Hey folks. I'm really excited about what happened to me these last few days.  Recently due to my 4 hour long mindfulness sessions, I've started to experience jhanas. These are absorption flow states in meditation. There are 8 specific altered states called jhanas in the Buddhist literature. Don't be scared. The first one is absolutely doable by commited practitioners. But remember: Jhanas only start to occur AFTER access concentration.  Access Concentration: High stability of attention to the meditation object which results in with very little distractions and dullness. A sense of effortlessness arises. Stage 7+ TMI practitioner can easily do access concentration almost every time they sit on the cushion with relative ease. That is what I've been doing. But that is not really producing a strong anti-depressant-dopamine effect. I was never a jhana person. I'm totally fine doing painful SDS sits and transcending pain and reducing suffering.  But at the same time, I was experiencing WAAY too much aversion to meditate for 4+ hours a day. Constant pain and boredom create an obstacle on the path. I don't care how much of a spiritual strength you have. All the marathon monks who are doing crazy long SDS sits have not only mastered these jhanas but they have transcended them with multiple awakenings. So don't underestimate the power of jhanic states. Masters are doing these all the time. This is how joy is cultivated.  I've realized that what Culadasa regards as 'Piti' - joy and pleasantness is not a strong part of my practice. Leigh also has an ENTIRE book about this topic called: 'The Right Concentration: A guide to Jhanas' - This is amazing supplement book to TMI by the way. So the problem is: I'm concentrated but I can't infuse my body with rapture and joy similar to when a depressed person takes a strong dose of SSRI. What do I do? That is where jhanas come in. After dropping into the first Jhana 3 days in a row using some very basic instructions, I had to talk about it there briefly for people who want to do it as well. This is NOT something a beginner can do. But you don't have to spend 40 years in a cave to do it as well. So relax. Again, if you are stage 5-6-7 in TMI, then you are absolutely ready to master the first jhana.  Here is my claim: I can conclude that if you can drop into the first jhana deeply and maintain that depth in daily life, there will be virtually no difference if you've taken a good dose of Xanax and an anti-depressant like Paxera.  Not only you are calm due to samatha practice but your whole body and mind is infused with joy and happiness to a radical degree due to the 1st jhana. And let me remind you that there are 7 more jhanas  But the first one is enough to create a dopamine effect so strong that it rivals anti-depressants like Paxera. Here are the step by step instructions: 1- Get to access concentration with the breath. You don't have to get to effortlessness or no-mind too deeply. Just get to a place where mind wandering no longer occurs. Breath is primary and your attention no longer alternates. Expand the awareness to the body as always once this occurs. That is necessary for the 1st jhana. 2- Now this is VERY important. Completely let go of the breath. Let the breath sensations stay in awareness in the background. Move your attention to a pleasant sensation in your body. Awareness will cover the breath, the external sights and sounds. If there are no perceptible pleasant sensation, there 2 great antidotes: - Smile. Don't underestimate this. A fake smile will turn into a real one by the time you are in access concentration. This is BY FAR the most effective method for me to generate pleasant sensations. Don't judge it before trying it. - Stop putting the body in uncomfortable postures. Lay down if you have to. Use pillows. This is the number 1 rule if you want to practice jhanas: You CANNOT train the nervous system for jhanas if you are experiencing a lot of physical discomfort and pain. Period. So take a break from your painful SDS sits and look for the joy and happiness in the body. Do shorter sessions if you have to.  Pleasant sensation will usually arise in 4 places: (Although it can arise literally anywhere) - Around and at the top of the head (This is where it occurs in me the most strongly) - Heart and chest area - Hand area. - Whole body as a whole. Someone who is skilled in 1st jhana can experience pleasure and happiness in all 4 locations at the same time. So keep that in mind. It doesn't have to be just one location. 3- Maintain stable attention on the pleasent sensations and wait for it to evolve to rapture, bliss and meditative joy. This is the most deceptive stage. If you desire for it to occur, it won't happen. If you have a craving for a psychedelic experience, it won't happen. If you still concentrate on the breath, it won't happen. Just maintain attention the pleasent sensations without expectations and craving and then all of a sudden, you'll drop into the first jhana.  This is not rare. This is not luck-based. If you could come to the 3rd step and did everything as instructed, you'll get to first jhana. You just have to have enough concentration to turn that subtle pleasant sensation into a full blown SSRI effect. And you have to maintain detachment and non-craving at the last phase. If nothing else works in the last stage, don't be frustrated. My best tip for step 3 is to take it easy and actually do a walking meditation. Or simply talk to someone. Read a book. Do all this with mindfulness. Why? The idea is to put your attention elsewhere to create relaxed diligence. You are likely tensing too much mentally for a jhana to occur. Even if your body is relaxed, there is still craving on a deep unconscious level. What works for me is to do daily activities and just as my tension dissipates, there it is, SSRI effect is coming very strongly. It just arises without me forcing anything. I'm talking to my brother and all of a sudden, joy and rapture infuse my body very strongly.  And I can maintain this with relative consistency for most of the day.  This is mind-blowing for me. I never could imagine jhanas could be SO intense and effective as SSRIs. If someone told me that this was possible to do all day and turn this into a baseline with meditation, I'd have practiced with more diligence and discipline.  I'm in a really happy place. I feel AMAZING. I'm even feeling a lot of joy and happiness RIGHT NOW as I'm writing this. This is incredible. I highly recommend following these instructions if you feel ready to experience jhanas.