Just three days in to my new meditation routine I'm already finding it easier than I have in the past. A lot of the problem with meditation is that you are often not really told how to do it, just given sweeping statements that you are instantly expected to grasp. Oak is the f... colinwalker.blog

@colinwalker I'm really enjoying Oak. Hoping to meditate at least 20 minutes a day, but historically have never gotten past the urge for each session to be over.

@jack I’m starting at 10 but want to build. I think 20 minute sessions are about as long as I’d want to go.

@colinwalker I'm still at 10/day. Going with that for a couple weeks before bumping it up. Very tempted to try one of those 10-day retreats but afraid I'd lose my mind. :)

@jack I’d have been fine in my younger days. When I lived on my own and was a bit of a loner I could days without talking to anyone. Not so sure now though.

@colinwalker I’ve given Oak a try after you mentioned it over the weekend. I also downloaded buddhify & Insight Timer to give them a whirl. I like buddhify‘s wheel approach; Insight Timer’s insistence on signing up for an account was a turn-off.

@schuth Exactly the reason I’ve not dived into Insight Timer myself. What potentially interests me in Buddhify is the tailored meditations but I’ll see how I go for a while.

@jack I'd suggest avoiding retreats if you haven't done much meditating - they are hard work and you need to be comfortable meditating for good chunks of time first. I've been sitting off and on for 10 years for up to 1.5hrs/day and still haven't braved more than 3 days of retreat

@schuth You can use InsightTimer as just a timer without signing up

@tonybloggs that sounds like good advice. Maybe I’ll be able to work up to it eventually.

@tonybloggs I did see that, and I’ll probably attempt it at some point. It’s a bit too unstructured for where I’m at in right now, which is fine. I’m hoping I’ll be comfortable with some unstructured meditation by summer.

@jack otoh, going to a meditation retreat can be really good immersion training. Note: my background is Soto Zen, and that’s mostly “just sitting.” Note also, tho, that I did my first three days of retreat with untreated ADHD and it was incredible.

@jw Same background :) ...I did do some retreats in my early days but they were HARD. But yep there is value in immersion too, I'm just suggesting that being able to sit for 25+mins a couple of times a day on your own first will help a lot.

@tonybloggs word. I'm not sure I've ever sat more than 15 min at a time outside of a retreat, but that's ok! Everyone has a different method. 🧘