This is your brain on meditation

[Jeremy]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before but I just found it and though it's quite technical, it's an amazing explanation from a scientific/psychological point of view for the benefits of meditation.

http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/use-yo...meditation

[Plenum]

how's your own meditation practice going Jeremy? getting back into the swing of things?

a good article b.tw.

if you are looking for even more in-depth info, check out a book called 'Zen and the Brain'. It's by James Austin.

peace man.

[Jeremy]

Been quite the exhausting week or so brother. Haven't had the motivation to do much of anything except work and be with my daughter on her birthday weekend this weekend.

Having said that, that article really brought a lot into perspective regarding the exercise aspects of meditation. I'm hoping that I can apply the same discipline as I do with the gym to jump start y meditations again.

[Plenum]

yeah, I don't know how people can maintain a regular meditation practice (daily) when working full time.

you get home at maybe 6pm or 630pm, do some internet, cook dinner, watch some tv, catch up on the forums, and before you know it, its like 1030 or 11pm and time for bed. Then rinse and repeat the next day.

I'm only really able to meditate on my days off, which I'm fortunate to have.

but for you full-timers, a 40 hour week, Mon-Fri with regular/irregular family commitments ... one's life work and service is to one's family, quite truly.

[Rake]

yeah, I don't know how people can maintain a regular meditation practice (daily) when working full time.

you get home at maybe 6pm or 630pm, do some internet, cook dinner, watch some tv, catch up on the forums, and before you know it, its like 1030 or 11pm and time for bed. Then rinse and repeat the next day.

I'm only really able to meditate on my days off, which I'm fortunate to have.

but for you full-timers, a 40 hour week, Mon-Fri with regular/irregular family commitments ... one's life work and service is to one's family, quite truly.

Exactly. I work part time but living in a house with three other people and two cats i find it hard to have any prolonged meditation.

[Jeremy]

Oh I have the time so I can't use that excuse. I generally meditate after I come back from the gym in the morning and before work. I have found that it gives me good energy for the day. When I meditate at night, I find that it's quite difficult to sleep afterwards as I'm buzzing with energy for some reason so diurnal meditations don't seem to be very productive for me.

It's all about motivation for me or lack of I should say.

[caycegal]

yeah, I don't know how people can maintain a regular meditation practice (daily) when working full time.

you get home at maybe 6pm or 630pm, do some internet, cook dinner, watch some tv, catch up on the forums, and before you know it, its like 1030 or 11pm and time for bed. Then rinse and repeat the next day.

I'm only really able to meditate on my days off, which I'm fortunate to have.

but for you full-timers, a 40 hour week, Mon-Fri with regular/irregular family commitments ... one's life work and service is to one's family, quite truly.

Edgar Cayce encouraged/started meditation groups at 4 in the morning (believe I have the time right - at any rate it was in the middle of the night). Some people following his advice actually get up in the middle of the night and do sitting meditation. What I have been doing is sneak in 1 or 2 minute meditations during the day whenever I remember to and then I often have a meaningful meditation (sometimes really "good" sometimes just practicing getting into the place) while lying in bed sometime close to 4 in the morning. It's a good time for prayer, too, if you're into that. Then back to sleep. I did buy a meditation CD several years ago and after making the financial investment (large for me) I was motivated to actually practice sitting meditation after work every day for 20 minutes. It was shortly after that that I met the man I am married to now - wonder if that intense period of meditation for a couple of months or more had anything to do with my meeting the person I had been wishing for. I'm inclined to think so.

[xise]

Oh I have the time so I can't use that excuse. I generally meditate after I come back from the gym in the morning and before work. I have found that it gives me good energy for the day. When I meditate at night, I find that it's quite difficult to sleep afterwards as I'm buzzing with energy for some reason so diurnal meditations don't seem to be very productive for me.

It's all about motivation for me or lack of I should say.

Have you meditated heavily in the past, Jeremy? If you have, I would meditate as you feel is appropriate.

But until you've personally gone through a say a two month where you were meditating heavily, like an hour a day or more, you can't really know what you're missing, or how heavy meditation helps things get to the root of the mind.

Once you've "been there, done that" in a small sense (this area is very deep), you'll better understand why to increase or decrease your meditation, and how to incorporate meditative techniques into your daily life, daily contemplation, and daily prayer. It starts becoming less of a sit one hour a day thing and more of a constant all day beingness thing.

It's like exercise in that you really have to do a good amount to see the benefits, but it's unlike exercise in that once you've understood the benefits at a deep level, you can start practicing the benefits outside of actual meditative practice.

I used to meditate 1 hour per day for a few months last year, but now I meditate maybe 3-4 hours per week, though my conscious being-ness is much meditative now than in the past.

[Jeremy]

Oh I've never meditated that long. It's always been 20-30 minutes max. I always went by that time frame as per suggested within the material as I remember it saying too much can be deleterious

Back when I first started, I was meditating for 30 minutes twice a day during the height of it. I'm kinda caught within a nasty vortex of lack of motivation at the moment. I was going to restart today actually but I've had a nasty cold or allergies for the passed three days which has left me with completely blocked nasal passages thus negating any possibility of mediation. It always seems like something gets in the way but as soon as I can breath again, I gonna restart it

[xise]

Also, meditating in a comfy couch/chair and position does wonders for my motivation. As well as increasing the amount of naps I take

[Melissa]

I've been mixing meditation with sunbathing. Always feel a little resistance towards both activities but this works quite well.

[caycegal]

I've been mixing meditation with sunbathing. Always feel a little resistance towards both activities but this works quite well.

The sun is so wonderful!