This post is helpful because it is very specific about some types of meditation, use cases, and benefits, in a fairly short space. Thanks for putting this together!
I used to find meditation frustrating and boring, and didn’t feel like I was getting anything out of it, because it didn’t feel like practicing hard at something. One thing that had to “click” for me before I could put up with any meditation at all is that you’re practicing a behavior you want to be able to do at other times. (That may seem obvious, but it wasn’t to me.) In particular, one skill almost all kinds of meditation seem to train is the skill of redirecting your own attention without getting upset, or distracted by the thought of redirection. (I should mention that I had this click moment during a conversation with you.) So the “easiness” of the experience is the whole point—you’re practicing redirecting your attention without expending effort.
In other words, meditation teaches you a viable strategy for “don’t think of an elephant.” This can be very useful in real life if the “elephant” is something you’re worried about but can’t do anything about (or aren’t thinking productively about), like if you’re waiting for the outcome of a medical test and want to get on with your work in the meantime. Or if you’re mad at your friend because of something they said but also need to do your math homework. Getting your brain to think about “don’t think about that” is a skill most people have already, but getting your brain to think about the thing you actually want to think about is hard. Meditation can help you do that.
I used to find meditation frustrating and boring, and didn’t feel like I was getting anything out of it, because it didn’t feel like practicing hard at something.
Interesting, meditation does feel to me like practicing hard at something, and did from the very beginning. Even if that something is just sitting still and doing nothing and not getting up to do all the things that I’m constantly remembering I should do. It was hard.
This post is helpful because it is very specific about some types of meditation, use cases, and benefits, in a fairly short space. Thanks for putting this together!
I used to find meditation frustrating and boring, and didn’t feel like I was getting anything out of it, because it didn’t feel like practicing hard at something. One thing that had to “click” for me before I could put up with any meditation at all is that you’re practicing a behavior you want to be able to do at other times. (That may seem obvious, but it wasn’t to me.) In particular, one skill almost all kinds of meditation seem to train is the skill of redirecting your own attention without getting upset, or distracted by the thought of redirection. (I should mention that I had this click moment during a conversation with you.) So the “easiness” of the experience is the whole point—you’re practicing redirecting your attention without expending effort.
In other words, meditation teaches you a viable strategy for “don’t think of an elephant.” This can be very useful in real life if the “elephant” is something you’re worried about but can’t do anything about (or aren’t thinking productively about), like if you’re waiting for the outcome of a medical test and want to get on with your work in the meantime. Or if you’re mad at your friend because of something they said but also need to do your math homework. Getting your brain to think about “don’t think about that” is a skill most people have already, but getting your brain to think about the thing you actually want to think about is hard. Meditation can help you do that.
Interesting, meditation does feel to me like practicing hard at something, and did from the very beginning. Even if that something is just sitting still and doing nothing and not getting up to do all the things that I’m constantly remembering I should do. It was hard.
Hard as in effortful, requiring willpower, &c.? Or just hard as in you were trying to do something & weren’t good at it yet?
Because the “click” moment for me was realizing that meditation could be in the second category but not the first.
Both. I think we’re different in that way.
:| Maybe this is part of why meditation is so hard to talk about and conffusing to read about.