I even started a blog about it: http://www.meditationrocks.us/blog

You can find my experiences and learnings there.

  Summing-up:

Sit in comfortable place.

With back straight (or you will fall asleep).

Close your eyes & focus on your breathing.

Count in as 1 and out as 2 till 15. Start back at 1 after 15

If you find your mind wandering, and it will, just start back at 15.

   FAQ

Light music, optional.

Do I need special equipment or place?

Nada, anywhere you can sit with back straight is fine.

I've too much energy for meditation

Cool! Then enjoy, meditate when you are feeling low.

PS: Will be eager to answer any questions, or help someone find their way... or maybe do some HN Meditation Group :P Just thinking out loud.

- should I try not to think about anything

- let my thoughts go free

- think about _nice_ things

- make some construction (like visualizing a tree, visualize all element of a clock, visualize a mathematic object)

Like focus on breathing... occupy ur mind with it.

Focus on birds chirping around.. Now your mind might wander off to ANGRY BIRDS but pull it back softly. And focus on just sound or sensation.

Idea is to not think about something that expands into an essay. Helpful?

- Both are focusing moments

- Both require full attention to make any sense

- Both call for the best of you.

- Both are delicious (focusing on stuff is the fun of life, innit? )

But one calls for focus naturally (swimming) and the other needs deliberate focus against 'habit of thoughts'.

Hope that answers it.

If you want to think about it as some sort of "deliberate sensory deprivation to stop the signals that would normally reinforce habitual fight or flight stimuli" thing, ok. It doesn't need to be a religious thing. Either way: You sit. It's boring. Deep breath. It just is.

I'm not the author of the parent comment, but in my experience, sitting for 15-20 minutes seems about right. Rather than trying to be all hardcore and meditating for 2+ hours a day, just try sticking with it a couple days a week. Doing it for shorter periods regularly adds up. It's not magic, though - it's more like consistently getting enough sleep. But it really does help, like emptying the lint trap in your mind.

Also, sitting against a wall is ok (if you get used to seiza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiza)), but you'll probably be happier with a "zafu" (small sitting cushion) so your back and knees are at an angle >90 degrees. You can also use a couch cushion, tree trunk programming book, or whatever.

If you do it with 'easy' going attitude... you might feel sensations in your body. Or else.. just a relaxed mood and balanced body. Just be easy about it.

What I meant:

Thoughts: Things going on.

Alert: Being aware of something. Observing something (can be thoughts)

Not being alert: You will drift off to sleep.

Meditation: Focusing (as in deliberative) and/ or Observing something that doesn't go on into endless thinking tank.

Let go of thoughts: that become an essay. Start thinking about Python and you can write an essay right now. Start listening to your breathing. And release any other thought that comes in. Yes you can keep repeating word Python and try to release thoughts that follow but it's easier with things like sound and mantras.

Sure there is much more to it than what I've written but hope you get the idea.

If you were able to observe that pain objectively with equanimity, meaning a) not averting from an experience you don't like or b) craving to have an experience you do like, wisdom about the nature of reality arises spontaneously.

More specifically, pain is not really what you think it is - some experience to shun worth avoiding at all costs. Watching the mind react to such an experience, and there are so many experiences that the mind is nearly hardwired to avert from or cling to, speak volumes. You will see how desperate it wants to stay in control of your experience and you should also note that because you can observe your mind, YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND. Now you are starting to inquire into the nature of reality as-it-is, not as you want it to be.

Yes, you can sit against a wall.

After long periods of meditation, like a weekend retreat or even a day of sitting, I tend to be very focused and relaxed. My normally chaotic emotions are subdued and I have a profound feeling of well-being and peace. This generally lasts for several days to several weeks depending on the lengths of sitting. Sitting daily sometimes has this effect as well, it is more intermittent for me.

On the other hand, I am sometimes consumed by the strongest, most negative emotions I've ever experienced after sitting for extended periods. Since starting meditation, I've had numerous anxiety attacks and periods of rage. For the first time in my life, it became really real to me that I was going to die. A lot of anxiety that I had apparently suppressed over the years came to a head, which was anything but pleasant. I've had numerous health issues which I largely attribute to stress, so it's not like my life has been stress-free from the meditation. I've also been pushed towards examining most of my beliefs, particularly of a religious/spiritual nature, and have had to let go of a lot of things that used to give me comfort.

To paraphrase the buddhist doctrine, life is suffering, and everything is subject to change. Meditation has many benefits but I'm not of the opinion that there is a steady state of happiness/bliss that can be achieved. I think the best that can be done is to deal with difficult situations more gracefully, as they are unceasing, and to show compassion towards our fellow beings, as they are struggling under the same delusions, prejudices, and pains that we are.

I took up regular meditation last Spring, sitting 30-40 minutes daily in my best approximation of zazen. I found the meditation quite relaxing and on some days I felt much better afterwards or had small insights about my life. Other days were not so pleasant. I believe I experienced a sharper awareness of the stress I felt at work (which in the past I would have denied feeling at all) and I was much more likely to notice when I became distracted at work, resulting in growing frustration and anxiety. I think it also made me more aware of the shallowness of my relationships with my coworkers and my own reluctance to engage with them.

Overall I suppose it's been a positive and educational experience.

I obviously don't know you or your situation, but is it possibly a good thing that these suppressed things are coming out now? In the long run, perhaps you can work through them and you'll be in a better place at the end?

[1] http://www.audiodharma.org/series/1/talk/1762/

- My ability to sustain attention and keep a lot of details in mind (say, for writing code) has improved significantly. Before I started my practice, my ability to code was declining with age.

- I'm much less reactive than I used to be. I have more ability to choose what I say and how I act. Of course, I still can and do make unskillful choices.

- Rather than expend energy on judgement, on right vs. wrong, I now focus on skillful vs unskillful. Meditation does change your view of the world. You realize you can't control your mind. So it's not, "I think, therefore I am." It's, "I think, therefore there are thoughts." A healthy relationship to your thoughts removes many obstacles.

The thing about meditation is that you have to actually do it. No amount of knowledge of the various techniques can substitute for actual practice. For this reason, as michael_dorfman says, you really do need a teacher. Don't just read the menu, eat the food.

Buddhist Geeks[1] is a great podcast. It has interviews with various Buddhist and non-dual teachers.

In Berkeley, there's an excellent pay-what-you-want 6 week beginner class offered by James Baraz[2]. The first session is presented without any Buddhist stuff. The remaining sessions have Buddhist content, to elucidate the foundations of practice. Plenty of people who are not interested in Buddhism take the class. Many of James' talks are on DharmaSeed[3], another great source of Buddhist audio.

[1] http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/ [2] http://www.insightberkeley.org/calendar.html [3] http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/86/

I find it has great benefits-- much more than any other activity I could do in the time I'm spending.

I'd definitely recommend that you (or anybody else interested) go to a center, and take a few sessions with an in-person teacher. Learning to meditate from a book (or website, etc.) is a bit like learning to swim from a book: it might be possible to do it that way, but it is far from optimal.

In my experience, Buddhist centers are happy to show people how to meditate with absolutely no expectations or conditions; there's nothing special you have to believe or commit to, or anything like that.

At first, it was just free-association. I would let my mind wander, noting rather passively the landmarks along the way. As I refined my process a bit, I was able to spend more time noting than wandering, until a single topic could span weeks worth of almost-daily sessions.

So I firmly believe that there's no one right way to meditate, but there is a deep and proven benefit to setting aside part of your day for contemplative, abstract thought.

Disclaimer: I'm a Christian. Not of those that make the news or your typical "fundamentalist". I read and study the Bible and do my best to be a good person, understanding the world around me yet living as closely as possible from that which God has asked of me, through the Bible. And if you ask, I've been doing pretty good at it while remaining relevant in the world around me, even in the tech community, so often agnostic or even atheist.

Meditation, unlike commonly thought of, is not about "emptying your mind" or "getting in tune with the Universe". Meditation is all about letting a thought, concept or idea completely soak your brain. That allows you a superior cognitive understanding of it. The different areas of your brain will be called to process it from all different angles. From a Christian standpoint, there are a few things that we are called to meditate on: "(…) whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (http://bible.us/Phil4.8.ESV) If you read the previous verses on that passage (4-6), it talks about "rejoicing" and "not worrying". That is only possible when you let your brain soak in the pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, etc thoughts.

Now, I'm not trying to preach or ask you to follow Christ or God. What I'm telling you is that meditation is actively thinking about certain things and those things alone. It's not passive. It's not "emptying your mind". That is relaxation and it's also a good thing. But "emptying your mind" without filling it with the right things can have terrible consequences.

Personally, I'm trying to "disconnect" a little bit more. Less Twitter. Less RSS. Less… Apple rumors. Why? Those are all fine things and I enjoy knowing the latest news on the things that interest me. But living on the "now" has terrible consequences over how I analyze the past and prepare the future. I need to read more books and… meditate on what is important.

Bottom line: take time off, unplug, relax. Read/listen to things that fit the verse I quoted or bring up things that are either troubling or exciting you. Then allow yourself to unwind by letting the silence around you help you focus on what you have soaked your brain in. And I'd say "pray", but that mind be beyond the scope of your question… ;)

I've found that one of the best things for "unplugging" is actually Instapaper and other readers. Instead of flitting from link to link and doing shallow reading on HN or Reddit, I tend to send a few things a day to Instapaper so I can focus on them in a better context for reading. I absorb a lot more, and I am less distracted by articles while I'm trying to work, and less distracted by work while I'm trying to read! I'm very thankful for that app.

I'd need to see sources to back this up. It's completely the opposite of everything I've read about meditation. You're neither supposed to hold on or actively attempt to push out any given thought while meditating.

For me I found that meditation helps concentration, sleeping and helps me to not cling to the various negative things my brain throws at me on a daily basis.

Can you elaborate?

I happen to be a Christian as well. Do you think of prayer and mediation as separate activities, aspect of the same activity, or identical? (I am withholding my opinion as to not bias your response)

You don't have to meditate in a convoluted sitting position if you choose not to (although there are good reasons for sitting in lotus).

I would start by just regularly sitting or walking quietly, being aware of your breathing, and watching thoughts and emotions flowing into and right back out of your mind's I.

Someone has already quoted Wikipedia, so I won't repeat it, but most of those sound like benefits that you can get by lying down, or finding a really comfortable chair, or something similar. And the bit about improving digestion sounds especially dubious, since it doesn't really say what that means, and a lot of Yoga folks have a bad habit of making vaguely shiny-sounding medical claims without evidence.

(Do I sound negative? I actually do sometimes meditate, because it's a pleasant thing to do. I just want to make sure I'm not fooling myself about why I'm doing it.)

Sitting meditation keeps you more alert, makes it easier to reach a state of samadhi, or focused, non-discriminating awareness. For a while, due to back pain, I switched to lying meditation. I was not a fan, it was much easier to drift off. Zen meditation typically involves leaving the eyes partly open to avoid daydreaming or entering some sort of trance state. I also found this difficult to maintain while in a prone position.

Sitting in full lotus is difficult for me, and I'm relatively flexible. I generally sit half-lotus or in a chair. Sitting without a chair for long periods causes pain in the legs and back/shoulders. That's part of the practice, learning to maintain focus and equanimity through pain and discomfort.

To the best of my knowledge, the common sitting postures - lotus, half-lotus, burmese, seiza - came about because they were maintainable for long periods. Sitting indian style with legs crossed in front, for example, your stomach muscles will quickly tire and you'll be hunched over.

I personally don't believe meditation needs a specific position. I've seen and read a few things that document the practice while walking and while lying down. I guess tradition does point to the lotus being the normal way to do it, but as long as you get the benefits of it in whatever position you find yourself in, you're fine.

The Lotus position is adopted to allow the body to be held completely steady for long periods of time. As the body is steadied the mind becomes calm, the first step towards meditation. The posture applies pressure to the lower spine which may facilitate relaxation. The breath can slow down, muscular tension decrease and blood pressure subside. The coccygeal and sacral nerves are toned as the normally large blood flow to the legs is redirected to the abdominal region. Digestion may also be improved.

I wouldn't know, as I haven't a prayer of attaining that position.

I have a little folding wooden meditation bench that I use. I don't think I'd want to meditate for more than half an hour using it, though. Some similar benches are available with cushions.

I've written about this (with a focus on geeks like us) here:

http://hivelogic.com/articles/an-introduction-to-mindfulness... http://hivelogic.com/articles/how-to-start-a-meditation-prac... http://hivelogic.com/articles/meditation-gear

I hope this is useful to you.

Now I try to meditate simply as a way of introducing calm into a life that is jam packed with work, socializing and outside projects. One of my goals for 2011 is to spend at least 2,000 minutes in meditation.

As a former collegiate gymnast myself, I happen to know that you don't have a long time to meditate (in the gymnastics world, it's called visualizing your routine) before it's your turn to compete. Being able to get into a meditative state quickly can make or break your performance. Take to long, and you don't reach the state, and are more prone to errors. Almost all of the high level gymnasts visualize every routine they do, with varying degrees of success.

As you pointed out, Jason's goal does only average at about 5 minutes a day. But that's more time than a gymnast usually has (unless he wants to dismiss his teammate's routines, which is not exactly... nice). So for him, 5 minutes may be all he needs to reap the benefits, whereas someone who hasn't had the training to quickly get into that state may need more time.

I got the techniques from an ebook called "Mindfulness In Plain English":

http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life - Thich Nhat Hanh

Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness - Jon Kabat-Zinn

Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation - Alan Watts

Also, these two audio CD collections are helpful:

Out Of Your Mind: The Nature of Consciousness - Alan Watts

Guided Mindfulness Meditation - Jon Kabat-Zinn

I also started with the Google tech talk and went on to his other work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

Sitting on a pillow with your eyes closed with your mind wandering is probably not productive. But honing your mind to focus on just that one image; or on nothing at all.. that is very very powerful.

Yes, that site is sketchy as anything. But the technique works.

Even better, here's an online step-by-step guide:

http://www.relaxationresponse.org/steps/

What's the point, you ask? Well, beyond the obvious benefits of being more aware of physical sensations, in the process of disciplining your mind, you find out a lot about yourself -- what issues in your life are constantly distracting you from the task at hand, etc.

This only works when you starve your mind of new distractions -- hence, no talking, writing, reading, or even eye contact during the 10 days. It's a lot of time, I know, but for me it was well worth it.

I highly suggest the Reddit meditation subreddit — http://reddit.com/r/meditation. Basically the Hacker News of meditation. The archives are a great place to browse to learn more about meditation, like different techniques, advice (like should you scratch an itch or watch it? meditating under the influence? etc.), and everything related.

Edit: if you have an iPhone, the Equanimity app is pretty cool for timing your sits as well as recording thoughts or notes about your sit.

I do not prescribe to any of the spiritual/pseudo-religion around it though. In fact, if it weren't for the noticeable benefits the 'religion' would have scared me off. There are different types but I'm more into the vedic/mantra and breathing exercises.

One can take a 10 day course at many centers around the world to learn the technique from qualified teachers in its purity.

I knew about Vipassana for a long time but I did not attend a 10 day course until I was completely at rock bottom suffering from depression. Once I learned the technique, experiencing reality as-it-is for the first time in my life, it changed me fundamentally from the inside out. It was there that I found out that the results of my poor actions in this lifetime (and possibly others) were stored within my physical body and that I could remove them via observing them objectively without reacting to the sensations that came up via this observation. Having that direct realization meant that I could never go back to the ignorance of not being aware of how the law of karma has direct results upon one's experience of life. After the course had finished, I continued practicing Vipassana morning and evening for one hour each sitting for many months/years and continue to experience profound benefits.

I am much less angry and much more calm, much more adept at handling life's inevitable challenges. When I do find myself reacting strongly to certain situations, I am able to witness my reactions objectively and thereby reduce their negative effects swiftly. Emotions disturbances that used to persist for weeks are now gone in minutes.

I am happy and grounded in the knowledge that I have within my possession a technique to control my mind. That is a very liberating knowledge and worth pursuing for one's self!

On the positive side it has helped me a lot - lowered stress, better sleep, improved communication, creativity and a lot of the things others have already covered. I want to highlight a few things on the not so positive side.

1) lowered drive at work. I had to take more conscious effort to get myself to take action on things when I previously reacted quickly as I was more "on the edge". 2) feeling very emotional / sensitive. I found myself crying to myself a lot more and generally being affected by things around me.  3) Ignoring certain things that needed attention. I think at some point it started to become a crutch. Some relationships needed my attention / action in my personal life and I found myself doing nothing about it because I think in some way I started using meditation almost as some place I could escape into and feel good internally when externally things weren't great.

In spite of all the above, I want to resume my practice soon as I feel that the fact that I can see the issues give me the ability to address them. I highly recommend the site http://lorinroche.com

The thing about meditation is that it's tough to get past those first few minutes, but when you do, it really helps you feel better.

I learned a lot about the philosophy of meditation from reading books like Be Here Now and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.

So instead of resolving to stick to a schedule for pursuing a particular project, I resolved to meditate every day and let the rest sort itself out. I have meditated sporadically for about 10 years, and always appreciated it, but recently had gotten out of the habit.

So far it's been pretty good. The productivity is coming more naturally, albeit in somewhat random bursts, but mostly I'm just more at peace with myself, which I think is more what I'm really after than anything.

A practical and pragmatic source on meditation is Lawrence LeShan's "How to Meditate". I found it to be an informative read and provide a lot of places to both start and expand a meditation practice.

From time to time I will write about interesting meditation experiences or just ways of becoming more disciplined in my practice. http://www.putafonit.com if anyone is interested.

Seeing this post made my day, glad to see some love for good old peace and quiet in our busy lives.

Robert

It becomes somewhat obvious as one begins to meditate that this wandering, and the repetition of unskillful mental qualities, is connected with what stress and suffering there is in life. The accompanying insight into these thought worlds and how they keep originating and pulling stress and suffering with them can supposedly allow one to grow dispassionate for those addictions and give them up to at least a greater or lesser extent. It's interesting to see what repeated mental habits the mind thinks are good ideas, simply because it hasn't taken a good look at them since before the age of two. Giving those habits up, even if only temporarily, can be a great relief for the mind.

The tough part about all this is putting in the effort on a regular/continual basis when the initial results can come and go without your really seeing why. Looking at my own practice, I can say it's worth the effort so far, despite the difficulties. When I'm in a tough spot, remembering the moments that I have been at greater ease in the meditation give me reason to keep working in that direction.

If you're interested, here are some talks by my favorite meditation teacher: http://dhammatalks.org/Archive/BasicsCollection/BasicsCollec...

I hope this helps your practice. ;-)

I've had the same reservations as you, is it doing any good, how can I tell? It is trivially easy to be wrong.

I do like something I see in the people who are more advanced practioners and I keep being drawn back to it.

My latest thinking is that since I can not for the moment find anything longterm to measure, I'll do it for the immediate enjoyment I get directly from the session - from physically relaxing if nothing else. This has now made my sessions very short, just a few minutes at a time before I stop enjoying it.

I'll add another recomendation for "Mindfulness in Plain English", I like it a lot. I'm slowly consuming it, reading a few paragraphs before each meditation session.

These practices emphasize mind-body unity and alignment, and focus on the moment, and the results are very similar to sitting meditation, with the added advantage of physical involvement, and less time per session.

I do a Tai Chi short form at different times throughout the day, as a stress break. It only takes 5 minutes or so, and is very helpful in calming the mind and aligning the body. The down side is that the learning curve is long, and a teacher is needed, in order to ensure that ur doing it right.

I've been practicing zazen on a daily basis for almost twenty years now, and Tai Chi Chuan for almost as long. I am extra lucky in that my wife practices as well, and often we spend whole weekends and even vacations meditating together.

We get most of our inspiration to practice from Uchiyama Roshi, who wrote "Opening the Hand of Thought", and his student Shohaku Okumura who is now teaching in Bloomington, Indiana (and has just published "Realizing Genjokoan" which has also been profoundly helpful to us).

There have been many experiences both painful and joyous, but none of them last, no matter how much I've wanted them to. The lesson of course, is that you must let go, no matter what. According to Uchiyama, the first step to sincere practice is to clarify death. Since none of the stuff we normally value (status, wealth, relationships) stay with us when we meet that final experience, it is obvious that we must let go of them and settle on what is of true value. As a buddhist, what has true value is the true self, which is the self that is connected to all other beings. We practice zazen to let go of our petty self, and allow the true self to manifest, similar to how a Christian's or Muslim's true faith in God could allow God's love to act through them. For me, zazen has always been an act of faith towards the belief that there is this true self, that it is interconnected, and interdependent, and that it is in all of us and that it transcends each of us. This faith allows me to let go, to trust everything to zazen, and unclench however slightly from my selfish preoccupations.

I would say the greatest benefit of meditation for me is this realization that I can let go, that I am not a prisoner of my delusions no matter how persistent they may be, and also this faith in a true self that carries me through difficult circumstances and helps me correct course when my actions fall short of my ideals.

I got started on this when I decided to start working for myself actually. Now that I have a say in my schedule, the pressure of "getting there" practically doesn't exist! With that out of the way I only do what I enjoy doing and it allows me to take the time I need. I get to spend time each day on ME because I don't have to answer to THEM.

Good luck mate! Freeing myself from the cyclical struggle was the best thing I've ever done. It wasn't nor is easy but it's worth it for all the benefit I've seen!

I recommend the Golden Flower method, generally, as described in The Secret of the Golden Flower translated by Thomas Cleary. The Wilhelm translation of the same text is broken.

What is significant about meditation is not specific to sitting. Sitting quietly is a way to clear the everyday human mind so that a more profound awareness can arise in awareness. Then one can hold that awareness through all activity, practicing quiet when quiet is appropriate and acting when action is appropriate.

Meditation can be mundane: a way to relax, to enhance concentration, to feel peaceful. Or it can be greater, a way to understand reality in a way that is denied to the analytic mind.

This is actually part of the treatment that a book prescribes for dealing with RSI. I'm giving it a shot, because I can only learn more about myself from the experience.

Every hacker-type should experiment with mindfulness. Creativity flows out of knowing thyself.

That said, I do spend a little bit of time - every day if I can - thinking about the many good things in my life and how much worse things would be without them. By doing so I find that I appreciate my situation a lot more, am much less likely to take things for granted, and am a lot more stoic about the not-so-good things that happen to everybody from time to time.

"Mindfulness meditation training changes brain structure in 8 weeks" http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/01/21/mindfulness.medi...

Submitted here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2130351

Awareness by Osho is also a great book on meditation: http://www.amazon.com/Awareness-Living-Balance-Osho-Insights...

Makes sense - if our team is less stressed and has better control over their mental state, that means a happier, healthier, more productive company.

Nothing fancy, I just sit there breathing and take everything else out of my mind.

Since I do it when I feel I need it doesn't feel like a waste of time or anything like that. I know I'll be more focused after meditating and will do a better job.

Several techniques will suggest you keep your mind blank while meditating. This is next to impossible. Instead focus your mind on simple image and try to visualize it (with your eye closed) at the area of your forehead between your eyes.

It definitely helped my performance, and I want to bring meditation back into my life. Maybe this thread will help :)

I find the "Tai Chi - Standing Meditation" easy and effective

Refer: http://www.yogiimpressions.com/product-authordetails/The-Sma...

Useful refs:

http://www.amazon.com/Destructive-Emotions-Scientific-Dialog... (the Audio CD set is even better, imo, with actual dialog)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43006-2005Jan...

My favorite intros to secular meditation (that is, non-religious Buddhism):

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-ROUGH/dp/140130...

http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/Being-Nobody-Going-Nowhere-Meditations...

Doing what I learned in from three, plus the Destructive Emotions audio book, absolutely transformed my life. Like night and day. Now I'm one of the best-adjusted people I know, despite having gone through (and, in a few cases, done) some horrendous things.

What mindfulness meditation teaches you, above all physical side effects, is to accept things as they are. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to change them, if they're truly bad, but most people deny what is reality. As if that helps. (I sure did.) But denying just hurts more, doesn't make it untrue, of course, and denial makes it impossible for you to improve things.

I think most of the troubles in life are caused by denial.

And, bonus, the level of mindfulness makes it easy for me to spot user interface/process (and therefor product) opportunities because I almost never just "tune out" and work on autopilot.

The bit of literature that turned me on to the "meditation" practice is this: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/06/meditation.htm...

I'm beginning to realize that there's a humor tax on your karma if you're prone to make sarcastic jokes in well meant questions. Seems only fair.

But to answer your question in ernest, I've been thinking about it after hearing folks like Dan Benjamin and Leo Babauta talk about it, but currently don't. I'm sure it can benefit a lot of people (even me), but somehow there's a motivational hump I haven't gotten over yet and there always seems like there's something else to do.

...which basically means I'm the perfect candidate for someone who ought to do it.

Without wanting to drag this out (and I'll end this thread after this comment), I did nothing that goes against those guidelines. I'm sarcastic in public like this all the time and don't think a joke like this is too uncivil. I wasn't baiting anyone to downvote me. I wasn't even complaining that I was. In fact, I even agreed with people that did.

As I hinted at in my follow up: My brand of humor that works better on other sites isn't exactly suitable on HN. I get that now and will act accordingly.

I know what you mean. Before I first started the idea of it bored the hell out of me (to be quite blunt). Even now that I do it sometimes, I still have to fight the impulse of wanting to do something else instead.