[Winston]

I've been out of practice for a little bit but I'm slowly getting back into it.

Free psychedelic type experiences by just chillin. Who else loves to meditate?

I never do it enough ffs

[jenk3m]

how is transcendental meditation done? I know of some artists that do it - Tosin Abasi, David Lynch, The Beatles, etc.

[Winston]

Okay I'll try my best to break it down, because shit can be vague.

It's basically reaching higher states of consciousness through meditative states.

If you've ever done psychedelics, the feeling can actually be quite similar.

It's frustrating to get into the habit though, because it takes daily practice.

Start out sitting, whether it be a chair or cross legged, the more important thing is that you can be comfortable and relax. Some people can manage meditation while laying down but my ass just falls asleep when I do that. Find a spot where you can just comfortably sit, straight up, as if held by a string.

From here the meditation starts, and using the breath as your "anchor" is usually a fantastic way to start. Really feel every breath you take. Feel it in the nose, feel it in the throat, feel the oxygen rush through you. Use every amount of focus you have on your breath.

Thoughts will come and go, don't get too bothered by them. Especially when you first start trying to meditate. It's okay to have thoughts- just once you realize you're thinking about something other than breathing, have the thought, finish it, let go, and bring focus back to the breath.

From here, once you get more and more trained into your breath, with the more time you meditate the more trippy shit will get! Some days I could make my whole body disappear within a few minutes of being in meditation. You get in these states of consciousness where your body is so relaxed, it doesn't even "sense" itself. I'll just feel like I'm a ball of consciousness.

Sometimes I would get unexplainable closed eye imagery too. This was a few years ago when I was getting myself to meditate 2 hours a day Monday through Friday.

Sadly I've fallen out of the practice but slowly getting back on it!

The whole idea is that you are transcending past what it means to be a regular human in a meat suit- kind of shows you more of the true power that lies beneath. It's incredible!

Focusing on your breath pretty much brings you into a trance of sorts and it just gets trippier from there.

If you're really interested in this kind of stuff, within buddhism is a guide for eight different meditative states called "Jhanas" and it's basically their guide to more specific transcendental meditation.

Hinduism has a similar kind of meditation within their framework too, but anybody can meditate, and anybody can experience these higher states of mind.

That's what can make it kind of a hard topic to pinpoint solid info on these days. Over saturation and what not. But basically sit down, and really focus on your breath with your eyes closed!

https://youtu.be/jEAS_XLWGxI

This YouTube vid is a personal favorite for mediation music when I first started meditating. I don't use music as much as I used to because I became too attached to needing music for a little bit. But it can be a huge help in the beginning when you're first trying to get over shutting the over active brain up.