What should you expect and how to improve meditation?

[Simon Håkansson]

I have meditated for four years now, since three years back I have meditated one hour every day. I have also been on two retreats were I meditated about eight hours every day for about ten days.

Even so, it feels like I don´t get much progress during my actual meditations. I fall asleep about 90% of the time, no matter how energized I feel before or at which time of the day I try meditating. At most I can concentrate for up to two minutes before my mind gets completely lost in fantasy land (either analysing the latest tv-show episode, thinking about strategy in a computer game or thinking about what I should study during the upcoming years, it´s very repetitive). The mind always feels extremely foggy when I meditate, a change of location or the use of guided meditation usually makes things alot better for 1-2 days, but afterwards my mind just goes back to it´s usual state.

I have been doing the "do-nothing technique" since I started, I have tried to change techniques sometimes, but since my mind is so extremely busy, mindfullness meditation just didn´t work, nor did two months of concentration exercises (10 minutes every day before meditation).

My life however, has improved alot during the reccent years, I feel much more emotionally stable, have improved my introspection alot and generally feel calmer and more rational in my everyday life. I have no idea what to expect from my meditation, is there any way to calm down the monkey mind?

Edited April 19, 2019 by Simon Håkansson

[Salvijus]

Mindfulness meditation and monkey mind don't have anything against each other. The idea is to become more and more aware of the activity of the mind. So monkey mind happens you observe monkey mind, if game strategy happens you observe that also, whatever thought comes you observe that also.

It's impossible to stop the activity of the mind. Either you'd become brain dead vegetable or an enlightened being but until then i wouldn't bother about the mind. 

Do you even know why you meditate what are you trying to achieve by doing nothing everyday for 1h?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=311590016192198&id=129557084395493

Edited April 19, 2019 by Salvijus

[Nahm]

@Simon Håkansson Your key is self honesty. An unwillingness of genuine emotional expression is feeding the overthinking. Start writing about your feelings on paper. Draw pictures, write a story, etc. Also psychedelics can reveal truths bigger than where you’re at in general, adding zest to your path, and reducing some monkey mind by connecting you more with emotions, and answering some of what fuels the thinking at the conceptual level. 

[karkaore]

@Simon Håkansson After 4 years in I imagine that progress should be noticeable. Try and compare yourself at this moment with yourself 1year, 2 years, 3years ect. back. How has your mindset changed? What do you identify with now and what did you identify with back then? Do you see changes in those areas? If yes, are they worth those 4 years in your opinion?

If the answer to those questions is no, then i would definitely try different practices. Also, why are you meditating?