Mindfulness meditation

I also need to control stress and insomnia, and whilst I have had a few fairly lame attempts at mindfulness meditation per se, I do feel it's a good approach, it's just that I'm rubbish at doing it consciously. However, doing things that absolutely demand focus is one way of forcing it. I choose motorcycling, martial arts and straight razor shaving (and even stropping) as ways of 'living in the moment'. There's nothing like an unguarded razor at your throat to grab your concentration LOL! In fact, this and some 'self care' during lockdown were exactly what brought me to finally get round to taking up straight razor shaving. Ultimately that is why I joined TSR - to learn how to do it properly without unintentionally bleeding out! It is also great to dip into the wealth of knowledge and share stuff like this with like-minded guys. I'm grateful for this forum's existence and the support from the lads.

I don't consciously 'use the shaving time to practice meditation' as such, I just get that blade to my face and concentrate on getting angles, stroke length, lack of pressure, etc right, and have an awareness of the sound of the stubble being cut, the grain direction, lather coverage, slickness, scent etc. This pretty much IS being present in the moment.

Often if I can't sleep I'll read some sci-fi or other fiction to disconnect from thinking about work. Good luck fella, this stuff is affecting more people more than ever since lockdown etc I believe.
 
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Merkurologist said:
I'm beginning to learn mindfulness meditation to control stress and insomnia.
Mindfulness is about living in the present moment so it feels nice to practise meditation when I shave.

I'd be interested to read about other people experiences with mindfulness meditation.
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yea ive been trying it due to my mental health issues tbh,
for me its being God concious in everything i say or do,
although i always fail and we will inevitably fail as thats in our human nature as we're not perfect,
but its all abouit dusting yourself off when you fall and getting back up

for me counjuring up the strength when i fall and when im down and out is the worst

are you wtaching any youtube vids or any apps in particular?
 
hotmetal said:
I also need to control stress and insomnia, and whilst I have had a few fairly lame attempts at mindfulness meditation per se, I do feel it's a good approach, it's just that I'm rubbish at doing it consciously. However, doing things that absolutely demand focus is one way of forcing it. I choose motorcycling, martial arts and straight razor shaving (and even stropping) as ways of 'living in the moment'. There's nothing like an unguarded razor at your throat to grab your concentration LOL! In fact, this and some 'self care' during lockdown were exactly what brought me to finally get round to taking up straight razor shaving. Ultimately that is why I joined TSR - to learn how to do it properly without unintentionally bleeding out! It is also great to dip into the wealth of knowledge and share stuff like this with like-minded guys. I'm grateful for this forum's existence and the support from the lads.

I don't consciously 'use the shaving time to practice meditation' as such, I just get that blade to my face and concentrate on getting angles, stroke length, lack of pressure, etc right, and have an awareness of the sound of the stubble being cut, the grain direction, lather coverage, slickness, scent etc. This pretty much IS being present in the moment.

Often if I can't sleep I'll read some sci-fi or other fiction to disconnect from thinking about work. Good luck fella, this stuff is affecting more people more than ever since lockdown etc I believe.
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Excellent!!!!

I like your experiences.

As you say, all the things going on while shaving just feel right for living the moment.
 
Yes, I hope it helps you to understand a) that there are others doing the same, and b) how I approach it.

I meant to add, sometimes the best shave is when you don't consciously think about all those factors, but, with them in your arsenal of experience (which you already have), just let the shave happen while you just focus on maybe removing the lather and not over- thinking it.

As a fellow sufferer of the same kind of thing, I sincerely hope my post helps a bit. It's not much fun at the moment is it? But we'll get there.
 
Folks have been practicing Mindfulness activities for decades, where they blot out the everyday world and find total relaxation by focusing completely on the task in hand - its simply that back then, they used to call it by other names such as "fishing" or "gardening".
 
hotmetal said:
Yes, I hope it helps you to understand a) that there are others doing the same, and b) how I approach it.

I meant to add, sometimes the best shave is when you don't consciously think about all those factors, but, with them in your arsenal of experience (which you already have), just let the shave happen while you just focus on maybe removing the lather and not over- thinking it.

As a fellow sufferer of the same kind of thing, I sincerely hope my post helps a bit. It's not much fun at the moment is it? But we'll get there.
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Once you have been shaving for a while it's easy to let it become a routine and your mind wonder about other things. I have always tried to change things a bit, well before I decided on mindfulness, I never use the same soap, razor or brush twice in a row. My technique is more or less burn into my memory muscle so I don't need to think what hand or what angle the blade needs to be.....
There are little things that I prefer when shaving in the moment if you like, the feedback sound that one gets from a Straight Razor is so much noticeable and enjoyable than one gets from a shavette, having said that, under normal circumstances I prefer a shavette over a SR.

Thank you for your contribution...it all helps :)
 
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