Carl-Richard

I do 15 minutes of sauna at the end of my gym sessions, so 3.5 times a week, and it really puts the cherry on top.

Well, I guess meditation will help. Consistent daily meditation on a semi-empty stomach, when you're at peak energy levels in your day, for at least 1 hour, seated with eyes closed, using one technique only. Committing to that level of strictness will also prevent overthinking ("I don't think I'm meditating enough, or using the right technique, or doing it for long enough, etc."). Also, generally committing to things like daily habits or long-term goals will prevent overthinking, because overthinking feeds on uncertainty, and committing to things makes things more certain. And when you're committed to doing things, thoughts like "life is difficult" lose their relevance, because you'll be doing things anyway, despite how hard they may be. And what things should you commit to? Well, things that you find meaningful in some way. For example, daily habits structure your life and create order and direction, which helps you to pursue whatever is meaningful to you. Or a long-term goal that you find inherently rewarding in some way, which speaks to your strengths in some way, and which will support you financially and help your community in some way, is also something you'll find meaningful. And when you have committed and you feel some resistance or want to give up, remind yourself that the commitment itself (regardless of what it is) is a source of meaning, which is like honey to your mental state, and by virtue of that fact alone, you'll be compelled to have faith in your commitment. And the particular commitment you've chosen is again meaningful, but you're just overthinking in that moment, and you know that if the commitment is truly meaningful, your overthinking has no real ground and can be discarded more easily. So meaning feeds into meaning.

Start by reclaiming your mind. Spirituality is filled with a lot of dogmatic fear around rationality and clear thinking. Logic is not your enemy, conceptual knowledge is not your enemy, clear and precise language is not your enemy. You merely transcend these things at some point, but you have to be clear on what this transcendence really means, and what is clear is that rationality and clear thinking do not stop being important for survival.

No. Communication implies duality; me and you. No. If you're going to communicate, don't intentionally make it harder for yourself. Communication is already hard enough as it is. And when you're talking about the Absolute, even though that itself is a performative contradiction (as you can't actually talk about the Absolute), try to keep the amount of performative contradictions to a minimum by using clear distinctions, unless you're trying to be cute or making a point. For example, instead of saying "there is no me or you, we don't exist, nobody is saying anything", say "the personal self is an illusion, the transpersonal Self is what is truly real". There — you've introduced a clear distinction between two concepts which avoids performative contradictions. There is no communication without making distinctions, and better distinctions means better communication.

You're certainly not a member of the homo genus.

Give me an example of overthinking.

I think you're the closest to my explanation. @NoSelfSelf @Michael569 The type of rigorous empirical approach you guys are presenting is generally much more useful than whatever my explanation is (e.g. for finding specific health interventions), but I just think it's interesting and reassuring to have a highly generalized birds-eye view of it: Everything in life is technically a form of stress. All the processes in your body; your lungs breathing air, your heart contracting 100,000 times a day, your muscles contracting, even when doing normal things like walking, sitting, standing, even when resting; are forms of stress. It's just relatively unnoticeable, and you tend to only see the effects over long periods of time, namely through age-related damage and diseases. So about that: how does exercise reduce age-related damage and diseases (and thus increase health and longevity)? Well, it's a bit counterintuitive at first (maybe not for you health-aware guys), but exercise is also a form of stress, just in a different way than the stress mentioned above (if you're exercising correctly, of course). Exercise is essentially elevated stress in manageable doses over manageable spans of time, in a way that allows for rest, adaptation and growth. When your heart is pumping really fast, or you're breathing very heavily, or your muscles are under a lot of strain, this will cause these systems to adapt to this stress, for the mere reason that you evolved to adapt to changes in the environment. This means that the systems will become stronger and more able to tackle the chronic stress of everyday life: of pumping your blood, of moving your limbs, of maintaining your posture, etc. So the reason exercise causes a reduction in age-related damage and diseases, is that you're training your body to handle the various sources of stress in everyday life that cause these things in the first place. It applies to everything: from performing daily activities, to the functioning of organs at rest, and down to the molecular level. It can help to imagine some real-life situations to understand how everyday activities are a source of stress: imagine being in an accident where you have to sit in a wheelchair for several months before you can walk again. When you try to start walking again, what used to be seemingly effortless has suddenly become extremely hard and taxing on your body. Taking a few steps suddenly becomes incredibly stressful, and you have to keep exposing yourself to that stress before you can return to your normal state where walking is effortless again. It's of course not completely effortless, as it's still a form of stress, but it's relatively unnoticeable. This applies to everything: when you exercise correctly, with optimal challenge and optimal rest, life becomes effortless. So it's not that all stress is bad, but it's that unmanageable and chronic stress is bad. And because everything in the body is interconnected, your whole body will benefit from one part becoming stronger, especially for very central structures like the cardiovascular system (as almost everything in our body is connected with blood vessels). But also things like strengthening your muscles will help with tackling the stress associated with things like walking, sitting and standing, which again will impact your entire body in some way. So yeah, that's basically it: life is stressful, and exercise makes you more able to handle that stress, reducing the damage and risk for diseases that you accumulate over time as you age.

If it's more potent, is sex then healthier than exercise? Certainly, there must be more to the health and longevity-inducing effects of exercise than just endorphins (I know I'm asking stupid questions, but I'm trying to prod you towards my explanation :D). Is a standardized correlaton coefficient of 0.070 not weak? ? Sure, that is certainly true during the exercise itself, but how does this translate to a general health/longevity effect?

How does it release tension and stress? (which physiological mechanisms are involved?) Ah, mindfulness and physical activity. I wrote a bachelor thesis about that . I did find a very weak but statistically significant correlation between mindfulness and exercise frequency in a sample of 545 participants using questionnaires in a cross-sectional design, so the science could be on your side How does it increase blood flow, elasticity of blood vessels and oxygenation?

Like others have stated above, Buddha was a prince, not a priest.

Backflip mouse V2

@Yimpa Twitch is a city now? ?

Unless you're routinely taking GABAergic substances, your report makes no sense. The one time I drank maybe 40 cl of 40% alcohol vodka over the course of 3 hours, I was sent down a set of stairs without knowing it (and I'm a beefy 80kg guy). 25 cl in one hour has to do something.

The 13 IQ increase guy said in the comment section to his video that the progress is logarithmic, meaning you could probably achieve a 6-7 point increase in the first 40 hours. But he also said that the last few points are more valuable (for the reasons I stated previously), so the 400 hours are still worth it according to him.

The first time I watched this episode, I died ?

Take some time to chill

It's basically like fasting, just a less boring version. You'll feel good, for a while. Some years ago, I did some kind of intermittent fasting where I had a simplified version of Leo's blueberry smoothie for breakfast and then whatever my family served for dinner (and something before bed as well). I went from like 80kg to 70kg in a few months. Then, I slowly reintroduced eggs and bread into the routine, later replacing the smoothie with a smaller amount of solid fruit, and that is what I still eat today. Your body is really not meant to drink food.

I notice that when I play guitar and get really intensely into it, afterwards, it's like my brain is switched off and I can't think straight (I'm unable to see my thoughts and their logical structure clearly). It only takes around 10 minutes until I'm back, but it can be really pronounced. I guess it could have to do with the right brain being strongly activated while playing guitar, and that it takes a while for the activity to stabilize again. The complete opposite happens when I do a couple of sets of Dual N Back (a game that trains your working memory). Then, it's as if my thoughts turn into visible objects.

@undeather ?

What are atoms made out of? What are the things that atoms are made out of made out of? At some point, you reach the unknown, or nothingness, or infinite regress, which means there is nothing to limit it. For every limitation you can identify, there is the unlimited lurking in the background.

Reality is limited and unlimited.

Blue and red are different, but they're both a part of the same reality.

Suffering is cyclical. Suffering will decrease by creating some direction in your life, whether that be through creating a life purpose, daily routines or goals, or by transcending the egoic self. You should also work on various meta-techniques or values that aid towards creating direction: Learn to commit to things for a set amount of time (you can always change your mind later if it doesn't work). Have faith in your commitments as long as you carry them. Be consistent. Don't make compulsive exceptions to your plan; plan the exceptions! Actually listen to your mind. Your mind is amazing at identifying problems in your life, but you've developed a habit of ignoring it, and you start to dislike your mind and experience it as annoying or useless instead of the brilliant tool it is. Don't let it go to waste. Write down every problem that your mind keeps reminding you about, and find a working solution for any given problem (it doesn't have to be a final solution, just one step in the right direction, and of course, commit to it!). And you'll be surprised to find that maybe your mind shuts up for once. Tell the truth, or at least don't lie. Your mind needs as much transparency to itself as possible to work properly. By engaging in lies and deception, you're creating division, disruption and eventually self-deception. And the state that lying puts you in (paranoia) is inherently chaotic and cyclical. Paranoia is poison for minds that value direction. Keep things ordered at all levels: your room, your notes, your files, your clothes. Clutter outside means clutter inside. Be punctual, use timers for remembering things, eat consistently, sleep consistently.

Spiral Dynamics is roughly about culture and cognition. Spirituality (or more specifically mysticism) transcends culture and cognition. Imagine being a Norwegian who goes to a cabin in the woods every winter, who studies in a liberal university and who votes in all local and national elections. You can still awaken to the same truth as someone who lives in the Amazon, who spends their days hunting and gathering and who takes commands from no one else than their tribe elders. Spiral Dynamics describes what is different between those two individuals. Spirituality describes what is common.

Why?