How Does Meditation Work ?

[rush]

I was interested to know how exactly meditation works, as its quite difficult to see how sitting doing nothing and letting your mind wander can have the benefits that are explained in the videos. I intend to make it a habbit but would be motivated to know by whats happening after a session and how it works exactly.

 

[cetus]

2 minutes ago, rush said:

I was interested to know how exactly meditation works, as its quite difficult to see how sitting doing nothing and letting your mind wander can have the benefits that are explained in the videos. I intend to make it a habbit but would be motivated to know by whats happening after a session and how it works exactly.

 

@rush That's not what I personally do. I place awareness on the in breath and out breath. If the mind does wander, as it surely will, I bring the awareness gently back to my point of focus, (the breath). Over time that helps to build good concentration, attention span and focus of mind. Also as that is practiced over time a silence of mind or stillness will also become more evident and that just feels darn good. That's my 2 cents worth anyway. Enjoy!

[Emerald]

On July 26, 2016 at 10:36 AM, rush said:

I was interested to know how exactly meditation works, as its quite difficult to see how sitting doing nothing and letting your mind wander can have the benefits that are explained in the videos. I intend to make it a habbit but would be motivated to know by whats happening after a session and how it works exactly.

 

It's because the psyche is a self-correcting mechanism. As long as you have no resistance and allow what is, the mind (and body) already knows what to do to heal itself in most instances. So, meditation is basically getting out of the way and disentangling yourself from thoughts to allow the natural healing process to happen. Also, awareness heals.

[Frogfucius]

In today's society, our brains are constantly overstimulated. Our mind is getting blasted on all cylinders by everything from iPhones, TV, sports, video games, relationships, alcohol, hobbies, work, Internet, social media, eating, school, etc. We rarely give our brains a rest from all of the chaos. I think this may be a reason why depression and mental illness is so rampant: our minds are not biologically suited for all of this stimulation that has sprung up the past century. We're highly intelligent creatures, but our brain can only process so much before it starts to get overworked.

Anyways, my point is, if you make it a habit to sit down and give your mind a rest from all of the stimulation, eventually you're going to calm it down. You may not realize how overworked your mind is at this point, but meditation brings it back to its natural state of peace and being in the present moment.  

[Saarah]

@rush in the most recent meditation video Leo talks about the distinction between thinking and awareness, meditation helps to train you to do less thinking and to focus more on being aware, and being aware has its own intense benefits 

today in my meditation for example, my eyes were closed, and when I was bringing my attention back to the present moment i was imagining my environment, half way through I realised the environment wasn't even the present, those were images cos my eyes were shut!  it was difficult to focus on the sensation of my arms on the chair without conjuring up an image of the chair but I just remained aware of the image as being an image too 

[Naviy]

On 26.07.2016 at 5:36 PM, rush said:

I was interested to know how exactly meditation works, as its quite difficult to see how sitting doing nothing and letting your mind wander can have the benefits that are explained in the videos. I intend to make it a habbit but would be motivated to know by whats happening after a session and how it works exactly.

 

When you sit and want to do something, but instead you sit and do nothing, it directly unhooks you from your addiction to various stimulations (all kinds of them - tv, video games, porn, chatting, sex, gossip, web browsing, walking, music, sports, thinking, reading, cooking, cleaning, etc. etc. etc.).

It also makes you appreciate Being instead of Doing, which leads to drastic positive changes in every minute of your whole life and you whole worldview.

Also, the fact that you sit with whatever comes to you and do not run away, teaches you to be ok with any kind of thoughts and emotions. Everything will be acceptable for you, therefore, you will produce less resistance, therefore, suffering will start to disappear from your life. 

 

 

[rush]

@Emerald Wilkins  hmm.. I see ! How comes the results take so long to notice ? I think 1-2 years before you notice any results was mentioned in the latest meditation video.

[Sen]

@rush It depends on the amount of meditation you are doing. In my case because some emotional problems I over do it at first and the results came after 3 months but this caused many other problems. As I was not aware what was happening I went through many months of panic attacks until I started getting a handle on it. It is better to take it slowly and also it helps to have someone that knows the process to guide for a while. Also it helps not to have any expectations of what will be as it is something experiential so your mind can't conceptualize, it is like trying to figure out what an orange tastes like without ever tasting one, any answer the mind gives you it isn't the truth.

[Emerald]

3 hours ago, rush said:

@Emerald Wilkins  hmm.. I see ! How comes the results take so long to notice ? I think 1-2 years before you notice any results was mentioned in the latest meditation video.

I believe that the results actually come quickly but in ways that we may not be aware of. Upon starting my meditation practice, I noticed subtle results within the first few days... but to the extent that it could have been wishful thinking. But I really do believe that meditation starts working quickly.

[Siim Land]

You get more in touch with what goes on inside you. You begin to see yourself and your thoughts from an outsiders perspective. What's more, you'll realize that the "self" is non-existent and an illusion of the ego. The ego creates this duality between you and the world. Becoming more conscious and meditating will help you to see that you and the object are the same. There is no object, really. 
Focusing on your breathing will help you to self-regulate your own physiology. You can influence your own autonomic nervous system by bringing enough attention to it. At least that's how I feel.

[MIARIVEL]

@rush I you tube everything. There are so many different meditation techniques that you just have to try a few and find out which one works for you =)

Meditation is known to be very beneficial for the soul and clearing the mind. 

[Eelco1981]

@rush I don't know how it works exactly. I have been meditating for more than two years now. The first weeks all kinds of old hiding memories came up, then there were periods of peace. There were also weeks that meditating brought me nothing but impatience and nervousness. There were also weeks that I did not feel any benefit. After that I experimented with other techniques. Other techniques brought other results and experiences. The thing I learned is how the mind keeps coming up with thoughts I have no control over. The separation between me and my thoughts gets bigger and bigger. In general I become a lot calmer because I do not listen to the mind that often anymore. Listening to the mind creates anxiety, fear, etc.