How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#1

Post by lxm » Thu, Feb 18, 2016, 5:29 PM UTC

How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
well.blogs.nytimes.com

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#2

Post by glossyscr » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 6:32 AM UTC

First time I meditated was one month ago. 20 Minutes. It was a pain, doing nothing, just breathing, keeping focus on your breath and body. I was suffering every second, doing nothing, having no thoughts, no mind wandering. It was so hard and awfully boring. Once finished I went back to my Macbook welcoming me with an open Facebook tab from my last session. My first thought:

I didn't do that shit for 20 minutes to be now on Facebook—and closed the tab.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#3

Post by methou » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:05 AM UTC

glossyscr wrote: post #2

First time I meditated was one month ago. 20 Minutes. It was a pain, doing nothing, just breathing, keeping focus on your breath and body. I was suffering every second, doing nothing, having no thoughts, no mind wandering. It was so hard and awfully boring. Once finished I went back to my Macbook welcoming me with an open Facebook tab from my last session. My first thought: I didn't do that shit for 20 minutes to be…

I had the same experience. Though I tried multiple times with different methods, I have never benefited from meditation, or I never felt so, contrary to most studies. Maybe we are in the <0.05 population?

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#4

Post by achow » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:11 AM UTC

The original research paper from Sci-Hub: http://sci-hub.io/10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.01.008

For those who are not aware of Sci-Hub:

Setting knowledge free: Sci-Hub is The Pirate Bay for research papers http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/Sci-hub-research-pira...

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#5

Post by Tharkun » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:11 AM UTC

methou wrote: post #3

glossyscr wrote: post #2

First time I meditated was one month ago. 20 Minutes. It was a pain, doing nothing, just breathing, keeping focus on your breath and body. I was suffering every second, doing nothing, having no thoughts, no mind wandering. It was so hard and awfully boring. Once finished I went back to my Macbook welcoming me with an open Facebook tab from my last session. My first thought: I didn't do that shit for 20 minutes to be…

I had the same experience. Though I tried multiple times with different methods, I have never benefited from meditation, or I never felt so, contrary to most studies. Maybe we are in the <0.05 population?

You're (both) doing it wrong. For starters, meditation is a learned skill. It's not something you can do right off the bat.

Second, it's not about 'not thinking'. It's about being aware of your thoughts, as if watching them from a distance.

Third, you can't not benefit from taking some to sit and quiet your mind. That's as absurd as saying you don't benefit from sleep or rest.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#6

Post by glossyscr » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:11 AM UTC

methou wrote: post #3

glossyscr wrote: post #2

First time I meditated was one month ago. 20 Minutes. It was a pain, doing nothing, just breathing, keeping focus on your breath and body. I was suffering every second, doing nothing, having no thoughts, no mind wandering. It was so hard and awfully boring. Once finished I went back to my Macbook welcoming me with an open Facebook tab from my last session. My first thought: I didn't do that shit for 20 minutes to be…

I had the same experience. Though I tried multiple times with different methods, I have never benefited from meditation, or I never felt so, contrary to most studies. Maybe we are in the <0.05 population?

What I basically meant: while meditating was not satisfying at all the afterwards felt great: I didn't had any urge to waste time with Facebook or other unproductive activities.

The biggest problem around meditation is that most are not able to clearly express what meditation is really doing with you.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#7

Post by Tharkun » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:13 AM UTC

If you're looking for a low-entry start to meditation, Headspace is a great little app. It starts off easy, with 10 10 minute guided sessions.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#8

Post by kapitalx » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:20 AM UTC

glossyscr wrote: post #2

First time I meditated was one month ago. 20 Minutes. It was a pain, doing nothing, just breathing, keeping focus on your breath and body. I was suffering every second, doing nothing, having no thoughts, no mind wandering. It was so hard and awfully boring. Once finished I went back to my Macbook welcoming me with an open Facebook tab from my last session. My first thought: I didn't do that shit for 20 minutes to be…

I took the mindfulness course at Stanford[1] to support my wife who needed it. I was highly skeptical initially, but really enjoyed it. He teaches mindfulness through practice and leaves religious association out of it. It takes practice to become better at it, but it wasn't as painful for me as you described. In mindfulness meditation (at least the way it was taught in that course) the idea isn't to not think about anything or not let your mind wander, but to be mindful that your mind is wandering. It keeps you 'in the moment'. The guided exercises (mp3s and in class) really help make it easier.

Admittedly, I stopped actively practicing shortly after the course ended, but do find it extremely helpful when my mind is racing and I can't fall sleep. 5-10 mins of breathing exercise and I'll be fast sleep.

[1]https://stanfordhealthcare.org/events/scim-mindfulness-medic...

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#9

Post by kybernetikos » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:21 AM UTC

Tharkun wrote: post #5

methou wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same experience. Though I tried multiple times with different methods, I have never benefited from meditation, or I never felt so, contrary to most studies. Maybe we are in the <0.05 population?

You're (both) doing it wrong. For starters, meditation is a learned skill. It's not something you can do right off the bat. Second, it's not about 'not thinking'. It's about being aware of your thoughts, as if watching them from a distance. Third, you can't not benefit from taking some to sit and quiet your mind. That's as absurd as saying you don't benefit from sleep or rest.

> Third, you can't not benefit from taking some to sit and quiet your mind. That's as absurd as saying you don't benefit from sleep or rest.

How do you know this?

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#10

Post by fsloth » Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 7:27 AM UTC

methou wrote: post #3

glossyscr wrote: post #2

First time I meditated was one month ago. 20 Minutes. It was a pain, doing nothing, just breathing, keeping focus on your breath and body. I was suffering every second, doing nothing, having no thoughts, no mind wandering. It was so hard and awfully boring. Once finished I went back to my Macbook welcoming me with an open Facebook tab from my last session. My first thought: I didn't do that shit for 20 minutes to be…

I had the same experience. Though I tried multiple times with different methods, I have never benefited from meditation, or I never felt so, contrary to most studies. Maybe we are in the <0.05 population?

For me personally - the benefits from meditation were obvious but I think that was because I'm pretty neurotic and was in a really stressful life situation.

It was like ibuprofen for my suffering mind. Not that it helped immediately - but after a prolonged practice I noticed that suddenly my mind was not in psychic pain and I could just take the situation at hand without unnecessary added stress.

So, I suppose the perceived results might depend on the life situation at hand (ambient stress factors, so to speak).