PropaneFitness Podcast
How to get started with meditation | Kit Laughlin
Kit was absolutely on FORM for this one. Here's what we cover, including a specific step by step guide to getting started with meditation at 22:00. Shownotes: 00:00 - Intro00:45 - “Stretching 2.0”01:45 - we are here today to talk about meditation03:00 - what kind of mediation is best?04:00 - basic instructions on how to start meditating05:30 - learning styles have changed07:10 - learning from written word08:15 - follow along stretching programs vs recipe programs10:15 - I have been meditating for ~35 years10:50 - the need for simple, follow-along meditation programs11:00 - what exactly is meditation?11:45 - the Four Postures of meditation12:15 - Hat tip to Daniel Ingram13:45 - The shortening of attention span in modern era14:15 - the “Six-second Abs” approach to meditation14:45 - “What do you think the meditation project is?”17:00 - a surface take on different approaches19:00 - “Undoing the illusion of self!” and the superficiality of modern takes on meditation20:00 - “a McMindfulness approach is still better than no approach!”21:00 - inhabiting the body to develop awareness21:45 - The unpredictability of psychedelics22:10 - Kit: let us go into the detail:23:45 - get started in two minutes!25:00 - “feel your body” does not connect, for many people25:50 - Yusef's experience with Vipassana retreats26:30 - most meditator’s experience on their first retreat is pain26:30 - the basic instructions continue27:45 - the “meditation object”28:15 - “feel the movements in your body we cal ‘breathing’”29:00 - meditation is an embodied practise30:45 - ‘one-pointed’ awareness as alternative; ‘open awareness’31:05 - “what is happening now?”31:45 - As you breathe in, what do you feel?32:00 - a thought will come into your mind32:45 - “a bad meditation session”33:30 - “hold your awareness GENTLY on your meditation object34:30 - “be nice to yourself!36:30 - stickiness37:25 - “unsatisfactoriness vs ’suffering’”38:30 - experiencing sensations IS being present39:45 - paying attention to what’s actually happening (not what you think is happening!)41:10 - your body only has one language41:50 - we are not trained to attend to sensations42:15 - the most important things in this life are what the body experiences43: 30 - thought as a ‘time stamp’44:20 - “Im not a meditation person”45:50 - “I’m speaking to an audience of typical Westerners”46:45 - “There’s no such thing as a ‘bad training session’”49:00 - “I’m a knowledge worker”49:45 - Kit’s recommendations for Yusef's practise50:15 - Lying relaxation/meditation51:20 - why Kit recommends a lying practise51:45 - learning meditation is about unlearning many habits53:00 - Kit’s first insight53:45 - relaxation is just another habit55:20 - humans are more doglike, than catlike56:45 - Yusef on how being relaxed can become the new norm57:15 - the thought stream58:45 - Kit’s experience on retreat in Berkeley1:03:05 - why it’s so important to be able to relax1:04:05 - “I don’t have to be, or do, anything1:07:00 - a few quick questions1:08:00 - pay attention to what’s actually happening now1:11:30 - importance of comfort in stretching1:13:30 - life-changing skills1:14:30 - not adding anything1:17:30 - breath counting1:24:15 - experiencing serenity in the body was life-changing1:24:30 - mantra1:28:00 - “neural down-regulation”1:29: 30 - the difference between being relaxed and deeply relaxed1:31:30 - sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems1:34:30 - the importance of being aware that one is relaxed1:35:45 - engaging with reality directly1:36:10 - difference between non-attachment and detachment1:37:00 - anger1:41:45 - the ‘dis-ease’ of being you1:43:45 - Final question: what should we NOT do?1:48:00 - what do you want out of your life?1:51:00 - Kit chastises Yusef's reading style1:51:50 - the book Essentialism”1:52:30 - knowing what you don’t want1:55:00 - being a beginner by choice1:58:30 - Rousseau’s great quote
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