There is nothing good that I can say about today. I have felt sick and nauseated all day. The events that occurred in this city today are unspeakable. I am usually in complete control of my emotions, but to my embarrassment, I lost control of them and I cannot seem to regain control. At first, I felt shocked, when the media released the name of the shooter, I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I thought there was no way it could be the same person, there was no way it could be my former co-worker and friend’s brother. Turns out it was. I am heartbroken for the marines who were murdered and their families who have been so heinously, irrevocably altered, but I am also heartbroken for my friend and her family. I feel guilty for the last sentiment, in light of everything, but I can help but be heartbroken for them as well. I have decided to use the self-care activity of meditation to try to process my feelings and regain some emotional control. Right now, I am in a very bad mental and emotional state; I hope that his activity will help. The meditation was extremely difficult, but I feel like I am in a better emotional state. I felt the need to lie down, so I lay on my couch and tried to meditate. It lasted a little over twenty minutes. I am not comfortable talking about the thoughts that processed through my head, they are much too personal at the moment, but I will discuss the feelings. Initially, I became more upset, angry, confused and emotionally out of
When you are guiding your team member or client through a mindfulness session, there are a few things you can provide which will enhance the experience and ensure both you and your client is well prepared mentally and physically.
Professionals working in law enforcement and mental health-related fields often develop compassion fatigue, which is a type of psychological distress caused by helping clients who have had trauma experiences in the past (Conrad & Guenther, 2006; Figley, 1995). Charles Figley (1995) labeled this phenomenon as the “cost of sharing” (p.3), which refers to the damages incurred to the professional helper’s own mental health as a result of their exposure to the traumas of their clients. Over the past
Through much research towards the history of mindfulness meditation followed by understanding the risks of today’s college students practicing unhealthy methods to increase academic performance it is important to find a link between the two in order to bring forth a new means of aiding academic performance. Through proper research and diligent efforts it will be a top goal to not only scientifically support the potential for meditation to be more successful than non-prescription drugs (Adderall) when it comes to increasing academic performance.
Essentially, the upcoming study may hold an incredible possibility for covering more about the procedures of meditation and the importance of long term training on the brain. There is the need for more investigation to explore other ways of increasing mindfulness. Although existing studies do not show that counselors self-conveyed mindfulness improves client outcomes, better actions of mindfulness may need to be established. Besides diverse research designs that do not rely on self-description measures need to be utilized. Given experiential research for the importance of mindfulness revised in this paper, there is the need for research on effective and applied means of training therapist’s mindfulness based curriculum. As a result, teaching
We all struggle with stress from work or school. You can not close your eyes to leave them out, but you can find peace so you can handle them. One technique that can offer this is Zen meditation.
The technique of mindfulness involves “attentional focus on present moment experience and an open, accepting, and non-judgmental attitude toward what unfolds in the present” (Newcombe & Weaver, 2016). This practice is derived from ancient Buddhist traditions. Those struggling with mood disorders being treated with the mindfulness technique are taught to have more compassion and empathy toward themselves as they work through their struggles. The technique of mindfulness trains patients to not be so harsh on themselves, allowing them to heal in an accepting environment. Kearney and Trull (2015) point out that mindfulness allows “greater acceptance of symptoms and how the symptoms can be experienced without severe avoidance” (p. 140). This
Mindfulness is gaining a growing popularity as a practice in daily life, apart from buddhist insight meditation and its application in clinical psychology.[32] In this context mindfulness is defined as moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, characterized mainly by "acceptance" - attention to thoughts and feelings without judging whether they are right or wrong. Mindfulness focuses the human brain on what is being sensed at each moment, instead of on its normal rumination on the past or on the future.[126]
In guided meditation, guided imagery or guided relaxation techniques, the instructor offers suggestions to guide the listener into a meditative state. Visualization practices can be similarly guided, or practiced on one's own. The goal of these techniques can be relaxation, healing, uplifting emotions, inner peace or other desired outcomes.
Buddhist meditation helps to improve health: Buddhist meditation helps to improve your focus (one-pointedness concentration) Buddhist meditation helps to achieve inner peace and serenity (equanimity) Buddhist meditation helps to remove suffering (Dukkha - un-satisfactoriness) Buddhist meditation helps to live with loving-kindness and compassion Buddhist meditation helps to bring moment-to-moment awareness (power of now)
The two specific practices I worked with were seated mindful meditation and the writing compassion practice “How would you treat a friend”. I chose the seated mindful meditation because it was the shortest one and I was performing the exercise relatively late in the evening. I chose the writing practice because I have an easier time putting my feelings down on paper. As we did in the last experimental practice, I participated in these exercises before I went to sleep. Typically, they were performed around midnight, when my house calmed down from activity. I performed each in my room. The written activity was done seated at my desk. The seated meditation was performed first on the ground itself in my room, and then later I introduced a cushion. With the written activity, I noticed I was able to write
Last week we closed down with a standpoint to present more on meditation and particularly about Buddhist meditation practices. Most of the advantages of meditation are conceivable in light of the fact that meditation influences the parts of your brain that direct mental conditions, for example, mood swing, tension, stress, gloominess, pressure, and so forth.
Start by enhancing your ability to focus. The scientifically proven way to improve your focus and therefore your ability to have more willpower is through meditation. Research to the benefits of meditation and mental health is overwhelmingly positive. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to find a study saying meditation is negative for you. It isn’t even just the positive impact on your mental strength – studies have shown meditation to be beneficial for your physical health as well. Meditating can provide you with more energy, which is useful for your mental strength as well. When you have energy, you are more able to make good decisions and have the mental and physical strength to keep moving forward.
I ended up sitting directly in front of a statue, which completely obstructed my view, but that was ok since we spent a good deal of our time meditating with our eyes closed. This was the first time (other than in Greg’s morning yoga and meditation sessions, which I had only been to a handful of times) that I had ever really meditated with the intention to practice Buddhism. I don’t really know what I expected, but this indeed was different. The personal experience of meditating (and chanting) was different than I expected. It was hard. Back at the Eco Lodge, (where we had class and morning meditation) we would meditate for ten, maybe fifteen minutes maximum and there were only ever ten other people in the room. Here, we were meditating for over a half hour and there were easily 100 other people here. I had a really hard time trying to stay focused on my breathing and trying to stay in the proper posture and seated position for that length of time. Also, there was something about the amount of people that were there and the whole realness and holiness of it all that made me quite anxious.
People often get confused with the word meditation. They consider it as a prayer, worship or spiritual practice. Earlier it was considered as the practice of ancient people but now it has become popular with all types of people across the globe. Meditation has now become a universal practice and a way of life of people around the world. Today everyone is bringing about a change in their life by practicing the concentration and relaxation techniques of meditation. There are thousands of benefits of meditation and it impacts the well being of people to a considerable extent. It not only helps in improving your physical and mental health but also enhances your decision making ability and interpersonal relations.
Meditation can destroy the stress accumulated during the day and bring you inner peace. Now we'll show you how easy it is to learn to meditate when you need it most.