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Other/Mixed Training/diet and brain effects

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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I could really do with a regular breathing and meditation practice. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I’ve found doing the A+A work in a cohort has been really good for being accountable to a program I may not always want to follow exactly as written. I wonder if there would be any benefit or interest in starting a similar group endeavour for breathing/meditation here.
 
fractal said:
I could really do with a regular breathing and meditation practice. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I’ve found doing the A+A work in a cohort has been really good for being accountable to a program I may not always want to follow exactly as written. I wonder if there would be any benefit or interest in starting a similar group endeavour for breathing/meditation here.
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Count me in.

I saved my life maybe by taking up breath meditation- did 20-30 minutes a day for about 5 years straight. I put it right up there with quitting smoking and possibly the best thing I ever did for myself.
@ Brett S, I too am at a crossroads. I'm also at a point where I can't responsibly make a major change without a few more pieces in place but am feeling a great deal of stress to make that first move.
I often find in similar times inmy life I used my fitness regimen as a stand-in for meaningful change in my outer life, one of the only ways a solid training regimen is unhealthy in some respects.
But then where there is health there is hope. Sometimes you have to give up first...
 
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North Coast Miller said:
Count me in.

I saved my life maybe by taking up breath meditation- did 20-30 minutes a day for about 5 years straight. I put it right up there with quitting smoking and possibly the best thing I ever did for myself.
@ Brett S, I too am at a crossroads. I'm also at a point where I can't responsibly make a major change without a few more pieces in place but am feeling a great deal of stress to make that first move.
I often find in similar times inmy life I used my fitness regimen as a stand-in for meaningful change in my outer life, one of the only ways a solid training regimen is unhealthy in some respects.
But then where there is health there is hope. Sometimes you have to give up first...
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I don’t profess to be a master of meditation by any means. Any suggestions for a minimum protocol to adhere to? I’ve found great benefit from even 5 minutes at a time in the past. Do we need to uncompromisingly be at it daily for it to really work? It’s a fine line between making it achievable around life and dropping below the minimum effective dose.

Bret, my apologies if I’ve begun to hijack the thread you made to avoid hijacking someone else’s!
 
@ fractal,
I found minimum 10-12 minutes, other folk might benefit from less. Anything over 45 minutes I found didn't do much more than 20 minutes in terms of benefit I noticed. 4 days a week is good, I managed 6-7, never fewer than 5.

I came to think of it very much like an S&S protocol with frequent, relatively short sessions most helpful. My training (physical) tends toward HIT with a number of days off following higher intensity work, but with sitting you have to just let the benees accrue over time. You can be determined to give it your all, but is almost inverse of other endeavors - tough to "give up" or to practice non attachment "hardstyle". The more you pursue the further you get from the benefits.

But...I noticed benefits in my day to day almost immediately - I really had been sleepwalking much of my life - still do more than I aught.
 
North Coast Miller said:
@ Brett S, I too am at a crossroads. I'm also at a point where I can't responsibly make a major change without a few more pieces in place but am feeling a great deal of stress to make that first move.
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North Coast Miller said:
I often find in similar times inmy life I used my fitness regimen as a stand-in for meaningful change in my outer life, one of the only ways a solid training regimen is unhealthy in some respects.
But then where there is health there is hope. Sometimes you have to give up first...
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Active avoidance, I'm getting good at it..

fractal said:
Bret, my apologies if I’ve begun to hijack the thread you made to avoid hijacking someone else’s!
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No worries, the last thing I would think about would be to stress over a forum thread.. :cool:

You guys can count me in for a little meditation medication (y)
 
Ryan T said:
@North Coast Miller, @Bret S., @fractal What kind of meditation is this? I'm currently under a great deal of stress and sleeping very poorly. I had thought about trying headspace before as well. I wouldn't mind trying something as well.
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I can’t speak for the others but I had your standard ‘empty your mind and focus on your breath’ meditation in mind. Mantra optional. Just putting feelers out. Sounds like we have enough to start a group log. It would be great to get more input on days and duration. Looking for that intersection of accessibility and effectiveness. Sounds like >5 days of >10 minutes each is about right. Or perhaps accumulate 50+ minutes per week as you see fit?
 
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Just did my first session of 10 minutes cross legged on the deck. Breathing pattern of short diaphragmatic in, count of ~5 out, breath hold for 2-5s / repeat. Very enjoyable. Started getting antsy around the 7 minute mark when my back started talking to me.

Did a heart rate reading. I wish it provided minimum HR. Was higher than I expected overall. Too much coffee and training today I suppose. 97BBFB47-9295-4C61-A568-506C86904942.jpeg

An hour later and I’m still feeling simultaneously more calm and alert
 
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@fractal you want to start the log somewhere; anyone who was interested could join in. Could start with something like you said above or perhaps a 30 day challenge 10+ minutes per day.That sort of starter could get folks interested and then it becomes a habit by the time it's done. Could continue it with other things/challenges for fun or perhaps progress more with additional things.

Participants could do whatever style they're comfortable with, however for those of us who don't want to engage in the spiritual side of things, it might be nice to keep it more generic. As you said the mantra is optional.

@Steve Freides, does Buteyko have some sort of meditative aspect?

@North Coast Miller , @Bret S. , any other thoughts?
 
Ryan T said:
@fractal you want to start the log somewhere; anyone who was interested could join in. Could start with something like you said above or perhaps a 30 day challenge 10+ minutes per day.That sort of starter could get folks interested and then it becomes a habit by the time it's done. Could continue it with other things/challenges for fun or perhaps progress more with additional things.

Participants could do whatever style they're comfortable with, however for those of us who don't want to engage in the spiritual side of things, it might be nice to keep it more generic. As you said the mantra is optional.

@Steve Freides, does Buteyko have some sort of meditative aspect?

@North Coast Miller , @Bret S. , any other thoughts?
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I like TM, "I'm not the body, I'm not even the mind". Did this for awhile and it works wonders, I never did it long enough to fully realize the power and potential but occasionally I could see the body, and then the busy mind, observing from another point, watching.. It's a freeing mental/non-mental state.
 
A log similar to the food one recently started might be a good idea.

Personally I would sometimes "work" on different aspects of breathing - reverse abdominal with constriction coming from different aspects of ribcage or abdominal muscles. At times in a chilly room I could be dripping sweat from these drills. Did not do these often and really just at the beginning, playing around with what I was learning about breathing. For meditative awareness mostly just hold the exhale below tidal volume - gently allow the exhale to continue as much as possible by maximal relaxing of the viscera rather than by any effort. Inhale from the bottom without any urgency.

Pretty much every session begins with "I might die before I sit again", or "This life has an end" - some form of death awareness.

Then just try not to follow any thought streams-let them come and go, take stock of the senses and posture, follow the breath without intervening (possibly one of the most difficult mental tasks a person can manage for any length of time). Awareness without attachment. Awareness of sensory input without conscious analysis - real time sensory info.

And in the day to day "what is my purpose here and now?" and awareness of my feelings, perceptions, questioning them all. If daydreaming try to track back through the chain of thought-subjects as far as possible (this is a great one for learning about habitual states of mind and self-reaffirming thoughts).

Just what I recall off top of my head - I haven't sat reliably in years now, but try to use some of what I learned in my day to day. Is possible to enter a meditative state very quickly just standing there after you have done it for a good while - thoughtless awareness, avoiding clinging "sticky" thoughts. Free yourself. At its core is freedom. To quote 'The Who'
-And freedom tastes of reality -
 
I think a log would be great. I’ll start one up when I’m a bit less rushed. From what I understand of mantras, they are used as an anchor and aren’t necessarily spiritual. If there’s a sound or word you can repeat inside to drown out the chatter or pull your focus away from a persistent thought it can be useful. In my limited experience, I go between deep focus on the breath and focus on the blackness of my closed eyes as a still point. I guess you could say my mantra thus far has been ‘black’, although I rarely articulate it internally. The mind is a serious trip...
 
There are many effects from meditation that almost fall into the category of entertainment though are useful for working on awareness.

The sensation of the pulse in different time depending on where in the body you can feel it, slight flutter of the eyeball as the heart beats. Sometimes a slight swaying can be detected in tune with the heartbeat.

Visually you can see the opposite color of the one you focus on wavering around the edges - I would often lay out a white towel to defocus on as I sat, and the edges begin to develop a wavering black border, the wrinkles in the interior folds develop a brighter colored haze around their shadows.

Is one thing to be told the eyes never really fix 100% and that colors are constantly being refreshed by the cones. What we see is largely a mental construct.

I have at various times lost spatial awareness of my body to the point I knew my eyes were above my heart above my abdomen above my hands above my backside on the cushion, but it felt like my eyes might have been floating just off the floor or hovering near the ceiling.

But at end of day is really a means to study reality, to free one from repetitive, negative, pointless thought patterns or spending too much effort on mental construction of the self, and all the sensory stuff is mostly fluff (useful fluff but fluff nonetheless).

Have a pain? Try to find the center of it, the exact spot. Try to find a "you" independent of your likes, dislikes, opinions, notions, professional identity... Its powerful stuff, not always pleasant. I'm no expert but certainly did give it a lot of effort and time well spent. I have to get back to it, vacuum the dog hair off my zafu and zabuton and put in the work.
 
An update to close out the original reason for this thread, @fractal helped me to isolate the Sternocleidomastoid as the culprit behind my woes, specifically the clavicular segment of the muscle, it can wreak havoc in many ways as it did with me, regular massage has alleviated many symptoms. An internet search will yield some fascinating and interesting results.
 
Bret S. said:
An update to close out the original reason for this thread, @fractal helped me to isolate the Sternocleidomastoid as the culprit behind my woes, specifically the clavicular segment of the muscle, it can wreak havoc in many ways as it did with me, regular massage has alleviated many symptoms. An internet search will yield some fascinating and interesting results.
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Glad to hear it!
 
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