this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2025

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Autism and meditation? (lemmy.cafe)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Are you autistic and also meditate?

What Is your meditation technique?

What effect does the meditation have on you?

What effect does the meditation have on your autism?

all 19 comments

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Yes, I sometimes do. I use 7mind for it - as a student I can use it for free here in Germany.

My experiences depend on the day. It never harms, that's for sure. Usually it just helps me to understand how I feel. Sometimes for example I can't get into a meditative state at all - that usually means I'm somewhat distracted today and should be careful about large decisions. Other times I just breathe and enjoy being. It isn't particularly intense, but after opening the eyes I feel better and calmer. Only a few times could I really get into a meditative high - that was really amazing, not really comparable to anything else I've experienced. However, this high isn't a goal for me at all - if it happens, it's amazing; if not, that's also okay.

Tl;Dr - sometimes I meditate, when I feel like it. It usually gives good results and helps me to recognize how I feel.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What are your answers to those questions?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

I'm a sperg and I meditate.

Shikantaza.

It gets me high, expands my world, makes things smooth.

It overcomes it the way levitation might overcome a limp.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Meditation makes me feel worse actually. It stresses me ironically... lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Lol indeed

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

https://meditofoundation.org/medito-app is not part of my morning routine as for the effects, results of meditation are never immediate or even obvious, just over time, if one persists, things get a little easier.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 days ago (2 children)

... results of meditation are never immediate or even obvious, just over time, if one persists, things get a little easier.

Speak for yourself.

In fact, a classic warning is to beware of getting carried away by the bliss/high that commonly arrives.

So I gotta say. If it ain't getting you high, or producing even a little bit of noticeable effect, then you would do well to experiment with other techniques.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's like saying that if you don't walk out of the gym bursting out of your shirt you should stop lifting weights.

Not everything is immediate.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

No it isn't. It's like saying if you don't feel anything at all then you just stop lifting weights the way you're doing it. A strain in your muscles. A little sweat. A little worn out. Anything.

And if you don't feel anything, then maybe change your routine. Increase your reps. Increase your weight.

Because otherwise, what exactly are you doing? Just banging out some formula and hoping for the best? Hoping the happy story that your teacher told you someday comes true? That's dumb.

The results are the guide. You feel your way along with that feedback.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Hmm , i was working with the assumption you meant tangible results/benefits, seems i was incorrect and i retract my statement partially.

I will however die on the hill that not everything has immediate (or immediately noticeable to be more accurate) effects.

Learning to play an instrument doesn't always result in an immediate increase in ability, same with martial arts (the skill portion, not the physical/exercise portion).

If you limit yourself to only the things that have immediately noticeable effects then you are excluding potential paths for growth.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Even when learning to play a instrument you get feedback. When you twang the strings with your inexpert fingers and make a sound. That's a huge source of guidance.

In meditation that feedback is key. A dozen feelings and effects. You experiment. You feel your way through the darkness.

Without that you are guided by ... what?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Even when learning to play a instrument you get feedback. When you twang the strings with your inexpert fingers and make a sound. That’s a huge source of guidance.

Ah, so you meant feedback.

Agreed.

I don't think we're actually disagreeing, i think i just misunderstood what you meant.

I do know from personal experience, anecdotal as it may be, that there are situations where certain feedback isn't registered properly, or at all.

This example is fully contrived, but I'm going somewhere after so bear with me.

Take the example of the gym and that the feedback is the muscle soreness experienced after, what happens if that person doesn't feel pain ( again, i know it's contrived ). The effect would still be there but the feedback wouldn't be registered.

I know pain isn't the only feedback here I'm using this specific example as reference.

So meditation is a good example here, especially for the neurodivergent.

Let's take the semi-common comorbidity of Alexithymia.

Not being able to recognise or properly associate the emotional feedback of whatever method of meditation you are practicing does somewhat limit the understanding of the process/benefits.

But, and this is key, it doesn't actually inhibit all of the effects of the meditation.

There is ofc a cognitive aspect to using the feedback to guide what you are doing, but it's not a hard requirement.

Think of it like emotional exercise where at some point your mind just buckles under strain it didn't know was there and up until that point nothing was feeling any different.

It can be deeply unpleasant and even harmful, but it can also be a benefit if handled in a useful way.

I'm not saying it's common, but i'd imagine its more likely than you think.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You could have just said "Beware!" or "Dooooooommmmm!!!!". No need for such verbosity.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

You could have not asked a question on a public forum, in a section full of people inclined to specificity , but here we are.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Indeed, we must be speaking of different kinds of meditation.

The one I was referring to is mindfulness meditation, by practicing which one gradually develops a habit of noticing thoughts as they happen in one's mind and instead of being immediately carried away by them, have a tiny time buffer that allows to have a chance to decide whether to react or just let it dissipate as all thoughts do.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes, even with mindfulness meditation.

If you are not guided by results then what guides you, a happy story?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I don’t meditate regularly but mostly it informally involves listening to music, using a sensory/fidget toy or petting an animal to ground myself. Or box breathing in a pinch.

Basically anything that lets me hone in on being directly present in the moment with a small focus in my physical environment. *Edit: the main draw for me is something I can directly control my reactions and engage with, if that helps.

I pretty much only use it to calm anxiety spikes or dissociative episodes from bad changes in routine, or sensory overload before hitting a meltdown if I can catch it in time.