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this is a free Q and A hosted by Sounds True in the USA.
Note the time zone is Eastern Standard, which is 8 or 9 hours earlier than the time in the UK.
The write up says they talk about why meditation doesn't work for everyone and how you can calm an over zealous nervous system in other ways.
If you sign up, you usually get a replay to watch for a day or two afterwards, just in case you miss the actual time the event plays.
Leaf
Thanks, just signed up.
Hi Leaf,
I didn’t actually read the link but was interested by the title “Why medication doesn’t work”.
I don’t use modern medication at all and always refer to natural meds be ause I don’t trust the pharmaceutical industry one bit.
In my view (for now), the pharma industry is a big business.
I did make posts and comments in the past referring to medication and other events that have occurred around the world but these got seen as silly conspiracy theories and lead to people reporting me to the admin so that I could no longer post these things.
All I shall say is “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya”
We live in a heavily corrupt world where a lot of what we think we know we really don’t.
I have tried meditation, and it does absolutely nothing for me. I'm not sure why, but I think my injury prevents me reaching such a state. Shortly after my injury i was unable to form coherent thoughts, followed by 4 more months in a drug induced coma. Perhaps a place full of no thoughts scare and prevent me from meditating. IDK
Hi gr33
I am more interested in what they might discuss that works instead.
I find Heartmath helpful - this one synchs your heart beat and breathing. It really is very simple. It helps you feel more relaxed. You can think whatever while doing it.
Maybe they will talk about things like that, at least part of the time.
We get a lot of stressful situations thrown at us.
Coping skills are good.
And maybe I'll find out why those guided meditation things annoy the heck out if me. When I hear some track about pretending I'm in a garden I want to chuck it out the window.
Leaf
For example, I’ll do Yoga. I get a lot of physical benefit from it. I am supposed to close my session with Shavassana, or corpse pose. I am supposed to empty my mind. I have no idea how to properly do that. In a way it feels kind of like a waste of time, so I skip it. If I want to turn off my mind, I just take a nap. Honestly I just don't understand the concept, benefit, or even the actual possibility of meditation. It almost feels as if no one can do it, and everyone is just going through the motions.
I experienced meditation with Ajahn Brahm , who is on the youtube channel of the Western something or other Buddhist something or other.
He does guided meditations where he doesn't talk, and he doesn't tell you to 'empty your mind'. You basically sit still and do nothing. I don't personally think it's possible to turn thoughts off. I think it is possible to just let them be and kind of sit back and observe them. There may be something past that that I haven't gotten to, and frankly I'm not sure I'd want to.
As far as I can figure, this whole 'empty the mind' or 'stop thinking' bit is a Western interpretation of an Eastern concept that doesn't translate. For example, I don't feel the real reasons for meditating or the experiences described in Ajahn Brahm's other talks actually make much sense unless you understand more of the under pinnings of the thought process and belief system of the religion, and my guess is Yoga is the same sort of thing.
I have heard that some forms of Yoga meditation are not recommended by psychiatrists because they can literally trigger mental health issues for some people.
In the case of CBT, I find it just a simple section lifted out of meditation and kind of sanitized by Western medicine. It has some benefits and I also find some descriptions rather miss the point of it, or put too much faith in it as the end all and be all of some sort of therapeutic end game.
Basically it helps people understand the little voice in your head that calls itself you is really not you, it's just a part of you that was designed to help you get through life. It also replays recordings of past events, or lines it hears in movies - just to help you get through the day. If you realize it isn't you, you don't have to believe everything it says, and you can make other choices - including deciding a particular event doesn't mean what you think it does, or, you can recognize the pre recorded script isn't going to get you somewhere you want to go, or... well, that does help quite a bit. But, it also doesn't help you re invent new processes or give you new ideas of what to do instead, or how to reinterpret - yet many CBT offerings are done by a facilitator in a group and include no therapy whatsoever - which might be a place where the new ideas and new intrepretations could be explored.
Oops, gone off on a bit of a rant.
Anyway, if you (or others) are interested, there is also something called Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) which works better than CBT for some people. I have seen a bit about it on youtube and gotten some good ideas from it.
Maybe that just seems a better fit by the name to me - we have to accept where we are now and make some commitments to ourselves and others to be where we are now.
Leaf
Hi Gr33 maybe you should consider vipassana meditation, rather than emptying your mind it teaches you to look at the activity in your mind and body. For someone with a brain injury its priceless because you can note all the dysfunctions. The vipassana system has mind maps 'dhammas' which describe the sequences of how the mind/neural networks connect with each other. You can identify where your dysfunctions are within this system and through rehabilitative practices you can start to rebuild your functions and integrate them.
In your post you have already started the process because you have noticed you cant form coherent thoughts, but you are coherent in explaining this. This may mean that only some of your functioning is incoherent, which ones? Meditate on it for a while and the answers may come.
Thanks Leaf - this 'rant' of yours was most helpful. And timely, for me.
If you want my opinion, this idea that the little voice in your head that calls itself you is really not you, is actually the point of it all. There is a whole library of stuff telling you just this, and why - and what is 'really you'
When it replays recordings of past events, or lines it hears in movies, that is called a 'Vritti' in Sanskrit - and in Indian versions of yoga the whole point of meditation is defined as 'chitta vritti nirodah' - stopping these 'mind modifications' of that little voice in your head that calls itself you. Yes, it is there to help you get through the day to day. But it is not the real you - it is just an engine run by your little ego. (Yes, there is a big ego - but long story)
It takes a while to realize that it isn't you, and you don't have to believe everything it says. It takes even longer to start making other, better choices.
How many people will take a view on whether they want to do this is another question. All this looking inwards is not really suited to everyone's appetite.
But all of us have to accept where we are now. Haven't heard of acceptance commitment therapy. Will look it up.
Glad you wrote.
Thanks, Writersonstack.
One part I feel is very useful is to realize it's a tape recording. Once the tape starts you may not have a way to stop it. But being aware it is a tape is a good start. Little by little you become aware of what turns the tape on, and can make choices to prevent that, and also get stronger in not being g driven by the tape.
For example, if your goal is to stop eating crisps, having them in the house doesn't give you much of a chance. So you think ok, I just won't buy them. But, you find yourself in front of the display at the store loading up. So, you then realize may be the tape playing is easier to switch off if you dont go down that aisle - if you don't see them, you don't buy them. And do little by little you are run by what you decided, not the 'eat crisps as comfort food' tape.
This is an area that interests me in that I want to live a life I choose, and not always have it chosen for me by my family ir cultural conditioning, or by having seen too many crisp ads on TV.. or wherever the heck it came from.
The other thing is when you see others playing a tape you can sometimes just step out of the way, and feel no need to get your hands in it to try to fix it or even make them wrong about it.
It isn't that easy but it's possible. I keep working at it.
Sounds like something you are really in to.
Leaf
Meditation's effectiveness varies among individuals due to differing preferences and experiences. To explore insights into your meditation journey, consider asknebula.com/cheap-psychic . Meanwhile, understand that meditation is a skill that requires practice and patience. Try different meditation styles to find what suits you best. Some people find mindfulness difficult, while others thrive in guided meditation. It's perfectly okay if traditional meditation doesn't resonate – explore other relaxation techniques like deep breathing or yoga for mental clarity.
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