Recommend me some meditation techniques

[Nahm]

@Growly

You got me in the feels, but then rained on our parade with “my subconscious”. 

If there is said to be something which one is not conscious of, such as a ‘subconscious’, notice one is saying one is conscious of, this so called ‘subconscious’, and therefore the subconscious is not sub -conscious at all. Instead, inspect what it is you are aware of. 

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it”. - Rumi

“I’m too afraid” is a thought. How does that thought feel?

“Ill procrastinate” is a thought. How does that thought feel?

”waste my time on unproductive low conscious things” is a judgement, a thought. How does that thought feel?

How do you feel when you recognize these thoughts do not feel good, because these thoughts do not resonate with the goodness that you are? 

If you allow yourself to see this, it is absolute that you feel the goodness that you are. There is no other possibility. Not in a past, or a present, or a future... there is no other possibility... because you are feeling, right now. You can not change this. You are free however, to focus on, or not focus on, to believe, or not believe, that which does not resonate with the goodness that you are, which can never come, and can never go, but just, is. 

You can stop at boredom, many do. But you are free not to, and expression is the way. Start at boredom, admit & acknowledge for yourself only, for your own well being only, that any and all conditions which you hold upon this moment as it is, are only thoughts, and focus can be shifted to seeing, hearing, breathing and feeling... and you are at peace, content, with this moment exactly as it is. It need not be different. It need not change.

Paradoxically, when this moment is perfect as it is and you do not impress upon it your conditions, that it must change or be different, or contain any thing, substance, or experience... you indeed begin to feel quite hopeful and inspired. You feel the true unconditional nature of the love, the creator you are, and again, paradoxically, knowing you can let go, that you can put your conditions down and feel contentment, you begin to realize you can do so anytime you choose to. 

You can create, be & experience what you truly desire to. When & if life gets hard, you do not ‘freak out’, because you know the way from boredom to contentment is letting go of conditions held, and you can employ this knowing, expressing, and letting go anytime. When you say ‘it is this way’, ‘it is so & so’... it be’s this way, it be’s so and so. So too, when you say ‘mountain move’, the mountain will move. It will move out of your way, because you will be focused different than before, and creating an experience different than before, and doing so via expression. This universe is an expression of you, and in expressing, you create in alignment with all that is. 

[Growly]

@Nahm 

"You got me in the feels, but then rained on our parade with “my subconscious”. "

XDD

"if there is said to be something which one is not conscious of, such as a ‘subconscious’, notice one is saying one is conscious of, this so called ‘subconscious’, and therefore the subconscious is not sub -conscious at all. Instead, inspect what it is you are aware of. "

I like the way you write XXDD it makes me laugh. Yeah, I don't know why I said Subconscious for because I'm actually aware of myself because I used to consistently figure myself out every day 2 years ago and always watched actualized.org. I devoted my time to this CULT LEADER XDD. I'm aware of my attachments yet I don't try to resolve then because I'm scared of judgement from my family. I never told them my problems even though I don't need to because I can resolve them alone. The only thing I'm not aware of is politics XDDDD because i never gotten education yayayay.  

(“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it”. - Rumi

“I’m too afraid” is a thought. How does that thought feel?

“Ill procrastinate” is a thought. How does that thought feel?

”waste my time on unproductive low conscious things” is a judgement, a thought. How does that thought feel?)

It feels good because of the productivity I accomplished in one hour but then after my dopamine hit is gone, I feel like shit and don't even want to return back to what I digressed from because I lost that excitement of learning English. I usually rot on quora or looksmaxing websites and it's unproductive and it just compounds my mental health more yayayay I'm always counterproductive ayayayay. 

'If you allow yourself to see this, it is absolute that you feel the goodness that you are. There is no other possibility. Not in a past, or a present, or a future... there is no other possibility... because you are feeling, right now. You can not change this. You are free however, to focus on, or not focus on, to believe, or not believe, that which does not resonate with the goodness that you are, which can never come, and can never go, but just, is. "

Yeah, I understand the goodness in me still. I don't care much about my past anymore after I consciously don't care anymore(I don't know if that makes sense tbh) The only thing I'm feeling now is perpetual anxiety and  occasional depression due to the blackpill. 

You can stop at boredom, many do. But you are free not to, and expression is the way. Start at boredom, admit & acknowledge for yourself only, for your own well being only, that any and all conditions which you hold upon this moment as it is, are only thoughts, and focus can be shifted to seeing, hearing, breathing and feeling... and you are at peace, content, with this moment exactly as it is. It need not be different. It need not change.

Question: Do you think it's counterproductive if you always think about the present because I think that's what low IQ people tend to do because they lack critical thinking skills like me which leads to being unprepared in life yayaya.

That's very hard to do when your bored. I'm aware of my thoughts most of the time and let it be there because if I combat it, it'll just be insidious and make it worst. Whenever i'm bored, I usually go on YNC.com and watch gruesome videos just to use as an incentive to make me feel how lucky I am to not be born in third world countries. But that doesn't work now and it's just counter productive and insidious. Now I just use it as entertainment when ever i'm bored.

"Paradoxically, when this moment is perfect as it is and you do not impress upon it your conditions, that it must change or be different, or contain any thing, substance, or experience... you indeed begin to feel quite hopeful and inspired. You feel the true unconditional nature of the love, the creator you are, and again, paradoxically, knowing you can let go, that you can put your conditions down and feel contentment, you begin to realize you can do so anytime you choose to.'

"when this moment is perfect as it is and you do not impress upon it your conditions" Never heard of this technique. 

The only perfect moments I have is when I learn something new from English as of now because I'm learning on my own which gives me a good dopamine hit and knowing that I don't need teachers to help me yayaya. I'll try and not be impress of what I accomplish but instead let it be ayayay.

 

"You can create, be & experience what you truly desire to. When & if life gets hard, you do not ‘freak out’, because you know the way from boredom to contentment is letting go of conditions held, and you can employ this knowing, expressing, and letting go anytime. When you say ‘it is this way’, ‘it is so & so’... it be’s this way, it be’s so and so. So too, when you say ‘mountain move’, the mountain will move. It will move out of your way. "

Wow, I can understand what you're saying and I can see that happening If I pursue this again maybe. the only thing i'm afraid of is my anxiety because it hinders me greatly but I know the source of it. Boredom is the 2nd worst thing to feel and adding on my depression which makes me suicide thoughts but those are rare.

Question: Do you think nootropics are good?

 

[Growly]

@The0Self I don't really know how to open the heart chakra and I read into it and mostly said to focus on a certain part of your body but it never works. What do you think I should do? or am i doing it wrong like always.

[Growly]

@kinesin

There are actually 2 distinct things which people generally refer to as 'anxiety'.  Cognitive anxiety, and physical arousal.  To clarify, arousal doesn't refer to sexual arousal but simply energetic activity in the nervous system which produces anxiety's physical symptoms such as jitteriness, raised heart rate, fast breathing, sweating etc.  Cognitive anxiety can and often does produce physical arousal, but not all physical arousal is the result of cognitive anxiety. 

I have Cognitive anxiety for sure and it's perpetual, maybe that's why I can't learn relatively fast anymore. 

'Are you worried or fearful of something in particular which leads to your symptoms, or do the symptoms originate seemingly out of nowhere?  Are they more mental or physical in nature?"

Yes, I'm fully aware of my problems and the source of it but my anxiety is hindering me from doing it because I fear judgement from my family ngl.

'If your anxiety is originating in the mind, then meditation techniques aimed at quieting the mind will help.  If your anxiety is arousal based, you need to treat it physiologically.  For this, getting a rough sense of the broad functions of the nervous system is necessary."

I feel anxiety around my stomach and maybe chest.

There are really only 4 things you need to know about the nervous system -

1:  The parasympathetic nervous system.  Governs energetically 'down' functions in the body.  Rest and digest mode.

2: The sympathetic nervous system.  Governs energetically 'up' functions in the body.  Fight or flight mode.

3: The vagus nerve is the main nerve which mediates activity between the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems.

4: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia.  Sounds like something bad, but is actually a normal function.  When you take a deep breath in, this activates the vagus nerve and your heart rate increases along with general sympathetic activity.  When you let a deep breath out, this releases pressure on the vagus nerve thereby slowing heartrate and increasing general parasympathetic activity."

Physiology yayaya

"Google those terms so you get a bit of a sense of how they work.  The main takeaway from this knowledge is the realization that by controlling your breathing in specific ways, you can directly influence your arousal level.  Don't just take my word for it though, please experiment with your breathing and see for yourself.  Try long, slow inhalations followed by longer, slower exhalations and pay attention to how you begin to feel after 5 or 10 breaths."

Maybe

Question:in what way should I breath to target my anxiety in my stomach. 

 

 

[Nahm]

@Growly

Appreciating the appreciating of the humor. 

I hear you on being scared of judgement from your family. Mine used to tell me I was crazy. Now they’re crazy too. What we found, in regard to judgement, is that it doesn’t feel good, only to the judge, and never to the judged. I am feeling the alignment or discord of my thoughts. Mom’s feeling hers. Dad’s feeling his. If mom or dad verbally expresses their thought of judgement to me... I do not feel it. What I do feel, is my own alignment or discord, of believing or not believing, what they shared. Ultimate I learned that I do not care what my mom and dad think, because it doesn’t matter, because I love them no matter what they think, believe, or say, and really, that is their business anyways, not mine. This led to everyone no longer judging each other, and every one focusing more on how what they think and say, feels. 

You said “I understand the goodness in me still”. Can you see that ‘goodness’ is good feeling? If you can, then you can see that you are projecting that good feeling onto a secondary source, as if it’s coming from the act of productivity, or accomplishing. 

Whatever “black pill” is, it is not working for you. Focus on what does resonate. If you struggle with this, write down what does not resonate with you about blackpill... then write the opposite next to it, and focus on that. 

“Lacking critical thinking skills” is one thought. It is not true about you... as it is exactly as it is experienced - one thought. Repeated, one belief. 

Instead of believing the thought “that is very hard to do when you’re bored”... express the next higher emotional on the emotional scale. 

Write down what you do not like about YNC.com, and google that. Focus on what feels good to you, no justification is needed. 

“Perfect moments” is a thought, a belief, that there are multiple moments. In our direct experience this is not the case, or actuality. You = present moment. There is no present moment, or any moment, that is without, you. 

Nootropics are really up to you and your doctor. I tried around twenty of them, and found the experience unfavorable. They do work well for some of course. 

I would be straightforward and inspect the anxiety and depression, by writing on a piece of paper what the cause, or source of it is. This is an exercise, a direct experience, so thinking about it is not anything like experiencing it. Keep writing about the what, where, etc that it is. Be literal. Inspect determined to find it. Any thing thoroughly inspected disappears, without exception. 

 

[ivankiss]

I love The Breath Of Fire

[kinesin]

@Growly  Such as bloating, tight feeling in the stomach and possibly digestion issues?  Part of the parasympathetic nervous system's job is to control the process of digestion, and part of the sympathetic nervous system's job is to inhibit it.  If you extend and slow down your exhalations, you'll activate the parasympathetic system causing your anxiety to reduce, and sending signals to your gut to relax and begin the digestion process.  Those symptoms you experience in your stomach are because the anxiety interrupts your digestion.

Try this -
Either lying down or seated, bring your awareness to your breathing.  Take a deep breath in through your nose (not as deep as you can go, just reasonably deep), then let it go through your mouth.  Take another deep breath in, then let it go through your mouth a little slower this time.  Take a third deep breath in, and then let it go even slower again.  Notice the pause at the bottom of the exhalation, wait a moment, notice the slight urge to take another breath and then do so.  Now keep repeating this pattern, but the next time you breathe out, direct your awareness to your stomach and try to let a little of that tension go out with the breath.  Another slow deep breath in, another slow extended breath out, letting your stomach soften as you do so.  Continue the pattern a few more times.  Your stomach might make some noises - that's a good sign that you've got the breathing pace right, because this relaxing breathing pattern will stimulate your digestive system.

Do it at least a few times a day, and as often as you can, try to become aware of your breathing.  If you catch it being quick or shallow, deepen and extend it a little.  Your anxiety should reduce quite quickly.  Also whatever you do, if your goal is to reduce anxiety don't do the Breath of Fire, that's a stimulating exercise which will make your anxiety worse.  It has it's proper role, but it isn't what you should do if you're trying to reduce anxiety.  Neither the parasympathetic or sympathetic nervous system is 'bad', both play their imporant roles in the functioning of the body and should be kept in proper balance.

 

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by kinesin
more context

[Growly]

@Nahm

 

I hear you on being scared of judgement from your family. Mine used to tell me I was crazy. Now they’re crazy too. What we found, in regard to judgement, is that it doesn’t feel good, only to the judge, and never to the judged. I am feeling the alignment or discord of my thoughts. Mom’s feeling hers. Dad’s feeling his. If mom or dad verbally expresses their thought of judgement to me... I do not feel it. What I do feel, is my own alignment or discord, of believing or not believing, what they shared. Ultimate I learned that I do not care what my mom and dad think, because it doesn’t matter, because I love them no matter what they think, believe, or say, and really, that is their business anyways, not mine. This led to everyone no longer judging each other, and every one focusing more on how what they think and say, feels. 

That's one of my problems that give me anxiety. How did you do it? did you just not care randomly? I don't know why this is even a problem because if I compare this to my past, it's petty.

'Write down what you do not like about YNC.com, and google that. Focus on what feels good to you, no justification is needed. "
there's nothing good about that website because it shows the bad side of humanity like decapitation videos by the cartels in Mexico. accidents, rape porn etc.

'I would be straightforward and inspect the anxiety and depression, by writing on a piece of paper what the cause, or source of it is. This is an exercise, a direct experience, so thinking about it is not anything like experiencing it. Keep writing about the what, where, etc that it is. Be literal. Inspect determined to find it. Any thing thoroughly inspected disappears, without exception. "

I'll do that maybe

 

Thanks for refreshing my mind even though some parts seem a bit generic.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Growly

[Carl-Richard]

36 minutes ago, Nahm said:

 

Mine used to tell me I was crazy.

Is this an unavoidable part of the journey? I don't want to do that to them, not with what I've already put them through.

[Growly]

@kinesin Damn, the most practical advice I ever seen.

You're giving me hope ngl and hopefully my perpetual anxiety will go away after I commit.

Do you think taking nootropics is worth it for studying?

 

[kinesin]

@Growly

If you commit to this practice and do it regularly, your anxiety symptoms will reduce.  I myself had severe anxiety pretty much all of my life (I'm in my mid-30s now), tension, digestive issues, shaking, stammering, panic attacks etc etc.  My anxiety eventually got so bad that I started getting such piercing headaches and nosebleeds that I was convinced I must be having brain aneurisms or something, and then I eventually had a complete nervous breakdown which left me with absolutely 0 tolerance for any stress or anxiety whatsoever, like a newborn baby.  It was in the wake of the breakdown that I realized firsthand how anxiety is rooted in nervous energy (the breakdown felt very literally as if I'd blown a fuse) and then I began researching the nervous system and found this knowledge.  It's now been 2 years since I learned all this, and I'm now in complete control over my body's functioning.  Now I can even raise and lower my own heartrate at will, just by controlling my breathing.

As for nootropics - generally no.  If you get interested in nootropics, you'll inevitably find yourself continuously reading about new compounds and wondering if you should give them a try.  You'll find many new and exciting compounds, but there won't be any real research available yet so you'll be stuck basing your decision to take them on forum posts you read.  Many of them will turn out to be neurotoxic or otherwise dangerous over time.  Eventually you'll realise that many people in the nootropic community are simply desperate for solutions to their problems and would be better off using the methods I've outlined.  If you want a tried and tested nootropic which helps in moderate doses, try caffeine if you don't already consume it.  Only consume caffeine before 12pm or so though - it has a half-life of 5 hours meaning if you drink it at 2pm then at 12am you'll still have a quarter of it in your system, and that'll inhibit your sleep leading to further anxiety.  Remember what I said about keeping the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems in balance.  Exercise, sleep and meditation are really the best nootropics around - look into their beneficial effects on brain functioning and you'll find they far outweigh the promise of any chemical nootropic.

[Nahm]

@Growly

“One of my problems” is really one thought. It is the thought that you have problems. If you attempt to point physical to the you, and the problems, you quickly find ‘problems’ is really in perspective... how you’re seeing things, not what you’re actually seeing.  

The neighbor to the left of me has a problem, which is that his horse’s manure has accumulated into a pretty sizable pile. The neighbor to the right of me also has a problem, and it is that stores are all sold out of fertilizer, and he is laying down new sod grass.

The neighbors behind me both work and have a three year old girl, and their problem is there are no babysitters available. The neighbor’s in front of me have an eighteen year old daughter who’s problem is she lost her job at the daycare for toddlers, which she loved. 

From the middle there doesn’t really seem to be any problems. But if I join them at either end, it may seem as though there is. 

If you say you have problems, you experience having problems. You don’t ever per se, create anything when you say ‘I have problems’... as in, it’s not like we ever actually, literally, ‘create a problem’. We just assess, or believe, that there is one. Emotions are more admittedly more nuanced than saying ‘there is a problem’. But it’s worthwhile to understand emotion, because you inevitably move from the thinking “I have a problem” to “I am experiencing this or that emotion”. “I have a problem” is a thought about you. “I am experiencing this emotion” is not a thought about you. It is a thought about what you are experiencing, or, about your experience. 

You asked what I did about it... when a reaction arose, when I was triggered by what someone thought, said or did... I would choose to relax and breathe instead of reactively saying anything. I’d ‘let them off the hook’, and assume responsibility of my focus, perspective, emotion, and actions. Was difficult at first, got easier overtime, until I wasn’t feeling reaction, but the very source of it. Essentially, switch “this or that is giving me anxiety” to “how am I creating this so called anxiety...what does this reveal about my truest nature, what does this reveal about focus, and perspective, and creating?” 

There are many that think and believe ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I have problems’, ‘I’m unworthy’, ‘something’s wrong with me’, etc, but no one the thoughts are actually about. It is as if you made a world out of sleeping, and are noticing how reactivity is like a bottle and a blanket. Maybe you want more than that. Dunno. 

 

[Growly]

@kinesin Thanks for motivating me and you made me understand that learning physiology is important for spirituality. 

yayayya

 

[The0Self]

2 hours ago, Growly said:

@The0Self I don't really know how to open the heart chakra and I read into it and mostly said to focus on a certain part of your body but it never works. What do you think I should do? or am i doing it wrong like always.

I would not even worry about chakras. Just do a proven meditation system like TWIM or TMI. Or note aloud 1x/s.

[GreenWoods]

@Carl-Richard @kinesin That is interesting.

I think my anxiety has been mainly phsiological (rather than cognitive). Therefore mindfulness didn't have much of an effect.

Breathing exercises don't have much of an effect on my physiological anxiety either (I still experience it to some extend). I think this anxiety stuff is very deeply ingrained in my body. 

The only stuff that made a real difference has been integrating awakenings, raising my baseline consciousness and opening my heart chakra.

 

13 hours ago, Growly said:

@GreenWoods I thought chakras were fake ngl. I tried to open the "third eye' When i was 16 yrs old but it ended up giving me a headache and I think that is too complex for someone that has stopped meditating for 2 years now.

@Growly It doesn't have to be complex. In its simplest form, you just put your attention on you heart chakra area and try to feel love.

But as you have cognitive anxiety, doing the stuff what others suggested here in this thread will probably have a more direct effect on your anxiety and be overall more effective.

[Carl-Richard]

3 hours ago, GreenWoods said:

I think my anxiety has been mainly phsiological (rather than cognitive). Therefore mindfulness didn't have much of an effect.

While it's possible that you have a higher level of physiological activation than the average person, this has to eventually interact with the worrying component in order to express itself as anxiety.

The physiological activation also makes you more able to experience blissful states (like flow states), but you just need the correct cognitive-emotional context, and meditation is one way to get there. In the study I mentioned earlier, worrying inhibits flow, but the physiological component actually promotes flow.

From this perspective, the non-dual state allows for a perpetual state of flow with a refined, stable and relatively low level of activation due to 0 worrying. Flow then becomes associated with baseline physiology rather than arousal. In that sense, flow is the natural state of an uncluttered mind.

Edited May 14, 2021 by Carl-Richard

[GreenWoods]

@Carl-Richard I think in my case, a more subtle form of the worrying component is responsible. 

For example, with some contemplation, I can get to the mindspace where I accept immediate physical death. This would reduce anxiety a bit, but not significantly. On a conscious level, this acceptance would be authentic. But on a deeper more subtle level it is still inauthentic, hence still anxiety. 

For me, It is not enough to be in the right mindspace. 'Tangible' higher consciousness is required.

Edited May 14, 2021 by GreenWoods

[Growly]

@GreenWoods  I did it but it doesn't work. It's not simple at all so that's why it's complex.

 

[Ora]

On 5/12/2021 at 2:54 PM, Growly said:

I need to cope with my anxiety so can you recommend me some good meditation to combat this. I already know some but I don't think it works but maybe I'm doing it wrong.

You could try breathwork. This one is called soma breath, it's similar to holographic and wim Hoff methods. Great for rebalancing the nervous system to promote relaxation, rebalancing, and self healing (in the physical sense too like diseases or pain). You can also experience DMT like breakthroughs doing it, especially if you do the long 60 min ones.

This one is like a tutorial, just do it once or twice to understand the technique:

Use this one for daily practice:

After you finish a session you can just sit and do classic meditation on the breath. After doing the breathing techniques your mind becomes very still and conducive for meditation. You don't have all the struggle and tensions that you normally get. To meditate on the breath, just know the breath. When you inhale, know you are inhaling. When you exhale, know you are exhaling. No need to follow the breath into the body. Just have light awareness at the top of the lip or tip of the nose, that area. Know you are inhaling, know you are exhaling. Sometimes a light may appear. If the light is not stable, resting at the tip of the nose, do not follow it, just focus on the breath. Eventually the light will stabilize at the tip of the nose, only when it is stable should you switch your awareness from the breath to the light. This is called the nimitta, or counterpart sign.

[Beginner Mind]

Just be, knowingly.  That is, just be, and be aware that you're just being.  This is basically a simpler way of being aware of being aware.  The highest meditation there is.