/fit/ - Fitness, Health, and Feels

So here is something interesting, I have this eons olde "Treat ADHD Naturally" stuff from a torrent I got a really long time ago, and which btw was written in 2010 apparently.

I did read it previously but didn't actually take, now I've read it fully again, its not that useful but accompanies an interesting life management spreadsheet. So I'm wondering if anyone uses something like this, it feels like overkill, I doubt that could be on top of it, but its definitely worth of consideration.

Didn't know where to drop this, so why not this thread, and if anyone got mental related stuff to share, feel free to as well.

>>144364

>>144365

Meditation is the act of focusing the mind upon a single object. It can be anything at all, an object, sound, sensation, visualization, the breath, a mantra spoken or internalized, etc. However once one has a chosen object of focus, the goal is to keep the mind firmly rooted there. Infinite distractions will arise to pull your focus away, but once you realize you're distracted simply return your focus to the chosen object. This is called dharana and it's only the first step in formal meditation practice.

Practice dharana keeping the mind returning to and focused on a single object long enough and eventually will come a moment when every single thought in your head just dies, like a cloud of birds dropping dead out of the sky, and the only thing remaining is crystal clarity and pleasure. This is dhyana mental absorption, when the mind and object are naturally bonded without effort involved and there are many levels to it, however even just the first level is a lifechanging experience.

My meditation practice is the one thing more important than my lifting.

>>144371

>a moment when every single thought in your head just dies, like a cloud of birds dropping dead out of the sky, and the only thing remaining is crystal clarity and pleasure

does that even happen? I must be lost in my mind pretty deep because I never reached that point.

sounds like a moment of peace I may never attain

>>144397

>does that even happen? I must be lost in my mind pretty deep because I never reached that point

Yeah, it's one of the major things that meditation provides. In Buddhism for example there are listed a standard of eight dhyanas, the first four are within the realm of form, the next four are when the sensation of the physical body is lost and are called the formless realms, and then beyond these lies the experience of Nirvana.

In my limited experience, the first level unfolds only under the correct circumstances after about 50-80 minutes of meditation practice. I suspect it's something that will always happen naturally, but the more messed up your mindset at the time the longer it will take. Dhyana is probably when the brainwaves make their first radical change, from beta to alpha waves.

Don't feel bad if it hasn't happened yet. It's like benching two plates for the first time. 99% of people aren't going to be able to just walk into a gym and rep 225 like that, it takes time and training first.

I was doing some contemplation on qigong breathing exercises and Taoist meditation today, and it occurred to me that they can be very goal-oriented Should it be even if it can? with a literal physical achievement in mind. There is no separation between physical and spiritual. They are two faces of the same coin. This is unlike many other meditative practices which are usually vague about the goal or are simply direct and open about the lack of a goal.

So what is the goal? Cultivating qi. Lol, enough of that old meme, right? Well, instead of hocus pocus and fairy tales, I'll talk about a different perspective that should be familiar to ordinary experience. A rubber band neither eats or drinks, so how can it exchange energy and how can it store energy as if alive? The storage is its elastic structure which was already built and forces which stretch it put energy into storage. It exchanges energy and snaps back when released from the stretch. If qi is an abstract, perhaps universal, energy, then stretching puts qi into the rubber band. Of course we could just say qi is energy. Vague energy.

So why not just drink a Red Bull for energy? Same thing, right? Well, you could stop here and be done with qigong bullshit, except the human body has a system of rubber bands: the tendons, ligaments, and fascia networks. If these various elastic white tissues are exercised in the right way, they become more elastic and bouncy. When this happens, they can perform more work for less effort, because their structure has changed to be able to store more energy for rebounding. Building up this structure could be said to be part of the long term cultivation of qi, and when we rely on this particular kind of qi to move, we need not eat or breathe as much to gain the energy to move, because we can let gravity and rhythmic flow put energy and movement into the fascia by allowing it to stretch and rebound instead of constant forceful movement, which wastes energy.

Still, this isn't interesting yet, because people already know how to get bouncy. Well, sort of. Sprinters get bouncy legs, but what I am seeing now is that qigong practitioners, martial artists, and Taoists, are exercising elastic systems in uncommon ways and parts of these systems which are often ignored. Specifically, these are the myofascial meridians, which I recently saw outlined by Tom Myers in his Anatomy Trains book. The myofascial meridians are compartments which hold and coordinate chains of muscles, which can be quite long and go from head to toe sometimes. My intuition is now telling me that one of the "original" goals of qigong and yoga was probably to exercise these fascial chains. The Yi Jin Jing and 18 Lohan Hands exercise sets in particular seem geared towards this, but the forms which have been passed down seem a little incomplete or sometimes slightly wrong. Knowledge of anatomy could fill in the gaps if this is the case.

But this is all exercise, what about meditation? I think certain qigong breathing exercises lead up to both more efficient movement and more "effective" meditation. The connection I have just made which is the point of this post is that it is possible to train the core fascia, primarily the deep front line and deep arm lines, such that when relaxed the whole body can move rhythmically on its own accord with breath without willful, forceful engagement of limbs and outer musculature. This is what some qigong practitioners are trying to get in touch with when gently breathing while standing, partial squatting, and circling the hands in front of their torsos. This allows one to become sensitive to the deep fascia and to build more efficient elastic structures deep in the body. One end result "could be" a body that needs less input energy from food to do internal tasks by instead riding waves of elastic bouncing rhythms that originate near the diaphragm. But fascia networks also reach the brain, so long term focus on deeply internal core fascia networks is likely to affect meditation and thinking. Some of this is not just theory for me but firsthand experience. My sensitivity and elasticity is so developed in some places that while relaxed those areas can just bounce and flow around without willful engagement. Becoming a rubber band man means elastic qi does movement more automatically and energy can be saved for other endeavors, perhaps thinking and meditation.

>>144399

>I wouldn't say your brain has to be messed up in order to take longer to enter alpha and lower. Could be a natural consequence of using your brain intensely, for instance

Perhaps "messed up" was a poor choice of words. I mean that the more busy one's mind is, the longer it takes to experience absorption (dhyana). In my experience meditation at the beginning of the day is very pleasurable and it's easy to attain a solid meditative state fast, whereas at the very end of the day so much has occurred that typically my mind is like a whirlpool of endlessly spinning thoughts and fantasies- making it harder to concentrate.

>>144400

I understand what you mean. Meditation is a state of mind that one can have anywhere, performing any activity. Actually while driving is one of my favorite times to work on these things. Often I'll chant or do pranayama breathing exercises while commuting for work. I don't go deep while driving and doing these things, but it still feels good and helps clear my headspace a bit.

>>144406

>do you guys recommend any different mantra to focus to?

Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ is a very popular and highly recommended mantra in Buddhist practice. It's the heart mantra of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. I would recommend looking up proper pronunciation for it though, because most English speakers would probably butcher the sounds. Actually to be fair, pretty much all Asians butcher the pronunciation too.

Bumping from page 25 to save thread and share the following:

https://puredhamma.net/bhavana-meditation

>>149396

I find meditative prayer on the rosary to work wonders on my spiritual and physical health. Pray it everyday. Works better than all that eastern mumbo jumbo

>>149409

>praying to a kike-onna-stick for proteccshun from le toxic boogiemenz

Bet you also voted for orange man who has accomplished precisely dick. Pic semi-related: it's where you're headed no matter what.

>>149436

>expecting some 'Strayan to know more about American politics than an American

[Laughs in lower taxes]

[Laughs in gun rights]

[Laughs in free speech]

Funny enough that "gike on a styck" gave you everything you have you ungrateful degenerate. I'll pray for you.

>>149470

>>149469

>>149443

>>149468

Everyone point and laugh at the triggered /pol/mao!

>>149506

>t. Doesn't realize /pol/ hates Christianity

>>149508

Your rebuttal has nothing to do with anyones elses' posts. Take your Xanax, burgerstan, you need the brain j00z.

>>149508

>t. has never been to /pol/ and thus doesn't realize their animosity towards "LARPagans"

To get back into the habit, it's easier to do in the morning than in the evening when you're worn out mentally. That and it makes your whole day clearer. I'm sure you know about the whole 21 days = habit idea, but you'll also have to prevent your "friends" and "family" from brainwashing you into quitting. Just don't talk to your loser friends about improving yourself, and they should stop having an influence on you when it comes to these things.