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I rewired my brain in six weeks

bbc.com

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Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#11

Post by atoav »

I can't help but feel that obsessively mindful people always seem to have some deeper underlying issues that they need to cope with. I know a guy who for years went into all kind of new-age seminars, practised mindfulness constantly and then in a moment he told me about his traumatic event that has plagued him since childhood.

All the mindfullness was practised because deep down he felt at unease. Don't get me wrong, it is good to be observant and mindfull, but it is unnatural to be it all the time.

Our minds also need daydreaming, dull phases, excitement, the whole package.

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#12

Post by mdp2021 »

jj999 wrote: post #2

I had brain trauma. No amount of new-age brain rewiring bullshit will unfuck me. This is /r/thankimcured material, not HN.

Of course there is little margin against a shotgun wound, and of course even light damage can leave some scars. This is a matter of margins. The article seems to stick to that.

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#13

Post by sooheon »

igor47 wrote: post #9
guntherhermann wrote: post #8

I took a 'mindfulness' course a couple of years back, and the biggest benefit for me was learning to be grateful. It sounds riduclous typing it out but there it is. Practicing gratitude daily, e.g. giving myself reasons to be thankful for my lot in life is 1) really easy to do, and 2) takes about 5 minutes. The rest of it felt like new-age hippy trash, if I'm completely honest.

Ugh this is so dismissive. I'm glad learning gratitude helped you. How would you feel if, instead, I said "your gratitude practice is actually new age hippy trash"? Different people derive benefit from different things. Why not just leave it at, "the other stuff didn't work for me"?

I guess gratitude != generosity

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#14

Post by mdp2021 »

guntherhermann wrote: post #8

I took a 'mindfulness' course a couple of years back, and the biggest benefit for me was learning to be grateful. It sounds riduclous typing it out but there it is. Practicing gratitude daily, e.g. giving myself reasons to be thankful for my lot in life is 1) really easy to do, and 2) takes about 5 minutes. The rest of it felt like new-age hippy trash, if I'm completely honest.

> hippy

The origin of this wave of academical interest comes from that: a few mates in Harward - including K-Z, who butchered the concept introducing the absurd naming which uses the reverse of the concept of 'mind' - were intrigued by suggestions from the Orient. Events such as the fall into disgrace of Leary have been relevant (creating difficulties to said wave as a reaction - a general reaction with the crisis of its parent "hipster" wave).

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#16

Post by bheadmaster »

igor47 wrote: post #9
guntherhermann wrote: post #8

I took a 'mindfulness' course a couple of years back, and the biggest benefit for me was learning to be grateful. It sounds riduclous typing it out but there it is. Practicing gratitude daily, e.g. giving myself reasons to be thankful for my lot in life is 1) really easy to do, and 2) takes about 5 minutes. The rest of it felt like new-age hippy trash, if I'm completely honest.

Ugh this is so dismissive. I'm glad learning gratitude helped you. How would you feel if, instead, I said "your gratitude practice is actually new age hippy trash"? Different people derive benefit from different things. Why not just leave it at, "the other stuff didn't work for me"?

> Different people derive benefit from different things. Why not just leave it at, "the other stuff didn't work for me"?

Different people have different opinions. Why not leave it at "I think the other stuff is not new age hippy trash"?

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#17

Post by sooheon »

jj999 wrote: post #2

I had brain trauma. No amount of new-age brain rewiring bullshit will unfuck me. This is /r/thankimcured material, not HN.

In other news, exercise benefits thoroughly debunked after quadruple amputee points out “that doesn’t help me”.

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#18

Post by bheadmaster »

guntherhermann wrote: post #8

I took a 'mindfulness' course a couple of years back, and the biggest benefit for me was learning to be grateful. It sounds riduclous typing it out but there it is. Practicing gratitude daily, e.g. giving myself reasons to be thankful for my lot in life is 1) really easy to do, and 2) takes about 5 minutes. The rest of it felt like new-age hippy trash, if I'm completely honest.

Grateful/thankful to whom, exactly?

It seems to me that the popular (American) practice of gratitude is just a substitute for Christianity, filtered out not to mention any deities explicitly, but still containing references to them implicitly.

I consider universe a random and chaotic place. In that worldview, there is nobody to be grateful/thankful to, so the practice of gratitude doesn't make sense.

Re: I rewired my brain in six weeks

#19

Post by isaacfung »

moscoe wrote: post #4
corn13read2 wrote: post #3

tldr on this?

Practicing mindfulness/meditation is good for the brain

It seems to me the interesting thing is that they showed there was some measurable change in the brain scan after six weeks. Her amygdala has reduced in size while the cingulate cortex has increased in size, although they didn't say by how much.
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