found is that if you're able to create one healthy habit, your life starts to shift into that same frequency. In other words, when you change one thing, the others start to change by themselves. The video that's helped me the most is Leo's "How To Stop Backsliding." But don't believe. Experimenting is wonderful!

I can feel peace through your words. It kind of reminds me of the feeling I get when I read Thich Nhat Hanh

Name: Gabriel Antonio Age: 20 Gender: Male Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil Occupation: Student Marital Status: Single Kids: No Hobbies: meditation, yoga, jogging, watching self-development videos, and helping people learn Portuguese I have been interested in improving myself since I was 12 after going to a talk about Cabalistic Numerology. I had found something quite remarkable in the speaker's way of saying things, as if his third eye was opened. I started to go more and more to his lectures, and it was crazy how I was another person when I was there. Let me explain: I was a supposedly a shy person, but when I was talking with people about topics such as "What was your favorite lecture of him?" I was able to have a very natural conversation. I kind of concluded that I was an old soul because of the ease with which I talked with those older folks as opposed to people my age. After that, I experimented with NLP, hypnosis, and tapping. And finally in August of 2014 I discovered lucid dreaming and finally meditation. After a few weeks I saw how much I could get if I invested time and energy meditating. I had always wanted "the magic pill" for overcoming my fears, and meditation looked as the perfect tool, the tool that I had been searching for years. Personal challenges I've overcome: Insane guilt (I wouldn't allow myself to "fall off track;" everything had to be perfect, otherwise my "evil" side was taking control of myself) Insane perfectionism (I like the quote: "Everything that's beautiful is imperfect") Social Anxiety (I don't really have the need to interact a lot with people, but I used to think: "Gotta talk, gotta talk") What I'm working on now: My future Meditation Being OK with the imperfection of my actions