Meditation! Seriously! Do it!

ENTJ

Matt1234567

This dude is a really great speaker. Basically persuaded me to meditate lol.

shadow16

Love meditation! I think the reason why I hardly ever get anxious is because I meditate every single day. It's amazing for the soul & the mind, not just for the psychological benefits but the actual neuroplasticity benefits

fiji12345678

He convinced me too. He really is a good speaker.

sodeyemi220

I cannot say enough good things about meditation, I recommend it for anyone it is amazing.

harrismegan

oh my God. #persuaded. Getting on meditating right now.

ENTJ

Make it a part of your day-to-day! 15 minutes is all it takes right after you wake up each morning! It definitely sets the pace of your day. Even for 5-10 minutes before you take a PT will do wonders. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it!

Jengibre

Taking such a small amount of time out of your day can make such a significant, long term difference. I must let go of that absurd excuse, "I don't have time to meditate!" Thanks for posting!

edgar

Hey guys! Just wanted to say how amazing this site and the growing community are. It's difficult to maintain personal relationships when you're spending so much time studying for this test while still gambling with work and school. It's definitely nice to read the experiences of others and seeing how everyone overcomes various obstacles.

As for meditation, I looked into this a couple months ago and found a great handbook on vipassana meditation online. It's a short read that will get you on a path to proper meditation. I'm not sure if I can legally post the direct link on these forums (don't want to get myself or the amazing JY into any trouble), but the name of the book is "Mindfulness in Plain English". It's structured a bit like a handbook rather than a philosophy behind meditation.

I've been doing it for a couple months now and I think the most amazing thing about meditation is that your self awareness just sky rockets. I'll be doing a reading comp section and suddenly I realize I'm not paying attention to the text, but rather thinking what's for dinner. That realization becomes more evident and consistent as time goes on. I catch my mind drifting so much! Meditation has definitely helped making me realize it.

I definitely recommend you guys read the book. Let me know what you guys think!

Matt1234567

Haha Edgar, I can relate about the mind drifting to wandering thoughts during reading comp.

pjanderson5

ATTENTION EVERYONE: Download calm.com app! It's free and has anywhere from 5-30 minute guided meditation sessions! It really helps relax me before studying!

fiji12345678

Thanks for letting us know about "calm.com!" I tried it, and it is great!

Gladiator_2017

That was a great video! I just tried an intro meditation course a few weeks ago and definitely enjoyed it. If anyone is NYC and wants to try a class together and then maybe study afterwards let me know. The studio is called NY Meditation Center on West 27th Street in Mahattan (classes are by donation).

ENTJ

It's really great for training in terms of focus. Meditation teaches how to focus on the particular task at hand. It's such a crucial and foundational element needed for LSAT prep in my view. I only wish I did it a lot sooner.

craig_yuan

can someone enlighten me with simple instruction regarding how to perform meditation?

ENTJ

Yeah absolutely.

1) Find a quiet area with little-to-no ambient noise.
2) I usually like to sit cross-legged on the floor. Some like to sit in a chair or something with back support. However, I find that too comfortable. I think it's best that you're a little uncomfortable, otherwise, you might be tempted to take a nap.
3) Listen to your breath going in and out of your lungs. Feel the pressure and weight of your body.
4) Try to focus on nothing. I like to imagine a complete black void. Your mind will naturally wander but that's fine. When you realize that happening, re-focus back to nothingness.
5) Start off small and grow incrementally. 5 minutes is a great starting point.

craig_yuan

^^Appreciate, gonna start it today, never too late:)

ENTJ

Yessir!

ddromney

That science is awesome. Will start meditating more. I also have to say that prayer is a great way to meditate and the two go well together. Prayer helped me a ton on my previous LSAT.

ENTJ

Bump! Stay balanced, happy, and focused people!

inactive

@rachelHaw This might help!



Al also posted a short description on how to do it if you scroll up.

shine.on.me

I used to Meditate (I used a website and app called Meditation Oasis) and it was very helpful. Some days its easier than other days. But I need to try to meditate more frequently.

emli1000

So necessary!

Allison M

@rachelHaw, one big part of meditating is realizing that there isn't a "right" way to do it. Just sit, focus on your breath (or whatever else you're trying to focus on), and notice your thoughts/feelings without engaging them. Don't get discouraged if your attention wanders -- just notice, and return your attention to your breath. Remember, it's a practice. No one reaches Buddhist monk level zen overnight!

Alex Short

has anyone noticed meditation having an effect on their ability to focus on the LSAT for longer periods of time or even seeing an increase score-wise?

mes08

@"Alex Short" I have ADD and I have found that meditating has helped me immensely. I meditate right before a study session or a PT and it increases my attention span and concentration.

ENTJ

How to meditate: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-practice-mindfulness-meditation-2015-4

ENTJ

For the new 7sagers. Check out the link.

emli1000

I never think I'm doing it right -_-

ENTJ

@emli1000 Lol. How are you doing it?

emli1000

I closed my eyes to relax lmao but then I got bored... So I gave up trying to figure this out.

Mookittyy

Wow, this guy gave a really convincing speech about meditation. I thought I would post a comment to bump this thread back into awareness so more people see it. I think this is profound not only for training your mind for the LSAT, but for life in general.

Cant Get Right

So just to play devil's advocate, what are these studies he's citing? Did they really conclude what he's leading us to believe they concluded or did they just suggest a correlation? Exaggerating the results of scientific studies and then drawing unwarranted conclusions from those exaggerations is pretty run of the mill at this point, so I always take these types of arguments with heavy skepticism. Given all true premises, his argument is indeed very convincing. If those studies don't say what he suggests they say though, his argument is severely weakened if not completely destroyed; and I very much expect that these studies present much more tenuous, preliminary results than we are led to believe.

Of course, disproving this particular argument would say very little about the merits of meditation. I'm staying totally neutral on that. I'm only saying that, while very well presented, the strength of this argument very much relies on the actual nature of the results of these studies; and these results are almost certainly nowhere near strong enough to support the conclusion. These studies would be famous if their conclusions were that strong.

desire2learn

@"Cant Get Right" I love that you brought all of our training to your post! So much fun to see it in use. It gave me a good chuckle. Thanks for the moment of levity!

ektaborkar11

got very helpful information about Meditation