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symian — LessWrong

Replying toAssessing Interest in Group Trip to Secure Panamanian Residency [Imminent Rules Change]

symian5y

Assessing Interest in Group Trip to Secure Panamanian Residency [Imminent Rules Change]

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Replying toMeasly Meditation Measurements

symian7y

Measly Meditation Measurements

There has been (some) research on the hoped-for effects of meditation. http://nonsymbolic.org/publications

"waking up from a dream" is a relatively common description as are the other things you describe. As your "mindfulness" improves you will more or less permanently shift into "awake". With practice the experience transitions from a "psychological" state to a "psychological" trait. Using Kahnemans terminology this transition can crudely be thought of as the balance of power shifting from the "remembering self" to the "experiencing self"

https://lindagraham-mft.net/the-experiencing-self-vs-the-remembering-self/

Replying toLaughing Away the Little Miseries

symian7y

Laughing Away the Little Miseries

It is possible to dramatically increase your happiness set-point.

http://nonsymbolic.org/publications

see this video in particular:

https://youtu.be/f7_pROTCz-c

Replying toAn Invitation to Measure Meditation

symian7y

An Invitation to Measure Meditation

Meditation acutely improves psychomotor vigilance, and may decrease sleep need:

https://behavioralandbrainfunctions.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-9081-6-47

The data (currently unpublished) I spoke of regarding the 45min mark is part of a larger ongoing effort to characterize changes that occur to the "mind" as people shift to a different way of experiencing their reality.

http://nonsymbolic.org/publications/

In my own experience as well the 40-45 min phase change is often blurred to the point of being unnoticeable. I'm still not 100% convinced it isn't a priming effect though I think it has decent theoretical support. My simplified explanation is the brain cannot switch modes too rapidly. For example it's easy to get HR up to 180 bpm in the blink of an eye if... (read more)

Replying toAn Invitation to Measure Meditation

symian7y

An Invitation to Measure Meditation

Firstly, I would like to say TMI is a great book and the "interludes" match up well with my subjective experience.

Secondly, the concerns moridinamael mentions are typically not an issue for beginning meditators. Motivation issues usually don't manifest until one has accumulated a number of "insights" which often requires hundreds or thousands of hours meditating. Flat affect can be mitigated by interleaving metta style meditation into the follow-breath-at-nose routine. Anecdotally from some meditation lineages - and from examining self report data from roughly 200 meditation practitioners - there seems to be a bump in meditation quality that happens after 40 to 45 minutes of sitting on the cushion so I would recommend... (read more)