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Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

health.harvard.edu

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Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#11

Post by pmyjavec »

nether wrote: post #9
pmyjavec wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed this too, some says it's a bad habit energy we've developed in our modern society, always running to the next thing, always looking to consume. It's as if there is a sense of uneasiness that comes along with stillness. Maybe we need to relearn the art of doing nothing? I've been out of full time work for a while (mostly voluntary due to travelling) and I can, after 6 months feel myself beginning to settl…

the consumption cycle is sustained because it benefits the powers that be. humans are insatiable , and as long as you are convinced that contentment requires "just one more thing," you will never be happy, you will always be hungry, and you will always want more. happiness isn't pleasure, because of hedonic adaption, pleasure eventually becomes boring and empty. happiness is contentment with what you have. it is esca…

Thanks for the good response. I've been quite aware of these things for sometime, but how to communicate and build awareness to an already hopelessly anxious and distracted populous?

That seems to be the trouble.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#13

Post by origami777 »

I've been going through challenging times and have been confronted with somethings I've never had to deal with before. There are a couple of things that trigger anxiety in me on a daily basis now. I wake up in the middle of the night with little anxiety episodes. I'm unfocused at work because of what feels like underlying emotional issues.

The only thing that's helped (I am trying to fix without medication) are the tools from HeartMath. Their "Transforming Stress" book has been a god send. It's not a get well fast type thing, but I've been practicing the sessions daily for a month now and am in much better control of my stress and anxiety.

I have practiced Tai Chi, meditation, and visualization via NLP techniques in the past. I'm not a novice when it comes to the types of techniques that HeartMath teaches. However, the way theirs are structured are the most effective I've found for dealing with these issues.

If you're going through hard times I highly recommend using their tools.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#15

Post by didibus »

Vacations are wide and broad. Normally I try to cram so much traveling, visiting, sight seeing, partying and drinking/eating into my vacation that I'm more burned out when they are over then when I started them. I often joke that I need a vacation from my vacation. I also have this habit to book my flights as close to when my job ends/starts, like take a red-eye right after work and come back the day I start work again, going straight from airport to work.

Given that, I absolutely can believe meditation is better then vacation. But I'd have to wonder, if my vacation consisted of calmly driving to a Cabin in the forest and pleasantly sitting on the side of a lake reading or pondering or looking at the lake by myself for the whole vacation, would that still be worse then meditation? Or is this starting to count as meditating?

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#16

Post by trprog »

>He went on to explain that other factors that often go hand in hand with meditation (for example, exercise, diet, even exposure to incense) could help explain these improvements. “So that as well remains to be more fully resolved in future studies.”

Sounds nice and vague although that is understandable. It reminds me of studies suggesting that taking regular naps give all sorts of health and longevity benefits. Is it the naps themselves or that you have a lifestyle that permits you the opportunity to take naps? If nothing else the ability to decide to nap indicates the individual is in control of their time which would seem to correlate with lower stress levels Vs someone who has their daily schedule dictated to them in such a way as to make laying down for 20 minutes impossible.

There are so many confounding factors the outcomes are always going to be really fuzzy.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#17

Post by beambot »

didibus wrote: post #15

Vacations are wide and broad. Normally I try to cram so much traveling, visiting, sight seeing, partying and drinking/eating into my vacation that I'm more burned out when they are over then when I started them. I often joke that I need a vacation from my vacation. I also have this habit to book my flights as close to when my job ends/starts, like take a red-eye right after work and come back the day I start work aga…

Did that for a trip to Hawaii, and it was amazing. No itinerary, no plan. First couple of days were super chill: wake up, eat breakfast, snorkeling / swimming for an hour or so, then relax and read on beach all day and eat poke. By day 3 or 4 we started getting antsy and would spend time after snorkeling to find other activities.

Highly recommend the "go where things take you" approach to vacations.

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#18

Post by snissn »

origami777 wrote: post #13

I've been going through challenging times and have been confronted with somethings I've never had to deal with before. There are a couple of things that trigger anxiety in me on a daily basis now. I wake up in the middle of the night with little anxiety episodes. I'm unfocused at work because of what feels like underlying emotional issues. The only thing that's helped (I am trying to fix without medication) are the t…

Do you drink coffee? Try 100% cutting out caffeine!

Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation

#19

Post by crawfordcomeaux »

pmyjavec wrote: post #11
nether wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the consumption cycle is sustained because it benefits the powers that be. humans are insatiable , and as long as you are convinced that contentment requires "just one more thing," you will never be happy, you will always be hungry, and you will always want more. happiness isn't pleasure, because of hedonic adaption, pleasure eventually becomes boring and empty. happiness is contentment with what you have. it is esca…

Thanks for the good response. I've been quite aware of these things for sometime, but how to communicate and build awareness to an already hopelessly anxious and distracted populous? That seems to be the trouble.

I believe our design processes have to change to ones that are more mindful & we need a system w/mass appeal/access to teach people mindfulness.
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