/lit/ - Literature

>>12530768

>But I'd love to speak with someone who has practiced mindfulness or meditation and became a happier person because of it, so if you have any experience, I'd love a short description of how your life began to change after you began meditating (what were the first signs you noticed, has it helped in other areas, e.g. concentration, relationships etc.)

Yeah, sure.

I started going to yoga practice regularly because I wanted more hip flexibility for rock climbing. At first I was a frustrated because 80% of the poses were for stuff that I felt like I didn't need to stretch. I kept going mostly because I was spending two hours a week in proximity to fit girls.

What I notice now is that I have better control of my mental state. It helps me deal with my autistic father without losing my shit. Conversely, it helps me have credible reactions on stage, because I can also lose my shit in character. The cues for emotions are actually based on breathing, which is what vinyasa flows are all about.

One big thing thing, in terms of my happiness, is the community. Since I have autism it's really cathartic to be able to go to a yoga studio and connect with people through movement.

Meditation is a way of cataloging emotions that allows you to have control over more of your nervous system. The people at my gym, actors, the zen motherfuckers at the top of mountains, all these people share an acute awareness of a) their bodily preconception and b) emphatic connection with the people around them.

It's hard to understand it in terms of neuroscience, so everyone resorts to the gay spiritual shit. Someone in this thread said east vs. western thought, which is a interesting way of looking at it. But there are cubicle workers in China who are also clueless, regardless of how individualistic or not individualistic they are. Do it for two years and you'll have your own explanation of what it means, that may or may not involve Buddha statues & tie dye.