Source
r/Meditation•
bpol

Can any meditators with 10+ years share their journey?

There are a lot of encouraging post here that talk about how their life has changed since they've been meditating 3 months/a year/a few years. I would also be interested in stories from people who have been at it longer :)

I would be interested in everything you have to share, but here are a few points:

  • The general trend (change in eg. attention span)

  • How it changed your life (is there a subtle change or did it also influence a drastic turn at some point)

  • An overview of the lowest points/most difficult periods since you've been meditating and how you overcame them.

Thanks for any responses :)

Posted Feb 10, 2018, 11:39 PM UTC

5232
zkb13•

I started meditating at about 16 or 17 and I am now 26. So maybe not 10 years but close. I have gone through periods where I stopped. I can honestly say that when I am in those periods of not meditating, everything gets worse. From my temperament to ego traps etc etc etc. The periods when I was meditating regularly for a long time, I was much more relaxed and muchhh more in tune with myself and a lot more present. Things didn't worry me as much. I also had a lot more out of body, and psychic etc experiences. Also of interest, when I stopped I got extremely ill. I have an autoimmune disease and I feel like it is less active when I am more mindful.

19
Thiccboii420•

Over the course of roughly 5 years meditation has turned me from a depressed chubby drug addict into a sober, lean and healthy man. I am now at one of my countries (Australia) top universities studying astrophysics. Thats not even going into how much it has helped me grow spiritually, just an example of its life changing power. Dont ever stop meditating :)

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Canlifebealtered•

Well said Brotha

1
mysticyogini•

I began meditating daily when I was 17. I am now 27. I took a year off after going through my kundalini yoga teacher training which was very intense and changed my life.

I began by doing the simple sit and focus on your breath. I experimented a whole bunch but then when I was 19 I experienced some addictions, homelessness and sexual trauma and when I chose to bring one of the abusers to the police I began to meditated 3x per day, ten minute sits. Just focus on the breath. The key was to focus on being in my body. It kept me calm, grounded and sure of myself.

After gradually increasing on one hour sits through just consistent practice and a month studying zen meditation (that was something else), I began doing kundalini yoga and kundalini yoga meditations. I was blown away at how effectively these meditations changed my wiring and how I feel about life and the insights I have.

I have stayed in that lineage for about five or six years now. Oh, I did a year of Toltec training before going straight with Kundalini. The Toltec training was very empowering too. I really enjoyed the meditation part but didn't find the teacher giving the teachings was strong nor giving me the teachings I wanted. The Toltec path is very intriguing and deep and the work I did was definitely transformative just not as deep as I wished. I did the Toltec work and also sitting in silent sits for at least 20 minutes a day during this period where I was homeless.

Anyways. After doing the Kundalini Yoga meditations for just a couple months daily I began to walk differently. After 6 months I walked away from the abusive relationship I was in. After about 2 years of constant practice I stopped feeling broken. At about 3 years I had to pause because I felt like I was in major integration of previous meditation practices (I had just completed an 8 month teacher training program in kundalini yoga while homeless).

I returned to daily meditations with Kundalini two years ago and it again has transformed my life. It always shakes up whats not working. I am currently doing a challenge online to go through the various stages of meditation and its shaking things up drastically. Like my marriage. o.O

Meditation for me, is my rock. It's my orientation. It's the thing that keeps me alive, healthy and well. It's let me develop a solid sense of self, forgive my abusers, forgive myself, trust in a bigger plan in life, helped me understand why things happen and to learn from those things. I would not be here today if it weren't for the meditations that I do. Meditation gave me such a deep connection to my soul that even when I was homeless I could sense a greater purpose in, and even though my past gave me PTSD, anxiety, depression - just to name a few - I have been able to reduce the effects of these things by surrendering to the meditations I've chosen to do. I am now convinced beyond a doubt that our minds are incredible computers and I can program my mind for anything - with the right tools and support. I am also convinced that meditation is one of the best things for anyone to learn - its just about finding which type is the most effective for you.

And one day I want to start a nonprofit to teach kids in schools how to meditate and hold meditation classes! I want to make it easy to replicate in any city. I seriously think the more people who meditate the better our whole world would be and the earlier you start the more wonderful life is. :)

18
quibblefish•

As someeone whose not familiar with kundalini meditations. Can you give s shart rundown on this plese? How to do it and whatnots?

1
mysticyogini•

I do kundalini yoga meditations as taught by Yogi Bhajan. You can just google Kundalini Yoga meditation for insert what you want here to find something, examples: Kundalini yoga meditation for anxiety, kundalini yoga meditation for depression, and google will bring tons up.

Good resources are: Catalyst Yogi on youtube, and the 3HO meditations are a great spot to start. I'm teaching a series right now, but the feedback I've gotten is that the meditations are for more advanced practitioners.

The meditation practice looks like this: Tune in, do the meditation, tune out.

We tune in to align ourselves with the teaching of the lineage, to create a container to protect ourselves and to align ourselves to our inner teacher or guru.

We meditate utilizing specific practices that change the way our energy flows which produces change inside of the way we think, act and feel. Kundalini yoga is designed to create transformation quickly and safely. The practice will utilize asana (posture), mudra (hand position), pranayama (breath), mantra (sound), and sometimes visualization.

Every posture and hand position is changing the way that our energy flows through our body. We change the way we breathe and we change the way we perceive the world. We chant mantra because there are over 1000 meridian points inside of our mouth that directly influence the way our brain works.

We tune out to close the space of this practice.

In kundalini yoga we do the meditations for 40 days, 90 days, 120 days or 1000 days. Why? Because these are the segments under which we establish changes inside of our consciousness and mind. You can think of it like this: at 40 days you've planted a seed. It will grow with the right conditions, or it might not. If you continue for 90 days you've allowed the seed to sprout its roots. At 120 days it's shot through the Earth and is definitely growing. At 1000 days you've reached a certain level of mastery.

That being said, I've done a lot of these meditations where I am complete before 120 days. The meditation is just kind of like "We are done now" in a subtle or not so subtle way. And there are some that I thought I was done with that I go back again and again to do 40 or 90 or 120 days of because I apparently have issues with that particular vibration.

All of these meditations are uncovering certain aspects of our soul by working with a particular frequency over and over, which establishes that frequency as a part of our make-up. The more you practice the more it compounds and changes you as a person because you become more and more authentic to your personal truth.

I think this is really long. I apologize. I get a wee bit passionate about this, which is why I have started blogging about it. o.O

1
Thehealthygamer•

I'm curious if you've ever tried vipassana. I just finished a 10 day retreat and what you said about being blown away by its effectiveness and the results really resonated with me. Before my retreat I could barely drag myself to the cushion for 20mins 3-4x a week. Now I've sat for 1 hour in the morning and an hour in the evening everyday without fail, and with way less resistance.

What you've written about the Kundalini yoga intrigues me. I've done a tiny bit of work with Qi Gong and my energy centers and felt like there was something to the idea of an energy body and different energetic blockages and whatnot but never explored it in depth or with discipline.

I don't want to start mixing techniques before I give vipassana a really thorough evaluation(I'm thinking 5 years of strict vipassana would give it a fair trial). But I would eventually like to explore these other techniques that intrigue me. So I'm curious if you have any thoughts on incorporating kundalini meditation with other types of meditation or comparing it to other meditation techniques.

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mysticyogini•

I've heard really good things about Vipassana, and I've done a day here or there at various retreats, but never the full course. I was rejected when I first applied, and then found Kundalini, and never strayed from Kundalini because of its effectiveness.

You can totally incorporate different practices together if you want. I believe that different meditation styles suit different personalities. I also believe different people want different things out of their practices. Not everyone is going to love the same practice.

I will say this though: Kundalini is a very active meditation practice. It is the most active I've found. When I've done vipassana styled meditations they are a passive style. It's sometimes very helpful to combine active with passive to allow integration.

When I say Active I don't mean that you are doing a lot of external movement. I mean that each meditation has a goal and a specific way of completing that goal that creates change fast. You are doing a lot in the meditations though you don't always feel like you are doing a lot in them (because of the postures, mudra, mantra, etc.). You are actively pursuing a state of consciousness I guess you could say.

Passive meditations are ones that allow what needs to rise into consciousness to rise. Both are doing the same thing, just the passive style is less focused and more allowing you to be and in that being allowing what needs recognition to arise to arise and shifting through that process.

I started with the passive ones for several years. They are great! Then I wanted to shift things faster and with more direction so I ended up doing active meditations. Then I needed to integrate so I went back to more passive meditations. Now I'm back into the active meditations and shaking things up. :)

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mysticyogini•

Oh, I just wanted to mention, that the kundalini does rise in these meditations, however, we do it in a safe and natural way. We do not force the kundalini to rise which can lead to psychotic breaks. It's part of the reason we create a container for the movement of the energy.

As we gain more sensitivity to our inner workings, we can feel the kundalini moving up the spine. For me, it's always happened rather spontaneously, however, I have had for several years now very clear instances of a snake like energy moving up the back of my spine.

The kundalini energy does not need to be forced, nor does it need to be fast. It is usually much safer to move it up slowly as a byproduct of a safe practice. Or you know, under the guidance of a true guru (but how hard are those to find nowadays?).

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GoldenSmoothie85•

What do you mean by “shake up what’s not working?”

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mysticyogini•

I mean, I don't get to ignore what doesn't work in my life. I could, but I mean, why would I? If something is not supporting my best self and changes need to happen it becomes pretty clear in my meditations.

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GoldenSmoothie85•

Thanks for the clarification!

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viborg•

I've been meditating for 20+ years. Around here I'm probably considered a quasi-troll because I tend to have a skeptical attitude towards many common claims. A frequent complaint I see is that I must need to "meditate more" because of my critical attitude. What can I say, I've seen a lot in my time. Maybe the sensitivity on my bullshit detector is a little high, I don't know.

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PsychMaster1•

Being critical by choice is different from being critical out of internal negativity. Ie: why constructive criticism of a thing.

5
viborg•

Definitely! Although I'd argue that much of Reddit tends to have a hard time distinguishing. Of course one's attitude towards criticism probably also tends to be based on how it reflects on one's own point of view, biases, etc. Is anyone truly free of bias?

3
NormalAndy•

I never thought of that! I’m a fan of teaching critical thinking but, for some reason, never thought about the danger of negative criticism masquerading as the constructive kind. I feel stupid!

And, yet again, meditation has some tools to help.

Thanks for the enlightening moment!

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therightamount•

This attitude helps motivate me to meditate. The other attitudes do not. Thanks :).

2
viborg•

Cheers. Trust in yourself.

1
oceanlessfreediver•

What are the typical bullshit you are referring too?

1
viborg•

Dogma, mostly.

1
oceanlessfreediver•

What is the typical dogma ? Not trying to be a PITA here, I am new to this and I guess it could save me some time ^^.

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viborg•

In this subreddit it's vipassana Buddhism aka mindfulness for the most part. In Reddit generally, scientism is a thing. I'm all for applying empirical evidence when appropriate but it is possible to do so inappropriately.

1
eof•

I learned to meditate at 18 years old and have been practicing on and off (more off than on) since, and am now 35.

My practice has rarely been consistent, but when it is, things are much nicer. Specifically, I feel calm and open toward people in conversation. Maintaining eye contact, staying present, these things tend to be much more difficult for me when I have not been meditating. Palpable anxiety and tension in my chest is rare, and when it happens, brief. I tend to eat much healthier, I am much more compassionate to people, and seem to avoid behavior that leads to guilt.

There have been long term effects as well, but they are subtle and sometimes hard to seperate from personality traits I've developed anywhere in my life.

I rarely get very frustrated, if I do, it is almost always at inanimate objects or myself; like when struggling to find a programming bug or getting 360 no scoped in a video game.

I almost never have anger toward people, I find it easy to blame myself for the problems that arise in my life, even if the realization is hard to swallow.

I find it easy to love people as they are, I see myself as so flawed, but still relatively decent -- its easy to see that virtually everyone is just doing the best they can with whatever illusion they are caught up in -- because I have seen without a shadow of a doubt that it is all an illusion, and I am caught up myself. I hear stories of liberated ones, but the rest of us are just mucking through various densities of muddy water. How can I possibly judge their reaction to their own internal world?

I've also struggled with marijuana and tobbaco addiction/abuse, as well as spent a good amount of my life just drinking too much, drinking lots of caffeine, etc. So certainly not all roses.

If this is something you do plan on spending a lot of time doing, I really recommend finding a teacher, or group of people to meditate with, or at least study a lot of external sources.

You will inevitably drudge up a lot of stuff and introduce permanent psychological changes to yourself. You will also hit lulls which can be insidious and go unnoticed for years, something that a teacher would notice right away and help you correct.

Specifically the lowest points, and something that I am still struggling with is satisfaction with worldly pursuits. This faux equanimity can take over which renders everything seemingly pointless. Research the 'dark night' if you ever feel like a major down turn has happened in your overall state of being.

The upsides are tremendous; the concentration comes rather quickly; and though it will just get better with time, most of those gains are earned up front, in my experience.

The equanimity (and this may be dependent on the method of practice) is much slower but ultimately what will keep someone coming back for years.

5
Urban_RoninTao•

I went from suicidal to happy over a period of 12 years, from 18 to now currently 30. It also went from being a failure to getting a master's degree and getting a job, which could be considered a success.

Edit: And I should mention I have a girlfriend who I meditate with 1-2 times a day.

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Canlifebealtered•

Good for you. This is what meditation is really all about. Great success story

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priapic_horse•

I started about 30 years ago so I guess I've been doing this for awhile, but I haven't been consistent about it for stretches of time greater than a couple years.

I've tried many types of meditation, mostly to overcome medical and mental issues rather than to pursue a spiritual path. However, about 10 years ago I decided: "Why not both?" and took a transcendental meditation course. This involved a special type of breathing, and a series of guided meditations culminating in a transcendental experience. Lo and behold, it worked, and changed my life. I won't get into the entire experience, but I understood my path in life and what I need to do to achieve it, and I've been doing exactly that ever since.

I've reached low points since then, because I went to grad school and stopped doing yoga and meditating and even exercising, and my depression and anxiety got out of hand. Now that I've graduated, I realized that I can't go on like I was, so I started a new daily practice of yoga, breathing, and exercise.

What I practice now is a modified form of vipassana, which has led to a total remission of a pretty serious set of mental illnesses, which I no longer take any medications for.

If there is any interest in my daily practice, I'll finish writing about it and post it here or in its own post.

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