[markl]

Interesting thread. I find for me that listening to music, particularly through headphones, is one of the best ways I'm able to silence my brain, stop those random neurons from firing, get outside my head, and just allow my brain to be in "receive" mode instead of "send" mode. It's like a deep form of meditation for me, very relaxing, totally invaluable. It refreshes the brain, it's like sleep without the sleep.

Mark

 

[Mr.PD]

I wish I could figure out what you guys are talking about.
I don't seem to have this inner voice you speak of.
When I try to go to sleep, I either make up a running fantasy/dream story, or I go over the things I did that day. Most often, I just fall asleep with little or no thought.
Sure there are a lot of things I have done that I regret, and I do think of them every once in a while. I sometimes wish I could go back and change them. Usually when those thoughts occur, I just let the depression take control and ride on that for a day or so.

I wonder if I am too shallow. Maybe I have this inner voice and don't realize it.

Reading this thread brought up some old memories of good times that I will never be able to repeat. Wallijonn and his quiet mountains. I wish I could do that again. If it is quiet outside, all I hear is this incessant ringing in my head, and it gets louder as the outside gets quieter. I used to love just standing alone in the woods as the snow comes down. Listening to the snow fall. I can't hear that anymore.
Maybe the ringing is drowning out the inner voice.

 

[tommyatkins]

Yes.

Usually I find Wallijonn a bit to articulate for my tastes, but I almost always agree with the gist of his post.

I must agree that the outdoors really does it for me. I love hiking up in the mountains and just taking it in. I highly recommend camping out in the woods for a day or two by yourself. Silence in a sense. Of course there is noise, but not the noise that is everpresent in many of our lives.

Also, solitude. When was the last time you were really alone? When there was no one around for miles? It's a great feeling for me.

Good thread, btw.

 

[raif]

Wow, where was this thread a week ago, when I had time to really discuss it?

I can't just let it pass without saying something.

Personally, I find that the only time I can silence my inner self, is when I overload my senses, which unfortunatly requires either a whole lot of homework, or a whole lot of drugs.

I think there is a difference between the inner voice that pepsione1 origionally described, and the sort of inner monologue that some may be relating it to. I have had the "monkey mind" since I was a kid, always maintaining a running internal dialogue about everything. I think pepsione is more referring to the perversion that adulthood inflicts upon the once innocent ramblings of the human mind. I have no problem having my mind marking time for me, it just seems like lately all the "inner voice" does is overanalyze every action, feeling, and reaction in my life to the point where I can't enjoy silence anymore.

 

[Sentral Dogma]

Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn Don't the rest f you guys get tired of city life? I can never go back to working in NYC, and Massachusettes and LA are tooo crowded.

I live in NYC, and I find myself daydreaming about standing atop of a mountain, just sitting without a thought in my head. Or walking through the a forest, sun shining through the leaves, with the lushest of colors, sounds, and energies coming through me. In certain ways I love the city, but I'm defintely not going to stay here forever.

 

[wallijonn]

Musicfan123,

In NYC I would go to the artifical waterfall on 53rd St. between Madison & Lexington (I believe), or I would sit and stare at the rock outside the Sony building. When they ran the water underneath, and if you concentrate on the water flowing, there comes a time when the rock starts to move visually. Then one could see the water AND the rock. And after awhile the water would stop moving.

To make the water stop, watch one drop of water falling from the top of the waterfall and follow it all the way down. when it fits the ground, go back up toi the top and repeat. when you get tired, or you find your thoughts still intruding, follow 2 drops all the way down. since they are not at the same elevation, you have to concentrate on both of them fallin, one usually lower than another. after another 5 minutes, try to see 4, then whole streams. there should come a time about an hour later where the whole water fall seems to stop. then you can either get scared and it will start to move, or you will see how long it can stay stopped, or how long you can go without thinking and making it move again. your first thought will of course be, "It stopped moving!".

And of course there are the parks, although most are too noisey, the Central Park Zoo is always welcomed, especially during snow storms. I always tried to go whenever it snowed. The monkees go absolutley nuts, the polar bear is in heaven and the birds go out of their minds.

The one place where you can hear your thoughts the loudest are in churches, because it is usually so quiet. Man, try NOT to think about work, or your problems in a church. The hardest part is sitting absolutely still without blinking, fidgetting, moving around, craning your head, not going to sleep, but not having thoughts being put into your mind by any religious icons.

And for sleep - the absolutely best place to sleep is at the Museum of Natural History Planetarium. Just lean back, look at the stars and zzzzzzz. The older you get the faster you fall asleep.

I wonder if the cops have started giving tickets for people sitting on park benches yet...

Are there any sensory deprivation tanks for rental in your area? They usually start at $25 per hour. Get in one of those and see if you can't hear yourself thinking. BTW, that's a good tip for someone if they want to start their own business.

Otherwise, get a weekly massage. You'd be surprised how long a full body massage will last. it will relax you all over, give you a new look on life, and boost your confidence and efficency levels. It's the best way to reduce stress. You'll be a NEW man for about 2 weeks. repeat as necessary.

 

[Pepsione1]

Quote:

Originally posted by raif I have no problem having my mind marking time for me, it just seems like lately all the "inner voice" does is overanalyze every action, feeling, and reaction in my life to the point where I can't enjoy silence anymore.

You just pulled the words out of my mouth there. I *think* I am overanalyzing everything most of the time also. Sometimes I wish I could just think, speak and act like a free spirit. But I know it will be impossible or near impossible for this to happen because I already have this bounded mindset. Sometimes I feel like I have too much emotions built up inside me and I don't know how to let go. The only remedy is to let it be forgotten as time pasts by. The only other relief I had prior to this was inflicting physical or emotional pain on myself. But I had learned to control it and now all is left is the numbness from the unescapable pressure inside of me. I am afraid this might reach an unhealthy level eventually but I don't know what to do. I am continuosly trying to source the root of my problems on my own by reasoning but sometimes I run into deadends that leads to nothing more then endless frustration.

 

[wallijonn]

I think that the spinning of your mind put your thoughts out of synchronicity - like seeing a cars wheels go backwards when you know that it is moving forward.

Pep,

I strongly suggest that you get a full body massage. Swedish shoulder massages are nice for short term relaxation, but a full body massage.... oh, momma. Just don't be surprised if you find that you have grown a inch or so afterwards. Man, I can feel that woman pulling on my limbs now.

And of course, you just may need a lot of exercise. Now that winter is coming in, our bodies are starting to store fat. I don't know how you guys in the North can stand grey skies. It's the reason why I moved to Arizona - it's sunny about 28 out of 30 days a month, here. I found myself getting depressed in grey weather. So I ended up getting all those special "sunlight" lightbulbs.

so, it may just be the fore-shadowing of the holiday season which starts to depress people. you can't be alone because everyone is out shopping. so the only recourse is to try to walk more. see if you can't walk for an hour a day, 30 minutes in each direction. you jus may be starting to feel cooped up.

how you guys didn't go nuts with all the rain in NYC this year is beyond me. I know that I would have gone nuts.

Dr. PD,

you never have a hard time falling asleep? you know where your mind just races and races and races... you must be tired all the time from working hard. of course, if you work too hard, you may find yourself being scared when you find yourself falling asleep too fast. that ever happen to anyone? usually 36 hours or more without sleep will induce it. you close your eyes and you start to fall.... and fall.... and fall... and you get scared and force yourself to stay awake?

for me, I have to have a glass of red wine before going to sleep. it relaxes me enough to be able to look at my thoughts as I go to sleep.

ps, I've already made love to Britney Spears in my sleep. this morning it was a cute little brunette with a really nice smile. her only problem was that she was into black magic (santeria)... at least I'll know here when I see her in real life. that's one benefit of being aware while you're sleeping...

But I find that women really don't believe you when you tell them that you dreamt about them. I usually ask them if they dreamt about me.

What really ticks me off is that most of my dreams, now, are Linux related because I'm still studying. things like 'command [filename] [options]'... nothing worse than studying in your sleep when all you want to do is fly.

 

[Sentral Dogma]

I've wanted to be able to lucid dream for the longest of times. I have dreams where I act as I would act in the real world, but not to the extent where I realize i'm dreaming (without waking up) and then manipulate my dream world at will.

I've had 2-3 dreams where I was telekinetic.. and I tell you, when I would lift something, the feeling in my head felt so ridiculously real.

Last night I had a dream where one of my best friends and I were running amok in a mall, like that Simpsons episode where Bart and Milhouse were trapped in the Springfield mall. I was semi-lucid. I hope I wasn't Milhouse.

 

[Musicfan123]

Wallijohn, the zen master

 

[xtreme4099]

heh try www.bwgen.com is uses binarual beats to help relax or do yoga nidra ... which basically concentrating on certain points of your body in consective order and repeating keeping your alertness barely up while sleeping that you induce a sort of sleep-awake mode of your body.

 

[Gariver]

Read Dr Herbert Benson's The Relaxation Response. This book teaches you how to meditate and relax. Highly recommended!

Once you understand the meditation process, you can stop cyclical thoughts at any time you want. It works even if you are under a terrible amount of stress and pressure. Thus, in a period of 20 to 30 minutes of meditation, you can achieve tranquility and peace of mind!

Peace is important for the soul! We need it as much as the air we breathe!

 

[xtreme4099]

eckhart tolle power of now ... is another good read.

 

[Mr.PD]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sentral Dogma I've wanted to be able to lucid dream for the longest of times. I have dreams where I act as I would act in the real world, but not to the extent where I realize i'm dreaming (without waking up) and then manipulate my dream world at will.

Lucid dreams are the greatest things. I wish I could remember how I did it. Many years ago I kept having nightmares about railroading. Almost every night I was being frightened to death by my dreams. Then I read an article in Omni magazine (back when Omni was good to read) that described how to control your dreams. The next train nightmare I had I realized that it was a dream and I could do anything I want. So I turned it into a fun dream. I didn't have another railroad nightmare for about 10 years. Even now I rarely get them, and they aren't as frightening as they used to be.

I do need correct something from my earlier post. One this year I have had my mind racing to the point of not being able to sleep. No focus, just random thoughts of the past day or week, running by at 100 mile per hour. I simply got out of bed and had some coffee and surfed here, listened to a little music and was able to go to sleep about 2 hours later.
When I must use my fantasy to fall asleep, I've found that building complicated projects will put me to sleep the fastest. Working the small details to great lengths in projects like automobile suspensions, super strong foundations for a home, that kind of stuff, will put me right out. Any inner voice I may have doesn't have time to get a word in edgewise when I build a project in my head.

 

[tommyatkins]

Hrm, I'm heard some tips for lucid dreaming, but I've never gotten them to work. Maybe someone (wallijonn) has some pointers.

I, too, design projects in similar situations. I am really relaxed when I work on a project - it's the combination of thinking how to execute it, as well as physically constructing it. Designing is the next best thing. I've been working on a supercomplicated suspended audioshelf the past few nights, as my mind has been overloaded with school issues recently.