(Keep in mind I’m not a guru or expert, this is just what I’ve learnt and I’ve struggled a lot with meditation)

1 - You can’t rely on others to give you the practice you need. This is without a doubt the most essential advice. We all have our own preferences and in reality meditation is like any other hobby, but nobody can show you the practice you need. Think about what you really want from a practice and start from there.

2 - there are practically an infinite amount of meditations as there are an infinite amount of places to concentrate the mind. And there are meditations you wouldn’t even expect such as praying. Next time you’re meditating, sit in a silent room and take notice of what your mind naturally gravitates to, and wants to focus on, it might not be what you expect!

3 - take any kind of meditation advice at arms length, even this post, especially when it comes to certain practices. When somebody shows you “the way” it is not really “the way” for you. Maybe you try out their advice and if it doesn’t work, move on.

4 - meditation/buddhism and other spiritual practises are very easy to get confused by, as there are many contradicting ideas and practises. Just refrain to step 1 when delving into this stuff. A lot of it can be useful but a lot of it can confuse and frustrate us. Just be wary and mindful of the information you’re consuming.

I hope I just saved you a lot of money and time. Happy meditating ❤️.

We are seeking adult participants who regularly practice meditation and/or have previously used psychedelic substances.

This study aims to investigate how regular meditation practice and/or psychedelic use influences beliefs, cognition, and well-being.

Would you like to participate?

Email: [BeliefsCognitionStudy@liu.se](mailto:BeliefsCognitionStudy@liu.se)

You will receive an automatic email containing a link to the participant information sheet and questionnaires.

What does the study involve?

The study is conducted entirely online. Participation takes approximately 35 minutes.

You will be asked to:

• Complete questionnaires about your mental health, substance use, experiences, and beliefs.
• Complete two cognitive tasks involving looking at pictures.

What counts as a regular meditation practice in this study?

A regular meditation practice is defined as having practiced formal meditation for at least 20 minutes per session, at least 3 times per week during the past 12 months, OR for a total of at least 52 hours during the past year.

Compensation?

No compensation is provided.

Ethics approval number: 2026-04680-01

Principal investigator: Rebecca Böhme, PhD

Posted with permission of moderators. :)

Like as soon thought comes i should move my attention to present or should i acknowledge that thought is arising and stay there and do not move?

Simply recognized you are. Before your pain points. Before your personality. Before your performative self.

Like flipping a switch. No dramatic effect. Just turning on the light that you are.

I’m thinking about starting hour-long meditation sessions, and I’m curious what people who meditate for that long actually experience. What does it feel like as you get deeper into the session? Do you notice changes in your awareness, thoughts, emotions, body sensations, or your sense of being present? I’m also curious about what people notice outside of meditation after practicing consistently for several weeks or longer—such as changes in stress, focus, emotional reactions, sleep, or their general sense of awareness. I’m not looking for anything mystical or a guaranteed outcome—I’m just curious what the experience can realistically be like over time and what I should expect as a beginner doing longer sessions.

Hi, I’m new to the sub, as a foreigner myself, I speak English as a second language, I do my best to share my journey.

I always had health issues when I was a little kid. I was raised by my grandparents; they spent lots of time taking care of me. About many years ago, my health suddenly declined, and it got way worse. At the time, my grandparents were both in a bad position, and suddenly COVID happened; I lost my grandfather that year, and my grandmother passed away a year later. During all that time, I was trying my hardest to take care of them, while my mother was busy doing night shifts to support the family.

Long story short, my body is constantly having trouble, such as eczema, cold feet, cold hands, digestion problems, headaches, body shaking for no reason and lastly, I can’t even sleep. It’s like the entire body is out of order. I went to the doctor many times and nothing has improved; all the medications are pretty much useless at this point.

I was introduced to meditation fairly young; my mother also had trouble sleeping and meditation does help her. I wasn’t into meditation mainly because of the religion stuff. In the Mandarin-speaking culture like ours, meditation is from Buddhism; basically, you have to go to a chapel(more like a meeting house) to learn. They even have classes from the beginner to the finest. I rejected it at first because I don’t like religion, which feels like a cult; I didn’t feel comfortable with it.

Eventually, I did give it a go, because what’s more to lose at this point? At the beginning of my journey, I’m sure like many people, I didn’t feel a significant difference, but my conscience kept telling me to stick to it. I do feel like my body is slowly improving, but I can’t explain it specifically. And a year or two had passed; suddenly one day, my head was struck by a beam of light, and it was hard to describe. I constantly have this weird vibration on the top of my head; the view from the head, when my eyes are closed does seem “brighter”, if that makes sense.

Another year later, I started doing Padmasana, which is cross-legged sitting but at a more difficult angle. This might be the most difficult thing I did in my life. Looking back on it now, I have no clue why I did it. Padmasana was frustratingly difficult; it’s insanely painful and my entire body ached. I barely walked properly for like a month(worse to come later). Once again, my conscience kept telling me to try and I never gave up once.

At the very end of that year, during the meditation, something from my lower back snapped. I had the most painful experience EVER. I literally couldn’t move at all. It’s like the body trying to reposition from the inside; sounds insanely freaky. I happened to locate a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor who helped me all this time. It appears to be my “Qi”(氣) trying to go through some certain areas; that explains the reason I suffered eczema all these years along with cold hands/feet with dripping sweat. All the moisture was stuck from the inside; it’s like the pipes got clogged, no wonder the body was out of balance.

So far, at this point of my journey, it became insanely difficult, because every time I meditate, It’s like jumping into a pool; the whole body is soaking wet. I also felt the cloud on my shoulder just vaporise. This procedure didn’t just happen for a day or two; it’s been a month! Not to mention, now and then, other areas of my body could start to ache; it’s unpredictable. From the Chinese Medicine standpoint, the meridian of the body reflects the symptoms. If the organ has problems, certain meridians could ache. This is the sort of thing I have to deal with.

So far in 2026, I'm happy to say my body is doing fine but still isn’t perfect. Right now my middle finger hurts, which reflects that the heart/neck area could possibly have issues, and it’s recovering. The beam I mentioned earlier is the key to meditation. It’s helped you improve both mentally and physically. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable and hurts, and you need to make a breakthrough. From my personal experience, the cloud on the shoulder is very much the remains after the transformation. It’s like ashes after the fire went out; you need a deep clean; it’s all part of the purifying. 

As I’m sharing this, I’m sure many people won't believe what I've gone through. Some people might call it superstitious, because the stuff I mentioned isn't mostly physical and can't be seen or reached. But what I can say is this, meditation did save my life, and I can’t truly explain how. It guided me to a better lifestyle and helped me make better decisions. It's like every time you hit an obstacle, it will guide you to a better solution. Once again, I can't explain how but it does work. I’m truly grateful I’m here right now; there was a time I honestly didn't think I would make it. I’m very likely to run out of medication and die from total exhaustion. 

Thank you for reading.🙂

I started meditating about three months ago and decided to take it seriously and practice consistently, specifically mindfulness. I finally think I understand why people do it. For so much of my life, I feel like I've spent an enormous amount of time inside my head, and it's caused me so much mental struggle and anguish, including severe depression and anxiety, which I won't even get into.

Anyway, over the last three months, here's something interesting I've noticed: there's this quiet state of awareness that I can momentarily experience. It doesn't last very long before I'm lost in thought again, but I can briefly access it a few times during meditation. It's almost like a quiet space where thoughts pop up and appear in the present moment. This has led me to so many questions.

Without thought, I can sort of focus my attention on things. I can watch my thoughts, pay attention to the feeling of my shirt against my skin, focus on my breath, or listen to a sound, all without the usual internal chatter.

Here's what I'm wondering:

From a secular point of view, what is this awareness that allows me to direct my attention toward things? Is that what people call the self? And is the ego just this false sense that random thoughts are me?

I'm trying to understand all of this from a secular perspective, but it's all so confusing.

TL;DR:

• Where do thoughts actually come from?
• What is it that allows me to observe my thoughts? (looked this up and it says metacognition)
• What's beyond the observation itself?
• What else is there to explore in meditation? Do I just keep watching my thoughts? I'm not sure what other insights I should be looking for or what to do next.

My thoughts can be absolute random nonsense. I've also noticed that throughout the day, they're usually very, very negative. (no wonder I've depressed my whole life.)

I found myself crying, almost uncontrollably, the other day.

I had to pack up & leave work.

The things being… revealed (? I don’t know if that’s the correct word) are astounding.

I’m amazed at some of those things; ashamed at others.

I’m 47 years old; I find it incredibly humbling to be in this degree of conflict… mostly with the people I love the most, and mostly because of my… shortcomings.

What a gift meditation is; a sort of doorway to another life.

Hey y’all!

TL/DR

I’m not good at meditation, so I need tips getting g through three weeks of terrifying radiation (45 minutes per session)

Detail:

I went to my radiation simulation, where they create a mold of my face. Let me tell you, if you are claustrophobic which I am, radiation is a really bad experience. They make a mold of your face, then every day for up to 45 minutes, your head is pinned down onto the table with this mask covering your face and you can’t move a muscle. I nearly had a panic attack just during the simulation. It took me three hours before my heart rate was normal, I felt like I ran a 10k and it was just 10-15 minutes on the table. Anyway, they prescribed me Valium, which I’ll be taking daily during radiation.

Radiation will be every day for three weeks, and at least for now, that will be the end of the treatment unless anything shows up again.

It’s going to be a really bad three weeks, right now I’m panicking about how I’m going to get through it. But I’ll figure it out. Wife is coming to hospital with me every day, but she can’t be in the room with me.

I need some tips on how I can use meditation to get through 45 minutes of one of my worst fears for 15 days in a row. Any help you can offer would be great. Thank you in advance!

​

Apologies for the extremely long post. I am in a very helpless situation, my whole life is ruined and all of it can be traced down to me not being present moment as a solution. And idk how to shorten this any further, i would really appreciate it if someone can take the time to read it and answer all my questions.

Negative thoughts are easy to recognise and drop/let them pass by. but

I would like to know about the "neutral"seeming thoughts that occupy my brain all day. I could give a few examples. I was doing dishes, but I was thinking about a park that I might want to go to that day, what I would find there, why I should or shouldn't go, whom I should go with, etc. and my mind wasn't paying attention to anything in the kitchen while doing those dishes.

I was showering, and all I was thinking about was how to get "meditation" right, what kind of questions I should post to get the answers I am looking for, and analyzing what I had already read so far about it. but the whole shower went by as a blur. I didn't pay any mind to anything on my body or in the washroom. If I accidentally get cut somewhere without knowing, I wouldn't know for many, many days.

In this way, I keep replaying old conversations with people and re-experiencing those emotions, planning every future conversation, etc,etc. And I never, ever pay attention to what's actually in front of me in real life.

I could go from point A to point B and return. My roommate would ask if I had noticed whether the vegetable stall..which was on the way...was open today. Now, it's a standalone shop and somewhat isolated, so it's actually quite prominent to the eye. But no, I wouldn't have noticed it even while passing right by it because I was thinking about something in my head. Even if I actively try to pay attention to what's in real life by telling myself to focus on the real world, the thoughts stop flowing for 10 to 15 seconds, but I just don't "take in" the information. It's like listening to a foreign language that I don't know, but with images. I look at things, I look at that vegetable stall....but I won't "take in" the information about it. It's as if the information stopped right outside of me and never entered my brain... so this experience feels pretty terrible. It's like looking at a room filled with letters from a foreign language everywhere, just slightly prettier than what that sounds.

So, how to approach this? Am i getting this whole "being in the present" right.

To be honest, I don't know what to focus on in real life. There are so many things at once in my field of vision. Everything is mundane because I see it every day. Some things are displaced from their usual position, but that displacement doesn't really register in my brain unless it's drastic. So, I pretty much have nothing that catches my eye most of the time, and I end up overwhelmed by everything, not knowing what to focus on,so I just don't focus on (or absorb information from) anything.

what runs through your brain as someone who lives in the present while doing mundane, regular tasks that don't require active thinking? Like brushing your teeth or walking from your room to the kitchen...what do you observe? What makes you observe that specific thing? Is it a thought that prompts you to check whether the vegetable stall is open or not when you are near it? Like, what makes you remember to take in that information?

When doing a task you have already done a few times, or a few thousand times, what exactly do you feel present about in that moment? You might have brushed your teeth thousands of times before.......do you still focus on how the bristles are moving every time and how much pressure they are exerting? What exactly does being present look like during an activity you have grown used to? On a path you have already walked more than 100 times, what do you observe?

I could watch a pretty bird on the way to the grocery store and it just doesn't register in my brain most of the time that I did. so i wouldn't double down on it and observe it any further. but i wanna get there. i want my brain to catch things and focus on them instead of looking at it like a foreign language.

Also, I deal with severe sleep issues: anything can wake me up, and I can't fall back asleep. Every time I have meditated more on my tactile or auditory senses for a while, those senses became heightened, and I found it even more difficult to fall asleep. So, I wouldn't want to focus much on those. I want to stick to vision. At any given moment, there are a limited number of smells you can smell, tastes you can taste, things you can touch, temperatures, etc.; but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of things to focus on visually. How do you know which one to choose? How do you train your mind to actually pick something valuable instead of picking nothing at all? I am very spacey in real life, and nothing I see registers in my brain. I would really like some advice on this specifically.

This is entirely nose-based, no "out through the mouth" required. Just breathe how you usually would, but every time you exhale through your nose, slightly keep your lips apart (you don't have to open it wide). And every time you inhale through your nose, just keep your lips closed until you breathe out again.

Not sure if this is original or not, but give it a try and see if it works for you.

I had a really strange realization today. I feel like I suddenly became more connected to my actual senses instead of constantly reacting to everything through my thoughts and fear.
I watched a horror movie, and normally I would get caught up in the fear. But this time, I noticed the sensations and atmosphere without immediately becoming afraid. It felt like I detached from the reaction and simply observed what I was experiencing.
It almost feels like I tapped back into a more natural way of sensing things—being aware of the energy/feeling of an experience without automatically becoming it.
I don’t really know what to call this or what changed. Has anyone experienced something similar?

Im interested to hear what your personal dos and donts are for meditating? For example “stop meditating if you can’t stay awake” “never meditate laying down” “never skip a day”

I’m also interested in what you allow yourself while meditating? Are you intent on keeping your focus on one thing and not having any other thoughts or do you allow yourself to go off into thought as long as you’re aware of it? Do you allow yourself to quit a session half way though and under what circumstances?

Anything else worth sharing along these lines?

I’ve been meditating as regularly as I can for 6 months now. This is at least 20 mins every single day. With the time constraints of a busy life, this is as much as I can do some nights and that’s okay. It’s been working for me.

Over the past few months I’ve seen some massive changes in myself and I just wanted to share them with you all, I’m hoping someone that might be struggling will see this and be motivated to meditate as well.
I never used to have the motivation to go to the gym consistently but I’ve been doing it for the past 4 months. My brain works a lot quicker, I’ve noticed this more at work. I’m just faster and more accurate. I don’t get as stressed out at work as I used. I’m reading a lot faster, my understanding of concepts I previously struggled with is a lot faster too.

I’m a lot less socially anxious, I don’t take most things personally especially when I mess up at work or have a disagreement with my friends. I feel more empathetic towards people, I actively try and understand things from another persons point of view instead of making snap judgments. I’m a lot kinder to myself as well, more forgiving when I mess up and as someone who used to deal with self hatred and low self esteem I think I genuinely love myself now.

I’m a lot happier too (not all the time, I still struggle with depression, feeling directionless, wanting to self isolate). I drink way less, I don’t feel the need to drink in social situations. I used to vape, I’ve cut that out completely and I can’t say it was a struggle.

Meditation has also changed my beliefs on the nature of our reality and how things truly are. Im still working it all out but im going in the direction of non-duality right now and it just feels right in my bones. Not sure how to explain it.

I think the only down side to meditation that I’m experiencing right now is feeling more comfortable in my own company. I find I prefer being alone, reading, knitting, working out which has put a bit of a strain on my social life. (Also having friends that like to drink a lot and not enjoying drinking anymore doesn’t help)

So if you’re reading this and need a reason to just start, please do! It’s genuinely life changing.

I have been spiritual for many years and have tried to meditate throughout my journey. Meditation has always been the hardest most challenging part of my spiritual development. I am going to share something very vulnerable that I haven’t really shared before.

What is interesting, is yes, I am diagnosed with OCD, but it does not affect my life nearly as much as it did when I was a kid. I am able to brush off my intrusive thoughts and go on with my life, even during other parts of my practice like divination and spell work, and the only thing I cannot shake is intrusive thoughts during meditation and visualization. As soon as I start meditating, it starts off alright, until about one minute in, I will be hit with either violent “vision” of my greatest fears ( hurting children, animals, the people I love) or voices saying “I am (insert horrible thing)” or names of evil demons and beings that I’ve heard in random conspiracy theory / religious videos when I was younger.

No, I do not believe I am being spiritually attacked. I know I am spiritually safe. But the fear of potentially summoning or invoking the names being repeated in my head or becoming the fears I see is what causes me to feel this extreme fear in my heart and jolts me awake from my trance and unable to keep trying.

I am posting this here because I feel called to, but also to see if anyone else has ever suffered with this, and how they overcome it, and anyone’s advice if they have it.

Thank you so much. Literally wouldn’t wish this hardship on my worst enemy.

i’ve always wanted to become a less stressed, more down to earth person who kinda lets life take them as they go. And i’ve always been this super anxious, over thinker who thinks every decision matters a little too much. With picking university stress and social stress i’m super wiped and nervous all the time.

I tried mediation a few months ago but i didn’t stick to it and now i really want to, but im not sure how.

I would always sit in my bed back against my headboard and wear noise canceling headphones with nature noises in the background and try to meditate for about 5 mins.

I don’t know if that’s the best strategy and i don’t know what the most effective way is for most, like what would happen with me is if feel super stressed the entire day, and only after i meditate at night i feel relaxed, then it repeats. I want to feel calm and less stressed throughout the entire day, but i have classes and a bunch of stuff.

If someone could just give me a routine or a simple way to start and actually stick to it that would be amazing!

I have a question about the connection between musical practice and meditation. I play classical guitar and practice around two hours a day. A lot of practice (at least when I'm doing it right) is repetition and intense focus on specific movements. E.g., Repetition of a right-hand finger pattern (arpeggio) while intensely focused on tone, dynamics, etc. Or repetition of an eight-note left hand movement while intensely focused on fingertip positioning relative to the string/frets and how the hand moves from one position to another. When I am practicing particularly well, I will "fall" into a flow state and lose track of time.

When I hear people talk about meditation, it seems like there are similar mental activities happening - concentration on a focal mantra/image/thought, ideally the exclusion of extraneous elements, and achieving an altered state of consciousness. Does any of this sound legit to you? Can musical practice be a form of meditation, or is there something that makes meditation uniquely different?

Thanks in advance.

Basically what the title said. This is very weird and disturbing, I'm curious if anyone has insight on this because I really can't find anything online.

I'm still mostly a beginner when it comes to meditation.

So, I quit alcohol 60 days ago. I am also living alone for the first time in the mountains lol. It is a brutal shift and the winter is coming. I also am newly single.

I haven't had depression in years, and it showed up, rightfully so, in this moment of my life.

It's quite honestly pretty intense - overall super low mood like the floor, my belly has a pit in it and i lose my appetite. I am seeing a therapist and a naturpathic doctor (I actually am a functional medicine practitioner so I obsessed over my levels and ultimately just have low norepinephrine output and my thyroid is out of range at the moment)

Regardless, I just started to run again and move my body. I am starting to sit in meditation again, but it is VERY challenging

Sometimes sitting alone with my thoughts makes the depression worse, because the thoughts are anxious and hopeless so my body will just immediately react.

However, I "got out" of this last time via meditation lol. I ultimately surrendered deeply to the sensations and feelings and just woke up normal one day and had a solid season of normalcy.

But it is back again and idk how do that again lol so looking for advice <3 Sometimes I think I should move or be somewhere warm, but some part of me feels that is wrong and not entirely true. I tend to look at depression as a spiritual experience, I know there is some deep work I have to do with myself at this time- I tend to attach to lots of things in the world and it felt very much my calling that I needed to spend some time alone.

P.S. I am not in any danger or concern

Around 20 min into meditation, my top leg will start to go numb in my foot and up to my shin. Around 25-30min, everywhere for my foot to my knee is completely numb. There were a couple of rare instances where the numbness went away, but this is not the norm. I sit in the position pretty comfortably everywhere else. I have been meditating for about a year now, but only started sitting in full lotus two weeks ago.

Before meditating, I take a hot shower, do a pigeon stretch on each leg for 40 sec , and do the butterfly pose with two books in between my feet for 60 sec. I have read that this numbness is harmless and that you can just sit with it, but I am not sure of this. Do any of you have advice on what I should do?

i've been doing this for years. i know lots of methods during practice. but it feels so boring now. i think i need to read some material to motivate myself. what books on meditation do you guys like?

I wonder if there are any podcasts for meditation that provide space sounds in the background. I want to feel like im floating in space or even sounds like a waterfall to give you the feeling of being in open nature. I love the idea of being out in nature with the sun shining in the morning with birds chirping and would like to know if there are any meditation pocasts that can replicate that feeling. Let me know if you have heard of this or something similar :))

So I've started to meditate recently (about 10days) So I use a timer usually(20min) But one day I decided to increase that by 5mins and just before the time was completed (about 2-3mins) I felt that some kind of waves are going through me, it felt good Now i am curious, what was that? Anyone else here feels same?

When we are in deep sleep, we feel relaxed. Meditation gives that same feeling. So if it just gives relaxation why is it that Siddhartha Buddha or Buddhists give so much respect to it and make it their life to just do meditation and chase that relaxed state?