Men who stare at walls

Is “wall staring” just meditation?

• Many see it as a reinvention of existing practices: mindfulness, Zen zazen/shikantaza, trataka, transcendental meditation, breath-focused or non-dual practices.
• Others argue it only counts as meditation if there is intentional training of attention, not just zoning out or daydreaming.
• Some emphasize non-striving and “just sitting,” while others stress willpower, posture, and technique; several note that different schools of Zen disagree on this.

Information load and attention

• Debate over the article’s data-volume framing: some say “GB per day” is a poor proxy for cognitive load.
• Others argue that high-novelty, story-rich media (short videos, TV) is more mentally taxing than static scenes or nature.
• There’s discussion of the brain’s default mode network and whether such practices activate or suppress it.

Walls vs walks, nature, and exercise

• Many prefer walks, especially in nature, as a more pleasant reset; others say nature still has a lot of sensory input, whereas a blank wall is stronger “sensory deprivation.”
• Suggestions include walking meditation, stationary biking, light exercise, naps, or simply sitting with eyes closed.
• Some note workplace cultures that make visible breaks (walks) harder, making at-desk practices more realistic.

Productivity framing and burnout concerns

• Some dislike the “improve focus/productivity” framing, seeing it as instrumentalizing rest and adding pressure to “optimize breaks.”
• Others respond that this is simply a healthier break than doomscrolling and still compatible with genuine rest.

Practice details, difficulty, and effects

• Multiple commenters report that regular sitting—wall-facing or not—brings more patience, reduced anxiety, and clearer thinking, but can initially provoke discomfort, boredom, or emotional surfacing.
• Techniques mentioned: counting breaths, labeling thoughts, body awareness, gentle redirection of attention, and very short micro-sessions between tasks.
• Several stress that “bad” or distracted sessions are still valuable, and that a teacher or group helps avoid using meditation to self-treat deeper issues.

Environment, privilege, and lost boredom

• Some push back on “just go to a forest” advice, noting many people live in dense, bleak urban settings; wall-based practices are portable and free.
• A recurring theme is that smartphones have “stolen boredom” and unstructured mental wandering, once common on trains, in showers, or in queues; wall staring is seen as a way to reclaim that mental space.