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Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

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Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#41

Post by guerrilla »

rjprins wrote: post #14

Stress is all about perception. With mindfulness you can practice changing the way you look at things. If you practice zooming out of things that induce fear and see a bigger picture this will generally reduce stress. The mind has a natural tendency to zoom in on scary things. I guess that is our prey-animal heritage. Certainly, for rightfully stressful situations immediate action is needed and mindfulness is not a s…

> Stress is all about perception.

No, stress is actually physiological. What your saying is limited to specific sources of stress.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#42

Post by Knee_Pain »

Etheryte wrote: post #37
Knee_Pain wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Breathing practices objectively have an effect on our body and nobody can counter this. Buddhist ideology on the other hand is up to debate and everyone is free to try it or believe it. Maybe in your experience meditation is enhanced by believing all that stuff, but that is your prerogative. I can do mindfulness and go to a psychologist instead of doing meditation and going to a temple because maybe that oriental stu…

This is such a silly notion, what does countering have to do with any of this? Life is not an internet argument.

>Life is not an internet argument.

except when you tell someone they should try mindfulness and they look at you as if it was voodoo crap

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#43

Post by bitterblotter »

This reminds me of a visualization for box breathing I made a while ago, if anyone is interested.

https://lassebomh.github.io/box-breathing/

If you scroll down there is a simple guide and some relaxing music. The site can also be installed as a PWA and added to your homescreen / desktop.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#44

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

Knee_Pain wrote: post #31
throw_pm23 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find meditation, mindfulness on the one hand and apps, smartphones, and technology, on the other, to be a grotesque contradiction in terms. Obviously I know this is not a widespread opinion.

Explain the contradiction of terms, otherwise this reply is worthlessly vague

A smartphone is a device designed to distract us and hold our attention. Even with a well-behaved app on it, it's still designed and configured to constantly beep and whistle and send notifications, and fly into our hand and compel us to doomscroll something unimportant. It's fairly impossible to reconfigure a consumer device so that it doesn't do this.

Someone who is practicing contemplation should not be held prisoner by a robot voice or a glowing screen, but instead reach an inner presence of God, and His stillness encompassing all that we experience during that sacred time.

It is absolutely necessary to shut out every distraction possible. At the same time, we acknowledge that the practitioner will be distracted in some way, not through his own fault, and we must learn the proper response to fleeting distractions. But to purposely tether yourself to a created, pagan object is to invite failure from the outset.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#45

Post by thoui242342343 »

toshk wrote: post #11

Mindfulness took one small technique out of the Buddhist system that feels rational & scientific. It kind of works. But the corpus of Buddhism is what makes it powerful. And this is hard to make palatable for the West. The main goal of buddhism is giving you meaning & joy in life despite of stress or tragedy. Very important aspects of Buddhism that make the whole much more powerful are: - Living & acting out of compa…

It's not just about this.

There is a systematic effort to plagiarize from Indian traditions and then claim them to be rediscoveries of the West, inline with historical racist-supremacist constructions. You can see this historically across Mathematics, Astronomy and Medicine in very concrete terms. That they're now doing it with Yoga, Vipassana, Ayurveda etc. is quite disappointing.

Andrew Huberman at Stanford has an entire lab (and a very popular podcast) designed to rip off Indian traditions to the point where news-releases will neither mention the ripped off name, nor even mention India. The Americans will at-best mention 'South Asia' as if Pakistan/Bangladesh, who are actively genociding followers of India's native faiths, were creators of this.

They've also tried patenting Basmati and Turmeric and many other things. It's amusing to see 'alt-right' geniuses sell things like Ashwagandha/Turmeric and other Ayurvedic nutraceuticals to their 'Murcan audiences' while hating on Hindus as 'satan worshippers who are destroying US'.

On a more important note: this raises a big point. Modern 'Western culture' is not universal, but is in fact very much Christian and with that, has inherited its extremely deep-rooted and vicious irrational hate for so-called 'devil worshipping pagans'.

Western academics will never talk about cultures they've marked for destruction either. Very much like the Anglo-media almost never lets out the real reason for why they are going for war on random far-off countries (it's not 'democracy and freedom').

I moved out of the US when I realized all this and today generally avoid US/Europe, both for business and travel.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#46

Post by hliyan »

varispeed wrote: post #19
toshk wrote: post #11

Mindfulness took one small technique out of the Buddhist system that feels rational & scientific. It kind of works. But the corpus of Buddhism is what makes it powerful. And this is hard to make palatable for the West. The main goal of buddhism is giving you meaning & joy in life despite of stress or tragedy. Very important aspects of Buddhism that make the whole much more powerful are: - Living & acting out of compa…

> Living & acting out of compassion (boddhicitta): if your main focus is other not yourself, a huge relief of worries is gone, and meaning arises naturally. Of course here articial part. You'll easily become a victim of people who exploit "caretakers". You'll become an unpaid servant. People need to look after themselves first.

This is a somewhat cynical attitude that assumes compassion must come conjoined with suspension of good judgement. I'm a naturally analytical and anxious individual who has, as of late, found a measure of stress relief by directing some of my mental energy toward the wellbeing of others. Beyond basic necessities and financial security, obsessing over your own wellbeing/financials can be its own torture. Sometimes, something as simple as feeding a stray dog or buying someone meds can relieve stress. Interestingly, writing checks or transferring funds online, does not have the same effect.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#47

Post by unmole »

Knee_Pain wrote: post #18

If you want a free mindfulness app you should consider searching for the one developed by the US Department of Veteran Affairs on your platform's app store. It usually ranks very low on the list because not many people know about it and because all the other apps market themselves heavily. Unlike all the garbage apps which ask you for subscriptions and DLCs just to play 10 minutes of audio, every single thing is free…

Link to Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.va.mobileh...

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#48

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

miroljub wrote: post #2

Mindfulness meditation may reduce stress levels, but only temporary. Instead of focusing on the source of stress and trying to solve the underlying issues, it fights the symptoms. I don't say that it doesn't "work", but one should be aware of the limitation of mindfulness practices, and look at it just as one of the tools in a tool set to fight stress, not as a holy grail, like many of its proponents preach.

You're partially correct in that it does not focus on the source of stress. Rather, it focuses on the Source of peace.

As a Christian, my contemplative practice is focused on the source of truth and life, Christ Jesus. There will still be suffering in this life, but it will pass away, and Christ will remain, our Source of peace and comfort.

My contemplative practice helps me prepare for that day by peeling away all the distractions and false trappings of everyday life, and discovering what is truly important. It is a journey of discovery, a journey of finding Jesus, and thereby finding my identity as a child of God.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#49

Post by 0xEF »

Knee_Pain wrote: post #42
Etheryte wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a silly notion, what does countering have to do with any of this? Life is not an internet argument.

>Life is not an internet argument. except when you tell someone they should try mindfulness and they look at you as if it was voodoo crap

I mean, it's not your responsibility to change anyone's mind. If you want to put info out there, back it up, etc, there's a good way to do that without going on the attack.

I say to each their own, so long as "their own" does not harm others. If Buddhism works for someone, cool. If going to a psychologist works, also cool. When it comes to mental health, I think we can all agree that a one-size-fits-all solution doesn't exist.

Re: Mindfulness-based programs show promise in reducing psychological distress

#50

Post by ShamelessC »

toshk wrote: post #11

Mindfulness took one small technique out of the Buddhist system that feels rational & scientific. It kind of works. But the corpus of Buddhism is what makes it powerful. And this is hard to make palatable for the West. The main goal of buddhism is giving you meaning & joy in life despite of stress or tragedy. Very important aspects of Buddhism that make the whole much more powerful are: - Living & acting out of compa…

You seem very fond of making huge generalizations about people based on their country of origin.

The "western way" is only (strictly) in opposition to Buddhism in the narrative you are subscribing to. The reality is that many Americans are acutely aware of just how toxic aspects of mainstream American culture. It is probably best to approach debate from this point of view, particularly if you want to convince people rather than simply pissing them off.

If someone says Buddhism is not for them - drop it. You don't understand their problems better than they do and your religion - like all religions - requires an irrational leap of faith whether you like it or not. This is off putting to a lot of people who favor rationality - particularly those who are so fed up with the aforementioned mainstream culture I describe (but don't subscribe to your religion).

Just to clarify again, my contention is not that you're arguing incorrectly per se. It is that you are being overconfident and righteous, which appears smug and indicates you aren't _really_ looking to empathize with contradicting points of view. It's rude. If I came up to you and told you about how Jesus was going to change your life, smiling the whole time and speaking only of the positives you might feel similarly? I don't know.

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