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What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

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Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#31

Post by seren »

hippee-lee wrote: post #26
seren wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting because this is a rarely reported consequence. It seems no one would object to have denser grey matter, but if it is thinner somewhere, it feels like you lost something.

Perhaps it's because there is only so much expression in our genetics. Don't think of it as if you lost something. Think of it as if you are investing and building up in the areas with max rio. By max rio I mean it on all levels of genome. Individual, your family & our society. I also believe the results can compound over time. As a side note, I was raised Roman Catholic. Although I have not gone to church since coll…

I don't really think you are 'losing' something in the literal sense when meditating. It is probably more akin to exercising/reshaping it. I was just commenting on the public perception.

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#32

Post by miloshadzic »

dodyg wrote: post #17

You don't need no fucking App to start. Sit down in comfortable position, close your eyes, try to concentrate on your breathing in and out (your mind will start to wander - keep coming back to the breathing). Repeat everyday. You'll have the chance to "optimize" and "improve" your meditation experience later on. First, build the habit.

Tip: Try to keep your eyes open. Closing your eyes makes it easier to become slouched, wander off and fall asleep.

I agree wholeheartedly with the rest of your post.

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#34

Post by Volpe »

jgeerts wrote: post #18
dodyg wrote: post #17

You don't need no fucking App to start. Sit down in comfortable position, close your eyes, try to concentrate on your breathing in and out (your mind will start to wander - keep coming back to the breathing). Repeat everyday. You'll have the chance to "optimize" and "improve" your meditation experience later on. First, build the habit.

Swearing is bad for your energy levels.

Yeah but it's good for your "I don't care cause I'm an awesome hacker" cred if you swear, and get angry at everything.

I'm going to upvote dodyg cause he's so fucking awesome!

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#36

Post by edf825 »

dodyg wrote: post #17

You don't need no fucking App to start. Sit down in comfortable position, close your eyes, try to concentrate on your breathing in and out (your mind will start to wander - keep coming back to the breathing). Repeat everyday. You'll have the chance to "optimize" and "improve" your meditation experience later on. First, build the habit.

To add to this, one thing I found helpful was to count with every breath in or out, up to ten -- breathe in, one; breathe out, two -- All the way up to ten, then back to the beginning.

Having something so easy and menial, yet requiring constant attention helps immensely to keep the mind from wandering.

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#37

Post by Volpe »

Simon321 wrote: post #29

Meditation, such a scam. I can't believe so many intelligent people are fooled by it. It's nothing more than a relaxation technique and that's it. The studies about meditation are mostly of dubious quality and origin, and people draw unwarranted conclusions from them. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/08/21/quacks-eve...

Oh well.. you have a blog to backup what your are saying... pro-meditation "quacks" have been told! Internet: 1 Meditation: 0

I think you have to pause and reflect for a minute when you say things like: "I can't believe so many intelligent people are fooled by it". Maybe they aren't the ones being foolish... ?

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#38

Post by agumonkey »

lcedp wrote: post #19

> More grey matter Well as study shows [1] meditation not only thickens cortex in some parts of the brain but also makes it thinner in other parts. Just saying. [1] http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/content/8/1/27.long

Smaller isn't necessarily worse (and vice-versa). Maybe its a refactoring process where some abstractions builds, rendering other sub-graphs unnecessary.

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#39

Post by dools »

Simon321 wrote: post #29

Meditation, such a scam. I can't believe so many intelligent people are fooled by it. It's nothing more than a relaxation technique and that's it. The studies about meditation are mostly of dubious quality and origin, and people draw unwarranted conclusions from them. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/08/21/quacks-eve...

Saying meditation is a scam is sort of like saying religion is a scam. It may be true objectively, but if it works, it works.

Re: What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

#40

Post by jdn »

jgeerts wrote: post #18
dodyg wrote: post #17

You don't need no fucking App to start. Sit down in comfortable position, close your eyes, try to concentrate on your breathing in and out (your mind will start to wander - keep coming back to the breathing). Repeat everyday. You'll have the chance to "optimize" and "improve" your meditation experience later on. First, build the habit.

Swearing is bad for your energy levels.

Though swearing is also being shown to reduce pain. Perhaps a vigorous bout of mid-meditation swearing will reduce back pain during a long session.
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