Other/Mixed A Mental Program Minimum

[Adam R Mundorf]

Hey StrongFirst,

I've been finding myself getting a bit psychologically psyched out recently.

Does anyone have a mental program minimum incorporating maybe meditation or breathing?

Thank you, Adam

 

[watchnerd]

Still meditation doesn't work as well for me as doing something physical outdoors.

Walking, chopping wood, raking leaves, etc.

 

[pet']

Hello,

+1 @watchnerd
Otherwise, I like doing knots. There are ton of them to learn

Kind regards,

Pet'

 

[Philippe Geoffrion]

Still meditation doesn't work as well for me as doing something physical outdoors.

Walking, chopping wood, raking leaves, etc.

I feel similarly…getting something done ie accomplishing a task seems to be a great stress relief for me.

Some other ideas to help with this
1)Make your bed in the morning
2)Do that task you’ve been putting off
3) make your work area clear and organized

For myself, stress is a signal that something I’ve been neglecting needs attention. If you know what it is, procrastination only enhances it.

Keeping the environment I live in tidy and in order always seems to make doing those other things easier, for whatever reason. I think because for myself, it gives me a sense of control of my environment and thus, myself.

 

[Anna C]

I would suggested working to define this a bit better:

a bit psychologically psyched out

As they say, "A problem well stated is a problem half solved." If you define what is wrong, maybe describing exactly what you feel mentally or physically, or the other symptoms that things aren't quite right, or how it's manifesting as other problems or poor outcomes, your brain will have a better chance at letting you know what it needs to make things better.

 

[Singlecoilquack]

Play (or learn) an instrument, build something, jog or walk, dig, paint a room, fish, write.

 

[3letterslong]

Hey StrongFirst,

I've been finding myself getting a bit psychologically psyched out recently.

Does anyone have a mental program minimum incorporating maybe meditation or breathing?

Thank you, Adam

I've spent a lot of time learning how to kick myself out of sympathetic dominance (fight, flight) and into parasympathetic dominance (rest, recover).

The most effective thing I've found is a combination of breathing exercises and body awareness. I do them every morning before and after my workout and then try to maintain that level of relaxation and awareness throughout the day.

Breathing exercises:

Buteyko

Pavel's straw breathing

This website: Anti-Stress Maximum Relaxation Breathing Pacer

Body awareness: Non-Sleep, Deep Relaxation


These things have made an unbelievable difference in my life. There was a point after a few months of this that my pain tolerance sky-rocketed. Grueling, endurance-based activities suddenly became nothing worth mentioning. The other big difference I noticed was my mind was much, much calmer, no matter what I was doing. I've got a high-stress job and a lot of that stress basically disappeared overnight.

Meditation

I don't really meditate, but breathing while focusing on body awareness is basically meditation. One thing I stole from mediation (Eckhart Tolle) is that it's an insane endeavour to stop ALL thoughts from racing through your mind and it's much better to spend a fraction of that energy to stop all thoughts about the future (which tend to cause anxiety) and all thoughts about the past (which tend to cause depression) from racing through your mind. It's okay to think about the present as much as you want.

I also prioritized recovery from my workouts because I learned that your body doesn't recover properly if it's under stress and it can't tell the difference between physical, emotional and psychological stress. So even if you're taking it easy after a workout, emotional and psychological stress will interfere with your body's recovery as though you're working out every hour of the day.

 

[rwleonard]

Huberman Lab has some good podcasts on the subject.

 

[bluejeff]

+1 to what @Anna C had to say.

I don’t want you to feel pressured to talk about anything you don’t want to online, and at the same time, “psychologically psyched out” is pretty vague.

If it’s stress management, thats one thing. Some daily mindfulness of some kind helps me.

If it’s anxiety/depressive symptoms, that’s another thing.

If it’s burnout from a hectic life/training, then a “deload” might be all you need.

Some people do alright with some sort of practices that make them feel better. Depending on specifics, severity of the “issue,” and whether it’s been going on a long time, never underestimate the power of a good therapist. I’ve been seeing one for years now and look forward to every session. It’s nice to have someone to talk to who won’t judge you, force you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable or ready to do yet, and isn’t part of your social group. The last part is valuable because you don’t have to “edit” what you say; you can just say what you feel.

Anyway, I don’t know if any of that is helpful. I hope it is. It’s hard to know what course would be helpful without knowing what exactly the “issue” is.

 

[3letterslong]

As they say, "A problem well stated is a problem half solved."

I've never heard this before, but I've been thinking about it all morning. I really like this.

 

[North Coast Miller]

Breath meditation.

“The Zen Way to the Martial Arts” by Taisen Deshimaru

“Buddhism Without Beliefs”
Stephen Batchelor

 

[silveraw]

Breath meditation.

“The Zen Way to the Martial Arts” by Taisen Deshimaru

“Buddhism Without Beliefs”
Stephen Batchelor

To add to the Buddhism without beliefs book.

The Waking Up app is one of the best meditation apps I've ever used. Simple, straight forward, and really effective. I got far more out of it than I ever did when using a Muse headband for a few years. (I've bought a lot of gimmicks over the years)

 

[TedM]

Otherwise, I like doing knots. There are ton of them to learn

This piqued my interest.

Keeping in the framework of this thread - would you be able to expand on this?

 

[Steve Freides]

“Buddhism Without Beliefs”
Stephen Batchelor

A difficult read for someone not familiar with Buddhism, IMO.

-S-

 

[North Coast Miller]

A difficult read for someone not familiar with Buddhism, IMO.

-S-

It was the book that introduced me to buddhism as an activity instead of an “ism”. I found it to be pretty straightforward.

The other book I mention took a handfull of front to back read-throughs before I could make use of any of it. From a practical POV it is a great read though.

 

[silveraw]

A difficult read for someone not familiar with Buddhism, IMO.

-S-

“Sit down and shut up” might be a good intro too. But I was a Brad Warner fanboy for a bit so might be biased.

Mindfulness in Plain English is a good non zen intro as well.

 

[watchnerd]

I feel similarly…getting something done ie accomplishing a task seems to be a great stress relief for me.

Some other ideas to help with this
1)Make your bed in the morning
2)Do that task you’ve been putting off
3) make your work area clear and organized

For myself, stress is a signal that something I’ve been neglecting needs attention. If you know what it is, procrastination only enhances it.

Keeping the environment I live in tidy and in order always seems to make doing those other things easier, for whatever reason. I think because for myself, it gives me a sense of control of my environment and thus, myself.

Moving to an acre in the woods has been great for my mental health.

And my blood pressure.

 

[pet']

Hello @TedM

Yes sure.

I have started doing knots with sailor knots.

There are books out there to learn them but you can also simply doing a search on YT with 'sailor knots'.

Then I have doing bracelets. Here again, YT is a great source. You can do 'survival bracelets' (there are several kinds, like quick deploy or not, etc..). You can also do pure aesthetic bracelets.

An 'advantage' of sailor knots is that they have a lot of daily life applications. You'll have to be focused to do them multiple times to really learn them well.

The 'advantage' of bracelet is that they have a repetitive pattern. While you do them, you can really 'empty your mind'

Hope that helps,

Kind regards,

Pet'

 

[Bauer]

Hey StrongFirst,

I've been finding myself getting a bit psychologically psyched out recently.

Does anyone have a mental program minimum incorporating maybe meditation or breathing?

Thank you, Adam

My initial mental PM was Autogenic Relaxation (also recommended by Pavel, as I later found out). You start by relaxing your body via autosuggestion, and this helps to wind down physically and mentally.

Later on a mental PM might mostly be about telling yourself (and meaning it) something like:
This too shall pass
Nothing is personal
F*ck it, it doesn't matter...

... whatever resonates with you and helps you to break the circuit.

 

[oab]

The late eminent psychiatrist, Dr Ainslie Meares meditation method:
- assume a position that involves a tiny bit of discomfort. A chair will do at the start.
- relax the body.
-relax the mind
- allow the relaxation to expand until it becomes all of you and you will find the mind slows down and becomes still. In mental stillness, you know you remain awake but that is pretty much it. Afterwards, you feel calmed and sometimes the calm is profound.
When you were practicing, if you thought " my mind is still", then it is not, it was thinking.

This approach is different to those that rely on focus. It involves the purist of relaxation. As those reading here know, muscular tension and relaxation are different. True relaxation is easier. This is also true when the mind relaxes and stills.

One cannot have a still mind when going about doing things outside of meditation practice. This would be a drowsy trance like state. However, one can learn to be calmer as you go about doing things, even during exercise.

You can give it a try but learning is helped by knowing the details although the process is simple. Ainslie Meares on Meditation book contains Meares set of instructions.

This approach is based on the minds own homeostatic mechanism for reduction of anxiety and tension which is natural mental rest in the still mind state. Fight or flight involves racing, unpleasant apprehensive feelings. Relaxation involves gentle easing, ungripping and slowing.