Ry4n

Hey @The_spanish_guy, sorry to hear what you have been going through. When you say OCD without rituals (a word I like to use instead is compulsions), that's probably because you may not realise that there are mental rituals that you are doing such as reassuring yourself something isn't true, checking, blocking out thoughts, or just ruminating. These are all rituals. I would recommend doing Exposure and Response Prevention with a trained therapist for both your OCD, and with your anxiety around others. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy may also help with your OCD intrusive thoughts as well as any anxiety or other painful emotions, and will most likely increase your quality of life. Make sure you see a good psychologist. Antidepressant medication may also help you, I would recommend prozac but I could be wrong. Exercise and a healthy diet as well as support from others close to you should help. It seems like you have some symptoms of depression also, if I am correct psychotherapy and CBT may help. Another recommendation is clinical hypnosis. Meditation may also help, but for now anymore than 5 mins a day would be too much considering your state of mind currently. Hope this helps.

Just wondering for those who have used the tank what practices do you think are good to try? The ones I think would be good would be mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation (on the breath), self hypnosis, lucid dreaming or astral projection. Any more ideas that are worth looking into?

@Evilwave Heddy yeh it does have some similarities to meditation. They are both relaxing to do however I find hypnosis more relaxing. The main difference between the two I would say is that with hypnosis you lose a lot of your awareness with regards to what is happening outside of yourself, and the state is kind of like a sleeping state, whereas with meditation, at least mindfulness, you become more awake, alert and aware of everything, Ive never felt disassociated as a result of meditation, if anything I feel more connected to my surroundings.

Specifically clinical hypnosis I am talking about. I have done hypnosis about 10 times, learning from a psychologist who has been trained with the skills to put someone into a state of hypnosis. The first time I did it, it was the most relaxed I had ever felt in my entire life. A weird thing though happened when he clicked his fingers and I opened my eyes at the end of the session, it was like I was disassociated from the external world and deeply inside myself, and as soon as I opened my eyes the whole word flooded back in. The first time it took about 20 mins to enter a genuinely deep state of hypnosis, now it only takes about 5 minutes. I have found it very beneficial for becoming a calmer person overall, and changing your beliefs around yourself, so it could definitely be used for self esteem. If you're interested there are some recordings on youtube that are really great. Have fun relaxing!

It'd be interesting to see you Leo make a video about hypnosis for general personal development! I personally have found it very useful and I think you would benefit from as well.

I don't much about enlightened to be honest, so bare with me if that seems like a silly question. Do those who have realised their true nature no longer experience painful emotions such as grief and anger, or do they continue to but simply see those emotions in a different way? Like they were so separate to their emotions that they wouldn't react to them.

@Prabhaker not quite sure I know what you mean guess I'm just gonna have to get enlightened to find out.

@Bebop ah yeah I thought this was the case. Very wise way of being.

Hey @clytaemnestra, sorry to hear what you have been going through, that certainly sounds painful. While it does sound like you are having some mental health issues it's clear your past has been a big influence in that. If you are planning on leaving to live somewhere else that may be a good idea. Also I would probably see a therapist/psychologist, a good quality one will support you through your struggles and should give you some good tips for dealing with these issues. While I am certainly not qualified for advice (so don't take my word on it) I have a few tips for your issues. First of all as well as seeing a therapist, eating healthy and exercising regularly can be a good way to get you back on your feet. Also for your social anxiety I would recommend exposure therapy. The gist of this therapy is that you expose yourself to what scares you, in this case it would be social interactions, and to accept that fear and continue to socialise. Make sure you START SMALL and work your way up to more extroverted/scary scenarios. By doing this you show your brain that there is nothing to be afraid of, and eventually the primitive part of your brain will realise this and stop throwing those alarms inside your head telling you you're in danger when you're not. Also Acceptance and Commitment Therapy may also be of use to you. It combines cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness and living a life based on your values instead of your feelings. It teaches you how to not take your thoughts seriously, how to deal with painful emotions more effectively and live a better life. Also once you have made a recovery and reach a much happier place (and trust me if you do the work you absolutely will) I would recommend mindfulness and loving kindness meditation. Learning how to be kind to yourself will be super beneficial.

This may be a little controversial for some of you, but Ive been reading an interesting book called the happiness trap by Dr Russ Harris (Get out of your mind and into your life by Steven Hayes seems good also) and it talks about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which combines cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness and living a value based life. I think the fact that it says the word "therapy" is misleading, since it can be used for anyone. I have found it extremely useful for dealing with negative thoughts, emotions, and painful physical sensations. It essentially asks you to defuse from thoughts, accept whatever you experience, be in the moment, pay attention to the observing self, assess your values and live your life according to those values, instead of living a life of things you feel like doing. Ive also found it useful for ending procrastination, because while I don't feel like doing a task, I value it, and so it always gets done. I definitely recommend it if you're suffering. With ACT, you can use negative emotions as a way to improve your mental health, rather than have it be a barrier to having good mental health and happiness. Keep an open mind and let me know what you think guys.

@Leo Gura but Leo, what would be the point of doing such a high dose of mushrooms? Would you develop in any meaningful way from it or just go completely nuts, lol. And also, you don't think that those "spiritual realms" that you would visit are actually real, right?

Hey @Leo Gura have you read free will by sam harris? He takes a sort of scientific approach to disproving free will through brain scans, and also mentioned that the illusion of free will and the illusion of the self are 2 sides of the same coin.

Yeah i tried affirmations for confidence and the effect was only subtle and very temporary at best. Visualisations on the other hand are ridiculously powerful for self image. I used the self acceptance visualisation and got hugh gains in self love/esteem, confidence and not caring what others think of me.

Anyone here done this technique much? What kind of experiences have u had?

@AxelK take LSD.

@Khin @Flicker_boy woah... leo definitely needs to make a video on this technique.. ive seen videos by sam harris about it but to hear his insight into it would be nice

Ive been doing leos recent guided meditation, and in the video he mention Adyashanti. The guy talks a lot about surrender...does anyone have experience doing this and can it speed up your progress?

@electroBeam what exactly did u do in the meditation that made this experience happen? Any specific technique within kundalini meditation that you did, cos when i look it up it shows u so many ways to do it. I wanna try this for myself

Thanks guys @Prabhaker @cetus56 very insightful answers. It definetly seems like the way to go as far my practice in this stage of my life.

Today and yesterday i did his guided meditation and it was so powerful. Is there anyone here who has been doing this technique daily for the past few months and if so what affect has it had?

Where in Australia will this be? Melbourne?

Starting off with 5 mins is fine, but try not to stay on this amount for that long, id say one month should be enough to get use to it, and then after increase it to 10 mins. Over time youll be able to sit for longer periods. By a year you should be doing at least 30 mins but if you stick to the habit thatll be easy for you trust me.

It sounds to me like the first technique you mentioned was the do-nothing technique; that would not be mindfulness meditation then. Mindfulness meditation often involves the focussing of attention on things happening in ones present experience, mostly being the breath, bodily sensations and sounds, but can also involve paying attention to ones emotions and where they lay in the body and mind, as well as ones own thoughts. The only time I know of where you wouldn't be using concentration on one specific aspect of experience in mindfulness meditation would be when you simply be aware of all those things I mentioned at once, but you are still manipulating where your attention is being put, so if there's no amount of concentration being used, then it's not mindfulness meditation.