开云体育

so, the advice i would?give?for useful practices now (more and more i tend to avoid the word "spiritual" because it implies a dualism, spiritual/material, that i think does not exist) would be no different than the advice i would have given before i came out here this time, which is to start a daily meditation practice. this is where all of this began for me and it continues to be the most consequential change i have ever made in my life. i started meditating more or less exactly three years ago, summer 2019, because at the time i was experiencing a real issue with anger responses. when i started back then i picked up a book (in my case i got the audiobook) called the mind illuminated, by an american neuroscientist and buddhist practitioner named john yates. buy a book or don't buy a book, the basic technique that i used to begin with was simply watching the breath. so, for 45 minutes every morning before i did literally anything else, i sat on a cushion in the so called lotus position, which isn't necessary, but i find it useful because it provides good bodily stability and helps to keep the back straight, which seems to be a critical thing, and i focused on the physical sensation of breath entering and exiting my nose. breathing normally, and calmly through my nose. from time to time (very very frequently at first) my mind would begin to wander. as soon as you notice that happening, just bring your attention to the physical sensations of the inbreath and outbreath. when i started i kept my eyes closed during meditation, which was helpful because it reduces the potential for distractions, though now i do so with my eyes open. find the way that works best for you and do that. when i started, i made a commitment of one year, i would do it every day for one year and if by that time i didn't notice any improvement it seemed i could safely discard the practice. but it only took maybe a week or so before i started noticing profound changes. seriously, at the beginning, the impact is profound, and this can be a problem for some people because that profundity starts to go away and it starts to seem very everyday. that's actually a good thing, but as humans we tend to gravitate toward the extraordinary and we want to cultivate that and preserve that. so my advice is try not to have any expectations and definitely resist the impulse to seek out extraordinary experiences, because that in itself is a kind of a trap.?