I was meditating every free moment I had for a period of around 3 years. My now wife freaked because I was in a state of bliss and clarity that she couldn’t understand. Information was just known. She was worried I was going to end up in a cave in India 😂 I did mostly stop meditating over the years since, gotten married, bought a house and she is now pregnant. My mental health has suffered since as I have returned to being caught believing the minds conditioning thoughts, which are not always friendly. In fact, humans often seem insane, yet when I am awake, I would be thought by others insane 😝 I keep intending to return to my meditation practice but at this stage the desire is not there the way it was. I wonder if my period of awakening was the universe raising my consciousness to help deal with my Mother getting sick and passing during this time. This too is but a story, but regardless this is the experience.
I sit down and ‘meditate’ for one hour every.single.day. It’s now an ingrained habit. I have done so since 2019. I don’t think I’m doing it as well as I could. I fall in and out of focus and sometimes find myself thinking, fidgeting etc like you mentioned.
i never thought i would be loving to do meditation in my life, for me it all began after diving into DMT as i find out the mind is more than a muscle. now i feel bad when i do not meditate its truly life changing
Sitting I can make it to an hour no problem. If I’m laying down on my bed it’s impossible to make it to an hour. My body falls asleep within 30 minutes give or take and I end up leaving my body. Never fails so long as i can keep my mind fully aware and quiet and not fall asleep.
this resonates. thank-you for your self-less guidance. Its so refreshing to hear that AI (apps) aren't the way and also that you are completely devoid of EGO. I feel your truth.
I need to know HOW to do this properly. Something highly repeatable every day. Would be greet to see a good hour training on how to do this. At this point, it may save my life. Thank you 🙏 ❤
I did Kriya yoga meditation quite diligently for years. I would experience a heat and mild pressure in the third eye area of the forehead. I seldom sit and do formal meditation, but when just sitting quietly without TV, internet etc. I automatically start meditating, and the heat with pressure begins to arise. The mind still begs for attention which I often give in to.
Hey ben, I love your vids! I would love a video explaining some different types of meditation. I would like to explore different techniques and find one to really get good at.
I only meditate one week 15 minutes a day on the bus to work . I work remotely and we have 13/14 hour days ,so the choice for me at camp in my off hours is to excercise and to fit this in I get up at 2.40 am every day. To get up any earlier I just can’t manage the long days but in my week home I meditate not daily but 3/4 times a week and I listen to Tibetan bowls and focus on one particular pitch and find it easy to get to no thought at all ….im confused whether this is correct as some say awareness of thought is the goal , your insight would be appreciated
This is okay, there are various approaches within meditation. Focussing on a particular note is fine if that works for you. Getting to the state of thoughtlessness (or as close to) is great as well. When it comes to awareness of thoughts, that’s a version of meditatio itself, but for you and what you are doing, it’s better not to focus on thoughts - just keep letting them go.
Excellent points Ben!! Recently as soon as I sit to meditate and close my eyes, my body starts to make involuntary movements. Surprisingly, my body moves in a way to answer any yes or no type of questions I have in my mind. Any suggestions please?
Sometimes this can happen, several things can cause it, sometimes it’s subtle energy circulating, sometimes it’s the release of energy, but also (and more often than not) it’s the ego. The body & mind are so intimately connected and the ego is primarily an attribute of the mind, so it can actually operate through the body in order to create distractions that prevent you going deeper. Your best bet it to deal with it in the same way you’d deal with other distractions. You will probably find it stops in time 🙂 Hope this helps🙏
Would you say meditation without music is better than meditation with some kind of soothing music? Thank you Ben❤ Trying to learn to meditate the right way 😊
There’s no right or wrong with this, I personally meditate without, but it’s perfectly fine to meditate with soothing background music if that helps you. Best to try and see what works for you 😌
Yeah - absolutely fine. The most important thing is the quality of the time, so you’re better doing shorter meditations to begin with, but with better quality & more intensity
Thanks Ben! At a different life stage (early 50s). Love meditating- have had countless incredible experiences- but finding demands of life are overwhelming my mind for some time. Work, kids, family, aging parents… older person life kind of stuff! Feels maybe like a dark night of the soul- just disconnected and stuck. I realize you’re young and talking often to younger people but would love some guidance or wisdom from any downloads you maybe have had or will have to help plug back in. Is dark night of the soul even real, or just an excuse when we are stuck in our own minds and feeling disconnected for whatever reason? Would love any new vids on this one. 🙏🏼❤️
Hey! Thank you for your comment. Life sure does make tuning in hard at times. This is going to sound too simple - but offering your burdens up to a higher source and asking for inner guidance with reconnecting would be my suggestion. Quite simply, inwardly ask for what it is you need help with. You will be amazed at what can happen when you ask! Dark night of the soul is real. But as you rightly said, it can be easily mistaken for egoic resistance/etc. If you can, try not to dwell on it too much. The other tool I’d recommend is mantra. I hope this helps 🙏
I like to split my meditation sessions. In the first half hour, I do mindfulness meditation. The second half I do meta. Do you think that's a good way to practice? Or should I try to maintain my focus on one thing the entire session.
Hey Ben, I'm 14 and just getting into meditation and I'm just like how you said you were when you were young but i have been diagnosed with ADHD. I have been trying to get out of my body while meditating and no matter how long I try for I just cant seem to pop out. If you have any tips please let me know.
That’s great to hear man. I wouldn’t try to hard yet, keep doing the daily work and meditating. It’ll all come at the right time, when you’re ready 🧘🏼♂️
I’m an older guy with dyslexia/adhd and you are doing the very best thing for adhd by meditating. I can’t take the medication, but my meditation practice makes my mind stronger and few people would guess I have adhd. The other thing is you have an adhd superpower. If you like the subject you will have the longest attention span! My 3 kids all have it. School wasn’t important, but finding what they loved has them doing great in life. 🎉❤
What is proper meditation? How would I know if it is a proper meditation? I meditate for an hour every day, but when my legs start paining, then I change my sitting position, but I I should not move. I should sit still. I sit for 1/2 still after that I have to move.
You’re welcome 🙏 A simple method of following the breath is perfectly good - you will be able to find videos like this on YT. If you’d like a variety of options and more detailed guidance, I have a course in my bio, feel free to check it out if it’s of interest🙏
Hi! I don’t actually recommend meditating for an hour a day necessarily, it’s still fine to meditation for 10, 20, 30+ minutes. It’s really down to the individual, but there’s certainly a lot of benefit from meditating for 1-hour. In terms of TM, I don’t recommend them, they are very money focussed and charge a lot for the privilege of teaching. 2 x 20 minutes is perfectly fine though🙏
I meditate for an hour or slightly less every evening and its been 4 years now. I've had some minimal experiences but haven't for a while now. I have never used guided meditation and do seem to reach "that state" every single time. My problem is when I start to see things or my head is moving on its own, I fall asleep without even realizing it. I wasnt sleepy when I started, it just happens. So frustrating. And no, mornings are not conducive for me.
Great work for meditating consistently for that long👏 If I could offer any advice, it would be not to give too much importance to experiences and focus on intensifying each meditation. Enjoy every meditation, no matter what experience do or don’t appear. It took me a long time before anything major happened. We all work at this at our own pace. It sounds like you’re doing great to me🙏
@bensmithreal Thank you for your encouragement and advice! It's not really experiences, it's staying aware. It's early evening, and I'm never ready to go to sleep just yet.
I don't thing someone with ptsd should work with meditation first. I believe you should first get medical help. Its tô serius tô work by yourself. After that you could try transcedental meditation. There's a doc here in UA-cam showing that TM have worked amazing tô ptsd soldiers. And its very easy tô do and easy tô have consistêncy
I believe that thsi is normal coz your mind feels safe and content and its time to process this woth eyes of an grown up. This happend to me.. i talked to myself in my thoguht about this situation of past .. seen pros and cons and release means accept it. I have not not use of it.. and doesnt serve me.. choice situation it has been ppeople involved etc... and considering my expariance and knowladge at that time i made good choice.. that what i did
I also like meditating alone, but when I meditate with Buddhist monks leading, and with the "noble friends " at a local Buhdist meditation center(non-religious), there seems to be a real energy flowing that you can feel. The spiritual power that monks humbly possess shouldn't be underestimated. I feel that they transmit some energy to the group.
I was meditating every free moment I had for a period of around 3 years. My now wife freaked because I was in a state of bliss and clarity that she couldn’t understand. Information was just known. She was worried I was going to end up in a cave in India 😂
I did mostly stop meditating over the years since, gotten married, bought a house and she is now pregnant.
My mental health has suffered since as I have returned to being caught believing the minds conditioning thoughts, which are not always friendly. In fact, humans often seem insane, yet when I am awake, I would be thought by others insane 😝
I keep intending to return to my meditation practice but at this stage the desire is not there the way it was.
I wonder if my period of awakening was the universe raising my consciousness to help deal with my Mother getting sick and passing during this time.
This too is but a story, but regardless this is the experience.
我想说，我接触冥想只有3个月左右，但是很神奇，我每天都在冥想，一天只有有空闲就会坐下来或者躺下来冥想，就像你说的，在情绪上的改变非常明显，同样的事情现在的视角真的太不一样，而且发生了越来越多非常神奇的事情，我会继续坚持
The first time I saw a light during meditation is when I meditated for 1 hour. But I was not consistent, thanks for the inspiration.
I sit down and ‘meditate’ for one hour every.single.day. It’s now an ingrained habit. I have done so since 2019. I don’t think I’m doing it as well as I could. I fall in and out of focus and sometimes find myself thinking, fidgeting etc like you mentioned.
i never thought i would be loving to do meditation in my life, for me it all began after diving into DMT as i find out the mind is more than a muscle. now i feel bad when i do not meditate its truly life changing
Sitting I can make it to an hour no problem. If I’m laying down on my bed it’s impossible to make it to an hour. My body falls asleep within 30 minutes give or take and I end up leaving my body. Never fails so long as i can keep my mind fully aware and quiet and not fall asleep.
I appreciate you and your work, Ben. Thank you for helping.
Thank you so much for all your teachings
Great lesson heard at exactly the right time. Thank you Ben.
this resonates. thank-you for your self-less guidance. Its so refreshing to hear that AI (apps) aren't the way and also that you are completely devoid of EGO. I feel your truth.
Glad it was helpful🙏
I need to know HOW to do this properly. Something highly repeatable every day. Would be greet to see a good hour training on how to do this. At this point, it may save my life. Thank you 🙏 ❤
Cozy house. Great vibe and........handsome man!
Please keep going with your very useful and motivational videos. They help me a lot. Thanks heaps.
Meditate most of each day it took over now its pure flow of what is
I did Kriya yoga meditation quite diligently for years. I would experience a heat and mild pressure in the third eye area of the forehead. I seldom sit and do formal meditation, but when just sitting quietly without TV, internet etc. I automatically start meditating, and the heat with pressure begins to arise. The mind still begs for attention which I often give in to.
Hey ben, I love your vids! I would love a video explaining some different types of meditation. I would like to explore different techniques and find one to really get good at.
Thank you Ben! I just love the advice you give. It just makes so much sense to me, and is very encouraging in my meditation journey ❤
Thank you very much ... Useful ❤
Meditate all the time if u can and at some point it takes over and will not stop
Always a pleasure listening to you, Ben. Thanks for continuing to inspire.
Big thank you brother 🙏
Thank you so much for your guidance.
I only meditate one week 15 minutes a day on the bus to work . I work remotely and we have 13/14 hour days ,so the choice for me at camp in my off hours is to excercise and to fit this in I get up at 2.40 am every day. To get up any earlier I just can’t manage the long days but in my week home I meditate not daily but 3/4 times a week and I listen to Tibetan bowls and focus on one particular pitch and find it easy to get to no thought at all ….im confused whether this is correct as some say awareness of thought is the goal , your insight would be appreciated
This is okay, there are various approaches within meditation. Focussing on a particular note is fine if that works for you. Getting to the state of thoughtlessness (or as close to) is great as well. When it comes to awareness of thoughts, that’s a version of meditatio itself, but for you and what you are doing, it’s better not to focus on thoughts - just keep letting them go.
Excellent points Ben!! Recently as soon as I sit to meditate and close my eyes, my body starts to make involuntary movements. Surprisingly, my body moves in a way to answer any yes or no type of questions I have in my mind. Any suggestions please?
Sometimes this can happen, several things can cause it, sometimes it’s subtle energy circulating, sometimes it’s the release of energy, but also (and more often than not) it’s the ego. The body & mind are so intimately connected and the ego is primarily an attribute of the mind, so it can actually operate through the body in order to create distractions that prevent you going deeper. Your best bet it to deal with it in the same way you’d deal with other distractions. You will probably find it stops in time 🙂 Hope this helps🙏
Excellent Advice..
🙏
how offtern to u expernce flow? and or that stillness silance of the mind etc?
Question: If one is in a meditative state, what is the tool used to identify the passage of time on the outside?
Would you say meditation without music is better than meditation with some kind of soothing music? Thank you Ben❤ Trying to learn to meditate the right way 😊
There’s no right or wrong with this, I personally meditate without, but it’s perfectly fine to meditate with soothing background music if that helps you. Best to try and see what works for you 😌
Thoughts on splitting into segments like 30 in morning, 30 at night. or 20 20 20?
Yeah - absolutely fine. The most important thing is the quality of the time, so you’re better doing shorter meditations to begin with, but with better quality & more intensity
Thanks Ben! At a different life stage (early 50s). Love meditating- have had countless incredible experiences- but finding demands of life are overwhelming my mind for some time. Work, kids, family, aging parents… older person life kind of stuff! Feels maybe like a dark night of the soul- just disconnected and stuck. I realize you’re young and talking often to younger people but would love some guidance or wisdom from any downloads you maybe have had or will have to help plug back in. Is dark night of the soul even real, or just an excuse when we are stuck in our own minds and feeling disconnected for whatever reason? Would love any new vids on this one. 🙏🏼❤️
Hey! Thank you for your comment. Life sure does make tuning in hard at times. This is going to sound too simple - but offering your burdens up to a higher source and asking for inner guidance with reconnecting would be my suggestion. Quite simply, inwardly ask for what it is you need help with. You will be amazed at what can happen when you ask!
Dark night of the soul is real. But as you rightly said, it can be easily mistaken for egoic resistance/etc. If you can, try not to dwell on it too much. The other tool I’d recommend is mantra. I hope this helps 🙏
Helps a lot, thank you for the reply!
I like to split my meditation sessions. In the first half hour, I do mindfulness meditation. The second half I do meta. Do you think that's a good way to practice? Or should I try to maintain my focus on one thing the entire session.
Hey Ben, I'm 14 and just getting into meditation and I'm just like how you said you were when you were young but i have been diagnosed with ADHD. I have been trying to get out of my body while meditating and no matter how long I try for I just cant seem to pop out. If you have any tips please let me know.
That’s great to hear man. I wouldn’t try to hard yet, keep doing the daily work and meditating. It’ll all come at the right time, when you’re ready 🧘🏼♂️
I’m an older guy with dyslexia/adhd and you are doing the very best thing for adhd by meditating. I can’t take the medication, but my meditation practice makes my mind stronger and few people would guess I have adhd. The other thing is you have an adhd superpower. If you like the subject you will have the longest attention span! My 3 kids all have it. School wasn’t important, but finding what they loved has them doing great in life. 🎉❤
u seem to be doing well :) nice
What is proper meditation? How would I know if it is a proper meditation? I meditate for an hour every day, but when my legs start paining, then I change my sitting position, but I I should not move. I should sit still. I sit for 1/2 still after that I have to move.
Thank you ❤ do you recommend some method for the beginners? Or at least where to look for some?
You’re welcome 🙏 A simple method of following the breath is perfectly good - you will be able to find videos like this on YT. If you’d like a variety of options and more detailed guidance, I have a course in my bio, feel free to check it out if it’s of interest🙏
Thank you!@@bensmithreal U
Hi Ben, you recommend meditating for an hour a day. However, the TM protocol is 2 x 20 minutes. Is TM not a good approach? Thanks.
Hi! I don’t actually recommend meditating for an hour a day necessarily, it’s still fine to meditation for 10, 20, 30+ minutes. It’s really down to the individual, but there’s certainly a lot of benefit from meditating for 1-hour.
In terms of TM, I don’t recommend them, they are very money focussed and charge a lot for the privilege of teaching. 2 x 20 minutes is perfectly fine though🙏
@@bensmithreal thankyou for your reply. I appreciate what you do. Regards. Mike
I meditate for an hour or slightly less every evening and its been 4 years now. I've had some minimal experiences but haven't for a while now. I have never used guided meditation and do seem to reach "that state" every single time. My problem is when I start to see things or my head is moving on its own, I fall asleep without even realizing it. I wasnt sleepy when I started, it just happens. So frustrating. And no, mornings are not conducive for me.
Great work for meditating consistently for that long👏 If I could offer any advice, it would be not to give too much importance to experiences and focus on intensifying each meditation. Enjoy every meditation, no matter what experience do or don’t appear. It took me a long time before anything major happened. We all work at this at our own pace. It sounds like you’re doing great to me🙏
@bensmithreal Thank you for your encouragement and advice! It's not really experiences, it's staying aware. It's early evening, and I'm never ready to go to sleep just yet.
Chapters would be nice ☺️
Noted 😌
After meditating for a time a lot of PTSD has been coming up from past events of trauma in my life. Is this normal?
I don't thing someone with ptsd should work with meditation first. I believe you should first get medical help. Its tô serius tô work by yourself. After that you could try transcedental meditation. There's a doc here in UA-cam showing that TM have worked amazing tô ptsd soldiers. And its very easy tô do and easy tô have consistêncy
I believe that thsi is normal coz your mind feels safe and content and its time to process this woth eyes of an grown up. This happend to me.. i talked to myself in my thoguht about this situation of past .. seen pros and cons and release means accept it. I have not not use of it.. and doesnt serve me.. choice situation it has been ppeople involved etc... and considering my expariance and knowladge at that time i made good choice.. that what i did
Ive never liked guided meditations, i think they’re distracting, also meditating in a group is weird, i like to be completely alone.
I also like meditating alone, but when I meditate with Buddhist monks leading, and with the "noble friends " at a local Buhdist meditation center(non-religious), there seems to be a real energy flowing that you can feel. The spiritual power that monks humbly possess shouldn't be underestimated. I feel that they transmit some energy to the group.
@@steveurso6435 interesting! Appreciate You
💎💎
🙏
Thank you, it's very helpful.