Reflection - taking time out

Jon

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#1
#1
Life is a cycle of repetitions. Get up, make bed, shower, dress, breakfast and so on. This mundane routine repeats endlessly, interposed with the non-mundane. Should we spend more of our time reflecting, pondering on life's issues, our circumstances and self-insight? Do you do this?

I journal but never quite enough. It is sporadic but useful. The habit is only partially ingrained but I feel like I would benefit more from doing this.
 
T

The_Doc_Man

Founding Member
#2
#2
I think it is possible to over-think sometimes. That reflection can indeed occur, and should. But Man does not suffer too much change at once. Thus, if you are going to seek some reflection that might lead to change, be sure to only indulge when you can afford to change or can't afford not to.
 
Jon

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#3
#3
I agree that it is possible to over-think sometimes. For me, that is under conditions where it can be detrimental. Yet conscious change, using a Kaizen philosophy, is a way of life for me. Kaizen suggests tiny little changes. Why tiny? Because it reduces fear. When you are going for a big change, fear can hold you back, so this approach is relentless, frequent notching forwards for the win.
 
F

fatmt

Member
#4
#4
Jon said:
Should we spend more of our time reflecting, pondering on life's issues, our circumstances and self-insight?
Click to expand...
Definitely. Perhaps it's just me but I think many of us don't do this enough. Maybe it was different in the pre-Internet era. Maybe this 'interconnected world', which has led us to get anything we want instantly - whether it's information or entertainment, has made introspection much harder.

I too believe that it's possible to over-think, but my take is, right now we do the opposite, at least most of the time. I noticed that when I take a break from a certain activity (watching a movie, working, talking to someone) I don't simply take a break: I move on to doing something else. It's like the brain is instantly looking for something else to do, automatically. It feels like we are losing gradually the ability to simply be with ourselves.

I blame the instant gratification we get through our social media. We crave that dopamine hit, wherever we can get it. And we've become addicted.

I enjoy looking back, and trying to make sense of my life's choices. I am also fascinated by the human mind in general, wondering why we do certain things the way we do. I am very keen to observe my own behaviour, especially when, on occasion, I act irrationally.

On the other hand, when overthinking things, I found that certain 'tools' can help. Simple meditation for example can keep the 'monkey mind' in check.

I offer a really succint (< 2 mins) video where a Tibetan monk talks about how to deal with overthinking and the 'monkey mind'.

 
F

fatmt

Member
#6
#6
Jon said:
Are you a meditator?
Click to expand...
I started exploring meditation in 2015. Then in 2018 I got more serious about it and started meditating daily for 10-15 minutes.

Since I saw that video I shared I have been trying its technique - which means I have pretty much stopped the 10-15 mins meditation.

It seems that allocating a daily set amount of time to meditation has certain advantages but the 'Anywhere, anytime' one has others.

My own findings

Time-allocated meditation
Pros: considerable gap reduction between ideal behaviour and actual behaviour. For example, occasionally I tend to have mild anger issues, or overreaction to trivial situations. With this type of meditation those issues are largely mitigated; also it seems that you are able to think more clearly.
Cons: You actually need to make time every day for it; because you allocate a continuous amount of time, occasionally you may get interrupted (this depends on the kind of environment you are in).


'Anywhere, anytime' meditation
Pros: you can meditate for as little as 2-3 breaths at a time, spreading this type of meditaiton throughout the day; it is especially useful to quickly relax any tense muscle you may have; because of its flexibility, you don't have to use a set time.
Cons: because you don't allocate a time or place, one risk is that there may be days where you forget to meditate altogether; the benefits may not be as profound as the time-allocated one.


As I was writing this it occurred to me that I have never tried to do both, i.e. perhaps I should still have a 5-10 minute session every day, and then use the 'Anywhere, anytime' throughout the day. I'll consider it.


When I started exploring meditation I obtained material from several sources

Audio
  • Meditation for optimum health (Andrew Weil and Jon Kabat-Zinn)
  • Headspace
  • Hemi-Sync - various Monroe products (Explore the Original Chakra Meditation, Gateway Experience, MindFood Catnapper)
Books
  • Meditation: The Essence (David Tuffle)
  • An introduction to meditation (Sarah Haywood)
  • On meditation (Ajahn Chah)
(and a few others)

Since there seem to be so many ways to go about meditation I thought to explore a few and so I gathered this material. I could not find much traction with the books, but the audio material helped. In some occasions I felt re-energized after a guided meditation session. It can also help with concentration when working.

Like many things, I believe that you get out of meditation what you put into it.
 
Jon

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#7
#7
My view on meditation is that it is forging new neural pathways in your mind that will help you with keeping focused. It is constant training of returning your thoughts back to the breath. By doing so, increase your ability to redirect your thoughts back to a task, any task.

The thing that helps keep me on track with my meditation is the streak feature in the app I use and also my Daily Planner spreadsheet, where I try to avoid any gaps in the green. That keeps me sticking to it.

I talk about it here: https://themindtavern.com/community/threads/the-grid-a-productivity-game-changer-ama.97/
 
F

fatmt

Member
#8
#8
Jon said:
My view on meditation is that it is forging new neural pathways in your mind that will help you with keeping focused. It is constant training of returning your thoughts back to the breath. By doing so, increase your ability to redirect your thoughts back to a task, any task.
Click to expand...
I happen to have the very same view.

Jon said:
I talk about it here: https://themindtavern.com/community/threads/the-grid-a-productivity-game-changer-ama.97/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link, it looks interesting, I'll take my time to go through it.
 
T

The_Doc_Man

Founding Member
#10
#10
Ever since I retired, I find myself with more time on my hands and more "opportunistic meditation" moments. For instance, if something is bothering me I will take my daily walk, which guarantees about 70 minutes (give or take) during which there will be no TV, no conversation with the wife, and my cell phone is on but nobody ever calls me because I don't give out that number. It's a quite neighborhood and if I REALLY want isolation, I can walk along the top of the lakefront levee where I'll be lucky to even see a butterfly. That plus the mindlessness associated with walking gives me time to analyze, reflect, meditate, whatever. And if nothing is bothering me, I daydream, which can contribute to my hobbyist writing.

When I was having health issues, that walk time is when I planned out my strategies and mentally absorbed the need for the surgeries that i needed. One of my doctors was impatient with me and I had to tell him that I could only contemplate one surgery at a time. His was second - and it happened only about two weeks later than he might have wanted. All went well - including that by then I had made peace with it.

Now my health isn't terrible any more. Not perfect. But I can meditate on other issues. Lately, the issue of the pandemic has occupied some of my meditation time.

As to "Daily Planner" - I have one but for 90% of my days, the plan is "Wake Up" and see what happens next.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top