So meditation?
This kind of thing is probably good for resetting people’s baseline levels of dopamine.
Why not just go fishing? my first fishing trip felt like going through a war zone - you know that Death Stranding WW1 level. Fishing with ADHD is basically masochism.
Why not just go fishing?
You need a public body of water that’s not so full of toxic waste that fish could conceivably live in it.
Even finding such a spot is it’s own challenge, nevermind lugging your pole and tackle out there. And if you’re on the wrong side of the country right now, you’re out in 90⁰+ heat for hours.
But in another month or two? If you’ve got a clean pond nearby? Hell yeah. Take the dog out. Bring your bike. Have a great time.
Fishing with ADHD is basically masochism.
You just need to adjust what you’re focusing on. The outdoors can be stimulating if you know where to look and relaxing if you know what to ignore.
Really, it’s the TV that’s masochism, because it fucks with all your baselines. Give it a day or two away from that thing and you find plenty of zen.
Oh well, I forgot that’s it might not be an option. Sorry about that.
I mean, there’s other stuff, too. But as someone living in a sprawling metroplex, I can tell you that I’d have to travel for hours before I could find a proper fishing hole. All the bodies of water around me are purely aesthetic and regularly cleaned out to prevent the risk of anything actually growing in it.
Is this just camping with extra steps?
It sounds like camping with less steps. I’m kind of curious now.
i often bring a small stringed instrument and a book when i’m camping. also cooking can be fun.
its called hiking and camping and its awesome.
Yeah but you don’t sit still while camping.
You could though. Set up camp and a chair and sit there.
So true!
24 hours in a sensory deprivation tank
I wouldn’t last five minutes. Those things freak me out
Tried one but I didn’t last 15 minutes because I couldn’t get comfortable. It’s hard to find a good position when the saltwater is burning your crotch, and the the only floatie they give you is half a pool noodle. Plus it didn’t help that the chamber didn’t actually get dark enough. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to make it out of white plastic and stick it in a room with windows and a light that doesn’t turn off? It was impossible to get it completely dark.
Thankfully the spa employee was understanding and gave me a refund. But if you’re a resort who is going to advertise a sensory deprivation chamber as part of your spa package, you should at least do it right.
Abrahms or Challenger II?
Try going outside!
- Zero stimulation
- Going outside
Choose one
There’s no such thing as zero stimulation
But being out in nature makes it much easier to just sit and exist. Or wander around and exist
Black room, no light, no noise, close eyes. Dont even have to leave the house, even easier with less stimulation.
I don’t know about you, but the quiet only makes things louder for me. I hear the building creak, the wind pushing against everything, the hum of electronics, cars in the distance, voices carried on the wind…
Even if you can cut off all that, even in a sensory deprivation tank, your body is full of noise and sensation. If it’s quiet enough, you can hear the blood pumping through your body
And then there’s the tinnitus
Luckily I’m one of the many where the trick where you slide your fingers to tap your skull works on. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me know… It doesn’t work on everyone, but it’s really effective when it does work
Thank you for this suggestion. I hadn’t heard of this, but I’ll try to remember it the next time I get a bout of tinnitus. Mine is pretty intermittent for now.
And the phosphenes
My noise cancelling headphones do a good job of blocking all the random building and electronic noises. They don’t work on voices though. Which would be nice…
Yeah not for nothing, but as cliche as “touch grass” sounds…some days you really just need to.
Don’t necessarily have to touch the grass, directly, with your hands. That’s kinda gross. Animals poop there. But like…walk on a trail somewhere. Or a park. Fresh air. Nature.
As an entirely non-spiritual person, it kind of does “mend the soul”, as they say. Not a literal soul, but your metaphorical, metaphysical, psyche.
I suddenly feel real bad for people who don’t have adequate “nature” an accessible distance from their home. That must be actual torture. Humans need to move, to explore. We need to breathe fresh air. Being stuck in a concrete jungle a few blocks wide is no different than being a caged hen, or a bunny in a tiny hutch…with the outdoors surrounding you constantly…freedom taunting you openly.
Or maybe I’m just high. Idk.
Humans evolved to be in nature. We can function without it, but it’s very easy to throw our minds out of kilter. Spending time in a natural environment provides a mental reference. It’s a level and type of stimulation we are optimised for. It’s a lot easier to later hang onto that balance, back into modern life, than re-establish it under those stresses.
Just breathe mate. Congrats we invented meditation.
Count your breaths
When you find that your mind has wandered, start the count over
Don’t keep track of anything
One One One One One One One One One One One One
The rest of us call this camping.
Camping not being stimulating is one of the nicest sounding things about north America. Here in Europe, everywhere is so densely populated that you can’t just camp everywhere. You have to go to a campsite. Wildlife has sparse enough space as is, so it makes sense that you can’t just pitch a tent in their habitat.
And campsites are always so full of strangers. Not relaxing or understimulating at all. Kinda wish I could just go out into the wild and pitch a tent and be by myself the way north Americans seem to do. Sounds super relaxing.
Wild camping is legal in large areas of Scotland. Come visit!
Here is a site that gives more detail.
Oooh that’s so cool, I’m actually going next summer for a wedding anyway, might as well combine it with a nice camping trip!
While we do have access to places where we can camp in the wild, in reality 99% of camping here is done in the same kind of campgrounds you describe.
Interesting! It always seemed like more. I have a friend who lives in Vancouver, and he did say that camping in the wild was kinda scary with all the predators there. But he’s born and raised in Europe, so I figured that was why it was too daunting for him.
In my home state of Pennsylvania (think Southern Germany) we have a lot of hiking trails in the mountains where some people like to camp. All through my 20’s I would solo hike forest trails with all of my supplies. Sometimes I would stay out for 4 or 5 nights and I would average 15-20 miles per day. Honestly the best times of my life were spent deep in the woods by myself.
camping has a nice view though
And if you’re eating poorly while camping you’re doing it wrong
I do this once a year, between Christmas and new year. No food, no vaping, no media, phone on DND. Just me sat on the sofa with a bottle of water and a notepad in case I think of something I want to write down. But I do play with my cat at some point during the day.
I like this as a ritual once a year. Maybe I’ll try it.
You mean 24h of sleep?
I see you’ve never met my dreams.
Came here to say, bump it to 24-72 hours without sleep for maximum results. “maximum”<> “good”, but you never know until you try.
I highly recommend. The body is going to hurt badly afterwards, but it’s worth it. You can wake up with that feeling of “what year is it” and it’s amazing. Hopefully it’s only 24h and not much more where you look outside and see dark or light without expecting and having no idea if you even are in the right world.
how do you sleep for 24h, I can only do like 6 usually
Being chronically ill and clinically depressed does the trick for me (though I’ve never slept for 24 hours straight, I wake up hungry after 12ish hours and go back to sleep after eating).
Sleep for 4-5 hours every weekday because you don’t want the next day to begin so you put off sleep as long as possible, then sleep through the weekend.
I didn’t need you coming at me like this today
And then get mad at myself for sleeping all weekend.
Drugs
Training. Keep sleeping less than 4 hours / day one week or two in a row, or for a few months, or years… Then watch how the system just shuts down while wanting to be released from the flesh prison.
Another easy way is to do 2 or 3 days in a row without sleeping at all.
I’m planning to burn a vacation day someday and reserve one night at a hotel attached to a Nordic Spa. Show up at the spa when it opens, stay there all day, switching between hot and cold, napping, reading, meditating, and then at closing crawl into the hotel room and go to bed.
I bet that is like having two nights’ sleep in one.
You can wake up with that feeling of “what year is it” and it’s amazing.
I can do that after a 20 minute nap.
I can’t do that on my own. No way. So I’m into BDSM and bondage.
Yes, bondage is just my way to be able to. meditate. (Ok, it’s being fixed in a decently comfortable position, having trust to who binds me, not being able to Houdini myself out and not knowing how long it takes)
It’s 90% relaxation and 10% sex.
I wish I got that out of bondage. It just bores me if not combined with mind games or pain
perhaps try puppy play… i made another reply to OP to explain, but it’s kinda the same thing but gives your brain something to focus on
No it doesn’t.
also puppy play! i like to say puppy play is like active mindfulness: instead of focusing on nothing in order to exist in the moment, you pretend you’re a dog and focus on that… dogs don’t pay rent, have jobs, worry about politics, etc… dogs just play, so just play and be in the moment
you get drawn into it, and it works incredibly well for people that get bored with things like meditation
the more you do the easier it is, and the main thing that breaks the headspace is feeling self conscious, but that’s freeing too! once you realise it’s fine to be ridiculous - that nobody cares - it helps with so many other parts of enjoying life (including other kinds of BDSM: people often say puppy play is a gateway kink exactly for this reason)
That’s interesting. “I’m not into puppy play.” (Note the quotes)
What that really means I find it really hard to shut off the rest of my brain and focus on just “being” a dog. There’s at least a meta-commentary track running in my mind all the time.
Another commentator mentioned they needed pain or mind games along bondage, yes that’s what I didn’t mention - I also need some kind of sensory deprivation along (blindfold or so) and at best some noise canceling head phones with a very specific kind of music track that’s helps me lose any feelings for the passage of time.
So I’d like puppy play, if I could also “just arrive in the moment” there. I didn’t learn that, yet.
But this subdiscussion is diverging quite a bit from the original post. Still, I feel it’s still about the same state of mind.
Its called vypassana, it takes 10 days and it does wonders
Came to say this: Samatha-vipassanā!
it does? what is it?
It is a great thing.
It is a quite empiric meditation technic without any mystical stuff.
It is all over the world and it is free
It is actually written vipassana. Google it.
PS. There is food, I missed that part :D
looks interesting. how does it make you feel?
I think that the experience is very unique for each person, so I will not get into that.
I think the main idea is that the sensory deprivation exposes how your brain works, to yourself.
It is very scientifical because it is all about leaving your mind empty and observing what happens.
This is where the experiences differ.
However, it is almost like a physical training on controlling your brain, of empowering you on what you think and how you think it.
We were about 60 people when I did it, only 1 left before the end, only one other said at the end that he did not find it very useful.
For me it was life changing, I must also say that when I found out that something like this existed, my first thought was “I have to do this”
i tought about the same thing.
where can i read about the science behind it, and how do you go about doing this? can i do this at home?
It is like an association and they have centers all over the world. You have to request to join a program, if they accept you, they provide lodging and food. It is free but they ask for donations.
I don’t recommend to do it at home, it is all about the immersive experience.
I don’t know about the science of it but it is brutally simple. There is very little philosophy to it.
…, no food…
And also
It takes 10 days
There must be something to it 🤔
yes, sorry there is food, but not much either, it is vegan and you eat facing the wall
I curl up in a ball and imagine little scenarios. I’ve done this for two weeks straight before. Only when there’s nothing to do though.
This habit is fine until you realise you can’t turn it off.
imagine little scenarios
I’m pretty sure that habit is why i take so long to fall asleep every night.
It will probably fix something. Try.
