I (22M) feel like I can’t connect with people or feel emotions toward them. Honestly, it feels like I can’t feel emotions at all.

For example, I recently went out to lunch with friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in months. Normally, someone might feel excited or happy to see them. Me? Nothing. No excitement, no joy, no sadness—just nothing. It’s like I’m a robot. I can’t show appreciation, can’t feel empathy, and I can’t connect with friends.

During the entire lunch, I was dull. Nothing came to my mind. I just sat there, neutral 😐. No matter what anyone said, I felt nothing. Even when I spoke, it felt forced and insincere because there were no emotions behind it.

I feel like I could cut anyone out of my life without feeling a thing—no sadness, no guilt, nothing.

The only time I feel any kind of different emotion is before or after a gym session. I guess it’s because of the endorphins from working out. That’s the only time I feel “good.” Other than that, when I’m around people, it’s like I’m just a spectator in life. Life happens to others, not me.

The only other time I feel alive and present is when I’m high.

I don’t even have negative thoughts anymore (I used to struggle with self-hate and sadness). Now, it’s just pure neutral nothingness.

This lack of emotions is preventing me from connecting with people, and I feel like I can’t even try to start a relationship.

Am I sick? Is this some kind of condition?

I have been doing zen Buddhist meditation for 5 minutes a day and find I am noticing so much about the people around me that I never noticed before. I have noticed that the people around me all seem very closed, or have a negative perception of me, or seem to be manipulating me in some way. It's confusing as I never noticed this before so I don't know whether I am misinterpreting or just noticing. It's mind-blowing and lonely. I think because of my past behaviours this is how people are with me and it's painful to see. Or maybe I've surrounded myself with a certain type of person idk. Anyone had a similar experience, or has any thoughts or advice? I'm going to continue as I want to be more aware but it's kind of scary, what will I notice next?

i was wondering what you guys would want in a meditation app and what type of content you prefer (zazen, manifestation)? i found that many apps are overwhelming and have messy UI.

I was joining s group meditation online so I hang a “Do not Disturb” poster on my door. It was already on the middle of the meditation, when my mother still called me for a very trivial matter despite the post on the door. I tried to ignore it at first but the call keeps getting louder and louder. I stopped joining the group meditation since I was disturbed already. Now I’m terribly upset and angry. I already confronted my mother but she got angry at me too saying that I prioritise other people than them. She keeps on saying things that suddenly I’m now the bad person for not responding immediately. I know that I should just let this go but I wanted to share to unburden myself a little and hoping to also get insights from fellow meditators when they encountered something like this.

Lately, I find myself...

Bearing witness to how meditation is a gateway to reprogram my wiring.

Sometimes I follow a guided audio but a lot of times I just close my eyes and watch the show. I try to focus on my breath but I’m not doing any sort of technique, I’m just witnessing what’s going on. Sometimes I get lost in it, but I always come out

1. silent meditation: sitting still and letting the thoughts flow, focussing and acknowledging that my entire body is separate than my mind where my thoughts are flowing freely (i can separate my mind + thoughts from the body and let them flow while knowing my body is there sitting). sometimes, i also start focusing on the imaginary black spot in between my eyes during the mind-body separation, which mostly leads to more thoughts to originate and flow.

2. breathing/mindful meditation: sitting and focussing on my in-breadth and out-breadth (saying stuff like-breathing in/out i know i’m breathing in/out). i breathe through any thoughts that arise, bringing my focus back to my breathing (the present moment)

what i have noticed for each type of meditation relative to the other type of meditation- •30 or more mins of silent meditation: more calm, slightly more anxious, slightly less confident . •30 or more mins of breathing meditation: less calm, more confident, less anxious

both when compared to no meditation: much calmer, more confident, less anxious

in any case, i do both daily, usually sitting meditation right after breathing meditation.

Hey everyone,

I've been meditating more consistently lately, aiming for twice a day without a fixed duration for it as I feel that might defeat the purpose of the practice. During my sessions, I often reach a state of both nothingness and everything, but sometimes it can be challenging to come out of it (it takes a bit of time and often when I try to come out of it I end up staying in that state for longer because I am able to go deeper).

Recently, I've had a couple of unique experiences during meditation that I’m curious about:

1. I felt a significant amount of energy in my hands.
2. During another session, it felt like my entire world had tilted to the right, even though I was sitting centered with my spine straight.

I've been working on proper sitting posture to avoid leaking energy through my hands and feet. When I mentioned these experiences to my teacher, he responded positively, saying such things are common in meditation and can inspire deeper practice.

While I understand the importance of letting go, I’d love to hear your insights or similar experiences. What do you think these sensations mean? Any advice on how to navigate these moments would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

A bit of a weird topic maybe, but just curious if anyone else has this too.

From how I know myself im not one who is physically very active. I consider myself quite the lazy human being even.

But these last few days Ive been starting to notice that im experiencing my body almost communicating to me that I should put my body through some sort of physical pain because it will feel good.

Hahah its kinda weird. Or new to me.

Maybe a bit of a weird topic, just felt like sharing it. Maybe you can share your experiences with me 😊♥️

I've only been at this for a couple days, and some emotions that I suppressed for a long time are coming to the surface and I'm a bit scared. I'm scared of growing up, and I miss my childhood. I've never felt like that before because I'm in my early 20s and so excited to grow up and leave my childhood. I'm excited for the freedom and for people to finally take me seriously now that I'm an adult. I see it and I'm happy, but now I want to go back. I've never missed my childhood before, but now I do, and I don't know what to do with myself. And I can't talk to an adult (like a real adult) about these feelings because they'll just be like "haha, yeah, I remember those days, and it only gets worse from there!"

Maybe some feelings are better left suppressed because this is really difficult to deal with. I should probably stop meditating for some time.

what are the best meditation apps you've tried and why do you like theM?

I've been meditating for 2 years now but i haven't been taking it as siriously as the last 5 months that i have been doing it every day for 30 to 40 min a day , sometimes i do it twice, it's helping me with my tbi(tramatic brain injury that i had 3 years ago), and with my spitual growth and journey.

I do deep breathing to relax, followed with a body scan to bring my self present, and then i do breath concentration or mantra meditation. it's been going good for the first months i feel calmer and relxed, i feel the silence and i get some valuable insights occasionally, in general i feel diffrent positively after.

This last month or two i feel like i am stuck, i don't feel as much diffrence, my mind is even more active without a reason, and i only feel the effects for 5 minutes after the meditation and then my mind just goes back to normal state, i try to keep the mindfulness and the state as much as i can but it just doesn't work anymore.

Is this normal? It's seems like i am not doing any progress anymore, should i increase the duration? Because i know for a fact that my technique is fine. Please help if you can, and share your experiences in the comments bellow and let's discuss.

I have discovered the true nature of my soul through meditation. After 1 year of ~45 min/day:

1. Money and things no longer matter to me in the same way
2. Societal programming has been dismantled. I don’t need to be married by X date or look Y way.
3. Suffering is met with equanimity and even gratitude.
4. Once full of self-doubt, I now realize I’m a really good egg with a beautiful, honest heart.
5. I have replaced problematic addictions with growth habits. Mindfulness and meta awareness have been such a gift to change how I operate.
6. I feel grateful, generous, caring, and able to prioritize others.
7. My past barely haunts me anymore. I am way more focused on the present.

Meditation is a daily practice and I realize I have a lifetime of practice remaining. I’m so grateful to have found meditation and have it give me the compass I desperately needed in my life.

Merry Christmas. Grateful to be a sober yogi.

Have a beautiful day!

Hi all..

Recently I saw a post on Instagram about Vipassana. I am a novice meditator. I wanted to know more about this and if I was eligible to undergo the course. If yes, where do I apply. Can females do it too? Can anyone tell me how vipassana works and who can participate in it?

Thanks in advance

I was awakened 1 yr back due to some heart breaking painful experience and my awakening was a divine grace on me helped me immensely going through it.

Since then i have been meditating everyday, as if today i am meditating approximately for an hour every day. My perception towards life have changed- being true to myself is my priority. i am a Reiki Master Healer . Healing to me seem to be part of my soul purpose .

But since few weeks i am questioning if my spiritual growth has stalled ? How do I check that ? And what should i do to keep ascending? and there is kind of yearning for new experience too.

If any one can guide me 🙏

When you feel bad,you can overcome that bad feeling quicker if you have trained your mind via meditaion?

I have been mediating on and off. In the past I have been overcome with a rage of something in the past I didnt realize. How do you handle it?? I am afraid of doing this again and doing something reckless or lash out on my family or doing something reckless. I dont feel anger or have intrusive thoughts in a normal state. Ive cried and balled my eyes out and let go before. But how do you handle it? I am aware life goes on and there will be moments where I surpress my anger. But how do you guys handle it if it has happened to you before?

Is it something unameable, or is eternal just a phrase used? Do any experience meditators understand this?

Hello, looking for some of your wisdom to help me build a better practice.

I have dabbled in meditation for the last few years, but not to the extend that I would really say I’ve seen the benefits.

Ultimately I’m hoping meditation can help me feel more content, mindful and optimistic

I’ve used apps like calm, headspace and the occasional YouTube video. But I don’t think I’ve really found what I’m looking for and not quite found content or routine that works for me.

I have a pretty busy corporate job, which does mean that my schedule can be unpredictable. Usually morning meditation is the most convenient, but i also find sometimes it just sends me back to sleep - any tips here on WHEN to meditate?

I also find with the apps I use I’ll try a guided meditation, something like “meditation for patience, or X or Y”. Are these a good place to start for beginners? On the other hand, when I try a more unguided meditation that is just focused on breathing or a body scan, I’m not sure this is the right kind of meditation for what I’m hoping to get out of it - but maybe this is also the wrong way to think about mediation as a whole?

Any guidance, advice or tips in general would be greatly appreciated.

When I meditate, today there were very little and faint streams of happiness in the mind. And this causes slight lightness which seemed to lift me upwards. But still it felt that a mass of stress and confusion is weighing my body down.

i (21M) was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, and i have been meditating consistently (missing a day or two on rare occasions). i wanted to ask people with GAD who have been meditating and practising mindfulness about their experiences, insights, and advice.

kindly share!

I grew up in a family that was very well of financially but in terms of kindness, generosity and overall love it was sparse and thin along with that It was a constant guilt trip or many things along the lines of it if I brought any of it up and I don’t know exactly how all of this has messed with me which there is more to a much larger extent but I know it has in some way the main and mostly the only one I realize is it’s hard for me to not get angry over small things, or annoyed, aggravated,impatience. I have always wanted to be a “kinder and better” person but I didn’t and don’t really know what that defines I have been reading more along with journaling and meditating but i don’t know what I should to in the future regarding these ideas or topic. Thank you for reading and feel free to DM.

Hello r/Meditation ,

Here is a method I want to apply to my meditation sessions and/or daily life. I'll be quoting it based on the article I found it in (link - How to Release Negative Emotions with Meditation):

... L-I-F-E method (label, introspect, find, experience), because in here we don’t deal directly with the negative energy, nor try to learn from it, but simply return to the “inner life” of pure consciousness, as naturally detached and untouched.

Label. Recognize that fear has arisen, and accept it for what it is.

Introspect. Turn your attention inward, and ask yourself “Who is afraid?” Who is the one that is affected by the fear? Who are you that perceives the fear?

Take it slow. Don’t assume – actually do the looking. Use these questions to bring all your attention inside, towards yourself, the subject and experiencer of the fear. This subject is the ego, your identity, or who you think you are. Spend time keeping the attention here, in this space.

If your focus is intense and persistent, at this point you have already forgotten about the fear. But keep on.

Find your center. Ask yourself, “Who am I?” Reject any answer that your mind gives you, because you are aware of your mind (and all its products), therefore you cannot be your mind. You are aware of your shirt, so you are not your shirt – it is an object of your perception. You are aware of your body, so you are not your body. You are aware of your fear, so you are not your fear. You are aware even of this mental process, so it’s not you. Who are you, who is aware of all these things

Experience yourself beyond the fear. Is this space of awareness afraid? Is it male or female? Does it have a shape? A substance? A nationality?

I'm a bit confused on the instructions. Should I literally ask these questions during meditation as emotions arise, or is this practice better practiced in my daily life?

Also, I have doubts about step (3). While I lean toward agreeing that we are not our thoughts (and that our thoughts are just vapors of our mind, to put it poetically), is this a good practice for our psychological well-being, or does it border on being unscientific/irrational?

As for step (4), this just feels like full on contemplation vs. meditation. I worry that if I incorporate this into my meditation sessions, it'll effectively make them into contemplation sessions.

Meditation is the only state where I feel whole and content without the constant neediness. I have identified in myself that there are so many longings for this and that, and there’s of cause the loneliness. Since I have taken so much time for turning inward and work on myself, most of my friends have fallen off. But it doesn’t matter. Anyways we come here alone, and we go alone. Dealing with the loneliness on this path has been one of the biggest challenges. There is really no way other than meditation to deal with loneliness. Because, even if you go out and have normal social interactions, that will not ever give you lasting fulfilment. It’s nice to have a good chat with a friend, but the neediness for social interaction is suffocating.

That’s why I spend pretty much all of my free time doing powerful yogic/meditative practices. I’m a big fan of the practice I have learnt in Sadh-guru’s programs. I spend hours everyday working on my mental balance with these practices that are truly hard work to do. The beautiful thing for me about following a specific guidance for what practices to do is that I see myself improving slowly but steadily. When I sit to do the practices it is hard work, but every time I come to place of being meditative. When I feel meditative, the longing and loneliness just sits there in the background. No need to do anything about it. It is just my compulsions. I just sit in the blissfulness that these practices generate for me and I feel okay no matter what.

For me, meditation is the only way. What about you?