http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH41Nfb-fjk&feature=related watch from 8:50 to 12:00 what do you think about meditation?
Meditation is a slightly broader term but as a form of 'leasure time' I am perfectly fine with people doing it. I am not aware of any detailed studies and the effects of it (if there are some) though and I wouldnt do meditation myself.
There are a number of studies that show that you can get into a physically-different brain state via meditation. I wont make any evaluation of the state, other than to note that it does seem to exist. Offtopic, about the rest of the video: Spoiler I found his note, "saturated with the media and advertising" to be somewhat funny. My mind is regularly saturated, sure, but I have too much of my own weird, weird thought to have much time for advertising. At any rate, this guy seems to have a refreshingly non-mystical view of meditation. I continued watching. He also seems to have a non-mystical (or more accurately, non-anthropomorphic, the-media-and-corporations-are-out-to-get-you-man-ya-gotta-fight-it--fight-it!) view of consumerism. Which also refreshing. I'm starting to like this guy. I don't agree with his approach to a bunch of stuff... but at least it makes sense. Mainly- most of what he worries about doesn't seem to apply to me. I do run Firefox with Adblock (Plus) but mainly because a friend (11-Sodium) bothered me about it every time he used my computer. Before I got Adblock, I wasn't "overwhelmed by advertising" ...It was basically the same, for me, as if the ads weren't there. I just filter them out naturally. I mean, he's be like "how do you stand all those ads?" and I'd have to take a second to disable my built-in filter to even notice them. He does get a bit weird with the gear, possibly bordering on crazy
@ 10 neon yeah he does come from a different planet, but you cant do anything else than respect it Take from him what you like and forget the rest. Thats also something he says, something like that at least.
meditation's just a nice way to relax. doesn't work for everyone. i prefer video games. it often overlaps with other "relaxation" techniques like controlled breathing, stretching, etc. and while i doubt anyone will ever find "nirvana" or unlock some truth of the universe from meditation, it is a way to get into a different frame of mind, clear your head, start fresh. kind of like how you might suddenly figure out how to solve a problem at work while you're hanging out with your buddies. or just sleeping. and then you can't find a notepad near your bed and you fall asleep again, and forget it in the morning. damn.
Like asdf said, I never really bought into the whole enlightenment thing (though if that's what you believe, that's cool too). I do however find that just sitting with my eyes closed and white noise playing is immensely relaxing, and can often help focus my mind and body.
