No Stupid Questions

I meditate. I don't know what it is called. I just call it meditation. All the other things, imo, are not meditation. Not to say they are bad - just that to the extent that the word "meditation" means something, these things do not fall under that definition.

To me, meditation means intentionally focusing attention on one particular thing, refocusing whenever you notice attention has drifted, and doing this with the intention of improving your ability to focus your attention.

Box breathing isn't meditation because you are consciously trying to change your breath.

Any kind of activity where you are highly focused, I suppose, could be used as a kind of meditation-adjacent practice. But unless your overall intention is improving your ability to focus your attention, then it isn't really meditation. So it someone says, for example, that tennis is how they meditate because they enter a flow state, I would be doubtful - most people playing tennis do it because it is good exercise, it is fun, it is social, they like to win, and they get a tan. These are all fine goals - but if the goal isn't explicitly and exclusively the improvement of focusing attention, then imo it is not meditation.

I'm split on the specific kinds of "meditation" that I hear about. Eg, loving kindness meditation, transcendental meditation, anything that requires consciously moving the body or controlling the breath, anything that requires repeating a mantra or visualizing a feeling, image, or sensation. Maybe these are just more advanced forms of meditation that I'll appreciate when I'm better at normal meditation. But intuitively, I tend to think of them as, like, derivative techniques of meditation, rather than meditation itself. I'm also always skeptical when someone who has been meditating for two weeks starts talking about how they are practicing "X" kind of meditation. Assuming that these more specific kinds of meditation could be considered meditation at all, imo, practitioners should focus on basic meditation first until they are able to maintain stable attention before they get all fancy.

For me, meditation is sitting down and focusing on the sensations of the breath as it passes over the tip of my nose, and refocusing my attention there when I notice it has drifted. That's it.

despite yoda I try to meditate. Its one of those things were I can't for sure say I know how to do. I mainly do breath focus. A few times I have felt like I may have gotten to a state that might be meditation but its fleeting. The good thing is I feel at the very least deep breathing is good for you.

For the last year and a half. I started with Transcendental meditation. Then Vipasana in January and right not I’m learning Zen from “The Way” meditation app by Zen master and poet Henry Shukman. It’s actually very good and instructional. He’s created a series of paths that teach you step by step not only how to meditate but also how to expand awareness.

The first 12 are free and then there’s a monthly subscription. If you don’t have the money you can tell them and they will offer a much lower yearly discount or give it to you for free.

I highly recommend it.

Yes, it's pretty important to me for mental hygiene and self-control.

But what do you mean it's "a bigger deal than science"? Do you do science as well?

Don't know what it's called, I just let my thoughts go and focus on the sensations of my senses. I do this all the time except when I specifically need to think, which isn't super often, so I'd say I meditate like 80% of my day.

And yeah it's probably the single most important thing I did in my life. Went from constant anxiety to constant peace of mind.

What do you consider as meditation? Most forms of "grounding" cause me to have a panic attack.

HemiSync treats me very well.

I try to. Not sure which one I do. I basically close my eyes and focus on the environment around me. When my mind starts wandering I go back to focusing on the sounds around me. 15 minutes, twice a day.

I do guided meditations that you'll find on a mental health focused app if that makes any sense. 😅 I mainly use it to help me relax before I go to bed. I've been doing this for a couple years now and I enjoy it.

Every day, as often as possible. I do waking meditation while I work. It improves focus and concentration, and makes the hours fly by.

I do Buddhist-style mantra repetition. Recently I've started combining it with box breathing. It's very effective for me.

Usually unintentionally