I've come to notice that mindful meditation does some good things to me.

And by "mindful meditation" I mean my subjective experience based on the shitty articles and videos I saw online, aka, I close my eyes and focus on how my breathing feels...

spoiler: it doesn't fix my depression and anxiety. The good thing that it does to me is that I seem to be more focused and to bump into simple solutions to problems I have everyday instead of freaking out about them.

So while it doesn't fix it, it does help a bit with anxiety.

The problem is that it's very, very, very goddamn hard to meditate to me.

I try to focus on my breath and not think for like 10 minutes. Even for 10 minutes, the experience is jarring.

I have this insane urge to just do something immediately. It's not a painful experience or anything or bad for my mental health so far, I just get massive urges to start doing something else, like, for example, I can't wait to start working.

So it's as if it decreased anxiety, but increases adrenaline or whatever? I dunno.

Disclaimer: I don't care much about the religious aspect at all, which is kind of problematic because 95% of what you find online is just biased religious marketing, and I avoid that like the plague.

Yeah dude. I've been meditating for a couple of years and my the first minutes after sitting down is like... my mind is screaming. So many thoughts vying for attention. "Pick me! No, pick me! Oh I really should do that one important thing, I need to get up and fix that RIGHT NOW". Geez.

My take on this is that this is just how active your mind usually is. As you sit down you begin to notice how your thoughts are racing. How badly you need to keep busy. Stay with it and your mind will calm down. Just don't try to interfere too much. Like my favorite philosopher once said: you will be like someone trying to make rough water smooth with a flat iron.

What will really mess you up is the realization that trying not to interfere is also doing something. Oops. So just sit there. You'll be carried away by thoughts. For embarrassingly long moments of time. That's fine...

Meditation turned my life around. It's the best. But it's also a chore...

Personally, I freaking love the spiritual stuff. Have you checked out Sam Harris' guided meditation? You'll get a neuroscientific perspective that is in accordance with science and current research. Spoiler alert tho: the implications of how your brain is constructing your reality will sound eerily spiritual. Check it out though, I think it's a great start for skeptics who are tired, and rightfully so, of all the unscientific claims made by religions and spiritual people. If you do, please tell me what you think! I'm really interested in hearing your thoughts.

@ihatecomputers I might give that guy a try...

I'll definitely try to ease my way into meditating from now on, thanks for the tip

That Sam Harris stuff looks cool. Thanks for mentioning it; I’m checking it out too!

@ihatecomputers I was actually do spend some time meditating, such a simple tip, yet effective...

is there any sam harris video you would recommend?

It's more difficult at first, but once you get used to meditation, it will be easier.

Just let those thoughts pass by, dont grab hold of them.

It's good for the brain, you're training it to let go of all the thoughts, and just relax. Which is exactly what you need for dealing with anxiety, as you tend to (over)think a lot.

Meditation is a physical/mental thing. It's separate from the religious mumbo jumbo. It's been scientifically proven to help.

@erandria
I've been listening to this guided meditation more or less daily as part of my routine for the last couple weeks: https://youtu.be/OboD7JrT0NE (it's the first YouTube result for Sam Harris Meditation).

There are probably other guided meditations by him. And there's usually versions with background music if that works for you. Some hate it, some love it.

Throwing in some guided meditation wild cards as well. Search for the name + meditation if you're feeling adventurous... in order of least to most wacky:
Alan Watts (Philosopher and entertainer. One of my biggest inspirations.)
Mingyur Rinpoche (Bhuddist monk and happy dude.)
Jiddu Krishnamurti (He will tell you that every spiritual authority can fuck off and that you should think for yourself. I like him - but don't tell him I said that...)
Sadhguru (Spiritual teacher with a Hinduist perspective. Big personality.)
Eckhart Tolle (Same as above but borrows from all spiritual traditions. Talks a lot about the ego. Initial source of my "spiritual awakening" but I'm not sure how I feel about him today. I like practical stuff. But he sure knows how to soothe your mind for a bit.)

I try to take their ideas with a grain of salt and let myself be inspired by whatever nuggets of wisdom I can make out. Anyways, their guided meditations shouldn't contain so much of their ideas so it's more about finding a voice that's enjoyable to the ears.

Alright, wall of text answer to an easy and well-defined question as usual. Oops.

thanks a lot man, I'll try to follow that video at some point!