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The Science of Meditation
ClayTheScribe
Veteran
in Meditation
I found this article a few weeks ago on how meditation actually benefits us from a scientific viewpoint in lamen's terms we can understand. I'm certain some of you have seen this science already, but thought I'd post it for those who haven't:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/use-your-mind-change-your-brain/201305/is-your-brain-meditation
I meditated for 45 minutes with a group today, a bit longer than I usually do alone, and feel fantastic. My days without meditation in the morning are just more frustrating, stressful and unbalanced.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/use-your-mind-change-your-brain/201305/is-your-brain-meditation
I meditated for 45 minutes with a group today, a bit longer than I usually do alone, and feel fantastic. My days without meditation in the morning are just more frustrating, stressful and unbalanced.
2
Comments
re-read it seriously but forget all the anatomical and physiological references. I did a neuroscience degree and there is not much here really.
I have nothing else to say on this.
Oh hang on a moment I do - take yet another look and you will see the "I am trying to sell you my book- this is nothing more than a disguised self-help book advertisement!"
There is no 'me centre' for crying out loud! That is the point of meditation.
Pretty decent article.
And I'm very glad that the last paragraph in it almost puts enough stress on a couple of things:
1. Meditation does not always work for everyone...
2. Those who have pre-existing mental or emotional issues should seek a qualified meditation teacher or therapist who incorporates meditation...
My number 3, below, wasn't really emphasized at all, but:
3. Meditation is great for many, but for some it's too difficult. BUT don't give up, because moments of mindfulness throughout the day, can be just as effective if one has other issues or problems when it comes to actually sitting the cushion.
I read this article in a totally diferent way to you Marie-anne, but you are not necessarily wrong, I may be wrong but I have a different perspective - let me explain.
Click on the authors image - I liked the article to begin with - felt comfortable, reeled me in, made me feel 'vulnerable', and the last part instills a very subtle and almost unnoticeable fear:
'I have always worked with a meditation teacher or mentor and I would suggest you do the same, as a teacher can help you figure out what is right for you and guide you through any difficulties you may be having. Who will be your teacher - read my book and I'll tell you!
OK - Don't get it - No more posts from me on this one
Mettha
It is not exactly a "self-help" magazine. Not saying one can't view many of their articles that way, but that's not exactly their entire objective. Neither is it a 'text book' for psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, etc.
It falls somewhere in between, IMO.
Psychology Today isn't exactly a huge money maker magazine, you know, like Cosmopoliton or Better Homes & Gardens, either.
As for instilling fear... well, for SOME people, people with mental health issues, both diagnosed and merely suspected, they may really have a bad time trying to "still the mind" and "focus on emptiness" while their mind fights and does just the opposite. Many people on meds for mental issues and imbalances *can't* meditate effectively and some not at all, no matter how hard they try; and yes, it CAN be 'damaging' to their psyche and self esteem -- because they can't do what 'everyone tells them' is soooo easy and sooo helpful.
I think you are really over-reacting to the idea that you believe they are "screwing with your mind" just to sell magazines.
IMO I'd rather see a word or two of caution to self-helping meditating newbies, than to constantly hear them told meditation 'cures all the ills one could have" and it's sooooo easy, and soooo effective.
It isn't always easy and it's not always effective, not for everyone.
:coffee:
Really? Which type of meditation are you talking about? Buddhist meditation?
De-stressing meditation? Mindfulness meditation? Christian meditation on the gospels?
I didn't realize there is only one point to meditating for everyone....
Enjoy your tea. Perhaps chamomile might soothe your jangled nerves a bit better.
In Jack Kornfields, "Bringing Home the Dharma" he has a chapter on mental illness and meditation. He says that behavior associated with mental illness in a meditation retreat is super rare-- you have to run a retreat with 1000s of participants to see a few people who have an episode, which to me sounds like the expected rate of mental health problems & crisises in the general population. On the otherhand, altered states of consciousness (Alice and wonderland-like feelings of being very big or very small, and other oddities, are not uncommon, but imho, this is madness in the same way dreaming that you're flying is "madness")
I would guess that people prone to catatonic schizophrenia (where they just stop moving) might not want to meditate, lest they trigger an episode of not moving for a very long time.
Meditation done poorly, with a racing or wandering mind, (as I would expect someone suffering from mental illness) is probably as dangerous as sitting on a bus. If meditation is indeed as dangerous as some people would like to think, then maybe we should walk up and down the bus with a stick and a say *whack!* "Stop meditating! You're putting us all at risk!"
Another angle on the question has to do with how powerful people want meditation to be. If you really believe that meditating will give you the power to fly, then hey, this is some powerful woo, not to be played with by civilians and amateurs for risk of incalculable danger. For the record, I think meditation is about as powerful as a book or a laptop computer or a vitamix.
AFA...it's affects on certain people....
I know it's not the same thing as meditation....but AFA the tools
they utilize...because meditation is one of our tools for teaching...
"Meditation done poorly, with a racing or wandering mind, (as I would expect someone suffering from mental illness) is probably as dangerous as sitting on a bus.
If meditation is indeed as dangerous as some people would like to think, then maybe we should walk up and down the bus with a stick and a say *whack!* "Stop meditating! You're putting us all at risk!"
It's not so much meditation with certain (pre-existing) mental conditions is "dangerous"... as it is that trying to meditate with certain (pre-existing) mental conditions can be very difficult, and in the end may not be "helpful" at all.
(Not helpful is a far cry from claiming something is "dangerous" - and I don't think anyone here so far has claimed that ).
This can lead to frustration, disappointment, and yes, *sometimes* to exaggerating the condition even further.
Someone suffering from significant depression, or other mental issues being repeatedly encouraged to use 'meditation' as the answer to all their problems, and face it, we often see that kind of advice -right here in this very forum - is being set up to fail, IMO, more often than not.
(Heck, I've seen people tell others to essentially ignore doctors, throw away meds, and just meditate!).
If there is some sort of teacher, therapist or guide involved to help them through the rough spots and shaky confidence issues that might crop up while beginning meditation routines, well, then they might have a fighting chance...
To me, claiming meditation can oh-so-easily overcome mental illness issues and problems, well, it's like telling a Christian that if they
sitkneel, and pray hard enough, you know- really concentrate on the words - and pray without fail, every single day, for at least an hour... well, they are going to be able to magically bypass all their mental & physical health problems; get right to the meat of the matter and greatly improve their lives. Provided they 'do it right' -of course.Set up to fail, 95% of the time....
People have given good advice. I think it is about unreal expectations. It won't cure illness but it will empower or enable your appreciation of a 'more balanced being'. The funny thing is the centering ripples into other areas . . . :wave:
someone to know their delusions...and how best they could apply the
general tools of Buddhism. I'm not a fan of mass medicine. I understand
the teachers have good intentions...but the Dharma is so much about personal
experience that the backdrop is an important aspect, IMO. It's about the
quality of the results ....not quantity. Are you just another number in your Sangha?
As a teacher...do you know your students well enough to spirtually guide them?
I agree there that that would be reckless.
To my surprise, there is secular research in favor of using meditation for treating schizophrenia.
ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19267396
Again, I agree, meditation isn't going to get the remarkable results that anti-psychotic meds sometimes get. A fascinating article able the sole psychiatrist in Bhutan has fascinating stories about the efficacy of traditional Buddhist approaches to schizophrenia and modern drugs (in short, drugs sometimes worked wonders, rituals didn't do anything at all):
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/09/09/meet_the_overwhelmed_psychiatrist_in_the_worlds_happiest_country.html
re: doctor's advice for religious practice
You ever see those warnings on exercise videos? "Consult your doctor!" You can't read an instruction label for anything health related without it saying "Consult your doctor!" Your fly is down? "Consult your doctor!" As a healthy guy, if I asked my doctor if I could exercise, he'd probably be annoyed that I was wasting his time & write hypochondriac on my file.
If I consulted my doctor to find out if it's safe to pray, meditate, or chant, that doctor is going to have to overcome a pretty strong urge to *not* try to sway you one way or the other-- who is he to tell me how to practice my religion? (except in the case where someone wants to replace medical approaches with religious ones, praying instead of vaccinating, meditating instead of antibiotics, chanting instead of taking anti-psychotic pills.)
And I'm not going to get into alternative medicine.
There are all types of meditation, with all sorts of goals set within them. Not all meditation is about "being a Buddhist" or even about a spiritual path of any sort.
The OP was an article about meditation in a Psychology magazine... not a Buddhist or spiritual magazine.
I think taking the mild (too mild, IMO) 'warnings' given at the end of the article and assuming the author meant to apply them to any and all meditation practice and us assuming it means only our Buddhist meditation practices, is like comparing sweet cherries and sour cherries.
Both fruit, both good, but they aren't always interchangeable for every recipe...
it's always been hard for me to grasp that concept. Relaxing and unwinding, yes..
but full on meditation....I dunno...again...I think it's a backdrop/context kinda thing...
Buddhism is the context to understanding what meditation reveals to us....
Pema Chodron also said, shockingly, that the purpose of meditation is not to feel good. Think about it and read some Trungpa rinpoche. It's also not to feel bad. Like the beetles might have said "all we need is equanimity.
My break with reality actually was the starting point for me meditating which I have done for 13 years. Openness meditation is self sealing and not dangerous. If you are not ready nothing will happen and in that case you still benefit from the eightfold path if not the noble eightfold path.
And of course you can meditate without being a Buddhist, considering most societies and most spiritual paths, including some aspects of Christianity, encourage meditation. However it is true one would probably want to form some kind of ethical system at least, say if they're atheist, because your meditation sessions are going to be very difficulty if you're abusing or treating people, or yourself, poorly. At least this is what I've found and why I try to follow the Eightfold Path.
I didn't say you can't. In fact, my teacher/lineage encourages it...I only said....
I still don't understand how eventually you can marry the two..just from the
'out there' concept to the ...ok, now I'm 'in here'. It seems to re-enforce duality
to me....I'm starting to go off topic...carry on...
Feeling 'fantastic' is known to improve your physical, emotional and mental health. I am sure we are all aware of studies . . .
I would urge people not feeling calmer, better (you may be out of touch with yourself and a journal would provide insight in retrospect) to change their morning practice to prostrations. Get the blood pumping, health benefits. Or yoga. If you have a morning health practice, your life will move towards less suffering.
No effort? Remain a pudding.
Time for me to sit with the pudding that I laughingly call 'myself'. :wave:
Time to feel fantastic . . . :thumbsup:
assuming you would like to practice meditation, maybe you are setting the bar too high? Sitting in a chair and watching the breath for 1 minute per day is also a meditation practice, and from there you will probably be able to extend it if you want. Also, I think that many people (including myself) don't think of meditation as you might believe we do. I'm quite sure many of us feel like "I'm kind of a failure at meditation, but I still like doing it".
Constant preachiness would be an impediment. If feeling euphoric was a constant, then we would have to 'kill the Buddha' or move out of the seductive Heavenly Realm.
http://buddhism.about.com/od/basicbuddhistteachings/tp/Six-Realms-of-Existence.htm
That is not required.
As I always say to the Buddha, 'get your tits on, we have suffering to dance with!' . . . Does she listen to me, sitting all perfect and enlightened?
Never! :crazy:
Feeling 'fantastic' is known to improve your physical, emotional and mental health. I am sure we are all aware of studies . . .
I would urge people not feeling calmer, better (you may be out of touch with yourself and a journal would provide insight in retrospect) to change their morning practice to prostrations. Get the blood pumping, health benefits. Or yoga. If you have a morning health practice, your life will move towards less suffering.
No effort? Remain a pudding.
Time for me to sit with the pudding that I laughingly call 'myself'. :wave:
Time to feel fantastic . . . :thumbsup:
Be careful. Being a pudding may be hazardous to your health.
Constant preachiness would be an impediment.
Freudian slip?
and of course with new fads like MBCT and such, psychology will definitely push these kinds of articles. I suppose if it helps people its all good though.
I find a morning discipline, chanting, puja, yoga etc improves well being. Everyone knows it. I do preach it.