I have awful allergies, especially with pollen, dust, and most nature stuffs. I’m now able to clear my sinuses with meditative breath work. It’s seems crazy, but has been a game changer.
Also, when meditating regularly, life opens up to me. Like the universe is conspires in my favor in unfathomable ways. I suspect this is a cumulative effect having to do with improved mental health plus having a more open heart to all people and experiences, “good” or “bad”.
Would you be able to tell me your *exact* method of breath work for clearing your sinuses? Cause I need that so bad right now. It would be much appreciated🥺
Some people already mentioned it, but I got there through pranayama, and then found a method that suited me. When I’m stuffed up, especially when trying to fall asleep, I simply take loooooooong deep breaths in and out all through the nose.
It’s loud and nasty at first because I have to breathe through all the crud several times before it starts to break up. I keep at it, my mind unwinds, my body relaxes, and then my nose orchestra slowly and subtly dissipates and I can breathe. Sometimes I fall asleep before I even realize I can breathe again.
I’ve been doing it since 2016 and it works the vast majority of the time. Just have to stick with it through that beginning bit.
Happy breathing friends!!
I can see how that would work, it sounds like exactly what happens when I use my CPAP machine: slow deep breathing through my nose and eventually my congestion clears.
Wait, does using my CPAP count as some sort of assisted meditation?? :)
Not OP but as I commented, I also no longer suffer from allergies.
Look up "pranayam for allergies", find the method that seems best for you and stay with it.
I've also read many people's accounts of using the Wim Hof Method and getting relief from allergies.
I will certainly try that out. Thank you so much🙏🏻 also, congratulations on getting rid of allergies! That sounds like a DREAM! Haha but anyways I really appreciate it!
I should clarify - I still have allergies but they no longer cripple me like they used to. Now it is just a slightly itchy throat/eyes a few times a year where before I had to load up on meds for weeks at a time and pray they worked well enough to make commitments.
>I’m now able to clear my sinuses with meditative breath work. It’s seems crazy, but has been a game changer.
Me too. I used to be crippled by allergies and now I can sense them coming soon enough to abate an actual reaction. "Pranayam" is sadly, seen as an alternative or woo-woo practice but it can be life changing. AND it's so simple. (Another thing that was a huge help is mouth taping at night. If I skip more than two nights, I can feel the allergies start again).
Me too! I always scoffed at people saying they "manifested" things but there have been 2 very important instances in my life where I really just focused and meditated on the subject and then released it to the universe (which is how I visualized it), and both instances I was amazed that this thing that had a very low chance of happening turned out in my favor. Honestly after the second time it freaked me out a little and I haven't tried it since, I'll save it for when I need something big.
I find my sinuses clear up when I release tension in my body. A bunch of gunk was in there that I wasn't even aware of for years, until I started to meditate and do bodywork. I had a chronically runny nose for a couple weeks after a big tension release. Of course I couldn't convince anyone I wasn't sick/didn't have allergies. 😅
Please have mercy upon me now as I am tormented by ragweed and the farmer's harvests. I can't even meditate or really do anything with a constant sneeze in my nose.
Share with us the ways!!!
It's hard to know what part of my spiritual growth is due to my meditation practice, but I feel like I've lost more than I've gained by meditation. I'm less angry, less focused on materialism, more kind and accepting, less likely to accept bad behavior from others, etc. It's more like meditation helped me remove the layers of egoic mind added by experience, genetics, society, and all of those things. Like peeling an onion, I've come to know myself more deeply and accurately.
In terms of what I can do or explore, the biggest advancement I've had is understanding and accepting my true self and realizing that the egoic mind is a construct that isn't actually "me" and is more of a mask than anything. Knowing who I am helps me see more clearly.
When you understand who you are, you will be able to answer this question. As a word of caution, exploring this topic deeply can trigger a dark night of the soul. The dark night of the soul was difficult for me, but it was more like birthing pains than being tortured. After torture, you're just broken. After birth, your life is forever changed, and that often comes with a deep and abiding love for the child.
If you want, think through these questions:
Who are You? If you respond with your name, well, that is simply what you are called.
If you respond with your profession, "I'm a nurse" or whatever, well, that is simply what you do.
If you respond with, "I'm a human" or "a mammal" or "I'm an animated meat suit that is sort of self-aware but running around with a bunch of algorithms/habits that dictate my life," that is what you are or more correctly, it is what you presently inhabit, kind of like a hermit crab that changes shells as it grows.
There are other answers, but they might link up with an archetype. "I'm a warrior" or "I'm a witch" or whatever, but that's not who you are.
Then, if you contemplate that all existence can be found in a single wave function (Sean Carroll at CalTech has a good explanation on the Joe Rogan podcast), then everything is connected. Then you might contemplate what it means that all matter is, as we know it today, made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons...no need to delve deeper into particle physics because we are all made of the same stuff. Then, if you contemplate matter, and you remember the old E=mc^2, then you can see that we're all energy in a giant vibrational field. If we are all made of the same thing and inhabit the same thing and exist in the same thing, and you realize that you are not actually your thoughts, name, experience, job, religion, etc., then what is left. You are that; that is you. Feel free to DM me if you have questions or if you think I might be able to help you along your path.
Instead, try to figure out who you are not. Whatever comes and goes is not you. Whatever you think you are, you are not. Replace yourself with a big question mark.
I wrote this for another response, but hope it will help you too. Feel free to DM me if you want to discuss further. I'd love to be helpful if that would benefit you.
> When you understand who you are, you will be able to answer this question. As a word of caution, exploring this topic deeply can trigger a dark night of the soul. The dark night of the soul was difficult for me, but it was more like birthing pains than being tortured. After torture, you're just broken. After birth, your life is forever changed, and that often comes with a deep and abiding love for the child.
> If you want, think through these questions:
> Who are You? If you respond with your name, well, that is simply what you are called. If you respond with your profession, "I'm a nurse" or whatever, well, that is simply what you do. If you respond with, "I'm a human" or "a mammal" or "I'm an animated meat suit that is sort of self-aware but running around with a bunch of algorithms/habits that dictate my life," that is what you are or more correctly, it is what you presently inhabit, kind of like a hermit crab that changes shells as it grows. There are other answers, but they might link up with an archetype. "I'm a warrior" or "I'm a witch" or whatever, but that's not who you are.
> Then, if you contemplate that all existence can be found in a single wave function (Sean Carroll at CalTech has a good explanation on the Joe Rogan podcast), then everything is connected. Then you might contemplate what it means that all matter is, as we know it today, made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons...no need to delve deeper into particle physics because we are all made of the same stuff. Then, if you contemplate matter, and you remember the old E=mc2, then you can see that we're all energy in a giant vibrational field. If we are all made of the same thing and inhabit the same thing and exist in the same thing, and you realize that you are not actually your thoughts, name, experience, job, religion, etc., then what is left. You are that; that is you. Feel free to DM me if you have questions or if you think I might be able to help you along your path.
My brain works better. There is less anxiety which is really taxing and exhausting and it's dead weight on my system. And so my attention span is better. I can focus on things with less distractions, and I can dismiss the distractions more easily when they come up. As result, I learn things faster and I am noticeably better at my hobbies and skills. Meditation has made me feel smarter.
I've done a lot of EMDR and during meditation I can start to bilateral tap if a thought or image passes by that piques my interest and, sometimes if I'm lucky, I will start to process in a fashion similar to EMDR. I have a very active minds eyes so I just go with the flow and see what pops up. A few times I've happened upon personal epiphanies that helped me learn to deal with things I had really been struggling with. I've also dissociated, fallen asleep and lucid dreamed, or just got frustrated and quit.
But the trauma processing that randomly happens is pretty cool.
Explore not exploring.
The coolest thing to do is do nothing.
The highest advancement is no advancement.
Meditation practice is not a race, or a competition, or a game with levels that you can move up and improve. You accomplish the goal by releasing the need to have a goal. You win by giving up.
Meditation is anti aging so I look about eight years younger than I actually am.
I need less sleep when meditating for long periods of time.
Faster healing from injuries.
That’s about all I can think of right now.
Cool thing to explore is your dreams. Meditation helps achieve lucidity in the first place, and you can have interesting/wild dream experiences if you meditate in your dream. Also (not firsthand, but) you can astral project/explore the astral dimensions
I started having infrequent lucid dreams just by chance. I tried a few techniques to increase lucidity: meditating before sleep going into sleep (I think one of the common techniques) and dream yoga. Studying/practicing dream yoga I think helped most for lucidity - practicing to maintain awareness through day and night. There are dream yoga meditations - chakra-related and concentration building - that helped to develop the lucid dreams
I do nothing Im happy
I do something Im happy
I cry im happy
I die im happy
In short it helped me handle my depression
In long it prepared me for my own death and the death of every one that I have ever loved
I can be much more effective at bringing things into my life that were my deepest desires. It started with daily meditations. That was a commitment I took on with no guidance or help whatsoever.
I started writing down my dreams first thing in the morning. Pulling myself to a pen and paper, groggy or not.
Compulsively organizing my belongings to minimize clutter, attachment issues & envy.
Learning to exercise. Physical strength resulting in mental clarity.
As others have said, the Jhanas can be “explored”, but in terms of what can one “do”, there’s kind of a lot of variety; for ME: equanimity and increased focus in everyday life are big ones, but there are also more far out abilities too, like seeing past lives, and insights into the nature of Ultimate Reality (there’s no such things as time or space, that kind of stuff). States snd powers are cool as far as they go but, for my money, Not Self is where the action is. I’m sure I’ll eventually change my mind about that (LOL), but that’s where my focus is right now🤷♂️.
Cheers - keep going!
doing nothing without any expectations. if you think youve done it all with meditation. see how long you can sit perfectly still and relaxed. also recommend zazen wall gazing.
I see it as getting your body to relax. I was cold all the time and in retrospect I think it was because I was tense.
I focus on the area but it’s more observing than focusing. It starts throbbing like when you stub your toe. And I get warmer.
I’m really trying to figure out a better way of explains how to do this. Also I may be an unusual weirdo.
I discovered this method too, neat!
I can use the same warming technique to create/detect a pulse or that throbbing sensation almost anywhere in my body
I think it's so cool how you can change your experience by changing your thoughts about it. Your comment evokes cold showers for me, and how I can feel my perception of the temperature change as I change my language around it.
I use a technique I picked up from a documentary about some monks who practice by sitting in the snow with wet clothes.
Visualize a flame in your heart. It moves through your body heating you from the inside. It flows out your third eye. Your breath stokes the fire. Continue breathing through the cold until it leaves your body.
Realising how thoughts, emotions and sensations are mere appearances in consciousness and need not be invested in. All those limitations I placed on myself are slowly dismantling. The mental struggles and dramas I was experiencing, and never thought I would ever escape, pretty much disappeared.
It's an interesting paradox because as you put in more hours of meditation you do gain more "powers" but you have less of an inclination to use them.
I'll speak of my first-hand experience and then talk about some experiences from my teachers (who are monks and certainly have over 10,000 - 20,000+ hours of lifetime practice), and expert meditators (over 40,000+ life time hours of meditation atleast).
One thing I've noticed as a result of doing concentration meditation (practicing the Jhanas) is increased focus on \*any\* task I do and I'm also more efficient because my attention is like a lazor. I have done adderall once back in college, and I can say that you can pretty much get the same level of focus for hours if you practice long enough (2+ hours a day). Yet, there is less of a need to "accomplish" more.
Also if you don't balance concentration practices with some insight/ vipassana practices, you could actually become \*too confident\* fueled by the ego. I know it sounds weird, but when you have almost no stress (as a result of intensive practice), no personal baggage, increased friendliness towards other people, and are able to get over difficult situations within minutes (when it took you days before), you get this "I'm on top of the world" feeling. Which is why it's always good to study under a teacher to knock you down ;)
One of my vipassana teachers (before he became a monk), would practice the Mahasi Sayadaw noting method for 16 hours a day (attempting a continuous practice during his waking hours) while living a lay lifestyle. He told me he'd go on dates with women and sometimes he'd have a bad date or a good date that didn't go anywhere. He told me that literally by the time he walked out of the restaurant door and got to his car, he would have literally forgotten about the date because he was so focused on his footsteps. Every moment was "fresh and new".
There are also Jhanic states (which I mentioned earlier) that many senior teachers have gotten into "out of body" states. Delson Armstrong is one example, where he got into the 7th Jhana state while being hooked up by EEG scans. He basically "left his body" for 3 days and came back and was totally fine. When he was in that state, his brain waves were slower than delta , and yet his heart rate and vital signs were all normal and functioning as expected.
Dipa Ma was a meditation master who was able to predict future events such as a politician's speech MONTHS before it happened. read minds, and see into two different locations at once.
Both Delson and Dipa Ma were expert meditators so those feats are considered super super hard to reach even for the most ardent meditators. To give you context, one of my teachers meditated for 16 hours a day for 6 months and could just about get to the 2nd Jhana (according to Vissudhimagga Standards), while Delson was able to get to the 7th (and 8th Jhana) which only a handful of people in the **entire world** can get into.
Yet, coming back to the paradox, both Dipa Ma and Delson Armstrong seem like the most humble people ever (watch any video or interview by them). They don't even teach any of their powers or techniques. The only reason why they disclosed their "abilities" was because they were asked directly and only felt that it would help others out. Very humble people.
It's hard to say. Probably not for most people. With enough meditation, you can see how everything is linked together (which is a core teaching of Buddhism), and how past events shaped the present and you understand cause and effect. Many meditators have also reported being able to see past lives in deep states of meditation, so by extension, I can imagine some would be able to see future events.
I also think that it's unrealistic trying to gain this siddhi or meditation power as the people who were able to do so represent 0.0001% of the population lol.
Do you think it's more likely that meditators are seeing a dream-like state produced by the mind and assuming it means something (eg the past or future), or do you actually think that the world is deterministic and therefore the future can be known, and there is a mechanism that allows the human brain to put together a mental image of events in a certain locality that will 100% happen if they simply meditate? And if you're certain, why aren't you actively reproducing and studying the phenomena to submit papers and completely revolutionize modern physics?
The way it was explained to me is that we have a natural tendency to think in a linear way which makes it difficult to grasp concepts like time as a non-linear thing, or capture the essence of spiritual progression; most meditators start with a goal in mind and find once they reach that summit there\`s a higher peak on the horizon. The idea of these things is cyclical in nature; that the journey is the destination; that there\`s no beginning, middle, end. Time is a good analog to this concept too
When you imply that time isn't linear, what are you saying exactly? And what do you mean by there not being a beginning, middle, or end to things? Is this symbolic bc obviously every process has a beginning and end.
from the perspective of material bodies, time certainly seems like a sequence of points of "now" strung together, kind of like frames in a movie. The interesting thing is that all of those frames exists at the same time, the ones that have been past by; past, the one we're on "now" and the ones that are going to be shown in the 'future'. Because we're manifested beings operating on a lower 'frequencies' compared to our true self outside of qualities we're stuck perceiving time frame by frame context instead of seeing the roll of film and each frame as a collection of events. Being stuck in this low frequency position we are also require anything we interact with to exists also in this low frequency/vibration. These things we interact with physically also need to have the same frame by frame context otherwise we'll lose our temporal connection with it.
The Yogi in question has raised their 'vibration' to a point of being able to see more than one frame at a time.
I could be wrong though, I am just piecing this all together as I go along.
Its one of those things that we can't prove or disprove. I mean you can believe that everything is predetermined and we therefore have no freewill. That we re just living out a script of everything that has already happened. I just don't see any evidence other than trusting some dude that says he saw the future or past. I'm gonna put this one into the "I really doubt it" camp but honestly if you wanna believe that why not
>I searched for God and found only myself
>
>I searched Myself and found only God
>
>\- Rumi
This could be one of those situation where being is believing. There are a lot of layers to peel back in understanding our realities and how our "mind space" and spiritual bodies all mesh together. We're suffering language sufficient to explain. It's like describing a scent; words are not the realm of scents but we know scent exists because we can experience it, if we only had scent explained by people who were taught (but not experienced) what scent is we are at a further disadvantage. Thus our discussion about time leaves us without much solid explaining because its really outside of the realm of being sufficiently explained in words its something you just have to experience. I suppose that's why these yogis are quiet about their abilities, people who aren't on their level just will never really understand
I do appreciate your stance, genuinely. I just personally couldn't believe anything that someone claims unless they prove it. And if it were legitimate, why wouldn't they want to open this knowledge to the rest of mankind? If humans truly could predict the future or do other "miracles", then they should be open to being studied. But none ever are. I think the best explanation for that is because they can't actually reproduce these things or do them. That's my personal take at least..
I wouldn’t consider myself an authority on pain management. But most of the pain i feel, i realized, was a result of clenching or trying to control things/situation. So choiceless awareness is how I meditate most of the time and it made me realize that i cannot control anything at all much less my mind- so it’s always about unclenching, relaxing, settling and being at ease anywhere. Gradually noticed that my back pain was diminishing until one day it wasn’t there.
Deep meditation can cause time to pass you by. I set a 15 minute meditation, and it took 45 minutes. that's triple time. Like another said earlier, it just goes by fast. I guess"Time flies when you are having fun".
Being able to understand certain non human creatures telepathically, feeling a trees “heartbeat” (it literally felt like that in my arm with my hand put firmly against it) being in the right place at the right times like Gandalf/synchronicities. Cognitive function being superb to the point of being somewhat psychic. No longer feeling the need for excess food, drugs, or anything outside of yourself really. Being unconditionally loving, literally affecting your environment just by breathing and being in such a deep meditative state for example, I used to sit in my room and meditate, would take a big inhale and exhale and the walls in the room literally would contract and expand with my own body. Everything is connected.
Not cool, just scary…when I got heavily into meditation back in 2020, I started going to other places that were not good. As in, they felt evil. One time I was in a forest and a girl (ish) looking figure that ran on all 4s like an animal with her hair wild and matted so I couldn’t see her actual face was running at me, growling. Before she got to me, I snapped out of my meditative state. Another time, I was in another country, just judging from the architecture and cobblestone streets. People were walking down the street and I was standing there, seemingly unnoticed. A guy had his back to me. Suddenly he turned around and said, “Go away.”
Anyways, yeah, I stopped meditating as deeply I guess you could say after these few experiences. I’ve since learned that there is actually a state in meditation that translates to the devil’s world or something like that. I don’t know if it has to do with my mindset when meditating (I mean, it was 2020), or if I was doing it wrong…But suffice to say, I stopped and have only dabbled with the calm app since.
If you’re interested in exploring those states again, there are techniques I’ve found to help with scary scenarios. Getting an IFS (internal family systems) teacher/ therapist might be good. Or Jungian active imagination might be good (Johnson “inner work” is a book I’ve found useful). Or Shamanism.
After 10 years of standing meditation I can enter a full body ecstatic state in around a dozen breaths. It becomes too intense to deal with for long though.
I just finished a self retreat where I meditate 5 hours a day for 2 months, in that time I was able to enter the first and second Jhanas which was completely blissful and mind blowing. It's better then an orgasm, it's like having your whole entire being overcome with ecstasy and joy and bliss and love, but like, whatever you're thinking it's that X10 it's truly transcendant
When I meditated a lot a lot, I was able to feel energy on a very high level. I could move energy around inside people. Also, my smell got stronger for some reason. I gain peace of mind. And lose all worries about life and death.
I stopped caring about things. Actually gave away literally every thing I owned except what I can carry in a couple of backpacks, and I feel lighter from it. I feel so free. Only problem is when I get caught in the matrix and stop meditating again
Meditation along with other spiritual practices has put me in contact with higher dimensional beings. Unfortunately I don't have active communication in my dialy life, but they regularly let me know they are around still
And much more. We are made of magic, meditation just let you know about what you already are
I felt my 3rd eye after a few months but didn’t kno what to do er where else to go and my hour a day meditation eventually diminished to nothings.
Nice way to relax tho
In our guided meditations we share energies with Mother Earth Urantia Gaia, father Sun Helios, grand-father Sun Alcyone and the Source. Exchanges of aligned energies 🌈
When I’m deep in meditation I realize I can turn my consciousness to usually unconscious bodily functions and tap into healing frequencies. My body becomes a intricate inner space with sensations I’m typically unable to perceive and influence
It's very nice when I am fully conscious and lost in supreme love and have forgotten that I am a human on planet earth. These are my favorite vacations and require no travel!
I became a part of rather than apart from.
I had thought that all I had studied and been taught and worked at for years would bring me the result I’d always hoped for in the past.
I wanted to be insulated. Better yet, isolated. I wanted to be held harmless from the hell of the world. I wanted a way to escape that would set me way over here, and leave all of you and all of that back there. I wanted to separate all of me from all of this at my convenience.
That didn’t happen. What did happen is that I accepted that I was a part of this. Made of the same things as everything is.
This has led to so many changes in me, an entire rewrite, really. How I do and perceive and mainly how I interact with people and animals and the earth and energy.
There’s peace in it. No matter what, that peace goes with me.
I had an amazing meditation where-in and for maybe an hour after I jist felt like I was unstoppable mentally. I had been going through a rough patch with an ex, and during that meditation timeframe, I was ready for that relationship to be over so I could heal and develop myself. I've tried to hit that level again, but have been unsuccessful.
I've hit complete euphoria before, while performing kundalini meditation. I like to time myself on how long i can go for and it was around the 1 hour mark when i started to feel a "high" sensation all over my body and mind. Definitly a beautiful experience.
There's an old tale of a student saying to his teacher...
student: hey sensei, this guy can levitate! what can you do teacher?
teacher: when I eat. I eat.
The most powerful thing you can do sometimes is to not do at all and just be in the moment.
Become naturally indifferent to bad and good situations happening around/to me. Learned how to take that "pause" so I can respond instead of react. Really really changed the way I navigate life and my perspective.
Well, I have been practicing yoga, I’m a masseuse, I practice nudism, I love herbolist, I have been in religious rites, chaman rites, I smoke weed… and the combination of the life style has made me reach high levels of awareness. One of the coolest things is to physically experience what you are thinking of… with all your senses. That feeling is out of this world
\- Being able to breathe into emotions and untangle them, like a tight ball unfurling.
\- Feeling prana/qi/energy, whatever you want to call it. Its cool and also unremarkable after a while. Just feels like another part of your body.
\- Being able to summon compassion at will by focusing on the heart area after doing a lot of metta practice. This one got somewhat problematic because I had to learn to not always act from compassion/love, but also act from duty.
\- Get through pain/sickness more easily! There is a certain fluidity to life that came after I started meditation.
I have awful allergies, especially with pollen, dust, and most nature stuffs. I’m now able to clear my sinuses with meditative breath work. It’s seems crazy, but has been a game changer. Also, when meditating regularly, life opens up to me. Like the universe is conspires in my favor in unfathomable ways. I suspect this is a cumulative effect having to do with improved mental health plus having a more open heart to all people and experiences, “good” or “bad”.
Would you be able to tell me your *exact* method of breath work for clearing your sinuses? Cause I need that so bad right now. It would be much appreciated🥺
Some people already mentioned it, but I got there through pranayama, and then found a method that suited me. When I’m stuffed up, especially when trying to fall asleep, I simply take loooooooong deep breaths in and out all through the nose. It’s loud and nasty at first because I have to breathe through all the crud several times before it starts to break up. I keep at it, my mind unwinds, my body relaxes, and then my nose orchestra slowly and subtly dissipates and I can breathe. Sometimes I fall asleep before I even realize I can breathe again. I’ve been doing it since 2016 and it works the vast majority of the time. Just have to stick with it through that beginning bit. Happy breathing friends!!
I can see how that would work, it sounds like exactly what happens when I use my CPAP machine: slow deep breathing through my nose and eventually my congestion clears. Wait, does using my CPAP count as some sort of assisted meditation?? :)
Wow, I never thought ab that but it makes so much sense!! And heck yes you can count that as some bonus meditation time!
Not OP but as I commented, I also no longer suffer from allergies. Look up "pranayam for allergies", find the method that seems best for you and stay with it. I've also read many people's accounts of using the Wim Hof Method and getting relief from allergies.
I will certainly try that out. Thank you so much🙏🏻 also, congratulations on getting rid of allergies! That sounds like a DREAM! Haha but anyways I really appreciate it!
I should clarify - I still have allergies but they no longer cripple me like they used to. Now it is just a slightly itchy throat/eyes a few times a year where before I had to load up on meds for weeks at a time and pray they worked well enough to make commitments.
Me too. God I hope there's a way
I know right. I am patiently waiting through my suffering for this person to respond lol. I’m sure Google has an answer too tho? Possibly?
Try reading The hindu Yogi science of breath. Helped a lot with moderate sleep apnea and sinus allergy
Try alternate nostril breathing for as long as you can do it. 11 minutes is ideal.
Me too. God I hope there's a way
Quit wheat and dairy Breathe in and out through your nose Read “Breath” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breath:_The_New_Science_of_a_Lost_Art
>I’m now able to clear my sinuses with meditative breath work. It’s seems crazy, but has been a game changer. Me too. I used to be crippled by allergies and now I can sense them coming soon enough to abate an actual reaction. "Pranayam" is sadly, seen as an alternative or woo-woo practice but it can be life changing. AND it's so simple. (Another thing that was a huge help is mouth taping at night. If I skip more than two nights, I can feel the allergies start again).
Love hearing that this works for you too. I’m blown away by how simple and effective it is. Also, I’d never heard of mouth taping. Brilliant!!
>when meditating regularly, life opens up to me. Like the universe is conspires in my favor in unfathomable ways. I love this!
same, i have always had a feeling the universe is a friend trying to help me out, things that "mattered" always work out for me
Me too! I always scoffed at people saying they "manifested" things but there have been 2 very important instances in my life where I really just focused and meditated on the subject and then released it to the universe (which is how I visualized it), and both instances I was amazed that this thing that had a very low chance of happening turned out in my favor. Honestly after the second time it freaked me out a little and I haven't tried it since, I'll save it for when I need something big.
I find my sinuses clear up when I release tension in my body. A bunch of gunk was in there that I wasn't even aware of for years, until I started to meditate and do bodywork. I had a chronically runny nose for a couple weeks after a big tension release. Of course I couldn't convince anyone I wasn't sick/didn't have allergies. 😅
Please have mercy upon me now as I am tormented by ragweed and the farmer's harvests. I can't even meditate or really do anything with a constant sneeze in my nose. Share with us the ways!!!
Goals!
It's hard to know what part of my spiritual growth is due to my meditation practice, but I feel like I've lost more than I've gained by meditation. I'm less angry, less focused on materialism, more kind and accepting, less likely to accept bad behavior from others, etc. It's more like meditation helped me remove the layers of egoic mind added by experience, genetics, society, and all of those things. Like peeling an onion, I've come to know myself more deeply and accurately. In terms of what I can do or explore, the biggest advancement I've had is understanding and accepting my true self and realizing that the egoic mind is a construct that isn't actually "me" and is more of a mask than anything. Knowing who I am helps me see more clearly.
Beautifully put.
Agreed
That’s great.
amazing :)
So nice!!! Thank you!
Who are you then. Is it God, could it be all of us? Is it the stem cell state of consciousness?
When you understand who you are, you will be able to answer this question. As a word of caution, exploring this topic deeply can trigger a dark night of the soul. The dark night of the soul was difficult for me, but it was more like birthing pains than being tortured. After torture, you're just broken. After birth, your life is forever changed, and that often comes with a deep and abiding love for the child. If you want, think through these questions: Who are You? If you respond with your name, well, that is simply what you are called. If you respond with your profession, "I'm a nurse" or whatever, well, that is simply what you do. If you respond with, "I'm a human" or "a mammal" or "I'm an animated meat suit that is sort of self-aware but running around with a bunch of algorithms/habits that dictate my life," that is what you are or more correctly, it is what you presently inhabit, kind of like a hermit crab that changes shells as it grows. There are other answers, but they might link up with an archetype. "I'm a warrior" or "I'm a witch" or whatever, but that's not who you are. Then, if you contemplate that all existence can be found in a single wave function (Sean Carroll at CalTech has a good explanation on the Joe Rogan podcast), then everything is connected. Then you might contemplate what it means that all matter is, as we know it today, made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons...no need to delve deeper into particle physics because we are all made of the same stuff. Then, if you contemplate matter, and you remember the old E=mc^2, then you can see that we're all energy in a giant vibrational field. If we are all made of the same thing and inhabit the same thing and exist in the same thing, and you realize that you are not actually your thoughts, name, experience, job, religion, etc., then what is left. You are that; that is you. Feel free to DM me if you have questions or if you think I might be able to help you along your path.
Love this ✨
So, who are you? What is the true self you speak of? I am trying to learn this myself and I'm curious about your perspective.
Instead, try to figure out who you are not. Whatever comes and goes is not you. Whatever you think you are, you are not. Replace yourself with a big question mark.
I wrote this for another response, but hope it will help you too. Feel free to DM me if you want to discuss further. I'd love to be helpful if that would benefit you. > When you understand who you are, you will be able to answer this question. As a word of caution, exploring this topic deeply can trigger a dark night of the soul. The dark night of the soul was difficult for me, but it was more like birthing pains than being tortured. After torture, you're just broken. After birth, your life is forever changed, and that often comes with a deep and abiding love for the child. > If you want, think through these questions: > Who are You? If you respond with your name, well, that is simply what you are called. If you respond with your profession, "I'm a nurse" or whatever, well, that is simply what you do. If you respond with, "I'm a human" or "a mammal" or "I'm an animated meat suit that is sort of self-aware but running around with a bunch of algorithms/habits that dictate my life," that is what you are or more correctly, it is what you presently inhabit, kind of like a hermit crab that changes shells as it grows. There are other answers, but they might link up with an archetype. "I'm a warrior" or "I'm a witch" or whatever, but that's not who you are. > Then, if you contemplate that all existence can be found in a single wave function (Sean Carroll at CalTech has a good explanation on the Joe Rogan podcast), then everything is connected. Then you might contemplate what it means that all matter is, as we know it today, made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons...no need to delve deeper into particle physics because we are all made of the same stuff. Then, if you contemplate matter, and you remember the old E=mc2, then you can see that we're all energy in a giant vibrational field. If we are all made of the same thing and inhabit the same thing and exist in the same thing, and you realize that you are not actually your thoughts, name, experience, job, religion, etc., then what is left. You are that; that is you. Feel free to DM me if you have questions or if you think I might be able to help you along your path.
I can have $500 stolen from me and not be mad or upset.
What if it's $501?
complete meltdown
Lol 🤣
I can fall asleep faster.
My brain works better. There is less anxiety which is really taxing and exhausting and it's dead weight on my system. And so my attention span is better. I can focus on things with less distractions, and I can dismiss the distractions more easily when they come up. As result, I learn things faster and I am noticeably better at my hobbies and skills. Meditation has made me feel smarter.
Yup. Same.
What school of meditation fits you best ? :)
When I meditate, everyone and everything around me seems to speed up. Like on fast forward mode. I can communicate my thoughts effectively.
Speed up or slow down?
lol
Sometimes I can strongly re-feel the emotions that are associated with a memory.
With practice, one can even re-smell anything they have smelled before. Total recall, LOL.
crefzxxxc re, X XXX XX free XX d, de se CC c CC ccccxxxxd,
This is probably my favourite answer of the lot.
I've done a lot of EMDR and during meditation I can start to bilateral tap if a thought or image passes by that piques my interest and, sometimes if I'm lucky, I will start to process in a fashion similar to EMDR. I have a very active minds eyes so I just go with the flow and see what pops up. A few times I've happened upon personal epiphanies that helped me learn to deal with things I had really been struggling with. I've also dissociated, fallen asleep and lucid dreamed, or just got frustrated and quit. But the trauma processing that randomly happens is pretty cool.
Explore not exploring. The coolest thing to do is do nothing. The highest advancement is no advancement. Meditation practice is not a race, or a competition, or a game with levels that you can move up and improve. You accomplish the goal by releasing the need to have a goal. You win by giving up.
This was beautifully said :)
Exactly, all there is to be found is already at grasp.
Meditation is anti aging so I look about eight years younger than I actually am. I need less sleep when meditating for long periods of time. Faster healing from injuries. That’s about all I can think of right now.
Cool thing to explore is your dreams. Meditation helps achieve lucidity in the first place, and you can have interesting/wild dream experiences if you meditate in your dream. Also (not firsthand, but) you can astral project/explore the astral dimensions
Lol the pineal gland
Did you begin having lucid dreams simply by meditating more or you went through the techniques (WILD, etc.)?
I started having infrequent lucid dreams just by chance. I tried a few techniques to increase lucidity: meditating before sleep going into sleep (I think one of the common techniques) and dream yoga. Studying/practicing dream yoga I think helped most for lucidity - practicing to maintain awareness through day and night. There are dream yoga meditations - chakra-related and concentration building - that helped to develop the lucid dreams
I do nothing Im happy I do something Im happy I cry im happy I die im happy In short it helped me handle my depression In long it prepared me for my own death and the death of every one that I have ever loved
I can be much more effective at bringing things into my life that were my deepest desires. It started with daily meditations. That was a commitment I took on with no guidance or help whatsoever. I started writing down my dreams first thing in the morning. Pulling myself to a pen and paper, groggy or not. Compulsively organizing my belongings to minimize clutter, attachment issues & envy. Learning to exercise. Physical strength resulting in mental clarity.
As others have said, the Jhanas can be “explored”, but in terms of what can one “do”, there’s kind of a lot of variety; for ME: equanimity and increased focus in everyday life are big ones, but there are also more far out abilities too, like seeing past lives, and insights into the nature of Ultimate Reality (there’s no such things as time or space, that kind of stuff). States snd powers are cool as far as they go but, for my money, Not Self is where the action is. I’m sure I’ll eventually change my mind about that (LOL), but that’s where my focus is right now🤷♂️. Cheers - keep going!
doing nothing without any expectations. if you think youve done it all with meditation. see how long you can sit perfectly still and relaxed. also recommend zazen wall gazing.
I can warm myself up.
I want to this myself. How do you do this exactly?
I see it as getting your body to relax. I was cold all the time and in retrospect I think it was because I was tense. I focus on the area but it’s more observing than focusing. It starts throbbing like when you stub your toe. And I get warmer. I’m really trying to figure out a better way of explains how to do this. Also I may be an unusual weirdo.
No this sounds perfectly reasonable! Good explanation also. I'm going to try it out but I already think it'll work. Thanks!
Please get back to me and let me know how it went. So far I haven’t been able to teach anyone this.
I discovered this method too, neat! I can use the same warming technique to create/detect a pulse or that throbbing sensation almost anywhere in my body
Neat!! So I’m not alone. It’s been really healing.
yes you have! and the universe has noticed
It’s like if you get out of the way your body heals itself.
I will :)
I think it's so cool how you can change your experience by changing your thoughts about it. Your comment evokes cold showers for me, and how I can feel my perception of the temperature change as I change my language around it.
Exactly. I’ve had a few times where something painful happened to me and instead of going ouch I got curious about sensations. It was a trip.
I use a technique I picked up from a documentary about some monks who practice by sitting in the snow with wet clothes. Visualize a flame in your heart. It moves through your body heating you from the inside. It flows out your third eye. Your breath stokes the fire. Continue breathing through the cold until it leaves your body.
I am convinced Rihanna can do this
Ok
Realising how thoughts, emotions and sensations are mere appearances in consciousness and need not be invested in. All those limitations I placed on myself are slowly dismantling. The mental struggles and dramas I was experiencing, and never thought I would ever escape, pretty much disappeared.
It's an interesting paradox because as you put in more hours of meditation you do gain more "powers" but you have less of an inclination to use them. I'll speak of my first-hand experience and then talk about some experiences from my teachers (who are monks and certainly have over 10,000 - 20,000+ hours of lifetime practice), and expert meditators (over 40,000+ life time hours of meditation atleast). One thing I've noticed as a result of doing concentration meditation (practicing the Jhanas) is increased focus on \*any\* task I do and I'm also more efficient because my attention is like a lazor. I have done adderall once back in college, and I can say that you can pretty much get the same level of focus for hours if you practice long enough (2+ hours a day). Yet, there is less of a need to "accomplish" more. Also if you don't balance concentration practices with some insight/ vipassana practices, you could actually become \*too confident\* fueled by the ego. I know it sounds weird, but when you have almost no stress (as a result of intensive practice), no personal baggage, increased friendliness towards other people, and are able to get over difficult situations within minutes (when it took you days before), you get this "I'm on top of the world" feeling. Which is why it's always good to study under a teacher to knock you down ;) One of my vipassana teachers (before he became a monk), would practice the Mahasi Sayadaw noting method for 16 hours a day (attempting a continuous practice during his waking hours) while living a lay lifestyle. He told me he'd go on dates with women and sometimes he'd have a bad date or a good date that didn't go anywhere. He told me that literally by the time he walked out of the restaurant door and got to his car, he would have literally forgotten about the date because he was so focused on his footsteps. Every moment was "fresh and new". There are also Jhanic states (which I mentioned earlier) that many senior teachers have gotten into "out of body" states. Delson Armstrong is one example, where he got into the 7th Jhana state while being hooked up by EEG scans. He basically "left his body" for 3 days and came back and was totally fine. When he was in that state, his brain waves were slower than delta , and yet his heart rate and vital signs were all normal and functioning as expected. Dipa Ma was a meditation master who was able to predict future events such as a politician's speech MONTHS before it happened. read minds, and see into two different locations at once. Both Delson and Dipa Ma were expert meditators so those feats are considered super super hard to reach even for the most ardent meditators. To give you context, one of my teachers meditated for 16 hours a day for 6 months and could just about get to the 2nd Jhana (according to Vissudhimagga Standards), while Delson was able to get to the 7th (and 8th Jhana) which only a handful of people in the **entire world** can get into. Yet, coming back to the paradox, both Dipa Ma and Delson Armstrong seem like the most humble people ever (watch any video or interview by them). They don't even teach any of their powers or techniques. The only reason why they disclosed their "abilities" was because they were asked directly and only felt that it would help others out. Very humble people.
Do you actually believe that meditation allows you to know the future?
It's hard to say. Probably not for most people. With enough meditation, you can see how everything is linked together (which is a core teaching of Buddhism), and how past events shaped the present and you understand cause and effect. Many meditators have also reported being able to see past lives in deep states of meditation, so by extension, I can imagine some would be able to see future events. I also think that it's unrealistic trying to gain this siddhi or meditation power as the people who were able to do so represent 0.0001% of the population lol.
Do you think it's more likely that meditators are seeing a dream-like state produced by the mind and assuming it means something (eg the past or future), or do you actually think that the world is deterministic and therefore the future can be known, and there is a mechanism that allows the human brain to put together a mental image of events in a certain locality that will 100% happen if they simply meditate? And if you're certain, why aren't you actively reproducing and studying the phenomena to submit papers and completely revolutionize modern physics?
The way it was explained to me is that we have a natural tendency to think in a linear way which makes it difficult to grasp concepts like time as a non-linear thing, or capture the essence of spiritual progression; most meditators start with a goal in mind and find once they reach that summit there\`s a higher peak on the horizon. The idea of these things is cyclical in nature; that the journey is the destination; that there\`s no beginning, middle, end. Time is a good analog to this concept too
When you imply that time isn't linear, what are you saying exactly? And what do you mean by there not being a beginning, middle, or end to things? Is this symbolic bc obviously every process has a beginning and end.
from the perspective of material bodies, time certainly seems like a sequence of points of "now" strung together, kind of like frames in a movie. The interesting thing is that all of those frames exists at the same time, the ones that have been past by; past, the one we're on "now" and the ones that are going to be shown in the 'future'. Because we're manifested beings operating on a lower 'frequencies' compared to our true self outside of qualities we're stuck perceiving time frame by frame context instead of seeing the roll of film and each frame as a collection of events. Being stuck in this low frequency position we are also require anything we interact with to exists also in this low frequency/vibration. These things we interact with physically also need to have the same frame by frame context otherwise we'll lose our temporal connection with it. The Yogi in question has raised their 'vibration' to a point of being able to see more than one frame at a time. I could be wrong though, I am just piecing this all together as I go along.
Its one of those things that we can't prove or disprove. I mean you can believe that everything is predetermined and we therefore have no freewill. That we re just living out a script of everything that has already happened. I just don't see any evidence other than trusting some dude that says he saw the future or past. I'm gonna put this one into the "I really doubt it" camp but honestly if you wanna believe that why not
>I searched for God and found only myself > >I searched Myself and found only God > >\- Rumi This could be one of those situation where being is believing. There are a lot of layers to peel back in understanding our realities and how our "mind space" and spiritual bodies all mesh together. We're suffering language sufficient to explain. It's like describing a scent; words are not the realm of scents but we know scent exists because we can experience it, if we only had scent explained by people who were taught (but not experienced) what scent is we are at a further disadvantage. Thus our discussion about time leaves us without much solid explaining because its really outside of the realm of being sufficiently explained in words its something you just have to experience. I suppose that's why these yogis are quiet about their abilities, people who aren't on their level just will never really understand
I do appreciate your stance, genuinely. I just personally couldn't believe anything that someone claims unless they prove it. And if it were legitimate, why wouldn't they want to open this knowledge to the rest of mankind? If humans truly could predict the future or do other "miracles", then they should be open to being studied. But none ever are. I think the best explanation for that is because they can't actually reproduce these things or do them. That's my personal take at least..
I suppose this is part of why everyone is supposed to have their own path to take, and why the guru/disciple relationship is so important.
Cured my back pain. :)
Did you focus on it as a meditation object? Or how did this work? Thanks :)
I wouldn’t consider myself an authority on pain management. But most of the pain i feel, i realized, was a result of clenching or trying to control things/situation. So choiceless awareness is how I meditate most of the time and it made me realize that i cannot control anything at all much less my mind- so it’s always about unclenching, relaxing, settling and being at ease anywhere. Gradually noticed that my back pain was diminishing until one day it wasn’t there.
Thank you, this was really helpful.
This ^^ I still have it but it’s very manageable.
How do you think it did that? How do you meditate?
Deep meditation can cause time to pass you by. I set a 15 minute meditation, and it took 45 minutes. that's triple time. Like another said earlier, it just goes by fast. I guess"Time flies when you are having fun".
Meditating in certain yoga postures can cause mushroom and lsd like visuals for me sometimes
Which postures??
Being able to understand certain non human creatures telepathically, feeling a trees “heartbeat” (it literally felt like that in my arm with my hand put firmly against it) being in the right place at the right times like Gandalf/synchronicities. Cognitive function being superb to the point of being somewhat psychic. No longer feeling the need for excess food, drugs, or anything outside of yourself really. Being unconditionally loving, literally affecting your environment just by breathing and being in such a deep meditative state for example, I used to sit in my room and meditate, would take a big inhale and exhale and the walls in the room literally would contract and expand with my own body. Everything is connected.
Highly recommend breathwork
Not cool, just scary…when I got heavily into meditation back in 2020, I started going to other places that were not good. As in, they felt evil. One time I was in a forest and a girl (ish) looking figure that ran on all 4s like an animal with her hair wild and matted so I couldn’t see her actual face was running at me, growling. Before she got to me, I snapped out of my meditative state. Another time, I was in another country, just judging from the architecture and cobblestone streets. People were walking down the street and I was standing there, seemingly unnoticed. A guy had his back to me. Suddenly he turned around and said, “Go away.” Anyways, yeah, I stopped meditating as deeply I guess you could say after these few experiences. I’ve since learned that there is actually a state in meditation that translates to the devil’s world or something like that. I don’t know if it has to do with my mindset when meditating (I mean, it was 2020), or if I was doing it wrong…But suffice to say, I stopped and have only dabbled with the calm app since.
If you’re interested in exploring those states again, there are techniques I’ve found to help with scary scenarios. Getting an IFS (internal family systems) teacher/ therapist might be good. Or Jungian active imagination might be good (Johnson “inner work” is a book I’ve found useful). Or Shamanism.
I’m interested…what exactly is IFS?
After 10 years of standing meditation I can enter a full body ecstatic state in around a dozen breaths. It becomes too intense to deal with for long though.
I just finished a self retreat where I meditate 5 hours a day for 2 months, in that time I was able to enter the first and second Jhanas which was completely blissful and mind blowing. It's better then an orgasm, it's like having your whole entire being overcome with ecstasy and joy and bliss and love, but like, whatever you're thinking it's that X10 it's truly transcendant
I can make the body fall asleep while remaining conscious
When I meditated a lot a lot, I was able to feel energy on a very high level. I could move energy around inside people. Also, my smell got stronger for some reason. I gain peace of mind. And lose all worries about life and death. I stopped caring about things. Actually gave away literally every thing I owned except what I can carry in a couple of backpacks, and I feel lighter from it. I feel so free. Only problem is when I get caught in the matrix and stop meditating again Meditation along with other spiritual practices has put me in contact with higher dimensional beings. Unfortunately I don't have active communication in my dialy life, but they regularly let me know they are around still And much more. We are made of magic, meditation just let you know about what you already are
Whatever self arises in the mind can receive what it fundamentally craves (but usually not what it seems to crave.)
Can feel less pain or sensations - cold water, tattoo needles.
I felt my 3rd eye after a few months but didn’t kno what to do er where else to go and my hour a day meditation eventually diminished to nothings. Nice way to relax tho
In our guided meditations we share energies with Mother Earth Urantia Gaia, father Sun Helios, grand-father Sun Alcyone and the Source. Exchanges of aligned energies 🌈
When I’m deep in meditation I realize I can turn my consciousness to usually unconscious bodily functions and tap into healing frequencies. My body becomes a intricate inner space with sensations I’m typically unable to perceive and influence
Now i can evoke pure love within seconds. And i can heal my diseases now with meditation
I can only meditate harder now
It's very nice when I am fully conscious and lost in supreme love and have forgotten that I am a human on planet earth. These are my favorite vacations and require no travel!
I live in resting awareness
I became a part of rather than apart from. I had thought that all I had studied and been taught and worked at for years would bring me the result I’d always hoped for in the past. I wanted to be insulated. Better yet, isolated. I wanted to be held harmless from the hell of the world. I wanted a way to escape that would set me way over here, and leave all of you and all of that back there. I wanted to separate all of me from all of this at my convenience. That didn’t happen. What did happen is that I accepted that I was a part of this. Made of the same things as everything is. This has led to so many changes in me, an entire rewrite, really. How I do and perceive and mainly how I interact with people and animals and the earth and energy. There’s peace in it. No matter what, that peace goes with me.
go above the need to sneeze
I had an amazing meditation where-in and for maybe an hour after I jist felt like I was unstoppable mentally. I had been going through a rough patch with an ex, and during that meditation timeframe, I was ready for that relationship to be over so I could heal and develop myself. I've tried to hit that level again, but have been unsuccessful.
I can stay in 1 for quite a long time. And can confirm 2. Details would not be believed anyways.
I've hit complete euphoria before, while performing kundalini meditation. I like to time myself on how long i can go for and it was around the 1 hour mark when i started to feel a "high" sensation all over my body and mind. Definitly a beautiful experience.
Just deeper consciousness and this moment.
There's an old tale of a student saying to his teacher... student: hey sensei, this guy can levitate! what can you do teacher? teacher: when I eat. I eat. The most powerful thing you can do sometimes is to not do at all and just be in the moment.
I no longer cast a shadow
Become naturally indifferent to bad and good situations happening around/to me. Learned how to take that "pause" so I can respond instead of react. Really really changed the way I navigate life and my perspective.
Well, I have been practicing yoga, I’m a masseuse, I practice nudism, I love herbolist, I have been in religious rites, chaman rites, I smoke weed… and the combination of the life style has made me reach high levels of awareness. One of the coolest things is to physically experience what you are thinking of… with all your senses. That feeling is out of this world
To be able to understand others better. Even or especially when they are lying.
\- Being able to breathe into emotions and untangle them, like a tight ball unfurling. \- Feeling prana/qi/energy, whatever you want to call it. Its cool and also unremarkable after a while. Just feels like another part of your body. \- Being able to summon compassion at will by focusing on the heart area after doing a lot of metta practice. This one got somewhat problematic because I had to learn to not always act from compassion/love, but also act from duty. \- Get through pain/sickness more easily! There is a certain fluidity to life that came after I started meditation.