Meditation and Self-Hypno

[Leporello]

might belong in Anything Else, but...

Recently, and for no real reason that I can tell (ok, maybe increased workload, but nothing serious) I've been overwhelmed by feelings of stress and anxiety. Since my usual stress-coping activities - music and exercise - don't seem to help, does anyone know anything about meditation or self-hypnosis?

This isn't about AA. Actually, approaching and conversation are two areas where I have surprisingly little stress or fear. But the negativity I've been carrying with me has started to spill into other areas, including my sex life and relationships with friends/girlfriend.

Advice?

 

[War Against Betaism]

I'm actually in the same situation as you. I started school a month ago and things have been building up on me. I tried meditation, nothing. Exercise didn't help, sometimes it felt like it made it worse. I eventually hurdled over my stress though with.......cigarettes. Instant change, I was able to concentrate better again.

Though I've noticed I've been a lot more impatient, especially with my parents and sometimes my friends. I have a feeling this will only continue to build and build up on me, I don't want that. Though smoking a cig literally feels like you just unloaded a heavy bag load of stress off of you.

I'm actually not recommending this method, I'm also curious of other methods for a stress free life.

 

[Alle_Gory]

5-HTP, St. John's Wort, Theanine. Herbal stuff when the meditation won't work. Not addictive or harmful like cigarettes.

Instead of coping with stress, I would try to reduce the source as much as possible. It sounds like its something else. Something on your mind maybe. Subconscious. Got any weird dreams lately?

 

[Leporello]

Subconscious. Got any weird dreams lately?

Yes, and they totally make no sense whatever. PM me if you really want to know.

I thought it was subconscious too; that's why i asked about the meditation and hypnosis stuff. Mental problems usually have mental cures.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Yes, and they totally make no sense whatever. PM me if you really want to know.

I thought it was subconscious too; that's why i asked about the meditation and hypnosis stuff. Mental problems usually have mental cures.

It probably is subconscious. But the brain works in strange ways, so it would be good to know what your subconscious is telling you and WHY.

Just post it here man. If you feel its too personal then PMs are fine. More people going over this is sure to get you at least a couple of useful pieces of advice and some solutions.


Best thing I can tell you is to listen to your more repetitive thoughts. What are you thinking about lately? What does that thing mean to you? And why does that mean to you? The subconscious does not only work at night when you dream. Its on ALL THE TIME. If there is a conflict between your conscious and what your subconscious wants, you will feel it usually in the negative. Sad, anxious, angry... etc. The subconscious part of your mind is trying to guide you towards what it/you really want.


Now that you mention this, I understand how the whole 'Inner Game' really works and why its so good.

 

[Leporello]

I wouldn't describe it as a conflict of competing conscious/subconscious desires, but more a conflict between conscious and subconscious feelings about myself. Outwardly, i've significantly improved myself in practically every way. Subconsciously, i guess I'm still the lonely and frightened kid I was for so long. More than anything else I had the overwhelming sense that i wasn't good enough for anything, and that what every other person could do, i would fial at. I 'know' this isn't true but it comes back occasionally.


Anyway, I don't remember most of the dreams. The one that I can recall most vividly is something like this - and remember, i told you it was weird - :

I'm at some kind of large picnic-like affair where actors dressed as fairy-tale characters are running around chasing kids and having a good time. The Big Bad Wolf comes past chasing Little Red Riding Hood and drops his keys from his costume. Noticing this i pick up his keys and decide to return them to his apartment.

Strangely, when I get there I discover it's an extremely luxurious apartment complex entirely populated by people who wear those costumes for a living. Apparently they consider this the highest form of art. I go into the Wolf's apartment - he wasn't home - and find it similarly well-apportioned. I leave the keys under the mat and wake up.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Need more excitement maybe. Who knows. That's a little too messed up to decipher. You need to pay attention to the recurring stuff. Maybe you watched Shrek recently and it influenced your dream. Things you read and watch can and do influence your dreams.

 

[CaptainJ]

I wouldn't describe it as a conflict of competing conscious/subconscious desires, but more a conflict between conscious and subconscious feelings about myself. Outwardly, i've significantly improved myself in practically every way. Subconsciously, i guess I'm still the lonely and frightened kid I was for so long. More than anything else I had the overwhelming sense that i wasn't good enough for anything, and that what every other person could do, i would fial at. I 'know' this isn't true but it comes back occasionally.


Anyway, I don't remember most of the dreams. The one that I can recall most vividly is something like this - and remember, i told you it was weird - :

I'm at some kind of large picnic-like affair where actors dressed as fairy-tale characters are running around chasing kids and having a good time. The Big Bad Wolf comes past chasing Little Red Riding Hood and drops his keys from his costume. Noticing this i pick up his keys and decide to return them to his apartment.

Strangely, when I get there I discover it's an extremely luxurious apartment complex entirely populated by people who wear those costumes for a living. Apparently they consider this the highest form of art. I go into the Wolf's apartment - he wasn't home - and find it similarly well-apportioned. I leave the keys under the mat and wake up.

By no means whatsoever am I a dream analyst, but this dream sounds like you want to live a life of luxury and excitement. You envy everyone around you because they are living luxuriously and having fun. I think the whole keys thing and visiting the Wolf's apartment is something to do with you feeling you can never attain this life and you feel like an outcast to society, which is why you only get a glimpse of it and can never experience it. Sound familiar?

 

[Leporello]

By no means whatsoever am I a dream analyst, but this dream sounds like you want to live a life of luxury and excitement. You envy everyone around you because they are living luxuriously and having fun. I think the whole keys thing and visiting the Wolf's apartment is something to do with you feeling you can never attain this life and you feel like an outcast to society, which is why you only get a glimpse of it and can never experience it. Sound familiar?

Well let's see...I have always had a strong pull towards luxury and culture...in the USA I was always in that kind of environment even I was never quite rich enough to own a part of it...I guess it's partly because now I'm living in a third-world country, most foreigners are alot richer than I am. It's strange to think that even though I'm 10x richer than the average person here the real high rollers are still far out of my reach...but they're alot more visible since the expat community is pretty small.

This thread wasn't supposed to be all about me. I'm curious as to other people's experience with meditation and other relaxation, anti-stress techniques.

 

[Maxtro]

Do some searching for Hypnotica's stuff. He does a lot of focus on inner game stuff using self-hypnosis and mental exercises. He has DVD's and CD's. I've had them on my HDD for a long time but now that I actually got around to watching it I can see that it's good stuff.

I'm also starting to get into mediation. Normally it takes me about 40min to an hour to fall asleep because my mind is constantly going with negative thoughts. But I meditated for ~7min before I got in bed. When I got in bed I quickly fell asleep.

What you want to do is take in a slow deep breath, hold it in for a few seconds. Then slowly let it out. When you are doing it try not to think of anything. Just focus on your breathing or on your body. Notice how your arms, legs, feet etc feel. There are some tricks for getting rid of nagging thoughts. But I need to some more research.

Good luck

 

[Leporello]

Do some searching for Hypnotica's stuff. He does a lot of focus on inner game stuff using self-hypnosis and mental exercises. He has DVD's and CD's. I've had them on my HDD for a long time but now that I actually got around to watching it I can see that it's good stuff.

I'm also starting to get into mediation. Normally it takes me about 40min to an hour to fall asleep because my mind is constantly going with negative thoughts. But I meditated for ~7min before I got in bed. When I got in bed I quickly fell asleep.

What you want to do is take in a slow deep breath, hold it in for a few seconds. Then slowly let it out. When you are doing it try not to think of anything. Just focus on your breathing or on your body. Notice how your arms, legs, feet etc feel. There are some tricks for getting rid of nagging thoughts. But I need to some more research.

Good luck

Yeah i've gotten a few self-hypno recordings off of the internet...only listened to them a couple of times so i haven't noticed a huge change just yet. We'll see.