In this forty-seventh installment of the ongoing live series with Wendy Nash, we continue our inquiry into meditation practice both on and off the cushion this time primarily with two of the five hinderances of 1) restlessness and 2) sloth and torpor. Unlike the tricky subtleness of doubt and the grosser hindrances of sensual desire and ill-will, restlessness and sloth and torpor are particularly noticeable during (formal) meditation.
Some possible ways we may (or may not) address these (all mixed together here):
- Observing and watching pass without getting involved—see their nature as temporary, impermanent
- Not fighting overthinking with more thinking, more worry about worrying, more effort for over-efforting
- Using and balancing the five spiritual faculties
- Kusala vs akusala (skillful vs unskillful)
- Rousing effort, changing posture, getting fresh air, or generating interest
- Investigating (the mind) patterns (involved)
- Changing objects / secondary meditations (like the four protective meditations: Buddha, death, loving-kindness and asubha
- Reflecting on death, impermanence
- Open the eyes and/or bring in more light
- Know object more clearly and distinctly
- Pull ears and rub limbs, open air, walking, water on face, chanting, reading uplifting / energizing texts
- Heavy objects / sensations / parts of body, single focus, observe without resistance, reflect on ethics, slow movement and breath, calmer environment
- Cultivating calm, simplification, contentment, and grounding concentration
Furthermore, a while back Insight Timer reached out to its teachers with topics that meditators and app users were requesting and yet guidance for these on Insight Timer was lacking. Since some of these are somewhat similar and/or related we may (or may not) also address:
- Nervous System Dysregulation
- Hyperarousal
- Hypoarousal
- Fight / Flight / Freeze
- Window of Tolerance
*There’s naturally an ongoing open call for meditation (related) questions for the (roughly) monthly “Meditation Q & A” either by the various social media means listed; integratingpresence[at]protonmail.com or just showing to type/ask live.*
Background
Regular, current and past visitors to Integrating Presence may recall the monthly series “Ask Us Anything” I did with Denny K Miu from August 2020 until January 2022 — partially including and continuing on with Lydia Grace as co-host for awhile until March 2022.
For a few months thereafter I did various Insight Timer live events exploring potential new directions and/or a continuation of the Ask Us Anything format while weaving in other related teachings to these events.
Then, after chats with meditation coach Wendy Nash, it became clear to start a new collaboration similar to “Ask Us Anything” simply and clearly called “Meditation Q & A” especially due to the original intent of the Ask Us Anything’s being “discussions about meditation and related topics.”
Audio: Non-harm | “Meditation Q & A With Wendy Nash” #43
Past chats with Wendy:
Unedited transcript via YouTube:
Full Raw Verbatim Transcript (with timestamps removed via ai):
