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Comment by pixelperfect | Hacker News Reader

Interesting to see a reference to Culadasa on HN. I discovered his site in 2013 and listened to almost his entire podcast archive. For more than a year I meditated 1+ hours every day, but ultimately I didn't make much progress according to the 10 stages model he has laid out. I ended up getting skeptical/discouraged and stopped meditating regularly. How about you?

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It helped me to clarify some stuff in my practice, but I also understand how his goal oriented approach may be detrimental for personalities that put too much effort in concentration (applies to most 'discursive' types here on HN, including me).

Will be happy to answer any questions you have if you describe me your practice and problems you're having via email (@ at my profile) - I've been practicing with several teachers / approaches and having this wider perspective is quite helpful when you reach any significant block.

I agree with the other poster that going to retreat is a great way to jumpstart the practice - often our daily life is causing of so much constant stress that we have to step out of it to even notice it. When we see it coming back in low doses, we're more likely to understand the patterns and what our personal mental antidote should look like.

BTW, there's a reddit group dedicated to his book, quite helpful.

I've had severe attention issues, that I always thought it was caused by ADHD, but after many years of trying everything I could possibly think of. I realized it was caused by anxiety deeply rooted in painful emotional experiences which influenced how I reacted to stimuli. I realized this after a reading a book on trauma. After suffering from terrible panic attacks for many months. and tirelessly trying to meditate for many hours a day for months I wasn't seeing any progress. I still couldn't sleep, and felt like I would never be able to relax or focus on anything. My life completely changed after doing Neurofeedback training.

By far the most amazing technology available for improving the mental condition of human beings. There is a reason people can super focus on things they enjoy, your emotions are the guide to what you choose to put attention on. When you have nervous, anxious or negative reactions to anything because of past experiences and preconceived notions you cannot fully concentrate or go in and out of flow states.

You can use EEG sensors to see the reactions your brain has to any task, concentrating, reading comprehension or math problems. With the technology you can see how your brain is reacting, how it "focuses", how "calm/alert" it is and if its "daydreaming" and my major problem which was "busy-brain". When you can see and hear feedback, you can "feel" how flow/concentration are constantly being interrupted. Eventually you can train your brain get into these flow states, get into them faster and under stress. I am only 25% through all my sessions and I have just begun to feel and see the magic that is flow. You conscious mind just shuts off and you just "do it".

This is makes a huge impact of meditation as well, you can sit still and focus on your breath, but I find it far more effective to focus on your feelings. I try to guide them and bring them towards courage, passion, love and appreciation. Which brings them closer towards inspiration and happiness and a better functioning mind.

This is all just from physically/emotional painful experiences. So I guess just take with a grain of salt. But it's made huge differences in my physical/mental well-being.

How would one go about starting neurofeedback training? Can this be done at home by ourselves, if so what equipment do we need and what are its cost? Can you give any further pointers/links?

> This is all just from physically/emotional painful experiences. So I guess just take with a grain of salt. But it's made huge differences in my physical/mental well-being.

Even perfectly 'healthy' human being will still have the layer of basic fear, whenever what he considers to be his core identity is under threat. In meditation everyone at some point needs to face it. So I wouldn't take what you're saying with a grain of salt - on the contrary, you may now have much greater clarity, as you had to be much more systematic and determined in your training.

I'd also love to hear more details about the tools you used. Are these consumer grade or hospital type of equipment?

Hey, I've done some (supervised) teaching in Culadasa's method and I've done three retreats with him. We've got a Google Hangout every Tuesday where we discuss our practice and help people out who are stuck, and I think we have a great track record of getting people quickly un-stuck. Hit me up (email in my profile) if you're interested! @aaimnr you too, I'd love to hear your perspective.

Try Vipassana. Spending 10 days in retreat essentially takes you to the low-Earth orbit. From there you can decay back to Earth by doing nothing, or make better use of your new position through sustained meditation that you already know how to do.

Having the patience to mediate for the entire year without results pretty much dooms you to success.

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