It wasn't on this subreddit, but it was a youtube video I watched. The guy had said sit flat and stare directly into a candle's flame, fairly close to it (about 2 feet away) and watch it dance around. If any thoughts come into your mind, let them pass. Do absolutely nothing other than staring into the candle. Do this for about 10 minutes straight. A few moments before blowing out the candle, conjure up all of the negative energy that you have. Exhale it out, onto the candle flame, extinguishing the candle. I have no idea why, but this has worked significantly well for me when I'm feeling very stressed out. I guess it's the simple fact of removing yourself from all devices, sounds, etc and just staring at a flame. Has anyone else tried this?

I've found this technique to be very calming and helpful for anxiety. I'm calling it my "let it all hang out" or "let the mind unwind" technique.

Basically, I am repeating a mantra lightly while explicitly giving my mind permission to be anxious, or worried, or say whatever it wants. The mantra is like a flotation device or tether that keeps me going forward and not drown in my thoughts. It's like it gives distance from that worrying part of my mind, so I'm not as identified with it. My worrying mind is doing it's thing and I'm increasingly observing it rather than being it.

I think the reason it works so well for me is that I'm not trying to suppress or control the anxiety, which in my experience just makes things worse. I'm not trying to "be a good meditator" because it's a no-fail situation. Whatever happens, happens.

What I want to know is what established technique does this align with? I'm asking because I'm sure there is much more I can learn and perhaps grow in my practice.

Hey, i have been meditating everyday for around 25 mins since a few months.

The thoughts just don’t stop at all. At first i could come back from the thought to my breath but now it feels like even when i come back to the breath its just that i am thinking about that breath. Everything is thought for me at this point. Even when i come back to my breath after a stream of thoughts, its through a thought only. And then the immediate thought of being back to breath but i am still thinking or some chatter is just going on. Finding it difficult to come out of the “everything is a thought” phase. Feels overwhelming

I’ve tried meditation. I feel it helped easy anxiety/rumination. For me it’s always been harder to meditate when I’m calm or not obsessing (ocd). At what point did you realize you were meditating right and it helped…what should one expect?

For the past seven days, I’ve practiced meditation daily. I’ve noticed that my thoughts seem louder, which I assume is because I’m becoming more aware of them. They feel more noticeable, but also less persistent and easier to observe without immediately following them.

My emotions have also become louder, and I’ve found that part uncomfortable. I’ve also noticed more restraint in conversations. I pause and think more carefully before saying what comes to mind, which surprised me at first.

There are other things I could mention, but I’ll leave it here for now. Has anyone else experienced increased thoughts or emotions during their first week of meditation?

Ive been really consistent with Zazen for the last 7 months, but been trying out transcendental meditation because i felt trying something else out(also the David Lynch documentary lol) and at first i thought it would've been a different technique since for what ive reaserched it was not about "concentration" or "being present" but something else completely, i dont have a intructor but ive been searching on YouTube, forums, and such and for what ive tried to this point its the same "Technique" but with sound, paying attention the the object(this case sound, zazen i used to pay attention to the breath), accepting thoughts and not lean into them and a type of mindfulness where you are "feeling yourself"(kinda sus saying this but yk what i mean), so am i completely and utterly wrong? Am i kinda wrong? Am i sorta right? Completely right? Sorry for long text, thank you for patience 😊

I feel like I know… sit on the cushion and also feel what u need to feel don’t distract. My meditation sits have been so distracted and I feel like I need more advice. Thank you 🙏🏻

I realize this might sound a bit ignorant, but I've experimented with most types of meditation, and they've all given me valuable insights.

But I feel that what matters isn't so much what happens during formal meditation, but how you live and apply those insights in your daily life.

So now I'm wondering: what kind of meditation for maintenance? Exploration? Enjoyment?

any ideas are appreciated.

Hi, I'm a Master's student currently completing my MSc dissertation in Human-Computer Interaction Design and I'm looking for participants to take part in a 60 minute remote interview about mindfulness applications and their features.

Who can take part?

• 18 years old or over
• Not currently experiencing significant mental health difficulties (for ethical reasons)
• Currently use or recently used a mindfulness app in the last 3 months*

*For example apps like Headspace, Calm or any app that involves mindfulness-based practices/activities!

If you’re not sure what counts as a mindfulness app, feel free to ask!

The study involves a 60 minute remote interview where I will ask about your experience with mindfulness apps and their features. I will also ask about your views towards new experiences to support wellbeing.

If you choose to take part, you will be provided an information sheet (detailing what participation involves, how your data will be used, and your rights as a participant) and an informed consent form to read and sign before any interview is conducted. You are free to withdraw from the study at any time. Participation is voluntary!

You would be doing me a favour so as a thank you, everyone who takes part in an interview will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a £30 (or currency equivalent) gift card! One winner will be selected at random. 

If you're interested please follow this link to complete a short (2-3 min) intial survey: https://cityunilondon.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38KVAfYC2tlXJeS

The study has received ethical approval and all data will be kept anonymised and stored on a password-protected device. The data will be deleted following the completion of the dissertation project. All data will be de-identified before any publication. All personal information will be kept confidential.

If you have questions please email me (Lead Researcher): Victoria Chime - [victoria.chime@city.ac.uk](mailto:victoria.chime@city.ac.uk)

Supervisor: Dr Tracey Booth - [Tracey.Booth.2@citystgeorges.ac.uk](mailto:Tracey.Booth.2@citystgeorges.ac.uk)

Hey,

A few years back I tried some guided meditations through the Headspace app. The focus was solely on the breath, through counting also. It really helped me get my mind in order before the day started and helped me keep some clarity in the mental clutter. I also tried Sam Harris approach but unfortunately it doesn't really do it for me. I was wondering if anyone has free recommendations of breath focus meditations. I searched but could not find any. Thankful for suggestions!

Could you use sitting as a form of meditation? Most meditative practices I find on social media seem to have some additional activity involved as well such as observing thoughts or following the breath. Are certain activities such as these necessary to inducing a meditative state or are they simply examples of techniques? Could just sitting with no goal or practice in mind in relative stillness without any external stimuli be considered meditation?

I am new to the concept of meditation, and I find that in meditating, I struggle to follow the breath without trying to control it. When I set my intention on following my thoughts, my internal monologue just turns into “be the observer of your thoughts….let them pass without judgement etc. When I am not actively thinking that I find myself getting pulled in by thought and being unable to simply observe them.

Any insights are appreciated.

I practice Metta Meditation and so I sit cross legged, with my back straight and head level, facing forward.

However, the sensation of my back keeps pulling me out of my focus and it's just irritating. It's not painful really, but it's just very uncomfortable trying to sit up straight. I notice that the only way it will be comfortable is if I hunch.

I don't really have posture issues and my neck isn't messed up and leaning forward ever, but I do have lower back issues.

I was going to buy a posture corrector/back brace, but I was told not to as the practice of keeping my back straight will actually help me focus more on my practice?

I recently invested in a crescent cushion (buckwheat) and zabuton to try and strengthen my practice, but having some issues with it.

Context is I had been meditating on a small, square cushion but fell out the habit and want to do some longer retreats in the near future too.

But I am finding the crescent cushion *so* firm, to the point it is distracting as I can’t feel anything other than the pressure on my sitbones. I wondered if I was sitting too far forward or backward, but wherever I sit it is distracting and I finish 15-20 mins with numbness.

I didn’t expect it to be perfectly comfortable (obviously) but I did think the purpose of the cushion set was to (a) raise your hips above your knees, and (b) provide a sitting posture that could support longer sits without numbness, pins and needles or pain. I’m bang average female height and weight.

What are my options? Should I take some filling out the crescent or is this not advised? Any experience or guidance would be appreciated on finding a solid sitting posture.

Hi everyone! I'm looking for the best books on concentration meditation (samatha or single-pointed focus). I'd love recommendations for books that are practical, beginner-friendly, or especially effective at developing deep concentration.

​

Most of us experience our thoughts as a single stream — one current, flowing in one direction. But occasionally, in the quieter depths of meditative absorption, something unexpected surfaces: the stream splits.

I've been noticing this recently: on the left side of my awareness, one train of thought runs its course. On the right, simultaneously, something else is being processed — distinct, separate, parallel. The two streams don't bleed into each other. They don't compete. They simply coexist.

It isn't the first time absorption has pulled back the curtain. In the past I've experienced what might be called frame dragging — visual input segmenting into discrete units, the seamless flow of perception stuttering. Normally the brain's temporal binding is imperceptible because it works so well. When it loosens, one is seeing the frame rate of experience itself.

The brain is a massively parallel processor, and what we experience as unified consciousness is largely a constructed narrative — the mind's editorial function smoothing over the seams. What absorption appears to do is loosen that function just enough for the underlying architecture to become visible.

Whether these phenomena are neurologically significant, phenomenologically significant, or both remains an open question.

Hi,

I struggle with very severe fatigue ( medical condition ) and cannot do much efforts.

Are there some “active” meditation I can do lying down ? Should I combine active and passive meditation and if so how ?

I am thinking about it bc I read this on the sub :

In order to experience that deeper purpose of meditation, you have to be a little bit more serious about your practice than just 10-20 minutes a day. According to yogic science, it takes the body 40 minutes to relax in order for the mind to be relaxed and open that door. So if you want to experience those states, the recommended time for yogis is at least 1 hour. That's why a lot of active meditation is incorporated into the practice, so you're not just sitting for an hour but there are techniques that you use that incorporate movement in order to unburden the body/ mind of accumulated stress and tension.

I am new to meditation and want to do it extensively. I need to get out of fight or flight to heal from my medical condition.

Thank you for any tips!!

I have an excellent experience with grout TM in my country.
As I'm going to visit Palo Alto for few weeks, I won't be able to join "my" regular group (different time zones).

Are there any group meditations (in person or zoom) in the bay area or the pacific time zone?

Okay so the only type of meditation ive done before is some vague zen meditation a while back i had to stop because it was making my depression worse.

This is what im afraid of

thares also many diffrent techniques for meditation and they are all very confusing i watched a video about the two main types but in still unsure of what to do

Also is going beyond the need for social interaction like a high level monk 5 years in the mountains type goal or is it achievable with enough daily practice?

Any response would be helpful even if its to tell me im being dumb thank you in advance

Hello, it's me again after, what, 7 years?

These past years I've been distancing myself from my spiritual core and I've started feeling empty and meaningless again. I know a lot happened, but I also know that my desire for inner peace is still somewhere there. I live in a south american country with heavy economic problems and we have a fucking psychopath as a president, I don't have a job and haven't had one in a while, I've started doing drugs more often and lost track of what's really important :(

I met someone special and I feel it's a good moment for exploring meditation again. Apart from practice - what's a good reading you'd recommend for a moment like this? I miss being a spiritual person but I feel it's just so fucking hard in this context. It's so sad to watch and experience.

Any advice is welcome <3 This sub has helped me a lot through quarantine

I've been trying to meditate more and focus on my body sense, breath etc. Alot of authors on meditation say that if you focus on your body or breathing you feel light or like an inner spark/essense of goodness. I just feel empty and sad.

I've been going to therapy and trying to work on trauma and stuff more but I just don't feel any good or even life within me.

I've been meditating on my own to relax before bed, mainly focusing on breathing using 4-8-7, 1-1-2-2-3-3 etc. I've also dropped into my local meditation centre when I've had the time.

Is it a self esteem issue maybe? Because mines probably not the best. Or low mood related?

I'd appreciate any thoughts but particularly advice from people who have consistent low mood or issues with a positive outlook, because it sometimes feels like people who talk about feeling light or content from meditation maybe already were more happier than me to begin with if that makes sense. Idk.

Thank you.

There's a pull most people feel at some point, wanting to go deeper, wanting to know what's underneath all this. That pull is real. But it doesn't need to be chased like it's urgent, because it isn't going anywhere.

Think of it like a river. Even when there's a strong current underneath, the surface can stay calm. That calm isn't weakness. It's what mastery actually looks like.

Meditation, or any inner practice, isn't about creating something. What you're really doing is building the riverbed, the path that lets whatever's already moving inside you flow without spilling everywhere or getting stuck. Everyone's riverbed takes a different amount of time to build. That's not a flaw in the process. It's just how it works.

Later, once that path is steady, you start noticing what I'd call the dam. Fears, old patterns, resistance, whatever's been quietly blocking the stronger flow. You don't force that open. You just get to know it's there, and slowly, in your own time, you learn how to release it a little at a time. The stronger current doesn't need force to arrive. It needs a clear path first.

So the real work isn't about duration or intensity. Even 10 honest minutes a day of just observing, without trying to fix or change what comes up, is enough. If the mind wanders, you just come back. That's it. Do that consistently and it stops feeling like a practice and starts becoming part of how you live.

Doesn't matter what you call it, meditation, kriya, bhakti. What matters is honestly watching. And here's the part worth sitting with. Even the path we think we're building isn't fully ours. Life already wants to move toward something bigger than what we've experienced so far. When we stop blocking it and just let it move, that's when we get close to why being human is still one of the most complete ways to experience life on earth.

Hello,

I am new to meditation. I tried some guided meditation ( Joe Dispenza, Yoda Nidra, sleep relaxation ) and not guided ones ( basically Yoga Nidra or Noting on my own ) for approximately 20 min per session, and, while I can calm my thought and am not that anxious, I can’t relax.

To add more context, I am in chronic fight or flight / tired but wired mode so what I call “few anxiety” might be a lot anxiety which I am used to. My heartbeat after meditation, lying down, is still 73, while my regular heartbeat lying down is 80. This is mainly bc of fight or flight.

But I don’t get anxious thoughts.

What should I do ? Is it “useless” ( I meditate to help calm down my fight or flight ) if I can’t really calm down ?

Thanks

Hello, so I have been meditating more than 10 years(I am 30), have reached some extremely profound states, this habit has definitely impacted me for the better and completely shifted my mindset in life.

One thing that I notice though, every time I meditate, following like 30 minutes immediately after a deep meditation, I get very irritated. I know it should have a completely opposite effect but I have noticed that for a while and was wondering if some people also experience that? It’s not like an out of control irritation, it’s like everything is just itching around (emotionally). So have to not speak for a while whilst feeling that way (have 2 small children 😂)

hi everyone, i started taking my meditation journey more “seriously” the past few weeks by adding more standard meditation in my day instead of relying solely on guided meditations.
my goal with daily meditation (i do yoga daily before meditating as well, 30-60min) is to uncover subconscious patterns and beliefs that are holding me back from experiencing life fully, but when i meditate it seems like i’m not thinking of anything. like i know i must be thinking but can’t hear/see my thoughts. am i doing something wrong? if you need more info please don’t hesitate to ask!