Out of the Fog: Meditations For Believers and Skeptics

Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-to Book

---

I think the treatment for cluster headaches is like this. There is also microdosing, where something like 0. Lots of people think this works for them. Then and now 27 comments 2: I'm a bot, beep boop Downvote to remove Contact me Info Opt-out. Makes it seem unreachable. I feel very optimistic that all these plant medicines will become more available in the future but not tomorrow Ugh.

I take every opportunity I get to spread the word that plant medicines are what the world needs right now. Chemically speaking, there's not much difference between Ayahuasca and 'shroomahuasca' 'shrooms with syrian rue as a MAOI, both relatively easy to get but really the supportive environment and the input from an experienced shaman is as important as the brew. Check out to the good people at Gaia Sagreda if you do take the plunge though.

They are lovely and a little bit closer to you than Peru. Yeah, a bit of both I think. So far they seem to have found the intensity of the experience very manageable, but still seem to have got a lot out of it and have had really positive experience with the shamans there. I won't get a full report until they're back.

Zen your mind by practicing meditation where you focus on letting thoughts come and go as they please with the intention of silencing your mind. It helps a lot with clearing out mental knots and giving you a calm basis from which to rewire your brain and thought patterns. Good luck friend take babysteps: This is beautiful, thank you!

I just started getting to a point where I can let go during meditation and it feels amazing. The more I practice, the easier life seems to get. I'm looking forward to watching these videos later. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension high intracranial pressure with no obvious cause does not particularly seem to be related to anxiety.

Risk factors seem to be being overweight, thyroid hormone imbalances, kidney disease, certain drugs and lupus -- maybe try to figure out if any of those are affecting you. Kidneys also easy GP, pee on a stick. Lupus is famously hard to diagnose, just ask House ;. You may be right, I don't think this is an area that has seen any serious research.

Medically, there is still not really a good explanation for what depression is, how it's caused or how to treat it. We have some pharma drugs that help about half the people that take them at least a little bit, and a bunch of folk wisdom about exercise and suchlike The 6Rs are a way of remembering how to respond when something distracts you from wholesome things and starts sucking you into a spiral of pointless thoughts.

It is not about forcing your mind to do something, more like gently guiding it and giving it time to clean itself. This method brings a 'dirty' mind back to the object of meditation, gradually making it harder and harder to stay focused and leading to one-pointed absorption where the hinderances are suppressed by sheer force of will.

Thanks for the detailed replies. Question - how, exactly, do you "relax into it" as he says your step 3? There is an uncomfortable feeling that seems to be somewhere in the middle of my skull, but also around my eyes and forehead. It goes with a 'searching' kind of narrowly-focused-in-one-direction gaze. I relax all the muscles in my face, around my eyes, my scalp and really anything in that general region, trying to feel inwards toward the middle of my head. I let my gaze broaden to take in more of my peripheral vision, not focused straight ahead on one thing.

Came here to say that cutting gluten removed my brain fog. I never would have recommended it to anyone. I hate being gluten free. But I hate that brain fog more. And mouth ulcers, those disappeared too. Depression is no joke, fight it with everything you can muster. A healthy body AND a healthy mind.

You say you've been depressed a lot, if you're taking any medication for that, it can also be affecting you. Extremely common deficiency, something like half of all adults, causes depressive symptoms.

Crazy how easily things can get out of balance in our bodies and what havoc they can cause: There are many forms of meditation, and some address depression more directly than others. Here are some that have really help me address this kind of thing:. Just read a good few pages of first link. Interesting about focusing on happiness and not making meditation a fixated concentration exercise.

Personally I've been focusing on the tension and resistance in my head that I feel and acceptance and surrender to it. Focusing on loving yourself and others just the way they and you are can help generate positive thoughts and feelings that can then generate positive feel-good hormones in your brain and body that help create more peace. Hey man I used to feel exactly the same as you, but meditation has helped me big time.

I'd say a combination of meditation, reading up on spiritual stuff and good psychedelic trips has saved me from having to be that way ever again.

The science explaining why you should meditate every day

I recommend forcing yourself to stick with it and you should start to see effects, that's what I did, and this is the only thing that's ever consistently worked for me. For me that fog was there because I was stuck in my head and didn't even realise, and it felt like I had no control of what was happening. My mind was constantly working and keeping me immersed in negativity and I didn't even realise, because I'd identified with these thoughts my whole life and surely they couldn't be wrong? Surely it was all as bad as my mind made it out to be. Meditation helped me realise that my mind was constantly focusing on the negatives and coming up with things to feel sad about or get angry about.

Meditation helps you realise that your mind isn't you, it's almost just like this thinking machine that's constantly working away at thinking about shit. With enough meditation, you can actually start to see your thoughts appear out of nowhere, and see how your mind will jump from thought to thought almost at random, like dwelling on past events that made you unhappy, or possible unhappy future events which haven't even happened.

If you keep meditating, you will be able to notice this of your own mind. And once you see it in yourself, you will be able to accept those thoughts and it won't affect you like it used to, because you'll stop identifying with the thoughts. You'll see it as your mind just coming up with shit that doesn't matter and that you shouldn't waste your time on.

You'll then be able to focus on the positives more easily. And essentially fix the negative thinking patterns that your mind has fallen into. It will still try and think negatively at times, you just need to learn not to get caught up in those patterns anymore. It might sound like bullshit, I was very skeptical before I got into any of this, I believed science and rationality was the way and that anything not backed up with hard facts was probably bullshit. But I was in such a bad place and I was desperate for something to pull me out so I stuck with it.

Just remember that the sadness is caused by what's in your head. It might seem like it's caused by these things happening around you. But really it's caused by your constant thinking about these things. I also get that pressure in my head, personally for me I think it's caused by staying indoors staring at a screen all day, as when I'm active or doing things I don't even notice it. You just need to learn to accept it, I've had to do this too.

When you meditate don't forget to focus on all the feelings thoughout your body, if there's pain then focus on it and allow it. Because that's how I feel a lot of the time. And I'm no better than you, I've just learned how to overcome the negativity. Also it may seem hard or ridiculous now, but try to think positively as often as you can.

You just need to break free from your negative thinking patterns. I get what you're saying. But I don't even feel like my mind is thinking anything so there's nothing to be aware of per se. I'm not denying at all there is some cognitive action going on that's making my brain feel shit, there is. So watching my thoughts doesn't help because it's just this one 'belief' if that makes sense. I feel like the only thing I can do is do enough to change that by feeling proud of myself and getting accepted by others so I stop berating myself BUT I also felt like I wasn't thinking before I meditated enough to notice it.

Unfortunately it's just something you have to take on faith. I also never felt like I fit in, or at least my true self, I would always act like someone else, and I got very good at figuring out how to act to get people to like me, purely so my life would be easier. The easiest way to be accepted is to stop caring about being accepted.

The classic "just be yourself bro". People can tell if you're being yourself. But regardless, being accepted doesn't lead to lasting happiness. Accepting yourself for who you are is a lot better of a goal. Accept that you don't fit in with everyone.

Admit to it, be honest with yourself and others. Don't be ashamed of it. I can fit in with almost anyone if I want to because I learned how. I just always thought I should because it seemed like the right thing to do and all the "successful" people were like that. But in truth I'm very reclusive and deep down I don't really care about fitting in.

Welcome to Reddit,

And I'm still growing into it even now, but I know it's me. If you keep meditating then it helps you catch yourself in everyday life as well, so let's say you did something you considered embarassing in front of someone else, or someone got angry at you, things that have happened to me and to everyone ever. My default would be to blame myself "jesus why cant you fit in like everyone else, whats wrong with you etc" which leads to sadness, or respond angrily to the other person, which basically signals to everyone you're not only embarrassed but you're embarrassed to even be embarrassed in front of them, so you try to cover it with anger.

These are things that have happened to me and to everyone, the only difference between us is how we deal with the situation. You also have to believe you can as well. If you continue to see yourself as a victim then you will always be a victim. If you see yourself as someone who is having a hard time at the moment and is going to work to make it better, then that's what will happen.

I think I've said all I can. You have the entire internet at your disposal to learn about how to change yourself for the better. All you need is the willingness to do so and patience.

No worries, good luck ol buddy ol pal. You could literally die at any minute from a heart attack or an aneurysm So might as well enjoy every minute you're still alive!! It's true we all have to dive into our own practice with no personal evidence for it working unless we've had some lucky spontaneous experience. But we also have the evidence of thousands of years of practice by separate cultures all around the world. So, that's some pretty good evidence and motivation. What were they all so committed to this 'inner stillness' nonsense for? Must be something good. And better to start practicing now than wake up decades from now and wish we had started decades earlier.

Just edited my post. I wondered if it would help directly with the symptoms I'm experiencing. I used to think meditation was only for hippies, that it was pointless. Its 20 minutes a day where I don't have to do anything. It's a strange idea but you will notice the changes after a short time. You will have less on your mind, so you will have less brain fog. You will be calmer so it will be less on your mind. Try looking up a short guided meditation on youtube.

Do it every day for 5 minutes. I also have depression, and meditation helps me a lot. It makes you okay with the unknown. I wish you well. First and foremost, smile and realize that you are still alive. Every day more than million people do not get up so we should be happy and joyful for every additional day we live. All other problems are irrelevant once we die. So priority should be enjoying each and every moment.

So smile and be thankful. Go to bed early and wake up before sunrise. Avoid electronics devices laptop, phone after 7: Google for how to do these. It looks simple but very effective. I'm in the same boat, mate. You're not alone in this. There are people who understand, it's just we're just as messed up and are scared of talking to each other! Anxiety's a sneaky one for me, I can find it tricky to actively realise that I'm digging myself into that hole.

I think meditation could help a bit with that. If you want someone to talk this crap over with btw, I'm around. My brain fog and memory loss scare the crap out of me! Imagine going to meetings like this too. They say the thoughts come first to make the feelings but I don't feel that. I feel like these feelings make rightly so the thoughts as my thoughts are about this dis-abling feeling. Sorry for the rant man and sure we can PM or something.

Started using Reddit recently more often and people on here like you can either be condescending cunts I guess if you go on a sub reddit and say the series they liked sucked, woops or super awesome and kind like you ;. No worries, I'm happy to be an open ear. I've gone through much of my life utterly and unreasonably terrified or drained of any interest in anything by depression, and when I have managed to actually recognise what was going on and push through it to try to connect with people, I can't actually converse with any comfort.

My hindbrain's always looking for the opportunity to escape and I just stop being able to connect with what people are saying. It's crazy, as you say, the emotion comes first. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and it's disabling. I stopped a career because of it. Do you sleep well enough? I often feel that many of my problems stem from insomnia, and that some of them fuel the insomnia too in a twisted, horrible cycle.

If you want, I might be able to help you with recognising when those feelings you mentioned start to form and cutting them off at the bud, but it's hard work and doesn't always work. It's basically a limited self-taught cognitive behavioural therapy. I'm still an anxious and depressed man, but I'm better now than I was and can have at least a little control over it now. That's great to hear man that you're doing a bit better and interesting to see you can actually relate with what I'm saying.

iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection.

Through my anxiety struggle I got the most help from the works of Dr Claire Weekes she was a scientist and then later in life a GP who suffered with anxiety and panic for 2 years so she became very credible as any on the subject Now, once we're in such a state the anxiety state she calls it, where our nervous system actually has become strained [nervous system is responsible for the registering of our emotions] through stress, it's literally a breeding ground to just generate more anxiety because we feel so 'off'.

I figure the same with depression now too Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into her work. What you describe sounds familiar. I got to understanding it myself by reading up on Hebbian theory and about the physiological neurological changes it describes. It's the same story really, the more we repeat stimuli, the stronger and more ingrained our response becomes. Negativity breeds negativity, fear encourages us to feel more fear.

What really interested me was how our brain links incidental or sometimes even unrelated stimuli together when it builds its habitual response. I think we do the same with anxiety. We suffer from anxiety and depression so often that the environment we're in and the things and people around us become incidental stimuli, triggering the fear response within us. Well, that's my guess at least. I partly blame that for my insomnia. I think meditation, or in my case just heightened self awareness, separates us from these triggers instead of removing the triggers from the environment. I'm happy to hear you're doing better today mate!

I hate finding people feel isolated by their brain chemistry. I've been there, it sucks. Sympathy costs nothing and sometimes is all people need. Again, anytime you feel like a chat about this, pm or post a reply. There's no time limits on that. And if anyone else reads this and feels down, I'm happy to chat with you too.

I also have anxiety and depersonalization and was using a mixture of meditation and progressive muscle relaxation during this short clarity of mind. I think we need to learn to truly surrender, change what we can gently and accept what we can't. I hope you gain clarity my friend. Shoot me a message and we can connect on what's been working for me! I think the most important thing I gained from meditation is that I am the observer. This question battle can rage on for days, weeks, or even months and seem never ending. But by doing this, we have forgotten we are the observer, we have the ability to watch.

You can observe your state of mind in the same way you observe that breaking your leg hurts. There is no battle, there just is. Through meditation I have learned that if I only have one thought, I can watch that. If I have constant chatter, or a complete absence of anything, I can watch that as well.

I can watch my anxiety come and go, watch my happiness and sadness appear and disappear, but deep down I know these things do not necessarily define me, as I know I am just the observer. I hope you find the peace you are looking for - there are a lot of great responses here. Thanks for making me feel less alone. I believe it's from intense and unfulfilled desire, causing frustration and sadness that can't be remedied due to the immobile state it produces.

Think it's just pure shocking sadness and as such, stress overload in the head resulting in the heady feeling. Not as good as other types of head, believe you me: Spent ridiculous money on it. Most of them have no idea what they're talking about. No one owes you shit in life so I can't expect or have demanded it to help so But it does suck because MH is a complex topic. Specifically cognitive behavioral therapy?

It would be ignorant of me to say too much bad about it as I can't say it was ever taught to me effectively. I do feel that I am certainly holding a belief in my head that is making me feel the way I do and then because of how I feel, I feel even more shit about myself so it's a vicious cycle.

If I could stop feeling bad, I would stop thinking bad. But I think perhaps I can only stop feeling bad if I can be a certain way - someone normal, sociable, not stuck in their head. That would make me stop berating myself. I was on the best way to run into a hole just like yours. I was on a point where I was afraid of taking the train or just casually walk through the town small town, not really anything happening on the streets.

I saw, that I just had to face this fear, instead of running away and must admit, meditation and working out helped me a lot. Through the workout I had small periods at the day where my mood wasn't totally down and that gave me something to look forward. Through meditation I gained such awareness, that I was often super aware of me being scared of nothing or depressed, because of my bad thoughts yes I think if you're just depressed, it's mostly your thoughts that depress you. Through this awareness I knew always, that I just had to fight it back, not everything at once, but step by step, so it will become better eventually.

Also, because I wasn't so bound to my thoughts, it was easier to "resist" the depressed feeling and just make something else to "become happy". I guess fake it til' you make it works. Meditation definitely helped me immensely, lessening brain fog, dissipating anxiety, and allowing me to let go of the depression that has run in my family.

Like everyone else is saying, a clean diet whole foods, greens, healthy fats, etc. I found that taking omega 3 supplements may have aided me in focusing on certain tasks for longer too. Overall, yes, meditation has definitely improved everything about my life for the better. A daily practice has motivated me to do all the things I listed above, because I realized that having this body is a gift, and I want to take care of it to the best of my ability. I know it can be hard to just get started sometimes, especially with the brain fog and all, but don't give up!

Not to be cheesy for cliche, but things do get better! You just have to allow yourself to mess up sometimes, and meditation will help train your brain to be more loving and forgiving toward yourself. I definitely used to be an all-or-nothing type of person and give up easily, but meditating taught me to be more persistent and just take things one step at a time. You can start with just 5 minutes of mindful breathing a day and slowly work your way up: Thoughts are never yours to begin with, you merely attract the thoughts which are on the same vibrational frequency as you, like a magnet.

It makes sense that the thoughts you have are corresponding to the way your brain feels as that is what is attracting those thoughts which already exist on the thought realm to you. This is why meditation is important as it allows you to clear your brain and observe the thoughts which you are attracting, until you get to a point where you can choose which thoughts to attract and which thoughts to let go of.

This is not just an other night thing and I also recommend you look into spirituality as a whole and the way the ego works and how the subconscious communicates with the conscious mind in order to create your reality, and how to gain control of this. Hope this response helps. I used to have terrible brain fog. It was like all I was was static noise. I got myself out of the hole I dug, and you can too. Your body is a machine. Inputs directly relate to outputs.

When you fail to say "no" to a logically bad impulse, you strengthen that bad decision.

Essentially you need to end your addictions to cheap dopamine. List what these addictions are and how you can end them. Porn, alcohol, weed, nicotine, caffeine, video games, mindless internet browsing, junk food, TV, sports, and social isolation, are my poisons. These things may be good in moderation but we can't control ourselves and these things are so readily available it's easy to get lost in the forest and never find your way out.

The first step is being aware. For your mental state and for meditation, read the top comment: I like what you say. Thing is the background hum makes it fucking hard to exist and operate in order to connect with others. It's like fucking with me so much it instantly makes me sad that it won't go so I can't get the remedy, which is to be able to connect with others.

Don't get me wrong I have friends and I can get girls lucky me Check this out for good tips on how to focus. Basically you need to remove distractions. Since your mental state is a direct result of what you do, start doing the basic things even if you don't want to. Handling your business leads to success, not the other way around. Change won't be overnight, but it'll come. Realize that we're young, and improvements or investments into yourself that you make now can and will last for. Also, I'd recommend reading scripture.

I know it sounds weird, but I am finding truths about myself and the world in it, and it is having a positive effect on me.

Unleashing the Power of Mindfulness in Corporations

Ugh there feels like so many nootropics to try but I guess I may give this one a go first since you recommended it! How long before it helped you? Thanks for the rec. It's not the same for everybody but it took away the majority of my anxiety and helped with my brainfog. It's definitely worth a try for 10 bucks. You got it right with the awareness. Coming from a guy who is overcoming depression with mindfulness I can only describe it as such.

You are very much stuck in a fog and are aware that you are depressed and you desperately want to get out and it just fuels this cycle of self loathing. What mindfulness did for me is help me see the monsters that lurked in the fog. For me it was negative thought spirals or patterns of thought that would arise at certain times in my day. It helped me be aware of why these monsters brought and hang out in the fog. Sure you might be thinking, what good does recognizing my bad thoughts do for me if they are just going to keep coming back? I thought along the same lines, I felt hopeless, like I was trapped.

It felt that way for the longest time but then one day I realized, I'm aware of why I am in this fog, I know the monsters that reside in it, why don't I just make it go away today? This began my climb out of the fog. Meditation just gave me the light to pierce through the fog and make the monsters go away. Try it brother, it will suck.

You won't like it. It may seem fruitless and quite frankly for the longest time it will. If you give it an earnest shot it may very well help you see the monsters hiding in your fog. First, thanks for posting this. I'm touched by everyone that takes the time to write to me, just a suffering stranger.

You're an inspiration and I'm glad you're doing better. As I mentioned in comments to others, my monster is that I feel like I don't fit in even though people don't think I'm a loser because I'm 'the gym bro' [sorry to be shallow] so it makes me depressed knowing this FACT. And then obviously it's hard for me to change that and start being a social carefree king because of the depression. So what I will take from your comment is knowing your monster should at least count for something, knowing WHY you are depressed. Also, it's really important to focus on the breath. Often people underestimate of breathing fully.

What I mean by this is, sit or lie down in a comfortable position, and try to practice taking long slow deep inhales, and then slow long exhales. When you move your awareness to the breath you slowly come in to a deep state of relaxation. This is the first steps to being able to meditate in a relaxing state of consciousness where you focus on the breath and then slowly being to relax and clear any thoughts and being able to meditate.

Meditation is something you will slowly but surely be able to do more easily with regular gradual practice and with time. Meditation is just about stepping out of the way. This can be done through awareness, but ultimately you're just accepting that the brain does not exist to make you the ego happy it exists to regulate your entire body. The meditative mindset is automatic and will come about when you let yourself fade away.

Usually this is best accomplished by focusing on your breath, but that's not always the best method for every single person, so try different techniques if you don't take to it. The way I grok it is feel your pain and it goes away. Run from your pain and you will be running for the rest of your life. Pain is not punishment it's just consequence. It's part of your body or mind saying "I need help. The best way I've figured out is to just sit with your pain.

If painful, anxious, or depressed thoughts come into your mind, just let them stay there. Welcome them, and any other thought that needs to be expressed. Inside your head you are invincible, so if a "monster" comes out of hiding and attacks you, just smile and let it happen. It's the hardest thing to do, but eventually it will click and you will feel tremendous peace from it. I used to be incredibly depressed, boarding on suicidal, and the only thing that made an ounce of difference was meditation.

It's like neg-entropy for your mind. Things just fall back into place. So encouraging to here. I'm making note now after every session with 'realizations' and I started to feel like, it doesn't matter what I think or what happens, I need to stop twisting myself up so much with that because I still have a CHOICE to act otherwise. So if I feel depressed, can I let that be and still cherish the beauty of life? I feel like that's the best I've got right now and it makes me feel good that MAY be an attainable skill, with practise as opposed to - I feel shit - so everything through the lens I see is shit.

Thanks for coming here to comment man. From what I've learned you just need to accept the reality of your situation, and not turn it into your identity. Have a sit, and feel your depression, understand the scope and size of it, and use the logical part of your mind to remind yourself that you were capable of feeling good once, and therefore you can be that way again.

It's so easy to take something like depression, and beat yourself up with it. The ego enjoys being a martyr and it's generally easier to get angry at something or someone else and drown in self pity. This kind of logic only serves to make you powerless. It turns you into someone who wishes to feel better while sitting in the corner thinking "Poor little me.

The problem with that logic is it requires you to have no control. If you had control then you couldn't blame the world for your struggles, and your self pity wouldn't be as satisfying. This is the hardest point to get through. Accepting that you do have a choice and you do have control over how you feel. I still struggle with this, even though my depression is behind me.

Think of it as learning to stop wishing and to start wanting. People say they want to be done with something or they want to achieve something, but they aren't wanting, they are wishing. A want has a plan and a path to get there, a wish is just a murky ambiguous desire. If you really want something and it is physically achievable, a pathway will just unfold.

Otherwise you're just wishing to be the type of person who would want something like that. By the way, sorry for the long, meandering reply, it's just hard to put these ideas into just a few words. I am by no means a master in this subject, just someone who figured out how to make it work, so take what I say with a grain of salt and definitely keep seeking more information. Alan Watts is a treasure trove in my opinion, he does cross the line into the spiritual, but regardless of your beliefs he has a tremendous way of thinking about the nature of existence, and how the mind fits into it.

We are reminded that there truly are good people making a difference in the world. We are asked questions about our own spiritual lives.

Out of the Fog

We ponder ways of creating a peaceful world. We are taught by children, dogs, cats, seashells, gardens; the sacredness of the every day is lifted up. We are asked to think of what our children really need from us. We are reminded to rest in the grace of the world. We are challenged to act for what we believe in. We are given hope in life and in ourselves and along the way we laugh often. Excerpt from Out of the Fog I miss a fireplace. Or rather, a fireplace of delights and dreams and real logs, real fire.

I grew up with a fireplace in our living room, not used for heat, but for warmth, beauty, visions, friendliness. We carefully cleaned the fireplace each Christmas Eve, so Santa would not be covered in ash. On Christmas Day, we lit the fire using as kindling the few Christmas wrappings my mother deemed unsalvageable for another year. The fireplace crackled, snapped, and exuded good cheer all December 25th and New Years as it did on Thanksgiving, and on snowy January, February, and March days and evenings.

The fire removed the chill of fog in fall and spring, and in the hurricane became briefly a working fireplace, for heat, for light, for cooking, most of all, for the vision of coziness amidst the tempests roar. Even in summer, when the days turned damp and shivery, the fire would be lit and wed gather in its glow for fun and games.

I still have the old wire popcorn popper we jiggled above the flames, waiting with bated breath for that first distinctive POP and then in exultation as the kernels exploded in a delicious cacophony of pows! I have lost years ago the wire marshmallow and hot dog toasters that the bold thrust into the flames those of us who liked blackened marshmallows and hot dogs that split, taking the risk of losing them to the fire god and the more genteel held with tense concentration hovering over the embers for perfectly browned outside, sumptuously melted inside, marshmallows.

• The Accidental Farmers: A story of homesteading, prepping and an urban couple with a dream of farmin
• Buying the Truth
• MAST
• Impromptu No. 4 in B-flat Minor
• Technical Charting for Profits
• After Poststructuralism: Reading, Stories, Theory
• Daniel Craig