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How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

well.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#51

Post by mercer »

jmckib wrote: post #27
erdojo wrote: post #18

There is also a growing body of evidence that for some people mindfulness and meditation can cause intense and lasting anxiety and exacerbate depression. (Just one of several recent stories on the subject: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/23/is-mindf... ) That has been my experience. I've done meditation retreats and the like. I do find it slows down my mind, but can also surface things that frankly I…

How does mindfulness meditation surface unpleasant memories for you? When I do mindfulness meditation, I often have thoughts occurring, but they're exactly the same sort of thoughts I usually have when I'm spacing out. It doesn't surface anything that I don't already tend to think about. Of course, I don't have any traumatic memories. Could you describe what happens in your head?

At least twice so far I've spontaneously burst into tears, overwhelmed with sadness over things that happened earlier in the day or before that. In all cases I felt fine beforehand.

Now, for me the experience was really good, actually, because it felt like a relief to let these feelings out. But I can definitely imagine more intense and complex feelings coming to the surface that don't lead to relief but would require professional help and guidance.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#52

Post by agumonkey »

I don't know how unrelated it is but I found playing polyrythmic percussions (4 limbs involved, doesn't have to be loud) often lead to a zen state. Dealing with many different parallel momentums and abstracting over them as one just massage your brain.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#54

Post by _ihqt »

westoncb wrote: post #13

I've had serious anxiety issues and meditation has been the only thing to help significantly. I've spent ~1.5 hours/day meditating for the past six months or so, and I've studied meditation literature pretty seriously for about the past year. At least in my case—and I think this isn't so unusual—there is a steep learning curve: for most people there's just not enough reason to stick with it. That said, at this point…

1.5 hours per day is a very impressive accomplishment. Even some serious gurus don't pull that off on a daily basis. I've read about legendary artists who considered meditation a key to their sanity, and they often couldn't do it for more than 15-20 minutes in a day.

You are actually able to do proper meditation -- the removal of all focus on thoughts -- for 1.5 hours at a time? Or do you mean several times a day, a few minutes each time?

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#55

Post by _ihqt »

I often hear people say, "hm, I'll go meditate on that..." Or a guy I know who says he meditates on his ideas for his art. But actually, that is the complete opposite of what meditation is supposed to be. When properly meditating, the goal is to not concentrate or think about anything.

I just point this out because the basics of what meditation actually is are widely misunderstood by most Westerners -- and even some I met in Asia.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#57

Post by manuelflara »

_ihqt wrote: post #55

I often hear people say, "hm, I'll go meditate on that..." Or a guy I know who says he meditates on his ideas for his art. But actually, that is the complete opposite of what meditation is supposed to be. When properly meditating, the goal is to not concentrate or think about anything. I just point this out because the basics of what meditation actually is are widely misunderstood by most Westerners -- and even some…

I agree. Although "I'll go meditate on that" can also be an expression meaning "I'll think about it". Nothing wrong with that, but it's true it leads to people having a misconception of what meditation is supposed to be.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#58

Post by b6 »

agumonkey wrote: post #52

I don't know how unrelated it is but I found playing polyrythmic percussions (4 limbs involved, doesn't have to be loud) often lead to a zen state. Dealing with many different parallel momentums and abstracting over them as one just massage your brain.

That's interesting! It squares with what I've read in books like Mindfulness in Plain English -- that some desirable mental states are achieved when certain harmful habits of the mind are in abeyance.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#59

Post by Scarblac »

manuelflara wrote: post #44
Scarblac wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't consider it mumbo-jumbo. But I feel it doesn't fit well with my Western mindset: it costs a lot of time, and is that really the best way to spend that time? I'd rather go out and walk, and think about problems I want to solve. Or use the time to get something done.

A lot of time? I'd say 30 minutes a day (consistently) is enough to get significant benefits. And after all, don't we all easily waste 30 minutes a day or things which really don't contribute much to our lives? Say, browse reddit or watch a TV show. Personally, I've found that trying to meditate in the middle of the day, even late at night, when I'm all "wired" from/during work, or just everyday life, is hard. What I…

I need to get up way too early, get myself and my children dressed and fed, and commute to work. In the evening it's commute back, eat, get kids to bed, do chores, and then there's about two hours of free time / social things / time to interact with my wife.

So about a quarter of available time.

I would be a bit more relaxed, I know, it might have other benefits. But not enough, I think.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#60

Post by The_Naturalist »

_ihqt wrote: post #55

I often hear people say, "hm, I'll go meditate on that..." Or a guy I know who says he meditates on his ideas for his art. But actually, that is the complete opposite of what meditation is supposed to be. When properly meditating, the goal is to not concentrate or think about anything. I just point this out because the basics of what meditation actually is are widely misunderstood by most Westerners -- and even some…

It's the other way round. To meditate is latin-based English word (Latin "meditari": to reflect upon, to consider, to think about) that predates exposure to Far Eastern cultures.

It's quite fair to say that the word is a misnomer. My Zen-practicing friends do not say they meditate. They say they sit. (as in "practice of sitting")

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