u/NoMuddyFeet

TLDR: my head droops forward around the 5-7 minute mark and stays that way for about 5-10 minutes. No other style of meditation does this to me, but no other style of meditation de-stresses me or gives me energy like this, either!

I got the audiobook Stress Less, Accomplish More on a whim from the library a few weeks ago and started doing the meditation. It's basically TM style meditation which she calls the Z technique and it's a simplified version of the Ziva Meditation she teaches in person for $1000 or something. She put a few new twists on it, but she's basically selling TM. Hers is two 15 minute sessions instead of two 20 minute sessions, though.

For whatever reason, I seemed to take to her instructions much better than I did the other instructions I've gotten from TM instructors like Patricia Carrington and several others. I know the technique well. Everyone basically says the same thing.

So, either she just really explained it somehow better or else the 1-syllable mantra she gave just really works for me. I don't ever remember doing this head tilt thing other times I practiced TM-style silent mantra nondirective meditation.

And I certainly don't do this with any other style of meditation I practice—if I did, it would be considered a mistake!

Somewhere between 7-10 minutes, my head slowly droops forward and I maintain this position for 5-10 minutes. It happens almost every time whether my mind seems to be filled with thoughts or I drop into a semi-conscious dreamy reverie. I feel it happening, but I don't really want to stop it because it seems pretty obvious that it's a good thing. It feels good.

And after a quick search over on the TM subreddit, it seems like the head either drooping forward or falling backward at a 45 degree are both extremely common.

But, this is a more open subreddit, so I want to ask here instead of trying to talk over there...

How many of you have your head either droop forward or tilt back at a 45 degree during your nondirective meditation? Any ideas why this is so common with this style of meditation?

I guess it's part of the unique de-stressing mechanism of this type of meditation. Honestly, this feels so different from any other meditation, it seems like it should just be called something else. It seems like more of a physical/mechanical reaction to the internal "sound" anchor of the silent mantra and just totally letting the mind and body do their thing, whatever that might be. It's odd, actually, to me, that this style of meditation has had such a quick and profound difference in my stress, mental focus and physical energy levels. I don't really get it. After years of other types of meditation, this is the only type that has these effects...and it really doesn't feel like I'm doing anything!

IBM Skillsbuild Statistics in Decision Making and Risk Assessments has a lesson that starts off with this:

> The significance level value and the confidence level complement each other, meaning that if you add them up, they equal 100%. The confidence level tells you how certain you can be that your results are not because of random chance. > > Suppose you start drinking a new type of herbal tea each morning to see if it improves your focus during work. After a week, you notice a consistent increase in your productivity. To gain more confidence in the tea’s impact, you decide to continue the routine for another week, achieving similar results. Setting a significance level of 0.05 (or 5%), you gain a 95% confidence level that the herbal tea is positively affecting your productivity, reinforcing your motivation to continue this daily habit. > > Adding the significance level (5%) to the confidence level (95%) equals 100%. This is because the significance level is the probability that you would be incorrect in rejecting the null hypothesis and the confidence level is the probability that the method you’re using to reject the null hypothesis is correct. As the significance level goes up, the confidence level goes down and vice versa.

I found this explanation poor and thought there has to be a better way to explain that, so I asked Claude, then ChatGPT, then Gemini. Every single LLM said it's completely misleading and wrong.

Nevertheless, I accepted the logic of IBM and proceeded to the end of the lesson Quiz.

Here is an example question from the Quiz:

> "An agricultural scientist wants to compare the effectiveness of two fertilizers. Due to resource constraints, the scientist is willing to accept a 90% certainty that any observed differences in crop yields are because of fertilizers and not chance. > > What should the scientist use for alpha? "

And I chose this answer: > 0.10

It told me that answer is correct: > "Correct! The scientist should use a significance level (α) level of 0.10. A significance level (α) of 0.10 corresponds to being 90% certain that the observed effects are not because of chance, which reflects the scientist’s acceptance of a slightly higher risk of error due to resource constraints." >

Is this all complete nonsense?

I asked the LLMs about the quiz question and they all told me once again that it's complete garbage.

The first day I had mate recently I got super energized from my second pour over the same mate. Somewhat surprising, but then a few hours later, I crashed hard and weird.

So, after that, I tried not to make that mistake again, but it was never very difficult because it was hard to feel energized after the first couple days. The stuff just makes me relaxed and then tired then I tend to crash with that weird cracked out feeling.

I started recently trying to have coffee in the morning before food like I used to and then mate after food 4 hours later or so. I can only have 1 pour of hot water over the mate. Second pour always makes me feel cracked out and gross. So, I guess, that's from combining coffee and mate on the same day.

But, the problem is that mate just makes me sleepy now. The coffee in he morning wakes me up without nausea. I can't drink mate on an empty stomach first thing in the morning because it makes you sick. Other people here pointed that out, so it's not just me. So, I have a coffee to wake up.

But, the whole reason I wanted to switch to mate was to have a more relaxed and focused energy. Seems like I only got that the first day I tried it for the firs 4 hours or so. Then, I had a second cup and got crazy energy and then I crashed and felt sick.

When I was first posting here about all the energy I got from it, longtime mate drinkers here told me they don't get any energy from it. It just relaxes them. At least 3 people told me that. I find this surprising, especially because I guess it's happening to me now, too.

EDIT: I think we got it! Thank you, everyone for helping me to narrow it down! Direct link to my conclusion: https://www.reddit.com/r/TibetanBuddhism/comments/1uegrwn/asking_fellow_tb_practitioners_rather_than/otlxzj3/

I feel like deleting this since my problem is [probably] figured out, but I'll just leave this up in case someone has something similar happen in the future. I do plan to see a neurologist about it!

Original post:

Are visual artifacts and tingling in the shoulders and neck area post-meditation totally normal or do I have to be concerned enough to see doctors now? I've been practicing for about 20 years and I never really paid much attention to such things, but I started to notice this stuff is happening more and is more prolonged now and I'm over 50 now, so health problems do arise over time...

After some Google research, the visual problem I had today post-meditation seemed closest to a visual migraine (also called an ocular migraine or migraine with aura), specifically a scintillating scotoma. These are crescent or arc-shaped bands of flickering, colored, or shimmering light that can persist for 20-60 minutes and then resolve. They don't always come with headache pain.

After Googling "scinitillating scotoma," it did look similar to how people have tried to visualize it with photoshop and drawings. Nothing quite looks like what I saw, but I could believe that's what it is. They can be related to thyroid dysfunction, which I have, so it makes sense.

I told my optometrist about these visual problems before and he looked at the backs of my eyes and everything and said they were healthy and that my vision is pretty good, even though I need glasses. I told my endocrinologist about it before a few years ago and he wasn't really helpful. I don't have a GP currently, but they haven't been all that helpful with much of anything in the past.

Kinda broke and don't want to spend $30 a pop on doctor copays. But, if this isn't just normal post-meditation stuff, then I guess I could see a neurologist. Fortunately, my cursory research seems to indicate it's not a brain tumor, but honestly, I feel like I have enough mental problems that maybe I should go get a brain scan, anyway.

I had a realization today that this book I always thought I would write for a very specific audience is less and less plausible. Every decade that has gone by now (I'm 52), I just think, "Nah, I'm not ready yet."

I used to think after I retired and didn't have to worry about what people think, I would try to write it all down, but now I know people really don't want to read and podcasts and Youtubes are the new "reading." Plus, they call self-published books something embarrassing: vanity publications. It's not vanity. I just want to share this knowledge. But, nobody gives a shit if a book is free. And it seems even more pathetic if a self-published author is trying to earn money off this sort of thing as an e-book.

Also, the topic I want to cover is incredibly popular as a Youtube/podcast format right now, so there is more reason now than ever to document it on Youtube. I can always write a book about it later, if I want, but Youtube actually will establish the authenticity of my experience before someone else can read my e-book and just steal it with some AI slop since way more people are likely to discover it on Youtube and it may actually attract an audience and...yay...even better: it could possibly generate a profit if I get super lucky.

I'm not counting on an income stream, don't worry. I'm just wondering if it's even possible to monetize a single video.

Why? Because I just want to write the script, read it, and be done with it. I am not trying to build an audience. If it happens, great. If not, I don't care. I just want the information out there for as long as Youtube lasts. I don't expect to live a lot longer, anyway. I'm getting pretty old now!

I got a big thing of Union mate last week and absolutely loved the taste of it right off. First cup on Wednesday at 9:30am had me feeling AWAKE and FOCUSED. It was great. I added more hot water at 1pm and drank it until 1:45 and that was a mistake because I felt way too wired and it gave me the ADHD-like symptoms that too much coffee can give me.

Basically, only that first cup was perfect. I've tried to repeat that first cup experience on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but have not been able to replicate it. I've been very careful about having a second cup so I don't make the same mistake of getting too wired, but that doesn't seem to be a problem because I never actually wake up that much.

Today, I threw caution to the wind and had 2 cups within 3 hours and I still feel pretty tired. Mind isn't focused, but I don't have the ADHD-like symptoms of being over-caffeinated, either.

So, that kinda sucks.

I was reading all about mate last week after that first cup and was super excited because I kept reading how it fights inflammation and brainfog as well as providing a calmer delivery of caffeine. That really only happened that first time for the 3.5 hours I enjoyed it. The second cup got me over-caffeinated and ever since then it's like I have an instant tolerance to it.

Shamefully, the only people who responded to my previous post did so in bad faith and to argue. The others passive aggressively downvoted. The Mod Team deleted the post under false pretenses. Complete obstinance and grandstanding here. I shouldn't have given up my moderator status here because you people are problematic.

There was nothing asserted in my post.

I said I thought it was "interesting." Period. Full stop. And I wanted to discuss with willing participants. If you're not one, then just keep scrolling. You don't have to chime in simply to obstruct a discussion.

If someone asks you to read an article and share your thoughts, do you also chime in to say, "Didn't read it, but what does it say?"

Mod team, you have a problem and that problem is not me. And if I was still a mod, I would be fixing that problem. My bad for stepping down. You absolutely need checks and balances here.

I just tried to reply to the "Yerba mate?" post here, but it's archived and cant reply after 6 months, so here's my copy+pasted comment:

Just went to Plata Grocery after seeing it mentioned here...so many brands if yerba mate! More than shown on their website and at better prices, too! Makes sense because ordering from the website includes free delivery.

I was psyched to see so many options. I really want to try one with mint, but so far the ones I see are smoked or include pennyroyal, both of which I want to avoid for health reasons.

I ended up getting a giant thing of Union mate, but I took pics of several brands I hadnt heard of before to research and maybe buy next time.

Never been to this store before, but its packed with good stuff and now I am somewhat selfishly concerned for it to stay open. Hopefully people know about it.

They sell international products from Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru.

It's not a great look and it causes me stress. Really thought today I'd be up and accomplishing stuff early since I can't work on this project tomorrow, but instead, I found many other interesting things to think about and do all day except this one thing that seems like pain in the ass. Now, I'm going to be working on it until 2am probably and it still won't be finished as much as I would have liked by tomorrow morning.

I did stop recently taking magnesium glycinate and I just saw on Google that that can help this exact thing since it helps with stress. I didn't really notice it helping stress that much when I wa taking it, but maybe it did considering this problem got much worse over the last month since I stopped taking it.

Any other supplments that are good and you can personally vouch for?

I can't afford therapy or prescription medicine, so don't waste your time typing such things with your fingers.

I Googled and found nothing but AI answers and suspect comments on random websites.

Just wondering 2 things:

(1) Does any Gyuto monastery actually blast those chants from loudspeakers (or any other means) at 4am to the whole neighborhood? If so, why?
Someone in a Youtube comment claimed to experience this while living Tibet, but I don't believe random Youtube comments.

Basically, I am wondering if they do it to benefit beings and if the chants are just beneficial to hear.

Which brings me to my next question:

(2) Is it beneficial to just listen (not participate in) to the Gyuoto monks chanting wrathful practices like Yamantaka or Mahakala without any empowerment or understanding of what they're chanting?
I am guessing because they make the audio recordings available to the general public (I bought a CD of it in my 20s) and if they actually blast wrathful dharmapala chants from loudspeakers for the whole valley to hear, then it must be beneficial to hear even as background music without having received any teachings or empowerments, right? People in the valley have no choice but to hear it if they really blast it from loudspeakers like that.

I honestly forgot all about this kind of chanting. I like it. I will never chant this way myself, but I enjoy listening to it for sure.

Thanks in advance.

I was just listening to two podcasts with Joe Evans of Rangdrol Foundation and I wanted to talk about some of the things he said. But, a topic that came up frequently was the old E-sangha and they kind of laughed about it. Joe described it as "vigorous" at first, but I knew exactly what they were both thinking. So, later, I was happy when one of them came right out and just said it without mincing words: "you'd come to this Buddhist forum and everyone was fighting!" The podcaster said he wasn't on E-sangha, but said he later read stories about all the flame wars. Joe replied, "It was fun!"

No, it wasn't. I think it totally screwed up my experience of the dharma from a pretty early stage. I've often thought about it over the years and I find that the same patterns hold true in a lot of Reddit Buddhist subs, too. So, I dip in and dip out quickly, but I can hardly ever manage to avoid a miscommunication and always seem to find myself in the crosshairs of someone I've somehow irritated or who just wants to let me know I'm mistaken about something. I'll cite passages from someone like Dudjum Rinpoche or Namkhai Norbu to support exactly what I said (because at this point, I've come to expect that I can't state a single thing without someone telling me I'm wrong) and, of course, the person disappears into silence.

So, I just don't want that kind of atmosphere with what I wanted to talk about from these podcasts. I had some thoughts on some things Joe said, but I don't want to share them in a public Dzogchen space where everything is hyper serious due to being so public.

I'd like access to the "secret room" where chill people are not always trying to fight about everything and just share ideas without feeling like they have to save the world from bad information. Where is that place?

I have some questions about some stuff he said—not even really doubts—but I don't want whatever I say to be seen as a public criticism because it's not. I'd really like to have a simple, quick, and casual conversation about just a couple things without coming across as if I'm criticizing people (because I'm not). However, I've been around Buddhist forums for ~20 years now and I know that 100% of the time when I post anything, someone out there is going to misinerpret my intentions and start a big argument about it while acting like they're not doing that and it's not their fault I said something they misinterpreted and probably I had ulterior motives because they didn't understand and, in any case, the fault is all mine, certainly not theirs, etc. This sort of nonsense is not how normal conversations take place in person.

I realized that I have audio of the Vajra Amor mantra in the Dzogchen Community Mantras collection I purchased many years ago, so that is why I deleted my previous post asking if there is a Vajra Armor audio in ChNN's lineage. There is and I already had it.

Can anyone here who received this practice from Namkhai Norbu and has been doing this mantra daily can confirm for me that you are also doing it with 31 syllables? I made a mark on a piece of paper for every syllable as I listened to Namkhai Norbu slowly recite the mantra. He speaks it very clearly. I'm just curious if he's always been taught this way because it's not really clear from the Vajra Armor e-book, which mentions some different pronunciations and a potential omission, and also literally every version of the mantra on Youtube is different from this (that I can find).

I'm not worried about it, just curious, so no need to advise me "not to worry about it" or "if that's how he pronounced it on the mp3, then it's correct" or anything like that. I already know that. I'm asking specific questions I am curious about without detailing the mantra publicly. (Just trying to be clear so as not to waste anyone's time). Thanks.