Integrating meditation into daily life

[asimpleusername]

Hello everyone
I'm really interested in knowing how everyone implements meditation into their life. There is more to meditating than just meditating, for me anyway it comes with a lifestyle choice which flows out into my diet, exercise and social life and it looks like other people meditate for the same intentions too. Having said that, everyone is different.

I feel its very important to integrate every spiritual experience you have because otherwise it can become too mystical and less realistic. I've had some very spiritual experiences in my young life so far using different tools and methods. I'm new to meditating however. I feel it's very important to know the difference between inducing yourself into a different state of consciousness and then knowing what to do to get yourself back safely. After all, we are all looking to improve and become better people and in ourselves become at peace and be happy for ourselves and others, where do you guys draw the line as to how far you take the boat out? What do you supplement meditation with? How do you prepare, how do you meditate and then like the title says, how do you integrate your experience into everyday life?

Pretty deep question but I'm very interested in finding out what other people do surrounding their own personal meditation practices.

Hope everyone is well :)
Speak soon.

[FallingLeaves]

historically mostly meal times, mostly for the social aspects. But really any time I'm sitting or standing around waiting on something is cool, kinda the in-between moments. But standing is still hard because I tend to lose my balance sometimes... I should take my own advice and spend time kneeling I guess.

I haven't paid much attention to diet although I probably should,,,,

I don't push too far (given I know this could go a lot further),,,,

btw I noticed you are a ghost... you musta found a hole in the system

[rainbow.sprinkles]

I do a lot of walking meditation, simply because I walk a lot. mindfulness in general is something I practice quite a bit. more traditional seated mediation, I've been struggling to incorporate. I did just discover a group in my city that recently started up again doing buddhist meditations and dharma talks, I attended one the other day and plan to continue to attend so that will help me get in some seated meditation a couple of times a month, anyway.

oh, I also do yoga a couple of times a week! I go to classes at my gym. I haven't been able to get into doing it at home, maybe one day.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by asimpleusername

Hello everyone
I'm really interested in knowing how everyone implements meditation into their life. There is more to meditating than just meditating, for me anyway it comes with a lifestyle choice which flows out into my diet, exercise and social life and it looks like other people meditate for the same intentions too. Having said that, everyone is different.

I feel its very important to integrate every spiritual experience you have because otherwise it can become too mystical and less realistic. I've had some very spiritual experiences in my young life so far using different tools and methods. I'm new to meditating however. I feel it's very important to know the difference between inducing yourself into a different state of consciousness and then knowing what to do to get yourself back safely. After all, we are all looking to improve and become better people and in ourselves become at peace and be happy for ourselves and others, where do you guys draw the line as to how far you take the boat out? What do you supplement meditation with? How do you prepare, how do you meditate and then like the title says, how do you integrate your experience into everyday life?

Pretty deep question but I'm very interested in finding out what other people do surrounding their own personal meditation practices.

Hope everyone is well :)
Speak soon.

The way I look at this question is related to Jiddu Krishnamurti's statement, "The flowering of love is meditation", and I believe the essential result of meditation is an experience of universal love rising within you, which becomes intrinsic to personality expression in all aspects of one's life.

[Ground]

Originally Posted by asimpleusername

Having said that, everyone is different.

yes and everyone may have a different understanding of "meditation".

Originally Posted by asimpleusername

I feel it's very important to know the difference between inducing yourself into a different state of consciousness and then knowing what to do to get yourself back safely.

If one wants to get back! So again it depends on the kind of "meditation". you are meditating because of a reason, right?

yeah this seems to be your reason:

Originally Posted by asimpleusername

After all, we are all looking to improve and become better people and in ourselves become at peace and be happy for ourselves and others, ...

Originally Posted by asimpleusername

... where do you guys draw the line as to how far you take the boat out? What do you supplement meditation with? How do you prepare, how do you meditate and then like the title says, how do you integrate your experience into everyday life?

Now if you have a goal and you achieve this goal with your meditation then why do you want "to get yourself back"? This is what I do not understand.
On the other hand if you have a goal and you do not achieve this goal with your meditation why do you meditate the way you do?

If you have a goal and you achieve this goal with your meditation but the achievement is not stable then it is a matter of mindfulness to know when you lose the achievement and find ways to re-establish it. Of course one way is to meditate again but this may not be compatible with activities of daily life independent of the time it is. So there should be short-cuts by means of e.g. bringing insights back to mind to re-establish unstable achievements.