Well, That was Weird
And meditate. Meditate a lot.
Next Week: What’s Up, Big Bear
There is another comic below, should you decide to skip the written stuff.
Completely Unrelated, Chapter 011:
Here’s another line from the poem I wrote for student worker Z, based on questions she asked and our conversations that ensued:
Meditate. A lot.
Let’s start here, with one of my favorite videos that I shared with Z and many other students, which, while not directly about meditation, captures some of the day-to-day benefits one can experience from meditation:
I also encouraged Z to visit Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California, a Buddhist monastery that is open to the public. She and other college students I referred there, both as individuals or took in groups, all expressed a kind of awe at what they experienced.
I’ve heard it said that ten minutes a day will improve your day, and 20 minutes a day will improve your life
As someone who has meditated pretty much daily for decades, for ten or twenty minutes at a pop, and who has led guided meditations for likely more than a thousand people, I believe that’s true.
But you don’t need to take the word of this stranger.
Other strangers have done scholarly research into meditation. They’ve found that people who meditate can:
Experience increased emotional centeredness
Express greater compassion
Improve brain structure
Increase intelligence
Reduce pain
Enhance cognition
Boost problem solving
Improve multitasking
Advance single-tasking
Reduce anxiety
Lighten or Eliminate Depression
Much of the above I gleaned from PsyBlog.
And also validated through personal experience.
Four Apps that can Help
I prefer Insight Timer, which has a generous free option. I’ve heard good things about all. Breathing Zone is pretty awesome, too.
And a PDF to Help You Get Started
Which you can download from Positive Psychology, a website for practitioners.
I wish you well on the journey,
Brian
From The Archive
Another from a long dormant Instagram account:
You’ve come all this way. Please help me land a few more subscribers. Pleeeze?