41–50 of 81 posts
Sounds amazing. I can't figure out if this would be great for my ADHD or similar to CIA torture.
The author did say that several people couldn't last. I'm sure you would either crack or have a breakthrough...
Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain’s Gray Matter In 8 Weeks
Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University. The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter. “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”
http://www.feelguide.com/2014/11/19/harvard-unveils-mri-stud...
Adding some science, just those crazy people from Harvard: Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds The Brain’s Gray Matter In 8 Weeks Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University. The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General…
"How can meditation help when medicine falls short? Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Massachusetts medical School, speaks to these questions as a long-time practitioner of Buddhist meditation and hatha yoga, and as a pioneer in the use of mindfulness to treat chronic pain and illness. More than 13,000 people have visited the world-renowned Stress Reduction Clinic that Kabat-Zinn established in 1979 at the UMass medical Center, and the eight-week program- described in Kabat-Zinn’s bestseller “Full Catastrophe Living”- is now also offered at some two hundred medical facilities worldwide."
That conclusion is worth something, whichever way you arrive at it. I guess it's one of the basic truths about our way of existence.
From the article: "About half a year ago I started taking psychedelic drugs fairly regularly. Partially because they were fun, but also because I could see how they benefited me therapeutically. When I heard that meditation could produce similar effects, I found a ten day intense silent meditation course I could join in Italy." Huey Lewis & the News: "I want a new drug One that won't make me sick One that won't make…
The same is not true for surfing or generally relaxing. Just because people feel like there are similarities between experiences on psychedelics and meditation does not mean that they have equal outcomes.
Sometimes, you meet a new person and the first thing that you notice is the immense calm on their faces. You get good vibes from them. And even without talking, you can tell they are nice people. It happened with me recently a few times. As I got to know those people better, I learnt that they've all done Vipassana at some point in their lives. It might sound mumbo jumbo but these are the facts. I haven't done Vipass…
Reads like a scientology ad
If they did advertise, they'd have scientific evidence that there are benefits from their methods. However, they don't use that, because meditation is not about proven benefits to them. It's about living a more compassionate and harmonious life.
Hardly a scam of any kind. I don't know why anyone would attempt to discredit it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, there is evidence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation
The report concluded, "Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and…
As such therapies involve only guiding and helping people to think differently, it demonstrates that such guidance has have scientifically measurable effects on the mind and body.
It follows from the above that the likelihood that practices such as meditation could have non-zero effects is high. Whether Vipassana itself does so could therefore be tested in the same manner as CBT was, and perhaps that is what should be done...
[1]https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=randomized+contro...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, there is evidence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation
The report concluded, "Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and…
Looking at a 2013 report (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23796855), results are quite different. Or this interview (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/...) showing potential physical changes in the brain.
Furthermore, meditation isn't about objective health gains to many people. It's about living in a different way, in a different state.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reads like a scientology ad
>>Reads like a Scientology ad After just reading the first few lines I started thinking what a bunch of bull. Then I read your message and I laughed because it's so true...:) What worries me is that it is so easy to be taken in by this stuff. Specially if you are in a vulnerable state.