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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

#161

Post by westoncb »

yoodenvranx wrote: post #61
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…

Do you happen to have a good link to a jump-start article about meditation. I am in a sinilar situation as you, life is gray, anxiety problems, ... How should I start doing this today (and the next 4 weeks) without doing too much initial research?

Watch the video I linked to and others from the same guy (Ajahn Brahm). If you want other perspectives on the subject—which eventually, you probably should—might checkout "Meditation for Beginners": pretty good compilation of ~20 different meditation experts speaking on the subject with different backgrounds and focuses

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#162

Post by dominotw »

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…

>This is my favorite source of info on the subject—very substantial content, yet light and even entertaining at times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEw2mHpVv9A

Why is that guy dressed in some comical outfit, I can't take him seriously.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#163

Post by westoncb »

_ihqt wrote: post #54
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…

I only mean that I sit and /attempt/ (i.e. /not/ attempt :P) for 1.5 hours/day.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#164

Post by dceddia »

lomnakkus wrote: post #46
mkesper wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... can also surface things that frankly I'm perfectly happy to leave under the surface. Mind you they _will_ hurt you over time if you just push them away. You probably should get professional help first before trying to meditate.

> Mind you they _will_ hurt you over time if you just push them away. How do you know that? (I'm not being facetious.) I seem to recall there being reasonably solid[1] evidence that thinking about traumatic experiences can actually worsen anxiety and other PTSD symptoms. (Too lazy to look up references, and I don't have access to any paywalled journals anyway, so...) The evidence seems to point to just leaving things…

No access to paywalled journals? Try Sci Hub! (formerly on the HN front page) - sci-hub.io

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#165

Post by dominotw »

raldu wrote: post #156

It is very surprising that researchers could measure changes just after three days! One alarming detail about the article, however is the mention of "dose", which I think reflects the general Western, mainstream attitude to meditation. Mindfulness and meditation is being perceived as a tool of "relaxation", "reducing stress", dealing with anxiety, and so on. And it might be because of being "marketed" as such. Howeve…

Yep its such a western practice to cost-benfit analysis on everything. Ironically it the same thought process that is causing anxiety in the first place. People trying to make more money via meditation just sounds odd.

Pls guys do yourself a favor and listen to JidduK before you embark on meditation

short version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOLYN64dfKs

long version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b9E9gz3yTE

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#167

Post by westoncb »

dominotw wrote: post #162
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…

>This is my favorite source of info on the subject—very substantial content, yet light and even entertaining at times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEw2mHpVv9A Why is that guy dressed in some comical outfit, I can't take him seriously.

Ha! —true, that makes it difficult at first. He's a monk in a religious tradition, but I don't think he's very religious himself. He definitely keeps the content of his talks almost totally free of religious/spiritual stuff. He also studied physics at Cambridge, and is generally pretty rational. But yeah, funny costume :)

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#168

Post by thekingofspain »

mercer wrote: post #41
LunaSea wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how would you alter your thought of a real problem if it seems legitimate to worry about it?

If you define worry as "the state of being anxious and troubled over actual or potential problems", then I'd argue that worrying in itself has no positive effect on the 'real' problem anyways. The only mechanism by which 'worry' might be useful is if it triggers the problem-solving part of the mind and ultimately leads to actions that solve this problem. In my opinion this mechanism is highly inefficient and in fact…

I don't have anything to say, other than I really enjoyed your reply and think the debugging analogy is great!

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#169

Post by perseusprime11 »

kristiandupont wrote: post #108
hotcool wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to meditate for 20 minutes daily, but my mind still acted like a spoiled petulant child, so I upped it to two hours first thing in the morning (in one sitting). I use one of these meditation posters as a focal point: http://zenpusher.com The results have been profound. My mind is quiet and obedient now. I experience equanimity throughout the day.

That's a lot of meditation! I am doing 20 minutes at the moment and I feel similar to you: I still have serious trouble staying focused on anything. Did you keep it up or was there a lasting effect?

You should read the book Power of Now. It will give you some tips.

Re: How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body

#170

Post by saeranv »

hotcool wrote: post #80
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…

I used to meditate for 20 minutes daily, but my mind still acted like a spoiled petulant child, so I upped it to two hours first thing in the morning (in one sitting). I use one of these meditation posters as a focal point: http://zenpusher.com The results have been profound. My mind is quiet and obedient now. I experience equanimity throughout the day.

Did it take a couple of sessions for you to be able to handle one hour in one session? I started with 20 minutes like you and have incrementally increased it to 40. I'm aiming for 60 minutes, but every time I increase my sitting length I find it incredibly difficult to sit through. Often I feel very stressed and like I'm about to break down due to the boredom. Did you experience this?
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