I learned some basic vipassana meditation. It's very straightforward and there should be plenty of free information online. I think Shinzen Young was the teacher of the teachers I had--reading or listening to his dharma talks may help explain things. I have not done nearly enough of this even though I know it helps, but I know that it can help immensely. If you consciously try to stop thinking about something, of course it is impossible. Probably makes it worse. But when I sit in breath meditation, what I find happening is that without conscious effort, the little things just slip off your mind. You just...let go without thinking about it or trying which are both counterproductive. You train a lower, more basic part of the brain, underneath conscious thought. (Some definite parallels to martial arts training, there. Helped my focus in karate immensely as well.)
And it actually took very little time for this to start working--and now if I start sitting again, the benefits happen much more rapidly. It's like the sludge of worries and irritations in your brain have a place to be released. Sure, more come and the big things still matter but it's such a relief to let some things slide off. And I notice that when some of that sludge is cleared away, calmness and contentness can bubble up on its own--as if it is always there but can't get past all the rumination and worrying.
The difficulty for me is maintaining a practice, but when I get very stressed I find myself even craving ten minutes of just sitting and doing the simplest breath meditation, and it helps.
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Date: 2008-11-26 05:34 am (UTC)And it actually took very little time for this to start working--and now if I start sitting again, the benefits happen much more rapidly. It's like the sludge of worries and irritations in your brain have a place to be released. Sure, more come and the big things still matter but it's such a relief to let some things slide off. And I notice that when some of that sludge is cleared away, calmness and contentness can bubble up on its own--as if it is always there but can't get past all the rumination and worrying.
The difficulty for me is maintaining a practice, but when I get very stressed I find myself even craving ten minutes of just sitting and doing the simplest breath meditation, and it helps.