starsofclay

Watching a funny talk show always makes me smile and lifts my mood. Also, I have kind of taught myself to treat my emotions like light switches or breakers. Sometimes the wrong switch gets flipped (anger, sadness, irritability, etc), so as soon as I realize it, I flip it off and turn on the correct one (happiness, peace, contentment, etc.) This can be a visualization thing, but if you are good at feeling the energy of each emotion, you can learn to just switch one energy off and switch on the correct one. The one that feels better, and the negative emotions never feel good, at least not for long.

I bought a posture correcting shirt at the recommendation of my chiropractor. It literally pulls your shoulders back and keeps you from slouching. It is a compression shirt, so not the most comfortable... I wear it at work to keep my back from hurting, but even when I don't wear it, I can tell the muscle memory is happening. I see no reason why you couldn't wear it while meditating as well. The link is for what they have on sale, which is still kind of expensive, but definitely worth it if you are interested in correcting your posture. https://www.intelliskin.net/collections/mens-sale

You could try caffeine, and see if it helps. It may mess with your brainwaves though and not achieve the desired results. I have been using binaural beats/ isochronic tones for years. At first I would fall asleep. Then it just turned into momentary loss of consciousness here and there, and then I just learned to stay awake. I also do a lot of my meditation lying down, so that probably helped. Don't worry about falling asleep so much, because your brain is still listening and receiving some of the benefits (if not all). Also, every session works to the goal of teaching you to reduce your brainwaves through repetition, whether you fall asleep or not. The fact that you fall asleep means you reduced your brainwaves, so don't worry so much about it. It will pass.

This website was shared somewhere else on the forum, and it has a lot of useful information. I would suggest the spinal breathing techniques, if you don't resonate with the other practices. It will send energy up and down your spine and to your third eye, hitting every chakra along the way. http://www.aypsite.org/41.html

I actually ponder this often... and I have felt it a few times while on marijuana. The sense that we think we aren't dreaming, but maybe we are. Or we are part of someone else's dream. God's dream? Is God just another dreamer? Who dreamed up God? Just as when we dream, we don't realize it unless we are lucid. Think of all the crazy shit that happens in dreams, and then think of all the crazy shit that happens in "real" life. When you wake from a dream, don't you say, "oh my God, that was really crazy. How did I not know I was dreaming?" Who's to say this won't happen when we wake up to the next level? Is that what death is? Is becoming awake in life the same as becoming lucid in a dream? Whereas death is the actual awakening? I'm not saying I believe all this, but it is fun to ponder.

The only thing that I can add to this conversation is to find your own truth. Perhaps that is your sacred contract for this lifetime... haha! Perhaps that is where you are at on this journey at this time. But I agree with you, there is a lot of stuff out there that is complete whackery-do. But it is those people's truths, and they feel compelled to share them in hopes that someone will benefit. And as some say, all truths lead to enlightenment. Some just take longer. Learn discernment. Discern what is your truth and what will lead you to your goal efficiently. That is where self-inquiry comes to play. It is all one big puzzle, your puzzle.

They are probably guides coming in the form of trolls, because it fits in with the cultural belief system. It would be interesting if an american who has never heard this story got their hands on these rocks and saw trolls too.

@Joseph Maynor Sounds like a good plan. Definitely more dedicated than my current one. I say go for it. If you think that you can accomplish this every day for the rest of your life, then don't let anyone tell you that you can't. To avoid burn-out though, you may want to break up some of the nonessential ones into a few times a week instead of every day. If you are looking for something to add to the list, I have recently become very interested in automatic writing. Most of the information online turns it into something mystical, but it can 100% be used to get in touch with yourself only, and provide guidance from deep within. Get to the point where you can start only writing down the very word that comes to mind in that instant, word by word, and you will be surprised what you have to say. You will learn so many things about yourself that you didn't know before, because it was hidden. It is very similar to journaling, but you teach yourself not to be in control of what is being written down. You channel your inner voice. I do this in my journal entries so I don't have to keep them in separate notebooks. You can easily switch back and forth between journaling and automatic writing (which I like to call "Free writing"), in the same session, and begin asking yourself questions.

To answer number 1, your should visualize both. The process and the end goal. It is about training your subconscious. You may know how to get to the end goal, but "he" does not, and needs constant nurturing to get there. I don't see a problem with merging goals that are under the umbrella of the main goal, but you should maybe make separate sessions to focus on them in detail. Question, what do you see when you visualize? Can you actually see these things, or do you have to pretend to see them? I ask because my visualization sucks and have tried everything I can to even see something simple like an apple. One of my main goals in this life is to learn to think in pictures. Have you heard of image streaming? It's really neat, and would be easy for someone like you if you find visualization easy.

I like to help people because I love the energy that comes back from it. You feel it instantly. I feed on it, like a vampire. I crave more and more. I think that if everyone felt that way, the world would be a much better place. Instead, many people feed on negative energy, unaware that they are doing so. I used to be that person, but I decided to change.

@Voyager I love to meditate in a hot bath. It relaxes my body enough to relax my mind. Hot tubs have a regulated temperature, so they are made to not be life threatening. I wouldn't mix drugs or alcohol with it though, because that's a different story. However, you probably should look up the recommended time to be in a hot tub, and try to not stay that much longer. Then start seeing when your ego screams at you to get out. Is it earlier than the recommended time or much later? If it's much later, then maybe you should ask your ego if he really cares that much about you after all, lol. Anyway, just be careful. Don't push it to the point where it is physically damaging, it is just not worth it. You don't want to hurt your body or your mind. That is not the point of meditation or enlightenment.

your ego could be fighting back. You should try to keep one step ahead of your ego and learn to transmute any negative feelings into positive ones. The first step is to feel the emotions completely, and don't be afraid of them. Then breathe through them, and transmute, not replace, with feelings of joy, love and so on. If you feel like you need to go to the doctor, then go. But don't fall into the trap of taking anxiety medicine unless you feel you can effectively wean yourself off in due time.

Just a suggestion, but perhaps you should find a therapist that doesn't have such a distaste for meditation, but one that can talk you through any problems that may arise with it. Probably the best way to find one is to look for one that does hypnotherapy and regressions.

@Vladimir @HypSandar Just for kicks and giggles, I turned your image into a Zelda reference, just to make it more video game-y... enjoy!

it would definitely be a good practice... this is probably why I was so horrible at taking notes in college lectures... If I were to do this, I might start with a podcast or something

Wow I really like this website! Very informative and comprehensive! I have skirted traditional meditation for too long, and am excited to try the methods on this website. thank you for sharing

I have noticed this too... it bothered me for a while but I gave up. One practice that I came up with to (maybe) correct this is to visualize the numbers 1-100, while subvocalizing the numbers 100-1. It is also a powerful exercise in concentration. (And I never made it past 1/3rd of the exercise) I have also noticed that I can't listen to people talk without repeating the words in my head simultaneously. This REALLY bothers me. It's more noticeable if there is a delay in repeating the words, sometimes anywhere from a split second to a full second behind the person talking. This has really hurt my ability to listen to people. But it could just be one of my mental problems, like ADD.

I was going to say something similar to this. You should learn as much as you can before you die, but to answer your question fully, it most likely won't happen in this lifetime, unless you have been working on this for many lifetimes and somehow cognize with one of the masters (buddha, christ, God himself), or your higher self who remembers all of the work you have put into it in the past. Otherwise, just learn what you can and hope you will cognize in a future life. If you don't believe in reincarnation, then you may either end up achieving this, or very disappointed.

I think that there is not enough credit given to the subconscious... it is a part of us that not many people seem to want to explore. I even wonder if there are multiple layers of the subconscious, for example: the part that controls our autonomous body functions, and the part that speaks to us through our dreams, meditations, visions, etc. Many people want to group those two together, and say that the subconscious has no awareness, but I'm not so sure. When we dream, who creates the dream world? It's not our waking conscious, or even our dream self (another layer of consciousness, I believe), so who is it besides our subconscious? When we speak to dream characters, and ask questions, who answers them? Which part of you is doing all of this? When lucid dreaming, perhaps there is some control from our waking consciousness and dream self, but there are still things that will happen in lucid dreams that are put there by something else, perhaps we just don't have the right word for it, so we call it the subconscious.

@ThirdEyeSees @Annie I think that if you are in the right mindset, then raising children is never a waste of time. No, we no longer need to populate the world, but there is still a need to spread love and your own values, and you will only be around for so long. Therefore, you instill those values into your children, and hope that they will carry the traditions and change people's lives as well. Right now, we are way too populated with children who will grow up to spread hate and ignorance like their parents. It is parents like you who will make a difference for our future. That in itself will bring you to the God consciousness, whether in this lifetime, or in one to follow. Don't get too caught up on achieving it in this life. Learn what you can, teach it to your children, and one day, when you reincarnate, perhaps it will be one of their descendants who will show you the way.

I think that if you are in the right mindset, then raising children is never a waste of time. No, we no longer need to populate the world, but there is still a need to spread love and your own values, and you will only be around for so long. Therefore, you instill those values into your children, and hope that they will carry the traditions and change people's lives as well. Right now, we are way too populated with children who will grow up to spread hate and ignorance like their parents. It is parents like you who will make a difference for our future. That in itself will bring you to the God consciousness, whether in this lifetime, or in one to follow. Don't get too caught up on achieving it in this life. Learn what you can, teach it to your children, and one day, when you reincarnate, perhaps it will be one of their descendants who will show you the way.

I had a dream last night where I talked to my higher self. It was not a lucid dream, but when I got to the point where I was asking the questions, some lucidity must have crept in. This is what happened: I was having this completely ridiculous dream when all of a sudden I started flying and got as high as I could go, (which is never very high, I usually can't make it above the height of treetops). I seemed to have hit some tiled ceiling, and was able to poke my head through one of the tiles and then the ceiling stretched out of sight above that. Somehow I intuitively knew that I should ask my higher self some questions, although the rest of the dream had nothing to do with that. I can't remember all of the questions that I asked, but he was very friendly, and answered in my speaking voice, although it sounded far away and had a bit of an reverb to it. I remember asking if I am good. He said "Yes." I asked, am I really good? He said "Yes." This has been something that was on my mind lately, for some reason. Since I don't know much about myself besides this very limited perspective of my current life, I had been wondering if my higher self (the cumulative past lives put together) was actually a good soul or not. I do wish that I can remember what other questions I asked, so if I end up remembering, I will edit the post or update with a comment. The last thing that I asked was "What is our true name." The answer was a bit confusing. At first it sounded somewhat angelic maybe, but was spoken too fast for me to make it out. It sounded like: "Wappa Pow, something something something" I asked if he could repeat it, and he did, slower. "Wappa Pow, something Turner, Something I said, "Wopa po?" He said, in a corrective tone, "Wappa Pow, Winston Turner, AKA Rainman." Just like that. The only word I still couldn't really make out was the Winston, it sounded more like Winson, or Wincin, but I was not allowed to ask because the dream changed, and two people walked in that I knew from years ago, and proceeded to pour gasoline on themselves (yes very freaky ,huh) and was about to strike a match. I begged my higher self not to let the match light, but I wasn't about to take any chances so I got down to the ground and ran out of the building (turned out I was in a barn). As I was running out, I could hear the whoosh of the fire blazing. I ran outside and into the house close by, telling everyone what just happened and that now the barn was about to burn down. One of the persons said, "But the barn isn't on fire.." and I looked out the window, and lo and behold, the barn was not on fire and I could still see the two guys trying to light the match and being very disappointed that it wouldn't spark. I don't know if this part of the dream has to do with anything, but I think my higher self was just pretty much saying it was time to stop asking questions for now. Also, it was very good tactic to help concrete our conversation in my memory, as I do have trouble remembering dreams. I hope in the future that I have more chances to connect with my higher self in dreams or mediation.

Ask the elephant if he would like some noise-cancelling headphones

@No-Thing Once you figure out where the ego-structure is located/fighting, do you think that these areas can be healed or released, like repressed memories? Or is this merely a practice on overcoming the fear of death?

I think I understand what you are saying... but wouldn't you turn blue eventually and cause brain damage? How long have you done this for in one sitting?