Knowledge Sharing Project What do CEOs, inner city school children, returning military personnel, prisoner inmates, MBA players, doctors, and nurses all have in common? Would you guess the answer is meditation? While there are many paths to meditation mindful meditation has become the most common. In recent years there has been a growing population of people who are finding meditation helpful to reduce stress, improve productivity, and relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression. Due to the increasing popularity there is now more money than ever going towards funding scientific studies to help understand the effects mediation and mindfulness have on the body and the mind. Carolyn Gregoir, at The Huffington Post writes “It’s undeniable …show more content…
Professor Richard Davidson is a leading neuroscientist who spent years meditating but keeping it quiet amongst colleagues, “I was a closet meditator” (Free the Mind). In 1992 Davidson had the opportunity to meet the Dalai Lama and was encouraged to study the neuroscience behind compassion and kindness. In the documentary Free the Mind we get a glimpse into his research at his University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds. We meet and follow two veterans of our recent wars in the Middle East who have been diagnosed with PTSD and are having trouble adjusting to civilian life. The documentary follows them as they take part in a controlled study at the center on compassion meditation. During this study they measured the subjects brain activity through scans and also had them complete a list of questions to ascertain their current mood before and after treatment. One soldier, Stephen Lee, was unable to sleep or go to crowded noisy places. He had a wife and two very young children and worried about how his stress could impact his family. He was unable to sleep due to nightmares and insomnia but was trying by taking Ambien every night since his return. Stephen Lee is not alone. According to Davidson of the soldiers returning with PTSD “only fifty percent are responding to current treatment” …show more content…
The fact still remains that meditation has many benefits, for both physical and mental health, with no real negative side-effects and with little cost to the practitioner. Whatever your reason for meditating the results seem to be the same and the benefits can be even greater for those coming into meditation to relieve deep stress or health issues. “Everyone Benefits from meditation…everyone needs to look inside for reflection in order to work outside. Operating from a calm space has gotten to the be the greatest gift that anyone can be given…all happiness comes from inside” (Qtd. in
To begin properly using meditation in one's life, start by creating a list of goals. These should be things one is willing to accomplish and interested in achieving. Meditation has been able to help people recover from addictions, deal with chronic pain and long term diseases, and experience serenity. Whether one is seeking peace or to achieve something, have the list of goals clear in your mind.
This paper is about my experience with mindfulness based meditation and scientific inquiry of these experiences. Mindfulness based meditation is describes as technique used to cultivate nonreactive, non-judgmental and stable awareness of the present moment (Garland and Gaylord, 2009). The end goal is to sustain this meta-cognitive state for a long period of time. I practiced non-denominational form of mindfulness based meditation for the first time in my psychology class, which was devoted towards intellectual and experiential examination of meditation. The practice was conducted in a group it was instructed by our own professor and it begun at the end of class. There was one sessions per week and each session was structured meaning it was
In terms of stress reduction, mindfulness refers to the development of skills “characterized by a nonjudgmental awareness, openness, curiosity and acceptance of internal and external present experiences” (Chiesa & Serrety, 2009. p. 593). The constant practice of mindfulness exercises accounts for the reduction of stress. In their review of ten articles relevant to the effectiveness of mindfulness practices on stress reduction (MBSR), Chiessa and Serretti, (2009) found a significant positive effect of mindfulness practices compared to no treatment, in reducing stress levels in healthy people. MBSR is a psychoeducational group intervention (Cadwell et al, 2010), where participants receive formal training in various
On our first day of eighth grade, we were introduced to the word mindfulness. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn (the founder of modern day mindfulness), “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Mindfulness involves a conscious direction of awareness about everything that is happening around you. But, there is a difference of being aware of something to being mindful about something. To be mindful, you have to be purposely aware of something, not just vaguely aware.
I found this article very interesting as it talks about the benefits of meditation and how great it affects our brain as well as how much it required to gain its maximum benefit. It also discusses how mindfulness-based medications could aid in treating various conditions such as depression, stress, anxiety and chronic pain.
Argumentative thesis: Although many people assume medications such as antidepressants are the only way to treat patients with depression, meditation is a better choice of treatment as it prevents relapse in patients that are recurringly depressed, is accepted by a large portion of patients that are typically unwilling to take medication to treat their depression, and rebuilds brain structures affected by the mental illness,
Almost everyone is preoccupied with happiness but yet the population seems to be increasingly unhappy. As society and human experience changes we can’t help but ask ourselves how can we fix an increasingly unhappy and dissatisfied society? Mindfulness meditation is a progressively popular solution to this issue. Mindfulness meditation stems from Buddhist tradition and is a practice that includes focusing one’s attention. Does mindfulness meditation have real psychological effects? And if so can they help improve quality of life? Many studies have been conducted proving that mindfulness meditation does have real psychological effects and can help individuals live a more meaningful and happy life. This can be proven through research related to neuroscience, depression and happiness.
In the research concerning transcendental meditation, variables linked with and most often tested in relation to TM include stress, anxiety, depression, ego development, and cognition, all of which contribute to overall well-being. Sample sizes in these studies vary greatly, some consisting of smaller groups and other that synthesize information collected from larger studies. There is also great variation in terms of time, some studies spanning over only a few months while others study groups over the span of ten years. This diversity within the studies is helpful in gaining a more well-rounded understanding of TM and its effects.
In this chapter, the most important concept for me is what to do about hindrances. Needless to say, all of us will face some hindrances in our life, it could be very serious or unworthy of being mentioned. The key point never is hindrances itself, we should look ahead. I think there is no hindrances that we cannot overcome.
Being mindful is a skill that I have been working on most of my adult life. I struggle the most with this component. I am mindful of myself and show high levels of “self-monitoring”, however, I show more characters still lacking mindfulness. This is a component that my husband and I agree on that needs improvement. I can improve on this component by taking in more information and not being so narrow minded. IF I listen more to others and not always trying to get what I want across, I do believe that will be a great start in helping me become more mindful. I need to get out of my own head and see the bigger picture. Always keeping in mind that I am not the only one in a group of people. I do usually keep a check on my emotions and monitor others
It is human tendency to want to avoid pain with pleasure. Students have immeasurable pressures accumulated from exams or term papers. A healthy way to reduce stress is by teaching students’ mindfulness meditation. Often, students that know how to practice mindfulness are less likely to abuse substances. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, by the time “individuals reach their senior year of high school, 50 percent will have abused an illicit drug.”
Aside for calmly starting your day meditation you can also see other health benefits. Meditation can lower your blood pressure, lessen your risk of heart problems, help you get control of your panic attacks and relieve pain. It can be used with other therapies too. It complements many health treatments and helps them be more effective.
The transcendental meditation technique is the way to experience the subtlest states of thinking and, transcending the subtlest state of thinking. Apparently, transcendental meditation can be described as thinking a mantra which is a meaningless sound. In the process of meditation, the thoughts are part of discovering deep inner silence and may arise during the process of transcending, so the mind needs to go back and forth to the mantra.
It can improve your health, improve concentration and productivity, and help you sleep better. Meditation is an ancient, historical, and culturally rich lifestyle, has scientifically proven benefits, relevant to the world today, and everyone should try it for a month. I would like to leave you all with a famous quote from Budha. “Budha Was once asked “What have you gained from meditation? He replied. Nothing! However. Budha said, Let me tell you what I lost. Anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, and fear of old age and
In the last twenty years, meditation has been studied in clinical trials as a way of reducing stress on both the mind and body. Research shows that meditation can help reduce anxiety, stress, blood pressure, chronic pain, and insomnia.