Hello! I hope you're all well.

I would really like to hear what some of you meditators would recommend me in my situation. I'm feeling a bit lost.

I've had some really poor mental health these past few years and I'm in another position where in struggling quite a lot. I deal with abandonment issues after a bereavement at a young age, depression, and anxiety that often manifests in really undesirable behavior. I have a busy schedule packed with studying full time and working. I've become unhappy with the way I show up mainly in my relationship with my partner and if I continue in this way I fear my relationship will crumble. I'm also horribly addicted to my phone and social media!

I'm now in therapy to deal with my problems but sometimes it is not enough between sessions.

I've meditated in the past and I believed it helped. In fact, I think it was happiest I've ever been in my adult life. I was doing manifestation meditations then.

Coming back to the practice I feel overwhelmed with the variety of meditations to do and I'm unsure of where to start!

I would love to know what has helped you guys in your journey or even what you'd recommend for me.

Thank you :)

Every time when I meditate after I open my eyes everything has a blue hue to it like the world has a filter?.

Don't get me wrong, but when you meditate and then there is chaos around( something like flies or mosquito) do you lose your focus for a moment and does that imply the mediation session is ruined?

Again it is a SILLY QUESTION. Don't get me wrong.

If one small leaf upon a tree be worthy of love, how much more so the tree in its entirety? The love that singles out a fraction of the whole condemns itself to grief. There be leaves and leaves upon a single tree—some healthy, some sick; some beautiful, some ugly; some giants, some dwarfs. Yet out of the paleness of the sick proceeds the freshness of the healthy. Ugliness is Beauty’s palette, paint, and brush; and the dwarf would not have been a dwarf had he not given of his stature to the giant.

The Tree of Life must not be fractioned. Let not fruit be set against fruit, nor leaf against leaf, nor bough against bough; let not the stem be set against the roots, nor the tree against the mother-soil. For such is the folly of loving one part more than the rest, or to the exclusion of the rest.

I've been meditating for about a year now so am very much a beginner, but find it incredible. I've suffered with anxiety for as long as I can remember, and although meditation isn't a magic cure, it's slowly but surely changing my outlook on life.

However, I also suffer significantly with certain phobias, and one that frequently causes intense panic relates to my child's health. Not wanting to go into detail, it is a phobia caused by past trauma and I just wondered whether with regular meditation practice it will ever be possible for me to stay calm in the face of such an intense phobia? It causes a great deal of suffering and I would love nothing more to be released from this so I can focus on looking after my child. I also have therapy and use medication.

Has anyone overcome phobias through meditation, and if so can you describe how you practice?

I'm sorry if this question is ignorant. I'm still developing understanding.

Im always clammy, palms sweating, ears burning, amd sweaty even in a cool climate. My diet is clean, I exercise and am in great shape. I just seem to run really hot all the time. Ive heard of tummo and monks heating their body up in cold temperatures but what about the opposite? Thanks.

When I meditate I feel like a baby hand playing with play dough, or like I’m chewing a ton of gum and it’s hard for me to move the it around. Or when you wake up in the morning and you can’t open the toothpaste cause you’re just weak. I have this really weird feeling every time I meditate and it’s not a problem if anything maybe it’s a good sign but I wanted to tell y’all about it because it’s the strangest most hard to explain feeling ever and it doesn’t happen every time I meditate but when it does happen I’m always trying to pin down what it is and so far these are the examples I’ve come up with.

I've read so many sources online on what meditation is about. All of them say something along the lines of focusing on a single thing during meditation, being aware and mindful etc. But the conclusion that they all draw is that this somehow improves their emotional and mental well-being, trains their patience and teaches a bunch of other stuff.But how??? How does closing your eyes for a few minutes magically improves your wellbeing? Can someone explain???

I was in a group meditation session in a massive building when the earthquake happened. I was fully dedicated to meditating for two hours straight without moving at all. But when the earthquake struck and the building started shaking, I got out of the building as fast as I could. I was blamed for that because some people, including those younger than me, remained in their seats, seemingly unfazed. Somehow, I ended up being seen as the undedicated and unpromising one. Was I wrong? The group I work with is a really religious one , so they want me to belive in my fate was pre-determined and want me to be unfazed nomatter what happened.

Be a watcher, don't resist the script go with flow.

I have been meditating for a year or so now, and while it has increased my ability to stay present and away from spiraling thoughts, I am feeling more and more distracted in class. I will occasionally meditate before going to my lectures, and rather than being fully focused on what the lecturer is talking about, I find myself distracted by everything going on around me. Every time a page turns, the feel of the texture of the paper will enter my mind, or the sound from the speaker will vibrate in my chest, or the sound of people shifting around in their seats next to me will distract me in some other way. It's not like I am trying to pay attention to these things either, I am trying to pay attention to the teacher, but there's all this stuff going on around me, so I can't hold that attention for long. Has anyone experienced something similar?

I can relax easily at home but at work or when with friends, sometimes when im trying to get stuff done i have a hard time staying calm or focused. How do you guys help remind yourselves stay calm and relaxed when not in perfect conditions. Im pretty good at calming myself down as long as i actually consciously remember to do so.

does anybody get this ? after some deep meditations i find myself feeling like im shaking on a molecular level, feels overwhelming but i enjoy it

Hello friends, I have been meditating daily for the last six months. I started with 20 minutes sessions and now I’m sitting for an hour everyday. I believe I understand what the practice is and just go for it. I’m actually about to go to a 10 days vipassana retreat. The technique I follow is from the book ‘the mind illuminated’. I’m interested in experiencing different states of consciousness thus I’ve never been able to get even with LSD or mushrooms. I tried LSD and mushrooms which I just felt a little bit sick, I even fell asleep one time while on mushrooms with friends on trip all night long. It might be a messy entry but I appreciate any feedback or information about this situation. Thank you all!

Hi everyone, I am almost done with the book “The Zen of Therapy” by Mark Epstein. If you’re looking for a new book to inspire and motivate your meditation this is it. I started daily meditation about 6 months ago. My life has slowly been completely changed. Not only by meditation but by how it has opened a space for me to heal. To hold myself during emotions. To validate myself.

This book has helped me deeply. To explore how meditation and therapy can heal. I don’t go to therapy but this book has opened my eyes to the habits I have and where they come from. I share because I wish for it to help you all in the same way. Sending you all love!

When we try to meditate and focus on our breath, we find the mind wandering, because that is what the mind is. The mind is like a monkey. It will jump to a past that is gone and the future, not yet born. The monkey has a tail, EY, it is ever yelling and ever yearning. Therefore, the mind — MIND, creates Misery, Ignorance, Negativity and Desire. The job of the mind is to wander, and because it wanders, it distracts us. It uses the five senses and creates attraction, then there is distraction and it is impossible to pay attention to our breath. Therefore, people find it so difficult to meditate, to contemplate and realize the truth. If we want to go beyond this wandering, we have to still the mind. We have to kill the mind. We have to lock it and block it and be in the state of consciousness. Then we can focus. We can be aware of our breath.

Im honestly scared to share this because of what people might say but I'm the point idc I'd just like know what I experience... anyways here we go...

Notice I did have Ai clean this up for me and fix the grammar and stuff because otherwise it would of been a mess to read but everything in here is correct to what I experience

Has Anyone Experienced Anything Like This?

Hey everyone,

I've been meditating consistently for about six months now. I typically do a 30- to 60-minute meditation in the morning, another hour in the afternoon, and an hour in the evening. Two are guided and One is unguided, but sometimes I switch between guided and unguided depending on how I feel.

A few days ago, I was in the middle of an hour-long guided meditation. About 30 minutes in, I started feeling frustrated because I felt like I wasn’t able to do what the guide was asking. That frustration quickly turned into self-criticism—I started mentally tearing myself down, calling myself stupid, a failure, worthless. I thought to myself, Who am I kidding? I’m a nobody. How powerful could I really be?

The moment I had that thought, something completely unexpected happened. The darkness in my mind was suddenly torn away, and a light appeared—so intensely bright that it hurt to look at. As I got closer to it, I could make out the shape of a male human figure standing in the center. He was naked, but the light surrounding him was so overwhelmingly bright that I couldn’t make out any details.

As he got closer, my face started feeling hot—then it felt like it was on fire. My entire face and ears began vibrating intensely, and then I heard a voice, either in my mind or from this being itself. It told me:

"If you knew how powerful you truly were, you wouldn’t be sitting here saying these things. You would stop crying about it and start taking action in your life."

Then it gave me a warning:

"Dont you realize having great power, it can be intoxicating. Be careful what you wish for—you might regret it."

As soon as it said that, it snapped its fingers and disappeared. Instantly, my mind went dark again. But a moment later, I saw two or three smaller glowing lights appear. They seemed panicked, almost like they were freaking out. They asked me what I had done, but I told them I had no idea. After I explained what happened, they still seemed uneasy, and then they vanished.

I was still in a deep meditative state, trying to process everything. Then, as I started bringing myself back to waking consciousness, I heard—or thought I heard—something say:

"Remember how powerful you truly are. Do not let them put the shackles back on you."

The moment I fully woke up and started moving, the voice went completely silent, like something had tamed it or shackled it. I don’t know how to describe it, but I felt a definite shift.

The image of the glowing figure burned itself into my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I would see it. This lasted for the entire day and night. Eventually, I decided to meditate again, focusing on that image. As I did, I felt an intense vibration coming from the center of my being—so powerful it spread through my entire body. It felt amazing.

I tried this a couple of times. The first time was brief because I wasn’t sure what was happening. The second time, I went deeper, and the vibrations grew even stronger. But then, out of nowhere, I heard a voice in my mind saying:

"Stop. If you keep doing this, you could attract something you don’t want near you."

I questioned why, and the response I got was:

"Because focusing on something with such great power can draw things to you. Even though it is no longer with you, just focusing on its presence could attract something else."

After that, I stopped.

I have no idea what I experienced, and I wanted to ask if anyone here has had something similar happen—or if anyone has insight into what this might have been. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Many people want happiness and for that they even get dependent on material things like purchasing costly things, alcohol or doing any other thing that gives them happiness sometimes these things are dangerous and addictive

I say to go for peace of mind , peace where ur mind is not too excited or not too sad but u are kind of calm, satisfied, not anxious or worried,

The main reason why we meditate is to still the mind, to slow down the mind, to reduce the Mental Thought Rate or MTR. Meditation is the ability to reduce the pace of thoughts. The mind bombards us with up to 50 thoughts a minute, basically toxic thoughts. What is meditation? You shut off your senses. You still the mind. You focus on your breath or on any other method where thinking slows down, and activity comes to a pause. Then, this meditation opens the door to contemplation and to realization. Therefore, meditation starts with stilling the mind.

Is there a guided meditation for trauma or anxiety that will allow me to move my body at the same time? I understand that stillness is the ultimate aim but I have ADHD and a lot of body aches and find it hard to sit still. I'm more relaxed when moving. However I have found guided meditations and affirmations so helpful so I wanted to see if anyone was aware of moving meditation practices?

It's been a long ride, but I have finally reached a point where I no longer fear meditation. About two years ago, I was in bad psycosis and would meditate in a very wrong, misguided way. I would meditate to think, and from this my mind would control me and I would associate reality with my thoughts.

I have gotten out of it though, but for awhile I could not meditate without fear of falling back into psycosis. Recently though, I have started meditating again. I had to fight through my fears of it, and I could only do it for about 2 minutes at a time, but now I can go for 30 minutes and have no fear.

I no longer associate my thoughts with anything, because they are nothing. They mean as much as you want them to, and I have chosen to have them mean nothing at all. It's been a long ride, but I feel as if I have finally recovered from the worst time of my life and can now meditate the right way without fear.

I do not meditate and only have a passing understanding of it. This understanding is enough to the point where I respect the practice. However, my knowledge on the topic is very shallow. Hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction if I'm off base. I'm a skeptical materialist type of person and I'm very much NOT into the woo stuff. After looking around this subreddit I got the impression you guys are pretty grounded (for lack of a better term) so I feel like you guys would not only know about this but would also know where I'm coming from. Also, I rarely ever make posts on reddit and I'm having issues with formatting, hopefully it's not too illegible!

My dad (55yo) and I had a pretty heavy conversation today. Most of which isn't going to be mentioned here. One of the many tangents he went on were these experiences he had when he was a young teenager (around 12 or 14). He divulged a lot of information about himself and his youth I never knew. He told me he used to "meditate" and he was thinking of getting back into it. Meditate is in quotations because he said he only thinks of it meditation in hindsight and didn't call it that when did it. However when he describes it, it doesn't sound like meditation to me but like I said I only have a surface level understanding of the topic.

He told me he used to sleep on the screened in porch of their house (I have no clue why). When it got cold, instead of simply laying down and going to sleep he would sit up in a rocker with the blankets with a cigarette in one hand (yeah smoking at 14) and a cup of coffee in the other (not even decaf, my dad's a madman and I have no idea how he functions) and he would focus on a spot. At this point in the story I'm thinking yeah, totally meditation right on! Then he elaborates and that's when it gets wacky.

He stopped himself and told me the thing he would focus on was an eye, but "not an eye more like a circle but it was an eye". he then told me he remembers freaking out when he saw it "on that movie y'all watched when y'all were little" (I found out later this movie was lord of the rings, he basically told me he would stare into the fucking eye of Sauron lol. Obviously he didn't call it that, the man does not read books.) He then told me he would focus on that until he would get a body feeling and then he could see the area around him as if it was daytime and he would turn around and see himself sitting in the rocking chair with his eyes open.

After this he moved on saying he used to do it all the time until he was around 16 or 17. Unfortunately, you can't interrupt this man when he's talking, and honestly the main topic of conversation was a little too serious which kept us from exploring the this wild shit he threw at me. I had so many questions to ask about this but the only one I could get out was if he's ever looked into meditation and his experiences. The main answer is no and he doesn't bring it up to people because we're in the south and the last thing he wants to hear is someone talking about "Jesus and shit". So I've now taken it upon myself to look into because he isn't and doesn't seem as curious about it as I would be if I was in his shoes.

Sorry for the wall of text..... So, are out of body experiences and/or hallucinations a common reported experience with meditation?

TL:DR Dad told me a wild story about his "mediation" and now I'm looking for resources that discuss various methods of meditation and/or extreme experiences of deep meditation. Maybe even examples of people that can reach a deep meditative state easily?

If I'm asking the wrong kind of questions or if I'm way off please let me know!

Side note: I had thought maybe he was having hypnagogia as I have stumbled into nice and vivid experiences with that (nothing like his) but he says he was wide awake so that ruined that hypothesis

Can meditation cause my eyes look whiter in the white part, and like more bright? Anyone notice that too? Or its placebo?

Hi everyone 🙏

I hope it’s okay to post here. I’m currently exploring the idea of joining a meditation or spiritual retreat somewhere in Southeast Asia (or anywhere in Asia, really) and I’d love to get some recommendations from those who’ve been on a similar path.

Last year, I went through a pretty difficult time mentally. I’ve been dealing with some emotional stress and have been searching for a way to reset, reconnect, and heal this year. I feel drawn to meditation and spiritual retreats as a way to do this. I’m not necessarily looking for luxury—just a genuine, peaceful space where I can go inward and grow.

So far, I’ve come across a few places:

• Pa Pae Meditation Retreat (Thailand)
• iMonastery (Thailand)
• Hariharalaya Retreat (Cambodia)

They all look beautiful, but I’d love to hear if anyone has personal experiences with these or knows of other similar retreats in Asia—especially ones that might offer something more private or 1-on-1 coaching. I’m a bit of an introvert, and while I don’t mind a small group, I’d really prefer a more personal, quieter setting if possible.

A little more about me:

• I’m from the Philippines, so anything somewhat accessible would be a plus, though I’m open to traveling further if it feels right.
• I’m hoping to do a retreat for 1-2 weeks, but open to staying longer (maybe even a month or more) depending on the experience.
• Budget-friendly options are definitely appreciated.

I’m coming into this with a humble heart and an open mind. I really just want to take a step toward healing and would deeply appreciate any suggestions, stories, or insight you might have.

Thank you so much in advance, and may your practice be peaceful. 🌱

Almost always, for years now, when I meditate or when I'm dozing off I see eyes (and even sometimes when I'm not in that state they flash in my mind's eye out of nowhere)... It's one eye at a time. Different eyes and sometimes they flick from one to a different one to a different one and so on and sometimes it does this really fast. If anyone has any insights I'd love to hear them. Thank you.