I started meditating about 2 years ago because I liked the idea of having better 'control of my mind' - at the time I thought it was a gimmick but to my surprise it actually works.
To begin with I found that after 20-30mins of closing my eyes and trying to think of nothing, I always came out of the session feeling a lot calmer. Fast forward to today and I can now isolate thoughts and throw them away if they are garbage, which I'm not gonna lie is a pretty useful tool to have. The brain has a tendency to replay bad memories over and over again (recent embarrassing social situations, or even random events from years ago can suddenly pop up) and they can affect how you go about your day to day when you overthink them - you get overly nervous about a presentation you have to do later for example.
But now I can stop the thought in it's tracks and just 'let it go', returning my attention to my work. Because you calm and slow your mind in meditation you are able to separate out how thoughts are formed and observe how they change your mood and how they make you react, which gives you more power over them in daily life.
I don't remember how I started with meditation, but it was working in data entry that prepared me for it. Figuring out how to speed up my typing led me to the realization of how the mind is just layers of processes, and how training through repetition is just a matter of setting up a cue/response behavior in sub-conscious processes. Which can be physical (training to hit a baseball or ride a bike) but can just as easily be mental (training to become calm on cue).
I thought this paper was fascinating! Here is my brief summary of this paper.
This paper is discussing meditation in a fairly broad sense, which includes practices related to eastern religions (Buddhism, Hindu), abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), as well as modern practices found in a modern clinical setting (CBT).
They propose a classification of meditation practices. At the top level, there are three types of meditation: (1) Attentive Meditation, (2) Constructive Meditation, and (3)Deconstructive Meditation.
Attentive meditation has to do with controlling ones focus. These practices generally have the practitioner intentionally narrow or broaden their focus. Zen breath counting and body scanning meditation are examples of Attentive meditation.
Constructive meditation practices aim to create and strengthen healthy habits, or commitments to certain values. This could involve imagining what it's like to be others, or imagining yourself as an embodiment of certain values. Constructive practices may also have the practitioner contemplate their own mortality, so that they can consider what is truly important in life. Christians praying to God for strength and thinking about their immortal soul are examples of Constructive meditation.
Deconstructive meditation practices aim to foster insight into the perceptions, emotions, and cognition of the practitioner. Self-inquiry and contemplation on these objects themselves are often a part of this type of practice. CBT and other modern clinical techniques are examples of Deconstructive meditation.
------------------------------------
A couple other notes:
* All three types of meditation seem to be useful in different ways.
* It's uncertain to what extent do the effects of specific meditations rest on the frameworks, beliefs, and world views that underlie these practices.
One resource I've found to be a refreshing take on the nuts and bolts of insight meditation that I think may appeal to engineers is the free book by Daniel Ingram. http://integrateddaniel.info/book/
As someone who has done some meditation and spent some time as a Buddhist monk, I find this scientific treatment of the subject very interesting. When I was in the robe we meditated a lot under the guidance of senior monks who were very accomplished. Other forms of meditation were only mentioned in passing. I've heard many incomplete descriptions of the differences between various types of meditation and wondered if there was a good taxonomy somewhere.
If you're curious about current scientific research around Meditation, check out the Advances in Meditation Research conference at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC (http://meditation2015.com/) The one in 2013 had many great talks and interesting findings (like meditation causes "wakefulness" instead of helping you sleep).
I feel more balanced after meditation. But I have no way how to otherwise quantify it. For example, I'm also more conscious about being irritated when I'm irritated and can avoid feeding thought patterns that would prolong this irritation. Placebo? Neurological changes? Observational bias? Beats me, but I see nothing harm in sitting down, breathing, and observing my thoughts.
Imagine what it would be if you had lived little bit intoxicated for whole of your life. Then you would start sobering up.
You would notice more awareness, more focus, clarity and possibly well being. Rest of the world would seem less confusing.
Questioning the assumption that your normal wakeful mental state is the ultimate 'being alive and conscious' what your brain can do might be the first step. If you persist, eventually you see meditation same way as brushing your teeth. It's important part of maintaining your mental hygiene.
Because after a while some of us get totally fed up with living life the 'normal way': that is to say chasing one fragile form of happiness after another.
It's not strange - how we live by default, that's strange. There's whole another original, normal way of dealing with life and situations.
To a logical person the easiest take away is that control over your senses / thoughts / perception frees up a lot of your capabilities with which you can do more - whatever that is, money making, art, nothing. You do it while truly enjoying it. It's great if you can pull it off!
Every human being wants happiness. Whether it's money, cool gadgets, attractive significant others, knowledge, volunteer work, exercise, or meditation, the general goal is to feel happy.
I don't do meditation (and in fact get kind of irritated that practitioners of it seem to imply the only way to get in more control of your brain is through meditation), but I practice CBT. The idea is to be in greater control of your conscious and subconscious processes by being more aware of what's going on in your brain.
For example, I noticed that when people make suggestions on products I work on that have the potential to violate users' privacy, I tend to get defensive and argumentative over that point. Using CBT and practice, first I was able to identify the emotions that rush over me when that happened. Then, I was able to notice and acknowledge those emotions happening and finally I was able to control them and let them pass without influencing my behavior. The last step in the puzzle is finding out why that particular issue is so triggering to me.
After becoming aware of these things, I'm a lot less anxious, my relationships are much stronger, my communication is better, and I'm just in a better mood and happier in general.
[+] [-] hacker_9|10 years ago|reply
To begin with I found that after 20-30mins of closing my eyes and trying to think of nothing, I always came out of the session feeling a lot calmer. Fast forward to today and I can now isolate thoughts and throw them away if they are garbage, which I'm not gonna lie is a pretty useful tool to have. The brain has a tendency to replay bad memories over and over again (recent embarrassing social situations, or even random events from years ago can suddenly pop up) and they can affect how you go about your day to day when you overthink them - you get overly nervous about a presentation you have to do later for example.
But now I can stop the thought in it's tracks and just 'let it go', returning my attention to my work. Because you calm and slow your mind in meditation you are able to separate out how thoughts are formed and observe how they change your mood and how they make you react, which gives you more power over them in daily life.
[+] [-] amelius|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thornofmight|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrismealy|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ncphillips|10 years ago|reply
This paper is discussing meditation in a fairly broad sense, which includes practices related to eastern religions (Buddhism, Hindu), abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), as well as modern practices found in a modern clinical setting (CBT).
They propose a classification of meditation practices. At the top level, there are three types of meditation: (1) Attentive Meditation, (2) Constructive Meditation, and (3)Deconstructive Meditation.
Attentive meditation has to do with controlling ones focus. These practices generally have the practitioner intentionally narrow or broaden their focus. Zen breath counting and body scanning meditation are examples of Attentive meditation.
Constructive meditation practices aim to create and strengthen healthy habits, or commitments to certain values. This could involve imagining what it's like to be others, or imagining yourself as an embodiment of certain values. Constructive practices may also have the practitioner contemplate their own mortality, so that they can consider what is truly important in life. Christians praying to God for strength and thinking about their immortal soul are examples of Constructive meditation.
Deconstructive meditation practices aim to foster insight into the perceptions, emotions, and cognition of the practitioner. Self-inquiry and contemplation on these objects themselves are often a part of this type of practice. CBT and other modern clinical techniques are examples of Deconstructive meditation.
------------------------------------
A couple other notes:
* All three types of meditation seem to be useful in different ways. * It's uncertain to what extent do the effects of specific meditations rest on the frameworks, beliefs, and world views that underlie these practices.
[+] [-] irickt|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] siavosh|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] geomark|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mindfulgeek|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] noahlt|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lincolnpark|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lostinbass|10 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dominotw|10 years ago|reply
To make more money with "better brain" ?
[+] [-] fsloth|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nabla9|10 years ago|reply
You would notice more awareness, more focus, clarity and possibly well being. Rest of the world would seem less confusing.
Questioning the assumption that your normal wakeful mental state is the ultimate 'being alive and conscious' what your brain can do might be the first step. If you persist, eventually you see meditation same way as brushing your teeth. It's important part of maintaining your mental hygiene.
[+] [-] gerbilly|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blinkingled|10 years ago|reply
To a logical person the easiest take away is that control over your senses / thoughts / perception frees up a lot of your capabilities with which you can do more - whatever that is, money making, art, nothing. You do it while truly enjoying it. It's great if you can pull it off!
[+] [-] danharaj|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nugga|10 years ago|reply
https://www.dhamma.org/en/about/code
[+] [-] bsuh|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] benihana|10 years ago|reply
I don't do meditation (and in fact get kind of irritated that practitioners of it seem to imply the only way to get in more control of your brain is through meditation), but I practice CBT. The idea is to be in greater control of your conscious and subconscious processes by being more aware of what's going on in your brain.
For example, I noticed that when people make suggestions on products I work on that have the potential to violate users' privacy, I tend to get defensive and argumentative over that point. Using CBT and practice, first I was able to identify the emotions that rush over me when that happened. Then, I was able to notice and acknowledge those emotions happening and finally I was able to control them and let them pass without influencing my behavior. The last step in the puzzle is finding out why that particular issue is so triggering to me.
After becoming aware of these things, I'm a lot less anxious, my relationships are much stronger, my communication is better, and I'm just in a better mood and happier in general.