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5is

Registered: 03/13/12
Posts: 1,451
Loc: USA
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Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown?
#23517993 - 08/07/16 07:03 AM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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I'm really looking to find myself as well as find some comfort and relaxation to help with my OCD and intrusive thoughts.
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Peyote Road
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: 5is]
#23520552 - 08/07/16 10:15 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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I used herbs to help me with this. I question why the use of herbs is so seldom talked about by spirituality gurus and meditation teachers.
Anyway, kava, valerian, skullcap and mulungu bark have all greatly helped me with relaxation, OCD and intrusive thoughts.
Herbs are not an automatic solution, its not like popping a pill and your anxiety vanishes (or if it does, it will come back) but rather I used the herbs to help direct my meditation. FOr example, the relaxation the herb provided would help me see clearly the place in which I was holding tension. I still had to release the tension though. In other words, you still have to do the the work, but the herb can hold your hand as you walk along. It will take time and effort to get to know the spirit of each herb and get the most out of it.
-------------------- The path of the herbalist is to open ourselves to nature in an innocent and pure way. SHe in turn will open her bounty and reward us with many valuable secrets. May the earth bless you. - Michael Tierra
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Jokeshopbeard
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Registered: 11/30/11
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: 5is]
#23520690 - 08/07/16 11:16 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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Have you practised meditation before?
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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Peyote Road
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Registered: 09/02/15
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#23520935 - 08/08/16 01:28 AM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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From the tone of his post it sounds like he hasnt. There are many different meditation techniques what would you recommend for a beginner? I could recommend adyashanti. I love his guided meditations and his general comments on meditation. He cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had.
-------------------- The path of the herbalist is to open ourselves to nature in an innocent and pure way. SHe in turn will open her bounty and reward us with many valuable secrets. May the earth bless you. - Michael Tierra
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
Posts: 26,088
Loc: Deep in the system
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: Peyote Road]
#23521005 - 08/08/16 02:19 AM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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I'm not a fan of guided mediation myself, it was my first foray into the world about... urr, 8 years ago. Just didn't feel right to me.
Things started to take off for me when I first stayed at a Buddhist monastery as a layperson where they practice Vipassana, or insight meditation. It took me about 4 years of practice to get the knack, but boy was it worth it!
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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Starstepper
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#23522864 - 08/08/16 07:10 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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http://palousemindfulness.com/index.html
This is a free mindfulness online course with videos and reading that my psychiatrist gave me. Worth checking out. It got me started and is easy to use.
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JForce
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Registered: 07/08/16
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: 5is]
#23525568 - 08/09/16 06:05 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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A super easy way to deal with intrusive thoughts: ask yourself: "what will my next thought be?" Eventually you may locate the sensation of an arising thought and when you can be mindful of that the amount of thoughts you have decrease dramatically
Quote:
5is said: I'm really looking to find myself as well as find some comfort and relaxation to help with my OCD and intrusive thoughts.
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laughingdog
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Registered: 03/14/04
Posts: 4,829
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: 5is]
#23526336 - 08/09/16 10:08 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
5is said: I'm really looking to find myself as well as find some comfort and relaxation to help with my OCD and intrusive thoughts.
easy info to begin with
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laughingdog
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Re: Meditation and mindfulness, could you give me the rundown? [Re: laughingdog] 1
#23526481 - 08/09/16 10:49 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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if you wish to 'pursue' matters further, here are some possibilities
even within vipassana/buddist meditation there are different flavors.
Who knows what will work best for you? perhaps try a few consistently for awhile, then stick with one
all of the 4 teachers below speak excellent English, are sincere, experienced, and intelligent:
this guy is pretty mellow… into smiling…
Bhante Vimalaramsi
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClyJoOstQCuCdIyQU080g2w
- - -
This guy has enormous knowledge of how it all works
many articles also on his website
Shinzen Young, also understands math, Japanese, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shinzen+young - - - this guy also has a background in both science and zen
https://www.youtube.com/user/Culadasa/featured https://www.youtube.com/user/Culadasa/videos - - - none of these 3 are members of a tradition that they try and impose
Bhante Vimalaramsi makes a big point of finding an improved method.
Shinzen takes a very rigorous approach, and explains the rational for it all. He has an extensive background in both Vipassana & Zen.
Culadasa has a background in 2 meditative traditions and science.
- - -
lastly if something very traditional appeals to you, this guy is very sweet, and has many videos explaining the whole practice in great detail
Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJ6ESCWQotBwtJm0Ff_gyQ - - -
but if there is meditation center nearby perhaps you can get person to person instruction
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