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I used to meditate for 20 minutes daily, but my mind still acted like a spoiled petulant child, so I upped it to two hours first thing in the morning (in one sitting). I use one of these meditation posters as a focal point: http://zenpusher.com

The results have been profound. My mind is quiet and obedient now. I experience equanimity throughout the day.

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That's a lot of meditation! I am doing 20 minutes at the moment and I feel similar to you: I still have serious trouble staying focused on anything. Did you keep it up or was there a lasting effect?

Not one who meditates, but my mom advocates it. She says that having done meditation for a while (over a year? I'm not sure how much longer than that), she can now feel positive effects just after 5 minutes.

I made meditation the top priority of my day. I do not leave the house or answer the phone/door until the two hours are finished.

What worked for me was basic yoga asanas to loosen up and then closing my eyes and focusing on relaxing every area of my body from my forehead, eyes, jaw and so on. I would do this thing where I wouls stretch my arms up as high as possible and tense up and much as I could and then relax my body as if to touch my toes. Works great if you have a tight neck or back.

I never saw a need to go beyond 30 minutes. In my opinion there is no right way. The breathe is key. Irregular breathing is a problem for many of us if we spend most of our day sitting in front a monitor tightening up.

You should read the book Power of Now. It will give you some tips.

I need this. I just about have a breakdown at work every single day because I work in an extremely loud open office setup with no escape to a place of solitude. Everyone on the floor sees me as a wretched asshole, because it's true. Where should I start with meditation?

I'm a fan of both https://www.headspace.com and http://www.calm.com to get started. Both have free options to start out, and don't require a large amount of time to get started. The guided meditation at Headspace was key for me to get walking down this path.

You don't need anything to get started. No app, poster, book or garb.

Just sit.

Technically you are right, but I think most beginners benefit from more guidance than that. It's like telling someone that all there is to golf is to hit the ball into the cup.

Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana has been a good start for me. It explains meditation, different flavors of mindfulness, as well as techniques and what to expect when you first start. I highly recommend it. http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-Gu...

Read the book "Search inside your Self" from the googler Chade-Meng Tan. I've read some books about meditation and this one was the one that really resonated with me (a technical person).

Off-topic, but might I recommend quitting your job? I'm sure you've considered it already, but I think it might be a better solution than meditation

If you're sensitive to office noise I strongly suggest getting good noise cancelling headphones. I had the same problem about a year ago, bought bose qc 25 and while a bit expensive it think it's money well spent, I'm much less aware of/annoyed by the noises around me

This thread seems somehow off topic, but it's a topic by itself…

I would recommend against images. They feel helpful at first but they tend to mislead by infusing the idea that they have something to do into the meditation.

Moreover, as an aside, I didn't see anyone mentioning that you don't force yourself out of thoughts: just let thoughts come and pass without considering them intentionally. (I guess that's what westoncb meant by https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11135378)

But what can I say? I felt the way you describe for some time. I can't even say if it resulted of meditation. And it vanished as it came, unexpectedly. I may have considered that I acquired satori and experienced the hard way that satori is not something you possess. But I wouldn't be surprised to hear that my advice is bullshit according to OP.

(To anyone feeling like reading about zen meditation, I would recommend Shunryu Suzuki's book Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen.)

But doesn't meditation impede that little thought machine that runs in most programmers' heads? What has put me off meditation a little bit was reports of people no longer getting those algorithmic lightbulb moments at the gym or elsewhere AFK, which then makes keyboard time more productive. My best business and life ideas have happened while I wasn't in the 'moment' of whatever I was doing, and instead highly absent and still in code/entrepreneuring/brainstorming mode (whether I knew it or not). I don't know if it's worth giving up all those moments to experience life on a deeper level (I'll regret writing this).

As far as i understand it, it's not so much that you can't do that anymore but that it's not automatic anymore. You can still let your mind do it's thing, e.g. hop on the thought train and let one thought lead to another. It's more that you choose to do that whereas for most people it just happens (automatically and subconciously)

Did it take a couple of sessions for you to be able to handle one hour in one session? I started with 20 minutes like you and have incrementally increased it to 40. I'm aiming for 60 minutes, but every time I increase my sitting length I find it incredibly difficult to sit through. Often I feel very stressed and like I'm about to break down due to the boredom. Did you experience this?

Did it take a couple of sessions for you to be able to handle one hour in one session?

Yes. I'd remember something I had to do or get a great idea and have to pause to write it down. I later realised it was just another trick my mind will use to regain control.

The point of meditation (for me, anyway) is to stop impulsive behaviour. That means everything must wait, even scratching an itch.

Often I feel very stressed and like I'm about to break down due to the boredom. Did you experience this?

Yes. Just yesterday at about the 1 3/4 hour mark I got incredibly stir crazy. I tried breathing myself calm again, but I must have sounded like a marathon runner on the last mile. In the final 10 minutes or so I settled back in.

You just got to ride out those rough patches. The journey is as valuable as the destination.

Do you ever feel anxious that you should be doing something instead?

I consider meditation to be the most productive thing I can do. Since meditation affects my perspective on life, my relationships, my faith, my health - it supersedes everything else.

How do you keep your mind still? I've tried counting my breaths up to 10, one for in and one for out, but honestly, it's a lot harder than it sounds. I end up having to start from 1 again a lot of times.

I suggest not counting. Don't use your mind to tame your mind. Try to ride a tiger and it will only eat you.

Escape conceptual thought entirely.

From what I understand, it's slightly different from escaping conceptual thought entirely. The idea is to not direct your thoughts, but rather observe them without judgement as they arise and fade away. So the idea is balanced observation, and this is easier to do by relaxing your mind and body.

Counting is thinking. The idea is to not follow wandering thoughts. When you get it your mind is silent, and you are fully present. You can hear everything around, not even a ninja could sneak up on you.

Keeping the mind still isn't the point, nor is it possible without effort. Effort isn't really what is being indicated when experienced meditators talk about "stillness". Meditation is fundamentally extremely simple: focus on the chosen object of meditation, notice when distraction has arisen, return the attention to the chosen object of meditation. There are many useful paths/methods/techniques that can grow from this soil, but these should not be understood as goals.

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