AMA: Ask the Spook

[Juneberry]

What form of meditation do you find most helpful?

[Spook of the lost]

believe it or not I take a bit of inspiration from the vulcans of startrek.

I light a candle and use it as a focus.

so I will sit in complete darkness focusing on the candle, and my breathing, and quieting my mind.

for breathing techniques I use the breathing methods I learned in tai-chi when I was learning Kung fu.

so it's sort of a mixture of meditation methods.

once I achieve a quieted mind I will put out the candle and try to get some rest.

occasionally I will also reflect on events if I'm troubled by something, usually having the image of the fire consuming my doubts and worries as I let them go.

it's better than what I used to do which involved using a punching bag and just taking my frustrations out on it... though I still do use them when training to strengthen my hits lol.

[Juneberry]

Why is a punching bag bad for dealing with frustration?

[Spook of the lost]

it's an aggressive method and I've been trying to be less aggressive, saving it for when I actually need it and finding more passive ways to deal with negative emotions.

[Juneberry]

What's another passive way of dealing with negative emotions that you use?

[Spook of the lost]

mostly meditative breathing and tai chi.

I find that if I calm my breathing and focus on something (tai chi is useful because the movements are slow and deliberate), I can more easily let go of whatever is bothering me and instead work on what's actually important.

this has proven especially helpful the last few years, I've lost a lot of family friends and two pets since 2012.

many of whom I looked up to and considered mentors and examples of the kind of person I want to be.

It's become easier to maintain composure and control the more I do it to so it helps.

considering I started out with PTSD and rage issues, I'd say I've come a long ways using alternative ways to deal with things.

[Juneberry]

I've never taken Tai Chi or learned it. What learning method would you recommend?

[Spook of the lost]

well I took it as part of my kung fu studies when I actually studied martial arts.

however tai chi is one of the easiest ones to learn, they teach it at community centers, rec centers, etc... it's popular among the elderly as it's good exercise and for keeping the mind sharp.

and the forms are fairly simple with each one leading into the next sort of like yoga.

[Juneberry]

How do you recommend I find a rec center?

[Spook of the lost]

that's a really good question actually... we have 3 here, plus a YMCA and a WYMCA...