Questions about seated meditation/meditation in general.

**KingYoshi** · 03-10-2015 05:57 PM

So, along with my ADA practice for lucid dreaming, I also wanted to try out some seated meditation. I've been doing it the passed couple days and it doesn't seem to be too difficult for me to get into a relaxed mind. I've been able to go without conscious thought for several minutes at a time and I'm probably being conservative. When I get to this state it feels as if I'm so comfortable I could sit there for hours. My question is, what now? Do I just continue to expand that time and see how long I can stay quiet minded or is there something else I should be moving on to now? I have pretty much zero interest in the spiritual or religious aspects of meditation. I'm really just looking to sharpen the mind and enhance more of my brain's potential. Any comments, tips, suggestions are more than welcome and much appreciated.

**DreamyBear** · 03-10-2015 06:38 PM

My question is, what now? Do I just continue to expand that time and see how long I can stay quiet minded or is there something else I should be moving on to now?

The best way to sharp the mind is to keep it more quiet than you actively use it. It is pretty much like keeping a knife sharp. If you are cuting with your knife all day long it will soon be blunt. But if you only cut when you need to, and sharpen it for a brief moment before you put it away. Then it will be sharp and ready whenever you need it.

**JustASimpleGuy** · 03-10-2015 08:49 PM

The more you practice, the more you'll change your brain's function and structure. Neuroplasticity at work. For me the biggest benefits are a reduction in the default mode network activity (all the internal chatter/Story of Me) which leads to more clarity and focus and enhanced recovery of the amygdala to baseline which results in a reduction of the duration of negative emotional responses/stress. Both are of great benefit for living more in the Here & Now.

**Dodge631** · 03-10-2015 09:30 PM

one thing you can do is once you have put yourself in a mode of concentration, you can start passively observing your thoughts, emotions, environment, and senses. dont get lost in them, but allow them to happen before you. acknowledge them, and move on to the next thing, and acknowledge that. it can help the sharpness of ada, or at least it helps me do that.

**NyxCC** · 03-10-2015 09:36 PM

Sounds like you're a natural Kingyoshi.

I'd say, keep up your practices and expand the time you spend in this quiet state of mind. This should improve your focus and also faciliate thought control in general. This can spill over to both real life non meditation time as well as to dreams. One benefit I have experienced when it comes to lding is how easy dream control can become. You become very good at manifesting thoughts as well as thought suppression.

They also say that experienced meditators produce more gamma brainwaves, which also occur during lds.

**KingYoshi** · 03-11-2015 07:36 PM

Hmm, well second day meditating and...hmm, not sure how to explain that session. Shit just got real, or not real. Not really sure exactly what that was. I probably should have done some research into this before actually meditating.

Edit: Ok, I've been just sitting here thinking about this for like, two hours now. I have wrote so many comments in place of this sentence and then deleted them. It feels like I want to say something, but I don't know what, lol.

**NyxCC** · 03-11-2015 08:30 PM

Do you have any particular concerns? It is possible for certain "special effects/noise" to occur during meditation sessions if one is able to relax more thoroughly. There is an overlap between wilding and meditation, so it could be that you experienced something related?

One member is currently doing some meditation sessions and experiments, you can read about her experiences here. Hope it will clarify things a bit.

http://www.dreamviews.com/meditation...xperiment.html

**KingYoshi** · 03-11-2015 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by NyxCC

Do you have any particular concerns? It is possible for certain "special effects/noise" to occur during meditation sessions if one is able to relax more thoroughly. There is an overlap between wilding and meditation, so it could be that you experienced something related?

One member is currently doing some meditation sessions and experiments, you can read about her experiences here. Hope it will clarify things a bit.

http://www.dreamviews.com/meditation...xperiment.html

I'm glad you said that. It did remind me of a WILD a little bit. I wouldn't say there is a concern/problem. I just wasn't expecting anything like that. Just made me wonder if I want to keep going with it like I had initially planned. Thanks, I'll definitely check out her experiments.

**JustASimpleGuy** · 03-11-2015 11:15 PM

From your OP I assume you're seated while meditating? One thing I know is if I allow myself to slouch forward it shallows out breathing and can lead to drowsiness.

Also if I let go of breath and just attend awareness itself I get a lot of HI and my hearing also becomes very attenuated. Even the click when the thermostat kicks in resonates through my whole being. I think it's gamma synchronicity and to me it's a very disembodied reality.

But yeah, I think there's a very fine line between that kind of meditation and a WILD, though the few attempts I made at WILD I just can't get the same state of mind laying on my back. Go figure...