I've got hundreds of memories that I treasure dearly from traveling the world.
I suppose it depends on if you're vacationing just to get away from work, or if there's something you really want to do/see/experience.
Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
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Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the pages [1] on The HeartMath site references Dr Bruce Lipton. If you're interested in understanding more about the interplay between experiences, emotions, physiology and genetics, I can strongly recommend his book, The Biology of Belief [2], and his many interviews and presentations that can be found on YouTube. His research and writing focuses on the notion that subconscious beliefs are the major influence…
>All this stuff draws contempt from curmudgeonly skeptics (of which I used to be the worst kind), but from painful experience I've found these techniques to be far more effective than any of the more conventional approaches I'd tried previously. Yes, throwing away your critical eye towards the world in favor of starry-eyed credulity can certainly kick the placebo effect into overdrive. If you're constantly questionin…
What part is being killed?
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#73I've been going through challenging times and have been confronted with somethings I've never had to deal with before. There are a couple of things that trigger anxiety in me on a daily basis now. I wake up in the middle of the night with little anxiety episodes. I'm unfocused at work because of what feels like underlying emotional issues. The only thing that's helped (I am trying to fix without medication) are the t…
Do you drink coffee? Try 100% cutting out caffeine!
When I was doing more physical jobs than now (also very stressfull), my collegues were amazaed at how I could handle the fatigue and anxiety that well without taking coffee. I still believe that actual abstinence from caffeine is the answer to many like issues
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#74> You say vacation, I say meditation…
Beneficial to what? The point of a vacation isn't about being more productivity at work. Productivity is not the goal.
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#75Mindfulness meditation is one of the pillars on which my life rests. If you have never done it before, realize that it's hard, especially if you fall anywhere on the ADHD spectrum, and it's just brutal for the first few weeks for anyone. As your brain becomes more still and your focus improves you'll notice your productivity improve. As the mental chatter drops you'll also notice the problems in your life, that you'v…
> I rarely talk about meditation in professional circles because, for one, people think it's weird No, it totally makes sense. Long walks in the woods or long runs are almost like meditation for me, and it is definitely like vacation for the mind. I just wonder where to get started with actual meditation - I have to admit I find the predominant literature about that topic extremely esoteric, and that's something that…
I've heard good things about MBSR (http://palousemindfulness.com/) - on my todo list after more pressing things are dealt with (yes, I see the irony...)
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#76Now I can show this to my employees when they ask for vacation days. I won't allow anything but the best for them and meditation can be efficiently packed into the lunch break time frame.
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#77Mindfulness meditation is one of the pillars on which my life rests. If you have never done it before, realize that it's hard, especially if you fall anywhere on the ADHD spectrum, and it's just brutal for the first few weeks for anyone. As your brain becomes more still and your focus improves you'll notice your productivity improve. As the mental chatter drops you'll also notice the problems in your life, that you'v…
__Meditation: the summary for technical people__
Yea I'm making this up. I'm enthusiastic about it, my username even reflects that I meditate ;)
..
Introductory Level
Witty, scientific book: Search Inside Yourself - Chade-meng Tan (he used to be a software engineer, now he's trying to set up the conditions for world peace)
Take any MBCT, MBSR or 5-week or 8-week mindfulness course
..
Beginner Level
Retreat practice: dhamma.org (10 days, 10 hours per day, 9 days total silence, donation based)
Sciencedaily.com: type in meditation
Also check out: Harvard Positive Psychology from Tal-Ben Shahar his lectures on meditation
..
Intermediate Level
Take a course on Buddhism from a theologician with a background in science or philosophy. In The Netherlands this is at the VU University Amsterdam.
Do 2 hours of meditation per day, including mini retreats in the weekend
..
Advanced Level
Choose your own adventure:
A. Travel to monestaries and learn whatever you can.
B. Become a monk at one monestary.
..
The levels are arbitraty by the way, felt more fun writing that way ;) I'm a Beginner/intermediate.
To all meditators: Let's have a chat :)
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#78Here is one interesting App helpful for relaxation but in a different way. I notice some improvements since one month using it. - better sleeping - more focus - positive thinking (Unfortunately the app is just for iOS at the moment) https://appsto.re/de/8PGcfb.i
Forgive me for speculating, but given your username (diegoloop) and the name of the developer of that app (Diego Lopez), it kinda feels like you're promoting your own app.
If that's the case, you should definitely disclose that rather than pretending to be just a user of the app.
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#79I've been going through challenging times and have been confronted with somethings I've never had to deal with before. There are a couple of things that trigger anxiety in me on a daily basis now. I wake up in the middle of the night with little anxiety episodes. I'm unfocused at work because of what feels like underlying emotional issues. The only thing that's helped (I am trying to fix without medication) are the t…
Combine this with any form of endurance exercise to build red muscle for maximum benefits.
It's been shown¹ that red muscle takes away kynurene, which is produced by stress, can enter the brain, and appears to be able to trigger depression and other mental health issues if it is at elevated levels for longer periods:
> “Our initial research hypothesis was that trained muscle would produce a substance with beneficial effects on the brain. We actually found the opposite: well-trained muscle produces an enzyme that purges the body of harmful substances. So in this context the muscle’s function is reminiscent of that of the kidney or the liver,” says Jorge Ruas, principal investigator at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet.
> The researchers discovered that mice with higher levels of PGC-1a1 in muscle also had higher levels of enzymes called KAT. KATs convert a substance formed during stress (kynurenine) into kynurenic acid, a substance that is not able to pass from the blood to the brain. The exact function of kynurenine is not known, but high levels of kynurenine can be measured in patients with mental illness.
Recently the same research group also discovered that kynurenic acid turns white fat (the unhealthy type) into beige fat (more similar to brown fat, which is healthier).
¹ http://ki.se/en/news/how-physical-exercise-protects-the-brai...
Re: Regular meditation may be more beneficial than vacation
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
>All this stuff draws contempt from curmudgeonly skeptics (of which I used to be the worst kind), but from painful experience I've found these techniques to be far more effective than any of the more conventional approaches I'd tried previously. Yes, throwing away your critical eye towards the world in favor of starry-eyed credulity can certainly kick the placebo effect into overdrive. If you're constantly questionin…
What part is being killed?
Commitment to the truth. You have to successfully lie to yourself to pull off what GP described.