Faking Mindful Meditation with an Eyemask and Ear Plugs
Sunday 20 April 2008 - Filed under health
Yesterday, my brain was fried from a weekend of coding. Saturday went great, Sunday just dragged on. At the end of the day I hadn’t really accomplished much more other than confusing myself further on Cocoa development so I decided to take a break and catch up on my untended RSS feeds. And that’s when I came across the talk below on mindful meditation.
I’ve dabbled with relaxation techniques, particularly the “relaxation response” as something offering the full benefits of meditation without any religious overtones. As Dr. Kabat-Zinn mentions in the video, we all have this expectation that it’ll sharpen us with a “samurai mind” that cuts through the clouds with infinite clarity when in fact it should really about “doing nothing” just as it’s advertised.
To make a long story short, I was tired and exhausted so I decided to give it a try, when I had the time which I quickly realized was never. One of the problems with meditation is falling asleep if you are sleep deprived. I can definitely raise my hand to that. So I decided to just bust out a nice set of ear plugs and something to cover my eyes with an eye mask (from a flight I was on) and just quietly lie down pushing away all thoughts like slowly turning down a stereo’s volume.
Today I woke up pleasantly surprised and refreshed on so little sleep. Let’s see if I can do it again tonight! 
2008-04-20 » baron
20 April 2008 @ 11:04 pm
The best meditation is thus: zoning out in front of the TV. You won’t fall asleep, there is always something on, and you can be brainless in perfect intervals.
Ive never been very good at meditating. I think it’s because deep down I like all the thoughts racing through my head.
you’re lucky. Might check out that first book presented in the youtube vid. Thanks.
8 December 2008 @ 12:54 am
That’s great that you got rest but that’s not meditation. Zoning out in front of a TV is not meditation either.
For it to be considered meditation, there must be an element of mindfulness.
8 December 2008 @ 1:30 am
That’s great that you got rest but that’s not meditation. Kristen, zoning out in front of a TV is not meditation! Not even one bit!
Unless you have a strong element of mindfulness, it’s not meditation.
He made a lotta important observations at 30m into it and that’s the kinda attentive, mindful but nonattached observations that you gotta make yourself for it to count as mindfulness. Eventually things get peaceful and quiet down NATURALLY but with full awareness. THAT’S meditation and THAT’S the kind of development that will give you the benefits you want from meditation.