So has your sleep improved over time?
Not much it scares me. I went 10 days without sleep which is the shortest time the rest have all been longer. However after the 10 days I slept twice in 3 days which I’ve not been able to do since I crashed. I have also dropped potatoes or any high carbs in my diet. I noticed that the night I slept I just ate root veg, salad and meat. I’m not touching any thing for sleep as drugs/supplements make me crash even in small doses.
Same here, this crap is scary. I log my sleep every night and it’s been steadily but very, very slightly improving overall. Then last night I awoke after only 2 hours of sleep. Maybe it’s the bit of Vitamin B12 I took. I don’t know, I popped a temazepam just now.
As for TM, do apps help assign your mantras based on your circumstances? I read a post quoting an abstract that suggested the quality of the meditation improves based on how the mantras are assigned to you rather using just picking a random mantra of your own.
Theres an app called insight timer which @Shellnyce mentioned to me. He’s a lot more knowledgeable about meditation, he might be able to answer your question
2 Likes
@Mercked TM has a long history of people making money off of it. They say you need to be “taught” the mantras. Its a bunch of crap. The concept is simple… find a word that means nothing. Its should be meaningless so your brain doesnt “think” about anything or associate it with anything as you recite it. Your trying to reach a state where your not “thinking” about anything and your brain trandscends conscious thought. I made up a mantra “gooz venahh” . I couldnt figure out where I came up with it and then remembered its very close to a mantra used in the movie “Anger Management” with Adam Sandler… where he recites… Gooz Frabah. So I probably need to come up with something different. Anyway… you recite it over and over in your head hundreds or thousands of times in the span of 20 minutes. Focusing only on the mantra. You will feel your brain sort of shift after about 20 minutes. Sometimes you will spin into wacky dreams that are sort of in fast forward (at least thats what happened to me a couple times) . This rejuvenates the brain and the body. When you finish… you will feel like you took a nap if you did it right. Its very very hard… takes a LOT of practice. You ideally need to do it twice a day. You do this with your eyes closed and I use the insight timer in headphones as a background noise which helps.
A little background I found on the original mantras handed down by Gurus was that they would give you a mantra derived from an ancient Sandscrit saying or prayer. They dont tell you what it means and because its in an ancient language you basically feel like your silently reciting jibberish. But “supposedly” those words have meaning and power and can help you with whatever your issue is. TM is a big money making scheme so they tell you to never disclose your mantra…etc… Its a little bit like Scientology in that sense which is annoying.
I have had some rough days with very little sleep and if I’m lucky I can get a bit of a recharge after doing TM for 20 minutes… if I’m able to quiet my mind. Some people say that if you get really good at it, you can bring your mind into a deep state of rest which is more restorative than even deep sleep. I dont know that this is true but I believe that practicing TM does help the brain heal and reconnect synapses and neurosteroids, etc… I think it should be used as a multi-faceted approach to healing the brain to beat anxiety and insomnia. I would not by any means say I’m an expert… I did some digging and thats what I found. I hope this helps. So find some jibberish word, find a dark quiet place, recite it over and over in your brain, relax all your muscles, close your eyes, listen to some relaxing background sounds and you will eventually start to “feel” something shift. I hope this helps you and I"m interested to hear back from you guys on any progress or how it made you feel once you felt like you made a breakthrough.
2 Likes
I have been doing mindfulness meditation while focusing on the breath almost every night for around 50 minutes. It helps with anxiety, mood, and falling asleep at night somewhat, but has done next to nothing for staying asleep.
I figured that was the gist of TM. I am going to see if TM may help me stay asleep at night. Perhaps paying to see a guru and being assigned special mantras based on individual context may have a more powerful effect because of a higher placebo response.
Are there any actual articles that suggest any form of meditation has an impact on neurosteroids levels? I would love to see that.
There are several articles that cite research that has shown all sorts of brain improvements from TM. It shouldnt be to hard to find. I made a little bit of a break through yesterday… I started meditating in the afternoon and I thought I set a timer for 20 minutes on insight timer. The timer never went off and it was almost like I woke from a nap… lost track of time completely, had weird dreams (not asleep but like in a trance) and ended up stopping to find I was at almost 40 minutes. It was like time flew by. I felt rested and recharged. I think practicing this everyday could have a very big effect on coping, getting some rest for the brain, recoverying brain issues, etc… I dont know for sure but I really think something good is happening from practicing TM.
2 Likes
I was watching a video yesterday of a monk who said we can meditate everywhere. Basically creating a calm mind outside of our personal meditation time. This is how they practice in the monasteries.
Do you use the delta brain healing music on insight timer or just the ordinary music? Occasionally I use delta only for short periods, I’ve not had any negative affects so far. Thanks
I attended an in person guided meditation that was 20 minutes long at a local meditation center. Half way through, the girl who spoke the meditation said, “imagine your mind as a blue sky and thoughts as clouds that pass by.”
I swear, when I stepped outside and looked at the sky, I felt the most at peace I’ve felt in years. Truly felt like I was in heaven.
We need this peace more than anyone. Gives our minds a rest.
2 Likes
I experienced similar peace after leaving a yoga studio, it felt amazing. Sensory deprivation tanks can take you to that level of peace in one session, they are a short cut.
1 Like
I did a float tank session a few years ago for an hour. Going to do a two hour session soon. You’re right, the feeling after was pure bliss.
1 Like
I think it needs to be done for 3-5 sessions before the real benefits show, but its the pure bliss like you say.
1 Like
my 2 cents. Transcendental is not as helpful as concentration or breath meditation.
ive been doing meditation for a decade. forget about the apps, forget about the floating tanks
read that multiple times, and practice for an hour a day. ive never seen people make life changing progress unless they committed like that. meditation is a workout session for your mind
1 Like
Could you give us noobs a one or two sentence description of the differences between the three you mention?
transcendental-- repeating mantras and focusing on mantra repetition. its said to be good for beginners, but i don’t consider that, it’s good for relaxation at most.
vipassana or breath/concentration meditation is the training of your mind to be in the present moment. you focus your attention on your breath for as long as you can. build up your ability to keep focus for 10 breaths straight-- in and out, and increase. when thoughts come to your mind (which they will), you observe them, and then shift your focus back to the breath. it’s observation without judgement (thoughts). it’s living in the present moment, in the truest definition.
3 Likes
Here is a written account of someone who did a 10 day vipassana course with the hope that it would treat their pain, anxiety and insomnia. Ok I’ll spoil the ending. Insomnia/anxiety wasn’t permanently cured but it showed the participant how to manage their mind better and obsess less about their pain.
Meditation apparently lowers cortisol, had anyone here noticed a difference? I have low cortisol so tend to split my meditation over 2 sessions so am/pm. However I feel that I might benefit more from one hour as it takes me a while at the start of each session to find calm. It’s like doing two warm ups before you exercise.
@lakehouse thank you for sharing and make us aware of this form of meditation.
1 Like
I am finding that meditation (mindfulness + breath concentration) does not help at all for staying asleep. I have been meditating daily for around 50 min for a month and a half now. It actually keeps me up at night at times.
Are you sure you are doing the right type of the meditation? Something must be wrong with your technique. Please check out the TM method. But everyone is different anyway. I hope this condition will change for you.
I’ve been following the method as taught in The Mind Illuminated, which is a combination of mindful awareness of the body combined with a concentration on the breath. It hasn’t worked at all for sleep maintenance. I couldn’t find any instructions for TM. I just repeat a mantra in my head for 20-40 minutes at a time but I don’t think it’s that simple. What instructions are you following?