Thread: time of the meditation

Yes, you can meditate any time you want.

ok thanks, and somebody know the short term benefits?
using my time?

You said you were doing it for pleasure~

Short term benefits? I guess, introspection, understanding, bliss, in a way.

Just do what you want. Don't look to me, or anyone else, to teach it to you.

Meditation before bed is good for WILDing. For some reason it helps you to become aware of the Hypnogogic stage, where you see random images and scenes. From there you just need to shake loose a dream body and you're lucid!

On the downside it can also induce sleep paralysis if you wake up in that early stage of sleep, and you may even see things in your room or feel presences. That's the opposite of hypnogogic, called hypnopompic where you get stuff after you wake.

Che Mriano, que tal!

are you lying down or sitting? I meditate every night right before bed while listening to binaural beats. It's great for helping me fall asleep faster. Only on occasion have I had hypnagoggic imagery and such.

Meditation in general will help you with the controlling the thoughts in your mind - calming it. This control will come in handy if you want to try any self-hypnosis or simply focus on one task or problem solve. It may also help in staying lucid should you become lucid.

whatever you do, take it easy on the máte at those late hours, it will keep you up! HAHA!

You said you were doing it for pleasure~

Short term benefits? I guess, introspection, understanding, bliss, in a way.

Just do what you want. Don't look to me, or anyone else, to teach it to you.

ok

Meditation before bed is good for WILDing. For some reason it helps you to become aware of the Hypnogogic stage, where you see random images and scenes. From there you just need to shake loose a dream body and you're lucid!

On the downside it can also induce sleep paralysis if you wake up in that early stage of sleep, and you may even see things in your room or feel presences. That's the opposite of hypnogogic, called hypnopompic where you get stuff after you wake.
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guau, well, I'm not trying to become lucid or WILD with meditation, I want to see how can I change internally by doing it...
I didn't know that! about hypnopompic and hypnogogic, I thought they were the same....interesting...

Che Mriano, que tal!

hola...where are you from? =P

are you lying down or sitting? I meditate every night right before bed while listening to binaural beats. It's great for helping me fall asleep faster. Only on occasion have I had hypnagoggic imagery and such.

when I meditate, I sit on complete lotus, I meditate every night( I started yesterday), like you, right before bed....
when meditate, I just simply become aware of me, and I hear my tinitus(that sound on the ears...) and at the same time I hear it, I try to reproduce it with my mind to don't get distracted by conscious low frequency thoughts...
I maintain that position for ....I don't know....30 minutes maybe...

Meditation in general will help you with the controlling the thoughts in your mind - calming it. This control will come in handy if you want to try any self-hypnosis or simply focus on one task or problem solve. It may also help in staying lucid should you become lucid.

yeah, I want to calm my mind, I meditate to learn that, and then, Dream Yoga.
I have never become lucid(just 3 times, but....so, so,so low awareness....)

thanks for answerss

hola...where are you from? =P

haha - family from Argentina. I thought I saw it your profile at one point - you change it?

when meditate, I just simply become aware of me, and I hear my tinitus(that sound on the ears...) and at the same time I hear it, I try to reproduce it with my mind to don't get distracted by conscious low frequency thoughts...

ah, that's interesting - I used to do that becoming aware of "me" as well. It does work, but I've read a book on primordeal awareness and the buddha believe there are other ways of achieving the same thing using the different senses: sight, sound, smell, etc. So, I'm now trying to see if by focusing on sound and shutting out all other activity in my head I can reach that calm state.

The problem I find with focusing on the "I" or "me" is that I'm still required to use thought - and thought is exactly what I'm trying to silence. Also, the buddha don't believe in duality ("me" implies there's a separate "you" or "them").

Meditation's short term effects are negligible. If you're going to meditate, it's going to be immediately after waking, or in the evening prior to sleep.

If it's in the morning, you will feel relaxed for a short time afterwards. That is, until you are driving to school/work and traffic gets under your skin. It's only a matter of time before the relaxation you earn in meditation wears off.

I think of Meditation like I think of Running.

If you want to lose weight, running is a good way to do so. You activate weight burning mechanisms in your body. But running for 15 minutes once every week or so won't do anything -- in fact it might just hurt your legs. But if you develop the habit of running, for 15 to twenty minutes a day, 5-6 days a week, for several months, you will start to notice incremental gains in your goals. It takes a long term commitment.

Similarly, if you want to permenantly reduce stress, meditation is a good way to do so. You activate relaxation and stress-reducing pathways in your brain. But meditating for 15 minutes once every couple weeks won't do anything. In fact, it may just frustrate you when you realize that no change is taking place. BUT, if you develop a habit of meditation -- 15 to 20 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week, for several months, you will start to notice that the relaxation you gain during meditation seeping into your entire waking experience. It takes time.

In Meditation, you are exercising a muscle -- your brain. Like any muscle, it requires long, steady exercise before you notice any real change in its functioning.

The trick, is to not become overwhelmed by the apparent size of the commitment you have to make. Like reading a 600 page book, starting on this journey can seem daunting. The secret to not becoming overwhelmed (by the book or by Meditation), is to begin to enjoy every single page. Don't focus on the end result -- just enjoy the ride. Savor every moment of it, and it will not become a chore.

Originally Posted by Silence

In Meditation, you are exercising a muscle -- your brain

eh.... I'm assuming you mean that as a metaphor - the brain is an organ, it does not flex or stretch to gain mass (but I see your point).

But meditating for 15 minutes once every couple weeks won't do anything. In fact, it may just frustrate you when you realize that no change is taking place. BUT, if you develop a habit of meditation -- 15 to 20 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week, for several months, you will start to notice that the relaxation you gain during meditation seeping into your entire waking experience. It takes time.

This is something I wonder about. I've developed this 'habit' of meditating when I go to bed. Many times I'll do it when I get home from work as well (it's so much easier to relax at the end of the day). Thing is, I don't necessarily recall the meditation itself, since at night I simply fall asleep - and even so sometimes when I do it after work. So, am I still getting the benefits of meditation, or am I just resting?

Originally Posted by Mariano

hello.
I'm starting to meditate.
It's okay to meditate before go to bed?(10:00 PM) (not for lucid dreams, just for pleasure)

What are the benefits of meditations at long and short terms?

thanks!

if you're just starting it would be better to have several 5 min. sittings throughout the day. when you're new to it it's not very constructive to push yourself to have one long sitting. the reason for this is that you want to integrate the results of meditation with your daily life - otherwise you might keep the two separate and then you might as well be taking a nap.

i think it's good to meditate before bed because that way you're not bringing all the day's residues into your sleep as much, and you're quieting your mind down and getting ready for sleep.

in the short term you'll probably find that there are a lot of thoughts running through your mind - you're just becoming more aware of this (it's called the waterfall stage in tibetan buddhism). once you learn to simply observe your thoughts without grasping them or suppressing them you might progress to the "river stage" where the flow of your thoughts begins to slow down and you occasionally get a glimpse of the more basic, non-conceptual ground of your mind.

in the long term you'll have less internal dialogue and you'll be less prone to grasping and aversion and thus will have weakened the causes of suffering in your life. i guess the ultimate goal might be to recognize the illusory nature of your experience.

i hope this helps!

ok, thanks for big and great responses!
my goal is to achieve a silence mind...!