Goddodin

Agreed. Also ‘health hacking’ has become such a marketable commodity there is a lot of nonsense out there currently. Spend any time on IG or Twitter and you immediately feel you’re missing out on some great addition to life if you’re not following an influencers contrived daily regime. Often these practices do make you feel good in the short term too; you feel part of the cool gang and some of the techniques do provide a rush of novel sensation to boot. But while they may or may not be harmful, I would say that I know plenty of healthy, active and happy folk in their 80’s and 90’s and none of them are doing this stuff. Nor are they following outlier diets either but who knows, perhaps in a generation’s time the west will be full of jacked no-carb centenarians 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ve spent years waking up at five, doing breathwork, cold showers and then fasting. Stopped all that. These are things I swear by now which come with a solid backing; having eight hours in bed minimum each day. breakfast. drinking within government alcohol guidelines. walking everyday. talking to my wife every evening. wish I’d settled for these years ago. They work.

Hi all, I've been using this method as my main practice for around 6 months, having got to a point with my previous work where I just craved a fresh, uncomplicated change of scene. I have 10+ years of experience in meditation practices and have previously worked with well respected teachers in a pretty consistent manner. So I'm not a total newbie, but I have to confess I am still undecided on this practice even after half a year of diligent application. It is certainly enjoyable and provides some quite pleasant sensations during and immediately afterwards. I have also noted a general reduction in anxiety and depression (these weren't significant anyway) and a slight increase in energy levels. HOWEVER.... I still can't work out if this is a bona fide path with real depths to plumb or else just a neat little trick to give you a lift in the morning. There appears to be energy movement taking place and there appears to be a degree of tranquillity/bliss after the breathing.... but I suppose it lacks the kind of detailed framework I am used to. The internet is a frustrating place to search for answers too, as it seems filled with people blogging about how life changing and amazing it is and this must be true because they've done 4 days of it now and their friends all say they look awesome etc etc SO, does anyone have any balanced, informed opinion on this method? Thanks in advance

Maranatha, god dam motherfucking autocorrect

John main’s Christian meditation; mentally recite Mariana that for 20 mins twice a day. or, ashtanga yoga in style of pattabhi jois. Both simple, clear and effective.

Don’t indulge in self pity. Don’t look for barriers. Don't constantly seek validation from others. If you’ve found something that’s good enough - a practice, a person, a belief system - stick with it. A half decent plan that is aggressively enacted is way better than a load of perfect ones you never fully embrace.

Yes totally agree. I have a similar view. I’ve trained physically since I was 12 or so and a lot of the lessons I’ve learnt there apply with internal practices too; quality over quantity, emphasise safety, consistency over intensity. The above is my go to week day morning routine. Weekends tend to be a stripped back version and if I feel tired or not quite ‘on it’ I’ll dumb things down. Very easy to enthusiastically throw yourself into novel routines which simply aren’t sustainable. plus I think On more subtle levels you need to pace your practices. Too much at once is like a kid winning the lottery; you don’t necessarily have the wisdom to skilfully deal with your new status

I’ve done the latest 10week course so I’m not blundering on with this, guess I just needed some validation of my efforts. My current practice does have a big noticeable effect on energy and mental health but I suppose there s part of me thinking this is too rapid to be authentic. for info, current daily routine is this: 5 tibetans nauli kriya bhastrika x 3 rounds nadi shodana x 6 rounds Wim Hof method x 4 rounds varying practice method brahmari x 7 trataka i then exercise and then have an ice bath, practicing either ujayi or central channel tummo breathing during this. good way to start the day... just wondering about long term unintended consequences

Depending on your goals, I like the advanced yoga practices books or the ones produced by Swami Rama and the Himalayan Institute. They would both advocate a general hierarchy of practice as follows: Some asana to prepare the body (think 10 mins or so) A body scan or similar to become 'present' Some basic pranayama.... both highly recommend spinal breathing which is pretty straight forward and quite subtle. A period of seated meditation - often with a mantra. The So Hum and Ayam mantras are given as universal, non complex options Optional add ons including samyama and self inquiry afterwards, mudras and pranayama refinements during. Both advocate self-pacing - i.e. taking things slowly, listening to your intuition on things. Both advocate a fairly balanced approach to peripheral stuff like diet and exercise etc. Both advocate taking full part in the world.

I have been using the above for almost exactly a year now, and wanted to pass a comment on them here as I have seen them mentioned in passing but not extensively discussed. It is perhaps testament to how much I have got from this approach that I feel slightly guilty writing a 'product review' style post about it, but I'll ignore that and write it anyway! For those that have never heard of him, go here: http://www.easwaran.org/eknath-easwaran.html His 8 points program basically covers several of the main spiritual practices found in many of world's wisdom traditions. I can't be bothered to list them all, so check the link. The bedrock of his program lies in his passage meditation technique; slow, mental repetition of a spiritual passage for 30 mins daily. This seems to be unique (ish) to him, although there are similarities in many other traditions. Compared to what I have previously done, this is a very different approach. It is totally mental, where as usually I had always worked with the body or breath in order to access the mental aspect of experience. It doesn't appear to have as much to do with understanding your direct and current experience, and perhaps has more in common with prayer than meditation, as I understood them. I have to confess i was sceptical at first. It seemed a bit one dimensional and limited, but in practice it has lead to some very quiet states. It is simply quite a pleasant experience to partake of. Perhaps the greatest value though for me has been simply committing to following someone else's rules for a good period of time. I have been able to let go of a lot of my concerns and anxieties about these things and just focus on ringing out maximum depth from these practices as written. Anyone else used these before?

...and I like runner11's approach. We'll all have to do that within a generation or so I expect.

My diet is currently good; enough food to sustain my daily activities, not so much that I'm putting on weight or fat. I no longer really like placing restrictions on food stuffs. Anyone who can afford to do that is probably living a somewhat privileged life and should quit any pretensions to the contrary. I have 3 meals and an optional snack, and eat similar stuff most weeks. I do notice that if I eat too much then I feel uncomfortable mentally and physically for the next day or so. Beyond that, I've not really noticed much difference in the various dietary fads I've indulged in over the years. Being vegetarian didn't make me any more peaceful, eating paleo didn't make me fire lasers out of my arse or whatever they think it will do. Spiritually speaking, I tend to agree with the Jesus of the Gospel of St Thomas; 'it's not what goes into a man's mouth which defiles him, but what comes out'. Simplistic perhaps, but IME valid enough. I also like the Bhagavad Gita quote, "religion is not his who too much fasts or too much feats etc etc...." Both seem to be calls towards sensible, uncontrived moderation.

Reading some of the discussions/arguments in the Tony Parsons thread, it occurred to me how quickly spiritual language becomes cliched, and also potentially provides a barrier to understanding. Neo-Advaita is/was refreshing in many ways because it lacked the traditional linguistic garbs of its 'feeder' religions - Hinduism, Buddhism & Taoism. However, even in the short time I've been familiar with it, I'm aware that many of the neo-advaita phrases are starting to sound like the sort of bullshit-bingo you have to put up with at work. Apart from it being slightly irritating to listen to, the chief problem here - imo - is that you can mistake a grounding in the language of a tradition with a grounding in the understanding/experience of a tradition. In the data-knowledge-wisdom stream of understanding more worldly pursuits, this stuff is just the data. You can learn it by route but it can still be pretty meaningless. Neo-Advaita isn't being singled out here, all the others have their own sets of buzzwords and phrases too. I am increasingly thinking that just doing your practice and avoiding trying to equate it to someone else's description of it is the best way forward. Equally I find myself posting this on a public forum, so maybe it's just good fun to talk shit about this stuff too! Penny for your thoughts, Bums.

Yes, this. (Sorry, that was an inarticulate way to reply to a well crafted sentence, but my own use of words is pretty poor!)

that's an interesting point about the limitations of English. As a semi-related point, I often chuckle at the literalist interpretations of the Bible that seem pretty popular at the moment. A good friend of mine holds these views but the translation of the Bible he reads is some modern American-English rendering which strikes me as utter bullshit.

I could have written the first post myself... No tradition for me at the moment, although I remain open to the idea of following one if the 'right one' came along. This used to bother me a lot; I thought my practices had no validity unless I was within a proper tradition, but I have dropped that obsession a little now. Like the poster above, Krishnamurti & some other Advaita teachers were quite key to this, (Douglas Harding in particular) and now largely I am happy going my own way. The one thing I do miss though is the focus and aesthetics of a tradition - I think it may keep me a little more focused than I am now. In terms of practices I keep things pretty safe and just do a mindfulness based practice. Jon Kabbat Zinn desrcibes himself as a non-Buddhist who practices meditation which probably sums me up too.

Reading Balsekar's commentary on this at present - 'A Duet of One'.... It is the most arresting piece of scripture I've read since picking up the Bible as a grown up and realising there was some bona fide wisdom in it as opposed to the fairy tales and spook stories I assumed were there. Not read enough to post any insights or learned comments, perhaps they will come if this thread stays alive over the next few weeks. The first few lines though seem to pretty much cut to the chase of the matter. The 'other' Gita I've read a lot, (Bhagavad Gita) is like a step by step, gradual approach to realisation. This is way more direct, which resonates a bit more with me these days.

It's a very basic one - I got shown it by a (Zen) Buddhist teacher. She didn't really talk about styles or where she got it from, although I know she practiced a style of Taiji, (Chen maybe??? I'm going off memory here though as I never quizzed her on it). It works along the lines of bringing awareness to the body and the breath as you walk - it's kind of a supplementary practice for me so I haven't gone too deep into it. The teacher gave it us as a break from sitting zazen, so I don't think she wanted to expand too much. What are the Xi Xi Hu patterns?

I'm with you on the social anxiety. I would love to do a variety of practices outside - from sitting meditation to my harder, physical exercise, but I tend to bottle out of it... How about learning some not-too-weird-looking practices to ease your transition to practicing outside, (if this is a goal)? I am refining a walking meditation practice at present, it's as simple as it gets and I hope gets me accustomed to being mindful only of myself when I'm out and about. ps early mornings may be our friend...

yep, I am. My challenge is to be consistent with one method, as I have some kind of daily practice pretty much down as a habit for the past couple of years. I'm attending a group to assist with this - it's a Samatha practice from the Therevadan tradition. This thread may actually work well as a daily or weekly check in thing for people.... that kind of semi-public accountability always works well for me.

..not quite, but an interesting selection of spiritual exercises and practices drawing from all the world's traditions. Not Taoist per se, but we're an eclectic bunch here and some may find these interesting. http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/chart.php

I like Deng Ming-Dao's book's. Aphoristic, which lends itself to daily reading, and insightful without being too 'out there'. Good stuff...

catalogue??

I do it each morning. It's 10 mins or so well invested. I usually do it as a prelude to sitting meditation. You can also do it informally throughout the day when you feel like it. Does all the stuff you say it does...