I’m going to partially answer your question. The full answer is that I followed the instructions of The Mind Illuminated, and that if you want to meditate regularly I suggest doing the same. And also find a teacher. I lack one and notice the lack; I’ll be seeking one out when I move to Boston soon.
I did both sitting and walking meditation. While sitting, I would pay attention to the sensations of my breath, while also trying to be aware of everything else (sight if eyes open; sounds; itches; etc.). My mind would then wander. When I noticed it had wandered, I would return focus to my breath. This would happen over and over again, something like once a minute.
I wouldn’t describe meditation as modifying my thought patterns, because the (e.g. breath) sensations I put my attention on are not thoughts. My thoughts take me away from them.
I’d usually sit cross-legged, but when that got uncomfortable I would just sit upright in a chair. You should sit in a comfortable but alert position. (Sit upright! Don’t slouch. It seems to me to have a surprising detrimental effect on focus.)
I haven’t tried amplifying emotions. I don’t know of any style of meditation that centers around that, but I hear there’s a wide variety, most of which I know nothing about. I just tried, and wasn’t able to immediately produce a strong emotion in myself (just middling ones).
The subjective effect I experience from meditation usually happens after the fact. (Or appears to; it might just be harder to notice when you’re repeatedly returning to your breath.) It’s a phase transition in my mind. Like I said, I’m rather confused about what’s going on, but I can tell you how it feels. It feels (repeatedly) like I have just woken from a dream; my inner monologue grows quieter; it no longer feels appropriate to say that “I am experiencing this”, rather there are only sensations; the present feels isolated from the past, even seconds ago; objects in sight feel more real than those not in sight. It sounds (and feels) strange, but A++ would experience again.
“waking up from a dream” is a relatively common description as are the other things you describe. As your “mindfulness” improves you will more or less permanently shift into “awake”. With practice the experience transitions from a “psychological” state to a “psychological” trait. Using Kahnemans terminology this transition can crudely be thought of as the balance of power shifting from the “remembering self” to the “experiencing self”
I’m going to partially answer your question. The full answer is that I followed the instructions of The Mind Illuminated, and that if you want to meditate regularly I suggest doing the same. And also find a teacher. I lack one and notice the lack; I’ll be seeking one out when I move to Boston soon.
I did both sitting and walking meditation. While sitting, I would pay attention to the sensations of my breath, while also trying to be aware of everything else (sight if eyes open; sounds; itches; etc.). My mind would then wander. When I noticed it had wandered, I would return focus to my breath. This would happen over and over again, something like once a minute.
I wouldn’t describe meditation as modifying my thought patterns, because the (e.g. breath) sensations I put my attention on are not thoughts. My thoughts take me away from them.
I’d usually sit cross-legged, but when that got uncomfortable I would just sit upright in a chair. You should sit in a comfortable but alert position. (Sit upright! Don’t slouch. It seems to me to have a surprising detrimental effect on focus.)
I haven’t tried amplifying emotions. I don’t know of any style of meditation that centers around that, but I hear there’s a wide variety, most of which I know nothing about. I just tried, and wasn’t able to immediately produce a strong emotion in myself (just middling ones).
The subjective effect I experience from meditation usually happens after the fact. (Or appears to; it might just be harder to notice when you’re repeatedly returning to your breath.) It’s a phase transition in my mind. Like I said, I’m rather confused about what’s going on, but I can tell you how it feels. It feels (repeatedly) like I have just woken from a dream; my inner monologue grows quieter; it no longer feels appropriate to say that “I am experiencing this”, rather there are only sensations; the present feels isolated from the past, even seconds ago; objects in sight feel more real than those not in sight. It sounds (and feels) strange, but A++ would experience again.
There has been (some) research on the hoped-for effects of meditation. http://nonsymbolic.org/publications
“waking up from a dream” is a relatively common description as are the other things you describe. As your “mindfulness” improves you will more or less permanently shift into “awake”. With practice the experience transitions from a “psychological” state to a “psychological” trait. Using Kahnemans terminology this transition can crudely be thought of as the balance of power shifting from the “remembering self” to the “experiencing self”
https://lindagraham-mft.net/the-experiencing-self-vs-the-remembering-self/