Mindfulness (Meditation and Yoga)
-
Is anyone here into meditation or breath work?
I really like the fact that meditation and conscious breathing (done right) are now scientifically considered beneficial for mental and physical well-being. I stared meditating a few years back when I found life becoming more and more complex. In the last few months I have discovered breathing exercises that have actually exceeded my expectations in terms of benefit.
I just started this thread because I found that I became lazy with my meditation practice. Maybe it's easier to stay motivated if others like to share their routines, too :).
-
I started this year by going to a meditation hotel (with no real connection to any spiritual practice or teachings). It is a beautiful place close to the north sea where no screens are allowed outside of your room - no wifi etc. Is just a place for calm and collection where you can participate in group meditations six times a day or just meditate by yourself.
I met a group of people who were practicing "naikan", that seems really interesting.
I also find meditating home alone much harder than sitting for a fixed time with other people in a special environment. Especially with a young family or work that follows you home meditation at home is tough.
-
I’m up most days around 5, and spend about an hour on my yoga mat. Just about the only quiet time I get - it’s priceless.
-
I’m with @mclaincausey on this one—mindfulness, meditation, and yoga are very different practices than some of the other workouts smooshed into this thread. Specificity isn’t our enemy.
-
@sabergirl don't encourage him!!
-
The older I’ve grown, the more I recognize the important, stabilizing journey inward. I’d fashion myself a bit of a stoic; controlling what I can, observing what I cannot. I feel as though the journey inward has been quite the work of discovery (perhaps similar, but distinctly different from the internal journey Matt mentions above) through silence and reflection.
Additionally, breath work is very impactful and has immediate calming or invigorating effects that I have also found quite useful. Since late ‘22 I’ve gotten into doing energy work (not reiki, though I would love to hear what that has done for people…) and both breathing and stillness have gone hand in hand. Thanks for reviving the thread!
-
cheers @deadendpro - aye - all of that stuff is indeed helpful for me and so many others too. This wee video was a bit of fun really but brings to mind the value of taking care of ourselves and not letting judgement and overthinking get in the way of joy. I'm an old Ranger and have spent my whole life fairly connected to other nature both to put food on the table and for health and resilience. More recently I have been working on insight and mindfulness in nature - such an easy, fruitful marriage. I think it also fair to say that this stuff is certainly 'tune in and drop out' but also one of the antidotes to addictive scrolling and digital overload. Hard to name anybody not affected... Taking time to be still and practice being present sets us up well to respond to life rather than react. Working in with other nature gives us more insight into our ways of being. Body and soul.
-
I have a https://shaktimat.de/collections/akupressurmatte?locale=en for a couple of weeks now... was quite a painful experience at the beginning, today a slept 45 minutes on it after work.
-
I have a Manta meditation mask with flat Bluetooth headphones built in. So it can be used to totally black out light with or without audio for sleep, guided meditations, white/brown/pink noise, binaural beats, etc. the flatness of the headphones means you can lie down on your side without issue. Recommended highly!
-
@Alex said in Mindfulness (Meditation and Yoga):
@Chap sarina has one of these too, I tried it in Jakarta and it was pretty rough for 20mins, but once you get passed that its amazing, isnt it
Yep, you get used to it after a couple of times. Now it is about 2 minutes being slightly painful and then I fall into a deep relaxation and today even fell asleep.
yer killin’ me here.
