Make Sure Meditation Isn't The Red-Headed Stepchild Of Your Recovery Protocols

[Damn]

What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices
Frontiers | What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices | Immunology

[Cdsnuts]

What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices
Frontiers | What Is the Molecular Signature of Mind–Body Interventions? A Systematic Review of Gene Expression Changes Induced by Meditation and Related Practices | Immunology

I'm pretty sure alot of guys do exactly just that, unfortunately. They don't fully understand the benefit of quieting the mind that meditation brings upon us. Not only meditation, but the breathing exercises as well. Three or four full rounds of breathing exercises prior to meditation is one of the most powerful things that can be done to tame the wild mind. Done consistently, like the rest of the protocol, will yield amazing results in mental clarity, serenity and peace of mind. Doing these consistently will bring contentment back into their lives.

I'm glad you understand this aspect of it. You can help spread the word about this powerful aspect of the healing protocol.

[jacknap]

I'm pretty sure alot of guys do exactly just that, unfortunately. They don't fully understand the benefit of quieting the mind that meditation brings upon us. Not only meditation, but the breathing exercises as well. Three or four full rounds of breathing exercises prior to meditation is one of the most powerful things that can be done to tame the wild mind. Done consistently, like the rest of the protocol, will yield amazing results in mental clarity, serenity and peace of mind. Doing these consistently will bring contentment back into their lives.

I'm glad you understand this aspect of it. You can help spread the word about this powerful aspect of the healing protocol.

what you think of doing wim hof like breathing WHILST meditating?

[coppersocks]

Honestly think that if you took each aspect of the protocol in pure isolation that meditation would be the most beneficial to those without PFS. The amount of knock on physiological effects that meditation causes due to helping you deal with stress is almost impossible to quantify. One thing that has been shown is it's positive growth effects on the hippocampus (area of the brain associated with memory and proper emotional control) and it's shrinking effects on the amygdala (fear center to put it simply). It's clear to anyone with PFS that the brain is massively affected with the neurochemistry of it going way off so you're doing yourself a massive disservice by not taking 20 minutes of your day and doing one of the easiest and most beneficial practices once can do for brain health.

[road to recover]

Can anyone recommend some good resources (websites, youtube links etc) that can properly detail the processes involved in meditating correctly, as discussed above?

I have started meditating and it definitely helps, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything to the correct degree to make it a vital component of the regimen.

[coppersocks]

I'm just gonna paste what I wrote to another user on the topic but feel free to ask me anymore if you feel that this doesn't cover enough....

---"Hey man you seem to be avoiding something that I consider to be one of the most important pillars of the protocol (and possibly one of the best life tools in general); meditation. It honestly is one of the best things to stop your mind racing and prevents you from going through the crazy ups and downs that we experience, despite how your body feels. The whole point of it is divorce yourself from that voice in your head and be present in the moment. You say you're consumed with thoughts of PFS, that it's all you think about. Why? If you stop for a moment and just scan your body, what's hurting you right now? Nothing. Are you in any physical pain due to PFS? No. Yes hormones and health have an impact on thoughts but it also works the other way. Once you learn to stop your mind racing, and stop following it down the stressful paths that it tries to take you then your stress hormones will stop pumping into your body as much.

Since you are having trouble with it this is how I meditate, it's honestly not hard or complicated.

Sit down and get comfortable, either on a cushion with your legs crossed or on a chair with your palms resting on your knees.
For a few moments I just look around my room, I look at my wardrobe, wall, anything, it doesn't matter. Just let your eyes wonder where they want.
After about twenty seconds of that I close my eyes and I start to pay attention to my breath. In, out. In, out. Once I'm comfortable I kind of do a physical scan of my body with my mind. I focus on my head and neck, noting any discomfort that I wasn't previously aware of, then my shoulders, back, etc.. all the way down to my toes. After that I just pay attention to my breathe or I listen to the ambient sounds in my room; the sounds of cars outside, birds singing, hum of my computer. I don't listen for them I just let the sounds come to me. Then back to my breath. In, out. And just keep repeating this kind PAYING ATTENTION to anything that is actually happening in or around me. That's all meditation is, just paying attention.
Now what will happen is that your mind will wonder. It will, it constantly does. You'll lose yourself in a thought and forget to pay attention to your breath or anything else that you are paying attention to, it may happen every few seconds even- particularly at the start. This is normal and natural, do not get annoyed at this because it is meant to happen. All your job is to do is to draw your attention back to the moment- your breath. In, out. In, out. In, out. When you do that the stream of thought that you were just on will just melt away. And that's the point, it's not about "clearing your mind" because that pretty much impossible and will lead to frustration, what it's about is training your mind to let go of thoughts that cause you stress or suffering or anything else melt away and realise that they don't own you and that they're not actually you.

Do it when you first wake up for fifteen minutes a day and I guarantee you will see some benefit. I hope this helps demystify the whole thing for you, it's really not hard!"---


Also, if you are really struggling, try the Headspace App. I find it pretty beneficial though I often just do my own thing at times.

[Cdsnuts]

what you think of doing wim hof like breathing WHILST meditating?

This is more of an advanced move, but if you can pull it off, go for it. Usually new guys are having enough trouble concentrating on "nothing" WHILE counting breathes, etc. I think in the beginning, we have to keep it simple. Breath, then meditate. If you can do both simultaneously, then fine, but most are not going to be able to do this properly. Plus, you are in a much better mindstate to meditate AFTER you're done with the breathing session.

[logen99999]

I'm just gonna paste what I wrote to another user on the topic but feel free to ask me anymore if you feel that this doesn't cover enough....

---"Hey man you seem to be avoiding something that I consider to be one of the most important pillars of the protocol (and possibly one of the best life tools in general); meditation. It honestly is one of the best things to stop your mind racing and prevents you from going through the crazy ups and downs that we experience, despite how your body feels. The whole point of it is divorce yourself from that voice in your head and be present in the moment. You say you're consumed with thoughts of PFS, that it's all you think about. Why? If you stop for a moment and just scan your body, what's hurting you right now? Nothing. Are you in any physical pain due to PFS? No. Yes hormones and health have an impact on thoughts but it also works the other way. Once you learn to stop your mind racing, and stop following it down the stressful paths that it tries to take you then your stress hormones will stop pumping into your body as much.

Hi Coppersocks, this is Mike, we spoke on Reddit, then on Facebook. you referred me here.

I want riff on what you said about divorcing yourself from the voices in your head. If you have a chatty mind (which we all do sometimes) It's very important to let go and not identify that mind with who you actually are.

My way of doing this is assigning names to the different voices in my head. I learned this from a local meetup here in NYC based around self help and meditation.

If you are going about your day, and find yourself in a coffee shop standing next to a cute girl. You may have an inner voice that says "on man a cute girl, you should talk to her, but it will probably be awkward and weird just like all the other times". You then tend to identify with that voice and assume it represents YOU and who you are (a man who feels awkward talking to strange women)

That voice isnt actually you though, it is an "other". That "other" should have a name to more clearly distinguish and separate it from yourself. In my case the person who speaks de-motivating and negative things in my head is named "Johnny" (Dont ask me why, I just started calling him that). This begins to train my mind to not identify myself (Mike) with that negative voice "Johnny". Since my mind knows That Mike != Johnny.

So every time I hear that negative voice speak, I identify it as "johnny" and Johnny is always telling me unhelpful stuff that never moves me forward. Johnny should be ignored in most cases.

The same holds true for the positive voices in your head. The voice in your head that tells you that you are great at making money and are a savvy businessman should have a name. And you should remind yourself that that voice should be encouraged and listened to. The same goes for voices that tell you to act with empathy and kindness. You should name all of these voices. Train yourself to listen to only the helpful ones.

This is the most effective way that I have experienced when it comes to following Eckhart Toll's Power Of Now principals and separating your thought voices from your actual self. It's a great skill/tool to use for some of life's financial and interpersonal challenges.

[Cdsnuts]

Hi Coppersocks, this is Mike, we spoke on Reddit, then on Facebook. you referred me here.

I want riff on what you said about divorcing yourself from the voices in your head. If you have a chatty mind (which we all do sometimes) It's very important to let go and not identify that mind with who you actually are.

My way of doing this is assigning names to the different voices in my head. I learned this from a local meetup here in NYC based around self help and meditation.

If you are going about your day, and find yourself in a coffee shop standing next to a cute girl. You may have an inner voice that says "on man a cute girl, you should talk to her, but it will probably be awkward and weird just like all the other times". You then tend to identify with that voice and assume it represents YOU and who you are (a man who feels awkward talking to strange women)

That voice isnt actually you though, it is an "other". That "other" should have a name to more clearly distinguish and separate it from yourself. In my case the person who speaks de-motivating and negative things in my head is named "Johnny" (Dont ask me why, I just started calling him that). This begins to train my mind to not identify myself (Mike) with that negative voice "Johnny". Since my mind knows That Mike != Johnny.

So every time I hear that negative voice speak, I identify it as "johnny" and Johnny is always telling me unhelpful stuff that never moves me forward. Johnny should be ignored in most cases.

The same holds true for the positive voices in your head. The voice in your head that tells you that you are great at making money and are a savvy businessman should have a name. And you should remind yourself that that voice should be encouraged and listened to. The same goes for voices that tell you to act with empathy and kindness. You should name all of these voices. Train yourself to listen to only the helpful ones.

This is the most effective way that I have experienced when it comes to following Eckhart Toll's Power Of Now principals and separating your thought voices from your actual self. It's a great skill/tool to use for some of life's financial and interpersonal challenges.

Wow....to me, that sounds like ALOT more thought, then less. It seems like instead of quieting that chatter, you're giving it more energy by applying more thought to it. I guess if it works for some people great. It's just not the way I would go about it. I'm a big fan of Ekhart's too.

For me, in the beginning, I would just focus on what was coming into my brain, through my eyes. The now...the presence. I would focus on nothing but the here and now. Any unwanted thoughts would be ignored, not focused on. If a thought did come in, I would acknowledge it, and let it leave. That would be it.

[coppersocks]

Heya Mike, good to see you here!
I actually will disagree with CD here as it sounds like a good idea in principle to me. Part of mindfulness is disassociating yourself from the paths of thought that your mind is led down and realising them as just that - where your attention is at any one moment. There's a mindfulness technique called "labelling" that is designed to help this and it is taught to people who have trouble with anxiety in some cognitive behavioral therapy cases; simply put whilst meditating, when your mind drifts you simply label what it was that caught your attention as a "thought" or an "emotion" and then direct your attention back to the breathe. The labeling of the what it was your mind was following allows you a brief enough window to enable you to disassociate from it and then refocus on the breathe. The important part here is that the "labeling" must be done extremely lightly - not much though must go into it at all. The visualization is often described as touching it with a feather, and it must be done without judgement or afterthought - you simply go "oh thats a thought I've been following" or "I've been following that emotion, now back to the breathe"..it must be done lightly. So yeah, theoretically I can imagine this technique working with labeling your thought patterns as names.:

*Want to talk to a girl but your nervous about it envisioning all kind of bad things that can go wrong
"Oh hi anxious Dave, can't talk right now got stuff to do" - and then back to the present moment.
Doing this enough could really help by allowing you to realise how often these things are happening as simply recording the amount of times you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself is proven to greatly REDUCE the amount of negative thinking you do about yourself when done over time. And it would also help by catching yourself from following that negative thought path in the moment, declare it unhelpful to yourself and help return you to the moment. Really this is all just different techniques of getting your mind to the same place but yeah it does seem an interesting experiment to try.