I think this is more valuable than it might seem. I'd wager many people couldn't even sit still for an hour in a room by themselves with nothing but their own thoughts.
Does it count if you lie awake in bed for an hour unable to sleep because of rumination? Because in that case, I'm sure plenty of people do it at some point.
But what helps me is taking walks. You're alone with your thoughts, but the act of walking through nature is stimulating for more positive thinking, from my experience anyway.
> Does it count if you lie awake in bed for an hour unable to sleep because of rumination? Because in that case, I'm sure plenty of people do it at some point.
Heh, shit, if that counts I "meditate" for an hour or more a couple times a week. It's absolutely horrible.
[EDIT] in fact, running with that, most of my life has been a struggle to "meditate" less for the sake of my own health and sanity. I'm way down from the every single night for like two damn hours of ages ~7-16!
I don't think it is. I think meditation is about stopping the rumination by being present, doing something like focusing on your breath. If your mind starts to wander/ruminate then you catch your self and return your thought to being present. It is hard
Yeah, it was a bit tongue-in-cheek. Though in fact at this point I have put many thousands of hours, over decades, into trying to control useless (and it's usually useless) rumination, with only moderate success. So yeah, definitely agree that it's hard.
I definitely struggle with the same thing, my mind just not wanting to calm down and running through a million ideas.
That is not meditation though. Learning to meditate has helped me a ton in being able to calm my mind down and get to sleep. I'd recommend checking out the Sam Harris Waking Up app, just do it for a few days and see if it clicks.
I don't know, probably not quite the same since you're trying to sleep, as opposed to being fully awake and intentionally ruminating. I don't know though, personally, I fall asleep in about 5-10 minutes once I close my eyes and let my thoughts drift away. At that point my thoughts more and more resemble random noise and nonsensical things pop into my mind and at that point I know I'm about to lose consciousness into sleep (I'm surprisingly aware of falling asleep). So, for me anyway, it's not at all like sitting in a room alone with my thoughts, completely awake.
I don't find that similar at all, it feels more like torture than meditation. The bit about walking I fully agree with. I live in the mountains and love being able to walk cool trails with nothing but my thoughts
