Hello everyone,

This is a question from an amateur meditator without much scientific background. Does anyone know the scientific explanation for why some people spontaneously cry during meditation (while not necessarily having painful thoughts occur) ? What is the mechanism at play ? It seems a rather common experience, and it happened to me too, so I would like to know if it is a sign that positive changes happen in the brain : can it indicate that the emotional centers are somehow regulating themselves ? Does it have anything to do with lowering the anxiety baseline ?

Is there research done on this topic specifically ?

I guess what I really want to know if it's a sign of progress in the practice, but that's obviously more subjective.

After 10 minutes of meditation, my brain drops into another phase, but Delta drops significantly. I thought high Delta meant a better meditation or deeper? This is a post intimacy meditation.my delta stay s at about 18 db but then significantly lowers then at 10 minute point it flips entirely.

Hello,

I'm looking for insight into a phenomenon I've been experiencing in my practice.

I've been meditating for 3 months (2x15 min daily, morning and evening), mainly focusing on my breath. And since I started, I have noticed that I'm much less patient, more nervous and sensitive to irritation, and now I have reached a point where I actually feel terrible about myself, like thinking itself has become a disease. I cant find joy in anything anymore. I'm just obsessed with my own (negative) thoughts as if they had grown louder than ever. I don't really know how to phrase this but I just feel like I'm constantly suffering inside.

So I was wondering if per chance there was research about the links between meditation practice and depressive states. Is there a proven or suspected relationship in some cases ? Maybe it's unrelated but the chronology fits in my case.

Hi everyone,

As an engineer, I spent years dealing with high stress and poor sleep. I started getting deep into neuroscience and binaural beats, but I found most apps were either too expensive or full of ads that ruined the "zen" vibe.

So, I built Lumina Binaural AI.

It’s a minimalist tool that uses specific frequencies (Alpha, Delta, Theta) to help rewire your brain for focus or deep sleep. It’s currently in the final "Closed Testing" phase before I can launch it on the Google Play Store.

The Advantage for You:

• Free Forever: As a beta tester, you’ll get full access to all premium frequencies and AI features for life—no subscriptions, no ads.
• Direct Input: You’ll be talking directly to me. If you want a specific sound or feature, I’ll build it for you.
• The Goal: I just need 12–20 people to keep the app on their phone for 14 days to meet Google’s launch requirements.

How to join: Google is very strict about who can download the app during testing. If you want to help a solo dev out and get a free sleep tool:

1. Comment "Interested" below (or DM me your Gmail).
2. I will send you the invite link to the Google Group and the Play Store opt-in.

Thank you for helping me bring this project to life!

Thought Breathing (imagining breath sounds playing) as a potential hybrid meditation + breathwork combo!

Hello! I wanted to ask in and share and/or ask around about a kind of meditation I haven't really seen much information on but I've been finding to be really effective over the last couple of days! I felt like taking a deep breath but without actually changing my physical breathing, so I just kind of thought of the sound a deep breath makes (with a 4-7-8 rhythm like the usual breathwork timing) and it made a marked difference in my mood within a few imagined deep breaths even though it was so convenient and effortless. I wanted to find out more information about it but it's honestly kind of hard and pretty sparse since most meditation or breathwork is focused on either the physical act (and attention placed on the sound that breath makes like with Ocean Breathing/Ujjayi instead of an autonomous imagined deep breath sound) or usage with mantras (such as You Are That, Hong Sau, Om, and such). This feels like a nice in-between since it can be done anytime through thought alone but it also feels like it's less effort to breath than it is to imagine the mantra (since when I looked it up apparently it shortcuts the ACC and instead goes to the temporal lobe and parasympathetic associations for direct nervous system regulation and some vagus nerve stimulation due to the brain's overlap between actual and imagined actions.) I've been doing it over the last couple days (and experimenting with different variations such as feeling the inhale/exhale tactilly above my head with the sound, and stacking/layering the sound makes it even stronger probably due to tribal group calm associations, and apparently adding golden light is good too which is unsurprising, and adding occasional imagined heartbeats is the most cohesive one. Just thought I'd share and ask for more people's opinions and experience and thoughts with it, thanks!

I’m looking for experienced meditators for the study investigating how relaxation affects attention (psychology degree dissertation project)

It’s an online experiment (laptop + headphones needed), takes up to 25 minutes, including:

-reading about the study and completing a short questionnaire

-listening to a 10-minute mindfulness audio

-completing a Stroop word-colour task (naming the colours of the appearing words)

Direct link to complete the study:

https://research.sc/participant/login/dynamic/3E6F648B-F619-431F-8D81-51E3F605FC47

You can withdraw at any point by closing the browser. The study needs to be completed on the laptop, in one sitting (20-25 minutes max).

I’m looking for recommendations for simple guided meditations that don’t include background music, soundscapes, or visualization exercises. Most of the meditations I come across tend to include ambient music, “healing frequencies,” or instructions to imagine scenarios. Personally, that style doesn’t work well for me. What I’m looking for instead is something very minimal ideally focused on awareness, breath, or presence. It can be guided, but in a subtle way. No background music or added sounds. One meditation I’ve really loved is Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s “Beginner’s Meditation” (about 14 minutes on YouTube). In that practice, he gradually expands awareness from the body to the surroundings and then outward to the sky. It’s very simple and clear, and I’ve found it incredibly helpful. I’d especially appreciate suggestions that come from yogic, Buddhist, or Vedic traditions, but I’m open to anything that follows this simple, awareness-based approach. If you know of any YouTube videos, teachers, apps, or resources that fit this style, I’d love to hear your recommendations. Thanks in advance.

I use the Calm app, and I enjoy Tamara Levitt’s guidance immensely. One question I have is regarding our approach and relationship our breathing. Sometimes we are asked to take charge our breathing, usually deepening our breath. Afterwards we are asked to let it return to its natural state and simply observe. All of this feels good, but a question that always pops up in my head during this moment is a rather philosophical one: can we ever truly notice our natural breathing? Doesn’t the very act of focusing on it change it? I can chase my breath but never catch it, catch up to it, or even glimpse it.

I feel the more I try to let go the more cognizant I am that I cannot let go. If I truly do let go, I risk losing focus and therefore not “noting” the natural breathing that is before me. You miss the chance.

My question is do you know of any guided meditations that address this paradox?

Need your help 🤍

Hi everyone! 🙌 I’m building onebooklist.com - a simple library where people share one meaningful book + why it helped, so others can find what works without drowning in content.

I’m collecting books that genuinely helped with meditation, mindfulness, calming anxiety, nervous system regulation, and self-compassion.

If you feel comfortable sharing:

1. What’s one book that helped your practice in a real way?

2. Why did it help (few sentences is perfect)?

No pressure at all - take your time. Signing up takes 2minutes but picking the right title may take hours. Thank you 🤍

Hey, which app you use for meditation?

Dear members of the group! At the University of Oxford, we are conducting a study on the social effects of the 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat (as taught by S. N. Goenka). We are seeking first-time participants who will attend their first 10-day retreat between January and April 30, 2026. Participation involves three brief online surveys before and after the retreat and is compensated with a USD 20 gift card.

Eligibility:

• 18 years or older
• Resident of the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, or the EU
• Good command of English
• Fewer than 50 hours of prior meditation practice
• No prior Goenka Vipassana retreats
• Accepted to a 10-day Goenka Vipassana course starting by April 30, 2026
• Meet study screening criteria

To check eligibility, please follow the link below. For questions, feel free to message me or write to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) https://oxfordanthropology.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9H8dVbrXCWDHhuC