Meditation For Programmers

I'd like to talk today about two techniques that have helped me in my career as a programmer that you might be surprised to hear about, Meditation & Yoga.
(this is a re-edit of my bad old video, now unlisted, of the same title: • Meditation For Coders )
❤️ If you would like to support what I do, I have set up a patreon here: / noboilerplate - Thank you!
📄 All my videos are built in compile-checked markdown, transcript sourcecode available here github.com/0atman/noboilerplate this is also where you'll find links to everything mentioned.
🖊️ Corrections are in the pinned ERRATA comment.
🦀 Start your Rust journey here: doc.rust-lang.org/stable/book/
🙏🏻 CREDITS & PROMO
My name is Tris Oaten and I produce fast, technical videos.
Follow me here / 0atman
Website for the show: noboilerplate.org
Come chat to me on my discord server: / discord
If you like sci-fi, I also produce a hopepunk podcast narrated by a little AI, videos written in Rust! www.lostterminal.com
If urban fantasy is more your thing, I also produce a podcast of wonderful modern folktales www.modemprometheus.com
👏🏻 Special thanks to my patreon sponsor:
- JC Andrever-Wright
And to all my patrons!

[@NoBoilerplate]

ERRATA todo!()

[@manueltennox7725]

todo!("comment")

[@walterryan9408]

KZbin helpfully tried to translate this to: ERRATUM all!() There's something oddly terrifying about that

[@vaisakhkm783]

@@walterryan9408 😅 ikr...

[@NathanHedglin]

​@@walterryan9408 lol 'todo' is All, everything, everyone in Spanish

[@JorgeRmrzO]

todo = 'everything', todos (on a specific context) = everyone, still lol xD@@NathanHedglin

[@papamegamind]

at this point the only programming centric youtubers I watch regularly are: you and code aesthetic

[@alexmercerind]

Hell yeah!

[@nrrgrdn]

Lol I thought this was code aesthetic

[@papamegamind]

@@alexmercerind Yes! Hella yeah baby come on!

[@Kokice5]

code aesthetic has some hot takes, i dislike them tbh

[@botondhetyey159]

Same for me, plus the occasional Fireship, and Primeagen

[@dalanxd]

There's one key aspect of meditation that really helps when coding, which is: "meditation trains your REACTION pattern to be more healthy" For example, whenever something doesn't work with your code you learn not to get that frustrated... it's an inevitability of our job, right? Let's just keep going and eventually things will work out... It's also good to not react to your own IGNORANCE in a negative way. Programmers are ignorant by default, we are specialists in just a tiny area of our field and the rest of the job is "figuring things out" ... being in peace with your own ignorance helps a lot both to your self esteem and to your productivity. Let's meditate, fellow coders! 🙏 Thanks for your take on the subject, @NoBoilerplate :) Meditation and Yoga are very dear to me and it's very good to see like minded people expressing themselves about those

[@NoBoilerplate]

Really great take, thank you for sharing Felipe :-)

[@DJPrice-cc9lg]

As a full-stacker at a pre-seed funded startup, I don't have a ton of time to give to random coding videos on the internet. That said, I don't think I've ever not finished a video of yours. And, lately, this particular video has been exactly what I needed. Thank you! I'm glad coders are talking about this sort of thing. Keep up the good work. Love the format -- usually pretty short, but more importantly, always directly to the point

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you so much! That's extremely nice of you to say :-)

[@CodeWithCinnamon]

@@NoBoilerplate Can you suggest a source form where a beginner programmer can learn rust easily by the way you make fantastic content.

[@doctorbobstone]

@@CodeWithCinnamon he links the Rust Book in the description. Personally, I just finished Rust by Example. I found it more helpful than the Rust Book was for me. YMMV.

[@tigermanni]

The more I get into coding the more I feel disconnected to myself or my feelings when I am done working. I always thought that I need to start meditating or sth but never had the guts to do it. I will start now with it, thanks!

[@NoBoilerplate]

I hope you have a good time!

[@remorcist2499]

Why is that? Feel the same sometimes after I've been working on a project for while. A kinda empty feeling.

[@Hyumanity]

​@@remorcist2499 Coding is very left-hemisphere activity involving a lot of abstraction and parts (Iain McGilchrist's work on the hemispheres). To feel connected to your body, self, and feelings, you have to activate your right-hemisphere. A relevant quote: "You don't have a body, you _are_ a body!" - Vervaeke

[@CallMeMSL]

2:01 self needs to be a reference, if you don't want to delegate ownership

[@NoBoilerplate]

OK that's extremely good XD

[@codetothemoon]

Fantastic. I'd always been curious about meditation for the purpose of alleviating anxiety, but never knew it also helps prevent getting distracted by your own thoughts!

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you! I think it's good for anxiety because you're more in control of your own thoughts? The distraction control I think is the real genius

[@SebastianSipos]

since you're trying to ignore your own thoughts in order to meditate, you ignore anxiety inducing thoughts but also distracting thoughts.

[@milesmalone4893]

You got me back into yoga a year ago when you posted this video. I first tried it back during lock down but fell out of the habit after a little while but this video got me back into it and I've been practicing daily since so I just wanted to come back to this video to say thank you! Yoga and meditation have definitely helped me in my career and personal life in so many ways it's insane. People are very skeptical about yoga at first (especially nerdy dudes who program) but it is so worth it!!

[@justdoeverything8883]

Meditation is the single most important practice in my life, simply based on the positive changes it's made in how I think and feel.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I'm so pleased for you!

[@AdamFiregate]

I agree completely. I've been meditating daily since 2016 and last year I took a beginner and advanced meditation course with vipassana and metta. It was one of the best investments in my life. Whenever I can, I meditate several times daily, even for just 10 minutes or more.

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

I wouldn't have gone nearly as far in life if I hadn't practiced meditation in the last 10 years. I think that meditation is more about interacting with yourself and finding out what you really are, how you really feel and what do you really want. It is far more enjoyable to just meditate in a quiet, comfortable place than going to a party.

[@justdoeverything8883]

Thanks for your replies! Short meditations throughout the day are great 👍 I'm do body scans while I'm working and release tension, it's a pretty effective way to manage stress. Also, yes, meditation is way better than going to a party imo, but I'm mostly introverted lol.

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

@@justdoeverything8883 In my case, since I don't drink, I'm usually either bored or annoyed at parties. I keep thinking "I could be working", "I could be studying", "I could be reading", "I could be playing games" lol.

[@qmod90]

Hello! In my humble opinion meditation is a concept and state where there is no ego or self, interchangeably no free will, short term death is fully accepted and therefore gratitude is emerged; The level of this (and every) gratitude is the level of how deep meditation we are in. It's not just a focus excercise. It doesn't matter if we just put our attention to our breathing, on a picture, a text, mantra or asana. In order to meditate in "high level" or being in a deep meditation state (even during commuting with eyes bright open), we have to rewire our brain mostly with the concept of death (/letting go, concept of deep sleep even) It's just a humble oppinion of course, anyway, keep up with the good content friend, i'm sure the content and the quality of your channel teached and inspired a lot of us :)

[@eufrozinak9461]

I've recently discovered your old videos as well as Lost Terminal. This one was the one I've watched multiple times. I'm happy about the reupload. All the stuff coming out of your brain is addictively good.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you so much! I made this one *better* than the old one, so it's hopefully not just a re-upload. There's 40% more content by length! XD

[@ItsRyanStudios]

The video is the absolute culmination of the things I love. Thank you for this content. I'm a passionate software engineer, but I'm equally passionate about art and spirituality. This balance has become essential to my happiness. Also tip: I've been practicing active meditation throughout my workday. I go outside for 5-10 minutes and water my plants or sweep my patio, and stay entirely focused on that single task.

[@NoBoilerplate]

That's a really nice habit, thank you for sharing!

[@shreya6229]

This the first time I've seen someone so accurately explain the concept of two layers of inner voices. I've always thought about it. There's your inner inner self, which knows your thoughts. And then there's your inner self, a layer above the inner inner self, which vocalizes the thoughts. The concept of laying it out as listening self and thinking self is really brilliant.

[@NoBoilerplate]

It's an interesting realisation isn't it! You might like "Practical Zen", the book I referenced

[@shreya6229]

@@NoBoilerplate Yeah, sure. I'd give it a try!

[@ahmed.systems]

I asked for something like this in a previous video, and here we are. Thank you very much and keep up the great work!

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you!

[@Anteksanteri]

I very much agree with the model of the mind you presented and I have some more selves. I like to think that the observing self is the most important part of your mind. It only observes your own thoughts (i.e. your conscious mind). Those thoughts also include your interpretation of your sensory inputs. The interpreted, filtered version is what you see, even for autistic people (I think I'm one). In other words, if you don't notice a pain, then you don't feel it either. So, in a very literal sense, your picture of reality, including your body, is a story that you tell yourself. I think that the unconscious mind is where all thoughts originate from. It gets fed by the observer mind.

[@dragon_pi]

the idea about a thinking self and a listening self is very intriguing. when thinking about a complex topic, i find my thinking self creating possibilities rapidly, and my listening self, as you called it, sifting through the ideas and validating/confirming each one before allowing my thinking self to proceed to the next thought. this is a bit metaphorical and not exactly what you talked about, but i still think it is at least partially connected in some sort of way. i think it's fascinating thinking about the own brain function and thought process and how it works, maybe i should actually start meditating

[@NoBoilerplate]

Interesting - certainly give the book I recommended a try, I really liked it's explanation of the method :-)

[@k_i_k_ii]

Thanks for talking about meditation and Yoga. I'm tired of the cycle of going between my phone, computer, and TV and of continuously feeling apathetic. I started doing daily walks of 10k steps in November of last year, and some other habits. It's still a long way to go but if I don't try at all it's like I've already lost.

[@NoBoilerplate]

You'll figure it out friend - I think we're all trying to figure it out too. The most important step is to start, which you've already done :-)

[@rahulshandilya304]

Not only it help to sit long, I have realized after meditation, in focused mind, solutions come instantly. Your mind is like superconducting state where every thoughts coupled like Cooper pair to move in one direction.

[@megaxlrful]

My experience has been quite similar. I used to practice Tang Soo Do, but had to quit. To this day, I still find it incredibly beneficial to my mental stamina to do meditation at least twice a week and to do cardio sports. For me, this works really well and it feels like a balance between a healthy mind and a healthy body. Programming is very taxing on your mental state, banishing all thoughts and force yourself to concentrate for many hours in a row. And keeping all of that in balance with good exercise is important.

[@mattgehrls4206]

New subscriber as of today. I’ve started meditating very recently to improve focus. I should have subscribed after your “treat ai like 1000 interns” video. Insightful and practical.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you so much! I am so pleased you like them :-)

[@maxjt11]

Excellent video, love your comparison between long sits of meditation and long-sits of working. Meditating has definitely been the only reason I've gotten through some particularly difficult projects, good to see the message being spread!

[@NoBoilerplate]

Glad it worked for you!

[@jakeevans6935]

Love your style of videos!!!

[@stefansimmeth5015]

Funny, how searching for "how to learn rust" videos has brought me to the place I was looking for all along, without knowing it

[@NoBoilerplate]

I'm so pleased. Rust is very relaxing for me, no surprises!

[@jordanfarr3157]

Thanks for the recommendations!

[@TheKelvinPerez]

I am activilty sharing the power of meditation and self-awareness and also yoga to all of my developer friends, thank you for making such an amazing video I will share this around 🙏

[@NoBoilerplate]

Glad you like it!

[@learnbyexample24]

"Meditation is the fasting of the mind" - Naval This quote really sums up meditation for me. As fasting gives the body a break from eating - and thus rejuvenates it, meditation gives the mind a break from thinking - and thus rewires it for increased efficiency.

[@agentpenguin7]

Thank you! that's exactly the book I searched for.

[@DaveGaming99]

Great video as always Tris!

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you so much! :-D

[@adekorir]

Thanks for this. Really needed it.

[@NoBoilerplate]

You're so welcome!

[@TheJayman213]

Also check out David R. Loy's _Nonduality in Buddhism and Beyond._ I agree with everything in this video, except the conceptual splitting of the self. As my book recommendation suggests, I think that undoing conceptual (and lived) splits is more conducive for fostering spirituality than adding new ones. Split literally means analysis. And conceptual splits are the basis of analytic thinking, or the "thinking part of the self".

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you for the recommendation! Sounds interesting

[@Bobronium]

Yay. I immediately thought about our session together. I'd argue, that the first video wasn't that bad, but I of course find this one better :) Meditation became essential practice that allowed me to change my life significantly. I think it has a lot more potential than just improving one's ability focus, and using it only with this goal in mind might tip "productive meaningful" balance to "productive" side, but such system would not be accompanied by much meaning. I believe that often answer to the question "how do I focus and remove all distractions" is "stop focusing on things that are distracting you and learn why you're being distracted in the first place". Meditation allows to achieve this goal, but setting a mental constraint on "just becoming productive" might actually be counterproductive. To me is essential to improve both of these areas gradually.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Really good insight. It was excellent to meet you!

[@BreezeLock]

Have picked up breath work and meditation over the last year. It has drastically helped me, as well as my career.

[@RaZziaN1]

in what way ?

[@looming_]

@@RaZziaN1 placebo.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Placebos still work!

[@NoBoilerplate]

That's great news!

[@looming_]

@@NoBoilerplate I have been doing breath meditation for 3-4 months DAILY. Still have yet to notice profound effects. I am more mindful though.

[@avgvstvs96]

great video as usual! im gonna try this yoga stuff, strong body == cool and I definitely need more range of motion and flexibility, it's really hard for me to be able to sit comfortably for long periods of time. thanks for the inspiration!

[@NoBoilerplate]

Literally yoga my friend, this should help!

[@Fiz0248]

So cool to see you make a video about this! Do you have any advice to stay consistent in practicing meditation and/or yoga?

[@NoBoilerplate]

Chain habits. Find a habit you already do reliably (drinking coffee/tea ,eating breakfast, brushing your teeth) and then tie your new habit to it. Maybe before, maybe after. Put your toothbrush in your yoga mat! Try reading Triggers, it's a book that talks about this kind of thing. It's not a *perfect* book, but the information is in there!

[@josegabrielgruber]

Thank you, very much!

[@NoBoilerplate]

You're welcome!

[@deadmanzclanleader]

Thanks for this.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you so much! Perhaps I should do more of these non-rust videos?

[@totalmonkeyspeed260]

Daaaang....genius to see the connection between 'coding sitting' and 'meditation sitting'...somehow escaped me. 🙏

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you!

[@guilherme5094]

Thanks man👍!

[@NoBoilerplate]

My pleasure! :-)

[@daniel-wood]

I don't have any deep or observant comment; I just want to say I appreciate your.. quieter? more thoughtful? approach to things.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you so much! Have you tried my hopepunk podcast, Lost Terminal? I'd love to know if you like it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmTFdXhvoNitg8U

[@SushantShekhar-my7eu]

I love your videos, and I really wait for them. You have also convinced me to learn Rust. Many thanks for that. But since I have to learn Golang for job purpose, I will start it 2-3 months later. BTW what do you think about job market for Rust?

[@NoBoilerplate]

The goods are odd, but the odds are good! There's fewer rust jobs, but also fewer rust applicants.

[@harrynewton6200]

I've recently had the opportunity to attend a Vipassana retreat program for a month and a half. Each retreat is 10 days of silent meditation, and about 10-12 hours of meditation a day. Its truly a transformative practice. Allows one to recognize when they are reacting with craving or aversion to experience rather than just merely observing it objectively. Love what you have to say about it and its great to spread the love! I understand that in the section regarding the self you mentioned there are "two" selves , and I can understand why you would frame that in a practical sense. You'll find that most meditation practices, those that originate from Buddhism, imply that there is no inherit self, but that's not particularly relevant to this video. Keep up the great work! Metta

[@NoBoilerplate]

That sounds incredible, I'd love to do such a retreat!

[@neoney]

I love your videos. It’s so strange you only have 60k subs…

[@NoBoilerplate]

I'm so pleased to have so many interested people subscribing! I don't worry too much about the numbers, BUT it would be fun to have that play button XD

[@heygema]

Same, but I haven't been doing upgrade for consciousness for some times post covid, bcs it broke my routine and habits for quite some times, I'm gonna re-do it again, thanks for sharing this

[@heygema]

Fun fact, I wasn't the very brightest student. I nailed coding interviews (after I failed a lot) and excel my skills in Uni, after I began nurturing consciousness practice, it def made a difference though don't expect immediate result. Just like 10 push up won't all of the sudden makes you The Rock in a day. it builds up gradually IME. Thanks again, for sharing this. It's all because I manage my attention and better time management.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you for sharing, that's great!

[@Sashin9000]

Believe it or not, I have a little floor desk that I sit cross-legged on a meditation cushion when on my laptop! This is the best crossover.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I recently bought this chair and it's transformed my life! www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08H5C83J9

[@_manne]

Lovely video as always. Off topic question but have you taken a look at leptos-rs, i don't write much frontend code but as a tool it looked exciting.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Interesting! Thanks for pointing it out!

[@Youbuu2]

You are the best.

[@lipin007]

@0:51 good to see you!

[@NoBoilerplate]

Well spotted!

[@tordjarv3802]

I meditate every day just before I go to bed, I have found that I fall a sleep much faster (with in 30min compared to 1h 30 min without meditation), and I tend to sleep better after I meditate. And better sleep means that I have an easier time to focus on my code during the day.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I should try that too!

[@Tattersail]

2:06 no, no, it's alright. Rock is good representation for my brain.

[@kamilmosciszko3779]

Yes, meditation, yoga, breathwork, awarness practices helps coders

[@NoBoilerplate]

Probably helps lots of folks, but I can only really say for sure for coders! :-)

[@kamilmosciszko3779]

@@NoBoilerplate i struggle to get new job for 6 months almost, your video relaxed me, thanks. I'm back to the flow

[@RenderingUser]

"graphics design is my passion"

[@NoBoilerplate]

Please do not be intimidated

[@kingwoodbudo]

Ah, is that Wudang? I had a friend study there for about six years. He now has his own school in Canada.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Yes, the same mountains! That's a common thing, I was studying with someone who did this when he went back to the States -> www.waysofwudang.com

[@carlynghrafnsson4221]

Great vid. Qigong taught me to breath for meditation. Ultimately, programming is a ritualistic meditation for me. It should be an escape. Programmers should not be truckers with kidney problems.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Very wise

[@nrrgrdn]

Thanks

[@NoBoilerplate]

Cheers!

[@beesmcgee4223]

I can sit for an endless amount of time in weird positions, but that's because my body doesn't tell my brain it is aching, because I am so absorbed in working -_-. I know the solution is yoga, to reconnect to body. I love yoga, and its function as a moving meditation.

[@thepaulcraft957]

Personally I don't meditate directly but I do much karate training which plays a similar as meditation or yoga for others I think. Another book I can recommend is Takuan Soho's "the gate to seren serenity" (I hope that this is the English title of it) which helped me allot.

[@NoBoilerplate]

Oh thank you! Yes, I think that anything that grounds you in the present could function the same - martial arts certainly. I'll read that book. Have you tried Tai Chi? I didn't think I'd like it as much as I did - it's just a very slow martial art :D

[@thepaulcraft957]

@@NoBoilerplate I've never tried tai chi and sadly I don't have time left to do so but I think it is a pretty enjoyable thing to do because in karate there are some very slow and "breathing heavy" katas I really like (which isn't the same of course)

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@thepaulcraft957 Nice sounds like that's similar!

[@0thLaw]

How about a video of the nix package manager, or nixOS? Seems a good fit to your mindset.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I tried out nixos the other day. It's just too much effort for me, sadly

[@0thLaw]

For me too. That’s why I need you!

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@0thLaw heh, maybe one day!

[@LukeEdwards05]

What is this circular brush stroke logo at the start and end? Love it

[@NoBoilerplate]

It's so pretty isn't it! Here's the page en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D

[@gmsarti]

Hey nice to find a Wudang student!

[@omega_no_commentary]

Imagine you, a Python soydev, have to fight against a literal Rust chad daoist monk.

[@vullkani]

Inner engineering has helped me tremendously. And also other isha hatha yoga practices, I hope you see this comment and give it a try

[@sasukesarutobi3862]

As an aside, Shaolin Kung Fu is likewise thought to originate in the practice of exercise to improve meditation. Bodhidharma developed exercises for the monks at the Shaolin temple when he arrived to teach them, and found many of them falling asleep during meditation. He instituted physical exercise to condition them, and this developed into Shaolin Kung Fu (along with some other sources).

[@NoBoilerplate]

That's so cool! I didn't know that!

[@qm3ster]

I was waiting for the daoist temple stuff to be a joke. The reveal never came 😱

[@NoBoilerplate]

I hope to do lots of non-rusty videos on my channel, I've got lots of stuff I'd like to share!

[@felipedidio4698]

Writing rust is enough meditation for me

[@ankit_s]

Can you tell me where you have trained in china , I have always wanted to do this and I think I wanna do it.

[@NoBoilerplate]

www.wudangwushu.com Go with a friend and you'll have a great time! Flights are complicated by the ru war at the moment, but you might find some good ones depending on where you live. Very hot in the summer, very snowy in the winter - spring and autumn are best

[@EnDungeoned]

Quite different from your previous NB offerings, I feel this channel could go anywhere now

[@NoBoilerplate]

Cheers Mort! Yes, I'd be interested to know how people think about it!

[@CashsCoffee]

Wonderful video! I’d love if more of the world were into yoga/meditation. I am a certified yoga teacher and began my coding journey a few months ago. Let me know if anyone has ideas for how I could combine the two. 👀

[@NoBoilerplate]

oh amazing! Here's an idea: Every single programming team in the world needs your lessons! My most long-lived yoga practice was with an instructor that came to our offices and led a group in a big meeting room. Wonderful!

[@webdev1876]

2:15 (graphics design is my passion) we have a LISP procedure here :P

[@NoBoilerplate]

hehe so we do!

[@akupython]

Anyone else disappointed this wasn't "rust is so good, you meditate while writing it" ?

[@benj6964]

I love it when tech channels make this kind of videos

[@NoBoilerplate]

How nice! What other kinds of non-programming videos would you like to see?

[@zestynotions]

interesting side note, a small % of people dont have an "inner voice". Fascinating.

[@NoBoilerplate]

more than one person with aphantasia has commented here, fascinating!

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

Well, I'm ancient. Physics, which involved a lot of computer. For both of those I need - a straight backed chair. Not a wobbly spinny one. - getting up and walking (preferably outside) with some muttering. The first is physical. The second is time, Time to wonder about something, whatever. Time to let the problem rattling around in you to pop up and say Oh! Try this.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I do like a nice walk to think through a problem

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

@@NoBoilerplate Often it seems not thinking, but brewing. Other bits work away. Perhaps that is meditation.

[@RenderingUser]

i do the kind of meditation done 5 times a day :)

[@NoBoilerplate]

I think this kind of meditation is very similar! Religion aside, does it ground you and recover focus a little? I'd love to learn more :-)

[@RenderingUser]

@@NoBoilerplate yea Also it being divided into strict times also allowed me to allocate the time in my day better Oh that reminds me I actually published a crate for this 'salat_mv'

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@RenderingUser oh cool, like the Pomodoro Technique 😀 Nice crate! crates.io/crates/salat_mv

[@hallo8D]

Tell us more about the temple

[@NoBoilerplate]

www.wudangwushu.com/ SO great!

[@AlanFalloon]

@@NoBoilerplate Thanks! How did you find out about it?

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@AlanFalloon I've always been interested in martial arts - Wing Chun is the style I practice, and a friend and I did some research on schools to visit in China and got lucky! I visited and recommend www.wudangwushu.com/

[@RedStone576]

is this possible to do for someone that only work at night and drinks stuff with high sugar consentration lol

[@NoBoilerplate]

Hehe, I would imagine so, it's about getting control of your own thoughts, which is a good thing to practice for anyone!

[@johanngambolputty5351]

"Names can name no lasting name", does that just mean that the lifetime of a pointer may be less than that of the thing it points to, so something that points to an object now may be different to something that points to it at a different time?

[@NoBoilerplate]

Oh shit there's something there isn't there XD

[@cchutney348]

For me, guided meditation is a happy middle ground. Probably won't reach Nirvana, but my alternative is not doing it at all. That said, I am pretty jealous by that monastery retreat thing.

[@NoBoilerplate]

It was pretty wild. I reckon you could simulate it yourself with some friends in a log cabin in the woods and hiring an instructor each day. Wait I just had an idea XD

[@lennartbreede]

had to pause this video 30s in to look at a message a friend send me with a video compiling all Yeahs of popular songs into one track... so ya.. I guess I need to watch this

[@NoBoilerplate]

I think meditation helps my focus a bit - nothing magic, but if you practice focusing you'll get better!

[@musashi542]

@@NoBoilerplate how do you practice focus ?

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@musashi542 Meditation! :D do read the book I mentioned in the video, really great

[@archavez100]

Wasn't this uploaded before? I swear I've seen it before!

[@NoBoilerplate]

You have! I mentioned it in the video, do check the description for the old video link if you'd like to find the differences - I've written 40% more for this rewrite!

[@archavez100]

​@@NoBoilerplate Oh that's my bad, thank you!

[@HisDivineShadow]

What do you do if you find meditation to be extremely distressing and makes you prone to large emotional outbursts in the middle of attempted meditation? Also, have you ever heard of Internal Family Systems?

[@NoBoilerplate]

Thank you for telling me about IFS, it reminds me of Dissociative Identity Disorder, a condition I am very familiar with (not for myself, thankfully). If you find meditation distressing, don't do it. I'm not a therapist, but it sounds like there are other issues at play. Perhaps as you work on them you will find it easier? Meditation is also just a tool, not some magic thing to achieve enlightenment, in my mind. In the words of Allan Wattz "Use the boat to get over the river, but don't take it with you when you arrive"

[@anarchoyeasty3908]

Is this a new logo for you? The swirl? I like it if so.

[@NoBoilerplate]

It's lovely isn't it? Not mine, however, this is the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D

[@ponderatulify]

But be careful about overdoing it. Sometimes your mind starts to wander, because your body can't, although it wants to. Sometimes as soon as I let my body move a little, a game, or some cardio, I can more easily get back to focusing.

[@NoBoilerplate]

That sounds right. I've read people talk about "walking meditation" or otherwise involving an activity.

[@paulburger9904]

What games do you play NB? :D

[@NoBoilerplate]

Anything made by Todd Howard ;-)

[@eineatombombe]

Funny coincidence I just started listening to lost terminal earlier today

[@NoBoilerplate]

Oh lovely! I hope you like it! :-)

[@eineatombombe]

@@NoBoilerplate Yes it's awesome! I'm already at episode 2.8

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@eineatombombe wow how fun! omg you must comment when you've finished 2.9 or 2.10...

[@eineatombombe]

@@NoBoilerplate very fun indeed, I just finished the 2nd season and the plot twist was really unexpected!

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@eineatombombe Wonderful! That's based on a close friend of mine who has the mental health condition mentioned in the episode, and important story I wanted to tell. I hope you love the rest of the show, I certainly do!

[@Robin_Goodfellow]

I'm not watching this at work when I should be programming

[@angeldude101]

How do you resolve recursion? Whenever I try to focus on my own thoughts, I get stuck in a loop where the only thought I can see is the thought of looking at my thoughts.

[@walid0the0dilaw]

You can focus on more emotional or bodily thoughts (breath, touch, smell,.. sadness, happiness, stress..) that have less form, I find that helps get away from the structure of a thought recursion. Another perspective is not to think of this thought recursion as actual thought, but a lack of thoughts. Lastly, remember that having absolutely no thoughts is hard and takes a lot of practice.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I am not a meditation expert by any means! But do try Practical Zen, it's really great!

[@defnlife1683]

The true zen is changing math operations into bitwise operations.

[@NoBoilerplate]

eval/apply!

[@DaveGaming99]

Ohhh I'm early!

[@sprytnychomik]

I've found self in Python.

[@NoBoilerplate]

hehe!

[@wabteytv]

you're made for graphic design

[@NoBoilerplate]

Hehe, thank you. I build these videos in obsidian.md, with the Excalidraw plugin!

[@hussainkhuzema7083]

Me zoning out watching this video 🙃

[@DerSolinski]

Meditation? Naaa... To much work xD I can only convince six of the dozen voices in the town hall I call my head to shut up at ones. Long live the chaos.

[@WizardOfArc]

So cool that you studied kung-fu in china!

[@NoBoilerplate]

omG it was so fun! Really recommend it!

[@almostprofessionalrecords6651]

@@NoBoilerplate how to do it? Is it super expensive? What is required? I'm really interested to experience something like this

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@almostprofessionalrecords6651 When I did it it was cheaper to live and train at the Academy than pay rent in London XD It's more expensive now, but still very good value (if you consider room, food, training is all included) I visited and recommend www.wudangwushu.com/ Flights are a little disrupted at the moment, but hopefully peace will bring back the safe flight paths!

[@almostprofessionalrecords6651]

@@NoBoilerplate thank you!

[@PaulSebastianM]

Interesting... though kind of skeptical. 🤔

[@NoBoilerplate]

Have a read through the comments, there's really great tips here!

[@pullrequest1481]

Hey man have you read rust new policy??? 😂

[@NoBoilerplate]

It's too soon to judge. Something I learned while working in the UK Government's digital department was not to worry too much what the lawyers and politicians are doing, they do and say insane things every single day. And guess what: It doesn't really affect us very much down here, on a long enough timescale. In a year they'll be long gone, and we'll still be here, building the future. My attention is finite, I choose to use it on more interesting things 😄

[@pullrequest1481]

@@NoBoilerplate your channel use it's logo as thumbnail. I'm scared if they sues you. 🤦🏽‍♂️🤣

[@shardula-ai4ourkids169]

Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga comes from Hindu traditions from Bharat/India with a lineage of at least 5000 years in a language Sanskrit which has been maintained as it is untarnished by section of Hindus. While most westerners give credit to Buddhist, Japanese, why do they NOT give credit to Hindus.

[@joelkronqvist6089]

I think the huge amount of distractions modern society poses on us weakens our listening selves. Especially fast-paced social media like TikTok harm our ability to focus. That's one reason more to meditate. On the other hand, though, we won't get everyone to meditate. I don't meditate, because I've never been able to make it a habit. Meditation might help individuals, but it doesn't tackle the root cause of the problem.

[@NoBoilerplate]

I don't use tiktok. Not because I know I won't like it, but because I know I would love it. I don't need another infinite timeline of interesting stuff in my life!

[@SebastianSipos]

Ashtanga is a bit rough..

[@NoBoilerplate]

Yes, it's exercise. There are some styles for relaxation and are gentler, but I like Ashtanga because it pushes me

[@SebastianSipos]

@@NoBoilerplate yup. I did p90x yoga x at some point and it was something else

[@NoBoilerplate]

@@SebastianSipos Oh cool! I did P90X back in 2006, that's how I first discovered yoga (and, honestly, that my body could be healthy!)

[@porky1118]

I'm not surprised. Definitely not by meditation, and Yoga is probably similar.

[@itanimullidemrifnoc2228]

Now they won't belive us that rust programming language is not a religious cult.

[@NoBoilerplate]

It's the cargo cult!