Everyone You Didn't Meet Could Be Your Teacher Funkadelic Style

This is sort of a follow up to a post I wrote in August of 2017.  I was born at the very end of the 60's, the Summer of 69 to be exact. A time of transition I'm told from the days of peace and love hippie movement to the Funk of the 70's, LOL. 

This past week I have been re-reading a really great book about Jarvis Jay Masters, A Buddhist on Death Row. A lot more on that great book to come in the near future. If you haven't purchased it yet, I highly recommend it. 

So in this book, one of the many lessons Mr. Masters learns is about learning to watch his mind and freeing it from the preconditioned restraints that life itself had put on him. As he is contemplating this a song that would be played often in his youth came to mind by the Funkadelic's, "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow."

Everyone you didn't meet could be your teacher.

  

Funkadelic's, "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow."

The lyrics to this next song are loosely based on a combination of a book called "As a Man Thinketh", a literary essay by James Allen, published in 1902, and the basis of The Law of Attraction (you reap what you sow) It starts off with a very looooooong instrumental intro, it puts you in touch with yourself. But don't stop there is more, stick around it gets even better.....let it speak to you. You won't regret it.

 

Funkadelic's "Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts"

Have you come across anyone or anything in your path that has opened your eyes to help you make sense of a teaching that you have been contemplating? 

Have one or more of those eye-opening moments come from an expected source?

Trance End

Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners

With this Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners, I'm supposed to learn the best Buddhist meditation techniques for quieting my mind, cultivating inner peace, and achieving sustained happiness.

The key to being successful with this meditation plan for beginners is to commit to it. . I need to try and do at least one of the exercises each day. In this set meditation training plan, it is suggested when to do each technique, but feel free to meditate according to your own plan. What matters with meditation is simply that you do it! So let’s get started.

A Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners: Step 1

The first step in our meditation plan for beginners is simply to acquaint yourself with the different types of techniques. Of course before starting something we need to learn a little or as much as we feel comfortable about it. Reading about some of the techniques that we have previously written about here or elsewhere, in books or watching videos on Youtube.com would be a great start. At the same time, it is important not just to read or watch videos but to also practice the techniques. Your meditation training should be broken down into 90% practice with a 10% theory.

To begin with, acquaint yourself with the following meditation techniques.

In a moment we will look at how to use these techniques for beginners in an ideal meditation plan. First, however, it is important to learn about the techniques themselves. Read through these descriptions and click the link for more detailed information on each technique.

Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners #1: Breathing: The absolute best technique for beginners is a simple breathing meditation. With this technique, you will learn to focus your mind on your breathing. This will teach you the basic process of meditation and is the entry point for more advanced techniques. Learn Breathing Techniques Here.

Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners #2 Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a simple practice that gets you to focus your mind on the present moment. This is important for many different reasons. It is an excellent way of removing stress and learning to relax, but it also makes you more effective at what you are doing because you will learn to focus your mind on your actions. Learn Mindfulness HERE.

Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners #3 Zen Walking:   With Zen Walking you will focus your mind on the process of walking. This is very important for many reasons. To begin with, you will heighten your mind/body connection. This helps to focus your mind on your actions and also makes you more aware of your body. Zen Walking is also a good form of gentle exercise and is one of the most relaxing meditation techniques in the world. Learn Zen Walking HERE.

Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners #4 Vipassana: 

 Vipassana is a specific type of meditation in which we cultivate mindfulness of thoughts. Essentially, with Vipassana meditation we learn to recognize when we are experiencing thoughts, we then learn to see a thought as only a thought and nothing more. This is very important for quieting the mind. Once we become more aware of our thoughts we are able to silence them. Most people think mindlessly. They simply think about things over and over without awareness of the fact that they are thinking and that their thoughts are interfering with the mind. When we practice Vipassana meditation we learn to recognize thoughts, which in turn gives us control over our thoughts and finally allows us to quiet the mind. A very impressive website to learn  Vipassana meditation. But if you are looking for a simpler explanation here you go click here.

 

Buddhist Meditation Techniques for Beginners Step 2:

Now that we are familiar with the different types of Buddhist techniques it is time to put that knowledge into practice by adopting a training plan. Here is the plan that's recommended.

WEEK 1: The most important thing in your first week is simply to commit to practice. In week 1 you want to do only the simplest techniques, which is a breathing meditation. Take twenty minutes each day to sit and focus your mind on your breathing. This will quiet your mind and enhance your focus. Choose a time each day where you can focus on your breath for twenty minutes. Do not focus on results during this time, simply aim to do twenty minutes of breathing meditation each day.

WEEK 2: In week 2 you will want to continue your breathing practice, continuing your commitment to those twenty minutes a day. We now want to advance our progress a little too, though, which is why we will now introduce Zen Walking. In Zen walking, we usually walk on a short and straight path. However, this demands that we put aside another 20 minutes to practice. Many people simply don’t have the time. For this reason, It's recommended practicing Zen walking while on your way somewhere. If you are going to work, for instance, choose a safe path to walk and leave a little earlier than usual. This will give you the time to practice zen walking while you are on your way to work (which saves time compared to having a dedicated schedule for this practice). You may practice Zen walking whenever you are on a safe path, so the next time you are walking somewhere, go a safe route, and while you walk.

WEEK 3: In week 3 we want to begin to use meditation in our everyday living. For this we use mindfulness. It is possible to practice mindfulness meditation while doing anything. Say, for instance, that you are doing the dishes. You can meditate on the process of cleaning, thus practicing while you work. You can equally practice while exercising while showering, and while doing other simple tasks. By practicing mindfulness meditation while you work you are learning to adopt a meditative style of living, rather than simply practicing at specific times.

WEEK 4: In this final week I recommend adding Vipassana to your current meditation training schedule. For this, you will need another time slot of twenty minutes each day to sit and observe your mind. I have added two resources for you to "click" on in the article on Vipassana Meditation. I really do recommend a more detailed website. It has an enormous amount of detailed information that is very useful in this meditation practice.

So there it is the complete schedule for “A Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners”

What I ended up with in week 4 is a complete training plan that looks like this:
Breathing Meditation: Practice 20 minutes of mindful breathing per day
Mindfulness: While doing any simple tasks, do them mindfully
Walking: While en route somewhere, take the safe path and practice Zen Walking
Insight Meditation: Include a second 20 minute period per day when you will practice Vipassana Meditation (Insight Meditation).

The complete Buddhist Meditation Plan for Beginners. With this meditation plan for beginners, I hope to find inner peace and sustained happiness.

Meditation For Stress Relief

Meditation For Stress Relief

Have you tried meditation to solve your stress and health problems? If you haven’t yet, now may be one of the best times to make that experience a reality. Mediation is one of the most sought after forms of stress relief and is even recommended by many doctors.

If you are someone that spends your evenings worrying, stressing about all that needs to get done and even feeling physically bad without being sick, then meditation may be an ideal solution for you.

In meditation, you transform the way that your mind is working. While you can’t say that it’s a simple process, meditation is something that you can easily learn to do and then use daily.

In fact, studies show that when you do allow yourself (especially your mind) to meditate for just a few minutes each day, you can reduce the stress levels you face improving your quality of life.

There are many more benefits to meditation. For each person, this experience is going to be quite unique. If you wish to find out what it can offer you, you must learn to meditate. There is nothing negative that can come of meditation.

As you will learn the further you look into meditation, there are many different types of meditation. Some are very ancient methods that have been used for thousands of years by various cultures. Others are much more modern and, in such, are sometimes more popular. Yet, learning about these types is something you should invest in.

Finding the right type of meditation for you is key and the process means educating yourself about the various types of meditation that you can select from. Yet, all of these methods of meditation will fall into one of two different classifications. If you were to select meditation on any sole factors, it would be based on these two methods available. Thoroughly exploring both of these methods of meditation can be very important to finding success. You’ll need to experiment with both types, eventually, to determine the best route for you to take.

Focused Meditation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concentrative Meditation

The first type of meditation is that of concentrative meditation. In this type of meditation, the focus is on the way that you breathe, on an image, or on a sound. Sound, or mantra, is often used. By using these tools, so to speak, you are able to clear the mind and allow for greater awareness as well as clarity.
To focus on meditation, you’ll use one of these elements to help you to focus. By focusing on it, like you would a camera lens, you can then effectively reach the state that you are in.

Breathing

One method of concentrative meditation that is commonly used is that of concentrating on your breathing. It is probably the most simple of methods to use because you can do it any time without much need.

Breathing is effective because of how it plays a role in your daily life and well being. Many of hose that practice other alternative medicines, such as yoga, also believe that breathing is essential to maintaining the correct state of mind. In meditation, it is believed that breathing must be regulated in order to meditate properly.

You can see this clearly in your everyday life without considering meditation at all. When you are relaxed and comfortable, your breathing is slow and deeper. But, when you are worried, stressed or anxious, your breathing speeds up. If you are distracted, this happens as well. By regulating your breathing, you can focus your mind and gain control over it more effectively.

But, how does breathing effect meditation? Have you ever felt overwhelmed and anxious? Were you afraid or even terrified? If so, then you may have told yourself to take a deep breath and to calm down. As you can see, you can control your own breathing.

As a tool in meditation in the concentrative methods, you can gain control over your mind using breathing. To do this, you must regulate the breathing. To do this, you’ll need to focus on the rhythm of your breathing. The rhythm is the movement between inhaling and exhaling.
When you do this, sit and close your eyes. Focus on your breathing, the movement of air in and out of your body. You’ll need to concentrate on that breathing and only the breathing you are doing.

Soon, your meditation on breathing will become something that helps to ease your mind. You’ll see this as your breathing becomes more regular and then deeper and slower. When this happens, your mind too is changing. It becomes quiet, calm and collected. You’ll feel serenity and peace. You are also more aware of your surroundings and more likely to gain the benefits of meditation.
Breathing is just one example of concentrative meditation. There are many other forms, some of which we will talk about later in this book. Yet, remember that there is another type of method of meditation that accompanies concentrative meditation as the two forms that all methods and techniques of meditation fall under.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindful meditation is quite unlike that of concentrative. If we use the example of a lens to help show the difference, you can see this. In concentrative meditation, you are concentrating on one single thing, focusing the lens on that one element, like breathing or something in the room that you are in.
On the other hand is mindfulness meditation. Here, you are not focusing your lens, but widening it to include more and more information.
 
You may wonder just how including more of what is happening in any one moment can help you to collect your thoughts and focus your mind. Yet, the fact is that you can do this because of how you do it.
Using your abilities, you’ll become very much aware of everything around you including all of your feelings, the things that you see, the things you hear, the smells and sounds, the very elements that you may want to filter out of your mind.

From here, though, something is unique. You’ll notice and become mindful of these things, but you will not react to them. Instead, you are simply taking in whatever is happening in your mind. Don’t become overly involved with these elements. You won’t allow for images, thoughts, or memories to filter into your mind here as they do when you are concentrating.

Because, you are not becoming involved with the images and elements that are filtering through your mind; you actually calm down. Your mind is now clearer because it has taken in many of the things that are happening around you. You aren’t focusing in on any one thing. Instead, you are aware of everything going on, but not participating in it.
 
Although this method of meditation is one that is less well known and used by beginners because of how challenging it can be, it is still an ideal choice because it allows for a renewed sense of being and wholeness. By focusing on everything but not on one single thing, you can clear your mind fully.

All types of meditation fall in one of these groups. You will either use methods that are concentrative, in which you will concentrate on one thing to enter into a meditative state or you will use a mindfulness meditation method to enter this state. For those that are looking towards these methods and wondering which to choose, don’t. You can use both types of meditation to gain benefits and sometimes one method will work better than others will. With the ability to learn either type, you’ll be that much better at meditation that fits what you are doing and what your body and mind needs at any one time.






Namaste

Let Common Sense Be Your Guide

No matter what #news you are following today. It's always best to trust in your own #commonsense

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter it I said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."your own common Sense

We all have our own path's to follow in life. We all choices's that we make. Sometimes that divides communities, families, and friends.

I feel it's important to not be distracted by news, government, or individuals. Who would like to cloud our judgment or common sense.

I am not a political person, I have never posted anything political on my blog before.

BUT, my common sense tells me ....... and this is just my opinion.

1st) I am an American born and raised, I was once very proud of that statement.

2nd)  I believe the recent drone attack on the Iran general was a distraction created by the Trump Administration hoping it would get the News media and democrats off his back and stop Impeachment. (Killing someone for your own personal gain has to be a crime) I can't condone this behavior as an American Citizen. (Common Sense)

If the Buddha were here to give relationship advice to us today.

Ever wondered what it would be like to have the ancient wisdom of the Buddha to guide you through the dating process? 

If the Buddha Dated: A Handbook for Finding Love on a Spiritual Path by Charlotte Kasl, Ph.D., since it was published in 1999 it has been loved by those seeking relationship advice.
If the Buddha were to give dating tips, they might be a little confusing to some modern-day folks. So consider this a Top 10 CliffsNotes, each with modern day explanations.

• “When you say goodbye to someone or decide not to see them again, remember you are but a moment in their story. Make it a story that doesn’t leave a scar.” Translation: Do whatever it takes to leave on good terms.


• “Equality doesn’t need to mean that both people earn the same amount of money, have equal status, or equally good looking. It means they value each other as equals when it comes to making plans, making love or making decisions. They have an equal voice. One should not have to sacrifice himself, or herself, to the other.” Translation: Equality is not based on materialistic things or statistics. Equality is based on shared values, shared communication, and shared self-respect. 


• “In an unequal relationship, because the subordinate mate gives in reluctantly and complies, the dominant ones are never challenged to reflect on themselves. There is little or no growth, flexibility, or no forming of the “us” bond that brings two people into spiritual union.” Translation: In equal relationships, both people are challenged to grow and evolve together, rather than one person always pushing for the other partner’s growth.


• “Things are always changing—our thoughts, cells, hormones, hairline, consciousness, relationship, and the landscape around us. Instead of trying to freeze the present moment and hanging onto it, we need to remember that life is a process of constantly letting go.” Translation: The only constant is change. Every present moment is a chance to embrace the newness and let go of the past. Nothing is permanent. 


• “To be loyal to our journey is to know the rhythm, tone, and pulse of our essential inner world- the song that is ours alone. When two people bring the richness of their inner music to each other, they bring the possibility of a new composition, of counterpoint, harmony, voices weaving together creating a magical composition. If we’re disconnected from the music of our essence and attempt to find happiness through another’s song, there will be a dependency and relationship without harmony.” Translation: We must know and accept who we are fully before we enter a relationship, or else we end up in a co-dependent relationship. When two whole people join in a supportive relationship, the results can be magical. 


• “If we have the belief ‘I’ll always be abandoned’ we create situations where we’ll be abandoned, and forget to notice when people are loyal friends. Our task on the spiritual path is to stop repeating the same old stories and become aware of all the ways we keep proving our stories are true.” Translation: Thoughts become things, and we become our thoughts. Choose to write your own fate for better results. 


• “We can either bargain, hold back, and hang onto comfort and security, or we can take a deep breath, and say take me, and leap into the fire.” Translation: Taking a risk is often worth it, especially in love.


• “There are so many dating books with numerous rules about the right thing to do and say when dating. On the spiritual path, the ‘rules’ are simple. Simply ask yourself, am I being guided by my rigid ego” Translation: Ego-driven actions love rules. The spirit of love needs no rules to guide us.


• “Ego says I want someone to fill me up. Non-ego says I’ll have someone to help me wake up, to challenge my blind spots and be a companion and playmate on the journey. Translation: If we believe and live as already-full beings (complete), we don’t look to others to fulfill us. 


• “Another aspect of loving kindness is to remember that it’s not being free of imperfections that’s crucial to relationships, it’s being honest about our faults and mistakes. When we accept our humanness we become able to apologize (not grovel) for having been rude, insensitive, or dishonest. Our apology to another is a form of compassion to ourselves because it signifies acceptance. This is at the heart of intimacy.” Translation: By honestly accepting our faults and mistakes and apologizing with sincerity, we practice compassion towards ourselves and others.

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Delusions and Illusions

Delusions and Illusions........

Simple things and how they can effect our practice even as a Solitary Buddhist.

       Candles, ooooohhhh...... How a dimly lit room can effect ones mind and imagination. Helping to create a wonderful environment to try and control the Illusions and Delusions controlled by our ego  and out of control minds.

       The permeating smells and smoke of Incense,  

Ringing of The Bell

Buddhist Prayer Flags not everyone goes to this extreme of course as a Solitary Buddhist especially, But

Reciting The Precepts

What or How do you bring yourself to the illusion of bliss?

37 Weeks Of A Bodhisattva's Practice

English: Amitabha Buddha with his attendants Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Thirty-Seven Practices of A Bodhisattva

Week 1

First Practice

1. The practice of all the Bodhisattva's is to study, reflect and meditate, Tirelessly, day and night, without ever straying into idleness. In order to free oneself and others from this ocean of samsara.
   Having gained this supreme vessel—of a free, well-favoured human life, so difficult to find.

Whatever lifestyle we might have, 
we need to put full effort towards 
practicing the Dharma day and night 
with good motivation, even before we sleep. When you do sleep do it for the benefit of others.

Wakeup for the benefit of others; go about your day for the benefit of others.

Whatever actions of body, speech and mind that are done, base it on Dharma and the purpose of benefiting others. But to practice something requires one to first acquire the knowledge. 

Which explains the very first words of advice given, the practice of all Bodhisattva's is to study, contemplate and meditate.

Related articles

• 
• 
• Mindfulness....What, Why, How Part 1

• So You Want To Get Into Meditating (thefader.com)
• 5 Hindrances To Buddhist Practice (theselfproclaimedsolitarybuddhist.blogspot.com)

Leading A Buddhist Life

What is the purpose of life?

Man is the highest fruit on the tree of evolution. It is for man to realize his position in nature and understand the true meaning of his life. To know the purpose of life, you will first have to study the subject through your experience and insight. Then, you will discover for yourself the true meaning of life. Guidelines can be given. but you must create the necessary conditions for the arising of realization yourself. There are several prerequisites to the discovery of the purpose of life;

1. First, you must understand the nature of man and the nature of life. 
2. Keep your mind calm and peaceful through the adoption of a religion. 
3. Lastly, when these conditions are met, the answer you seek will come like the gentle rain from the sky. 

5 Hindrances To Buddhist Practice

5 Things That Hinder Buddhist Practice and The Antidotes....

In Buddhism, there are five things that hinder our practice and make us more prone to unskilful or unwholesome behaviour.

These 5 hindrances are desire, aversion, sloth, restlessness and doubt

For each of these there are some simple antidotes that are suggested to counter their strength and effects.

Hindrance: Desire/Attraction

is the desire for anything that touches one of our six sense doors (sight, smell, touch, taste, feeling, thought). It usually involves desiring a pleasant experience. It may be food, sleep, a thought, sex, etc. Desire is one of the chief causes of suffering, and is an ever-pervasive hindrance in many people’s practice. It blocks mindfulness as we get carried away by our craving, and creates dukkha in our lives and practice.

Antidotes:

As with all of the hindrances, the Buddha suggested that we know when it is present and know when it is not. We are also to know how it arises, how it ceases, and how to keep it from arising in the future. This goes for all of the hindrances, as the Buddha mentions in the Satipatthana Sutta.

With sensual desire, there are a few other antidotes. First, we can guard the sense doors. This means we don’t go out chasing thoughts, sounds, feelings, etc. Let what comes to you come, but don’t reach out for other experiences. Second, we can do contemplations on death and the repulsiveness of the body. These are mindfulness practices that help us disenchant ourselves with the body, and also may be found in the Satipatthana Sutta.

Finally, practice concentration. Strange to think that concentration can serve as an antidote to something that impeded concentration, but it is true. Through practicing concentration, we focus the mind mind more clearly on one object and the mind doesn’t wander as much.

Hindrance: Aversion/ill-will

The second hindrance, ill-will, is also one of the chief causes of suffering in our lives. It’s a quality of aversiveness, or pushing experience away. Ill-will most often arises in response to unpleasant thoughts or sensations. When something arises that we find unpleasant, the mind responds by trying to distance it from us. This is a major cause of dukkha in our lives, and we should work to bring awareness to this process.

Antidote:

Bringing awareness to it when it arises is really the most important tool we have. You don’t need to suddenly love the unpleasant experiences, but learn to watch for ill-will arising. It’s often such a quick reaction that we don’t even notice it happening. Continue to watch the process unfold.

A great antidote to ill-will is metta or loving-kindness practice. In metta practice, we bring a gentle friendliness to our experience. It helps us with ill-will toward others, ourselves, events, thoughts, and anything toward which we apply it. Loving-kindness really is the most commonly used antidote to ill-will, but you may also reflect on the kamma being created by anger, hatred, etc. What does being angry do to you?

Hindrance: Sloth/Torpor/Dullness

The third hindrance is commonly translated as sloth and torpor. This comes in the form of a drowsiness or dullness in our practice. It may be the result of a lack of sleep, overeating, an uninterested mind, aversiveness, or many other causes. Sleepiness is something many meditators are faced with, especially on retreat. It may be one of the easier hindrances to notice in our practice, yet we struggle with it greatly. Sloth and torpor may be in the mind or in the body, giving the sense of a tired and lazy body or a dull mind.

Antidotes:

The Buddha also gave a few suggestions for moments of sloth and torpor during practice: open your eyes, look toward the light, stand up, or tug on your earlobes. There are people standing during meditation at every retreat I’ve been on. It is a great way to keep the mind alert. The Buddha even recommended standing meditation as a form of practice in the Satipatthana Sutta. You may also switch to a walking meditation practice. Be aware of what leads to this hindrance. Overeating is a common cause of sleepiness, as is over or undersleeping. You may also try bringing some joy and energy into your practice. Many people find it helpful to switch to a mudita practice when experiencing this hindrance.

Hindrance: Restlessness and Worry

The fourth hindrance is restlessness and worry. This is the quality of anxiety, monkey mind, or too much misplaced energy. We may feel the restlessness in the body, often in the chest or limbs. The mental part shows up often as a tense mind,  a rapidly firing mind, or a mind preoccupied with the future. Restlessness and worry prevent the mind and body from settling, and often involves giving unwise attention to thoughts.

Antidotes:

The antidotes offered in the suttas to this hindrance are quite varied. It’s suggested to spend time with who posses dignity, practice concentration, and develop tranquility. Equanimity practice is often helpful to develop this tranquil, concentrated state and no longer succumb to the thinking mind. You may also try walking meditation, this releases some of the extra energy in a skillful way.

Hindrance: Doubt

The fifth hindrance is the hindrance of doubt. Doubt may come up in many different ways. We may doubt the teachings, if we’re practicing correctly, our teachers, or the experience we’re having. It may arise with a disguise that seduces us into believing our thoughts. When the mind is trying to figure out some aspect of our practice, doubt is often present. This is a dangerous hindrance because if unnoticed, it may pull us away from our practice completely.

Antidotes:

The antidote to doubt is simply to notice it, as with the other hindrances. This breaks it down. We also may cultivate faith or conviction, reflecting on the benefits of practice in ourselves or others around us. Generally with doubt, the most effective thing we can do is just to bring awareness to its arising. When you are caught in thoughts of trying to figure something out or reason with yourself, check if doubt is present. Ask yourself – is it wholesome or unwholesome to be having this doubt? Confirm faith in your practice by having direct experiences that validate the benefits.

This article is merely an overview of the five hindrances and some antidotes. As always I hope this benefits you in someway in your practice.

Related articles

• Buddhist Writing Prompt: Your true Self has the answer
• Stay well, take care of yourself
• 5 Obstacles in Meditation. ~ Seth Segall
• The Five Hindrances of Mind

Mindfulness....What, Why, How Part 2

Part 2 of 3

Why Practice It?

Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks, can bring a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits. Here are some of these benefits, which extend across many different settings.

• Mindfulness is good for our bodies: A seminal study found that, after just eight weeks of training, practicing mindfulness meditation boosts our immune system’s ability to fight off illness. Practicing mindfulness may also improve sleep quality.
• Mindfulness is good for our minds: Several studies have found that mindfulness increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions and stress. Indeed, at least one study suggests it may be as good as antidepressants in fighting depressionand preventing relapse.
• Mindfulness changes our brains: Research has found that it increases density of gray matter in brain regions linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy.
• Mindfulness helps us focus: Studies suggest that mindfulness helps us tune out distractions and improves our memory, attention skills, and decision-making.
• Mindfulness fosters compassion and altruism: Research suggests mindfulness training makes us more likely to help someone in need and increases activity in neural networks involved in understanding the suffering of others and regulating emotions. Evidence suggests it might boost self-compassion as well.
• Mindfulness enhances relationships: Research suggests mindfulness training makes couples more satisfied with their relationship, makes each partner feel more optimistic and relaxed, and makes them feel more accepting of and closer to one another. Mindful couples may also recover more quickly from conflict.
• Mindfulness affects the way we see ourselves: More mindful people have a stronger sense of self and seem to act more in line with their values. They may also have a healthier body image, more secure self-esteem, and more resilience to negative feedback.
• Mindfulness makes us more resilient: Some evidence suggests that mindfulness training could help veterans facing post-traumatic stress disorder, police officers, women who suffered child abuse, and caregivers.
• Mindfulness can help combat bias: Even a brief mindfulness training can reduce our implicit biases and the biased language we use. One way this works, researchers have found, is by attenuating the cognitive biases that contribute to prejudice.
• Mindfulness is good for business: Mindfulness training could help make leaders more confident, improve creativity, reduce multitasking, and improve client satisfaction.
• Mindfulness is good for parents and parents-to-be: Studies suggest it may reduce pregnancy-related anxiety, stress, and depression in expectant parents, and may even reduce the risk of premature births and developmental issues. Parents who practice mindful parenting report less stress, more positive parenting practices, and better relationships with their kids; their kids, in turn, are less susceptible to depression and anxiety, and have better social skills. Mindfulness training for families may lead to less-stressed parents who pay more attention to their kids.
• Mindfulness may be beneficial to teens: Practicing mindfulness can help teens reduce stress and depression and increase their self-compassion and happiness. Once teens arrive at college, it could also reduce their binge drinking.
• Mindfulness helps schools: There’s scientific evidence that teaching mindfulness in the classroom reduces behavior problems, aggression, and depression among students, and improves their happiness levels, self-regulation, and ability to pay attention. Teachers trained in mindfulness also show lower blood pressure, less negative emotion and symptoms of depression, less distress and urgency, greater compassion and empathy, and more effective teaching.
• Mindfulness helps health care professionals cope with stress, connect with their patients, and improve their general quality of life. It also helps mental health professionals by reducing negative emotions and anxiety, and increasing their positive emotions and feelings of self-compassion.
• Mindfulness helps prisons: Evidence suggests mindfulness reduces anger, hostility, and mood disturbances among prisoners by increasing their awareness of their thoughts and emotions, helping with their rehabilitation and reintegration.
• Mindfulness helps veterans: Studies suggest it can reduce the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of war.
• Mindfulness fights obesity: Practicing “mindful eating” encourages healthier eating habits, helps people lose weight, and helps them savor the food they do eat. Pregnant women who practice mindful eating gain less weight during pregnancy, and have healthier babies.

Click Here for part 3 of 3

Mindfulness....What, Why, How Part 1

What Is Mindfulness?     

Part 1 of 3

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.

Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than reliving the past or imagining the future.

Though it has its roots in Buddhist meditation, a secular practice of mindfulness is in the American mainstream in recent years, in part through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which he launched at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979. Since that time, thousands of studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in general and MBSR in particular, inspiring countless programs to adapt the MBSR model for schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and many more.

What We Still Don’t Know about Mindfulness Meditation

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During the past three decades, a lot has been discovered about mindfulness—and specifically meditation, which is one of the best ways to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment. 

Research has suggested that in a few short weeks, mindfulness meditation practice can bring about physiological, psychological, and social benefits in our lives. From increases in gray matter in the brain to alleviating physical ailments such as migraines and fibromyalgia, the benefits of mindfulness and meditation practice more generally have been touted for everyone ranging from executives to schoolchildren.

While some have been critical of the science behind mindfulness meditation due to poor study designs and small effect sizes, this hasn’t curbed mainstream interest. A recently published study sought to examine the print media coverage of meditation between 1979 and 2014 and discovered that there’s a near inescapable global amount of positive coverage of meditation.

With so many positive claims about mindfulness meditation, it can be difficult to decipher which claims have the most research behind them and which are still preliminary or speculative. In fact, there is a great deal we don’t yet understand about mindfulness and meditation. 

What are the actual benefits of mindfulness meditation?

Just recently, I’ve seen headlines promoting how mindfulness and meditation practices may “decrease your risk of cancer,” “reduce holiday excess,” and help athletes rise to the top. Are these claims true?

A recent analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine caused a bit of a stir in the meditation community. This analysis examined 47 randomized controlled trials of mindfulness meditation programs, which included a total of 3,515 participants. They found that meditation programs resulted only in small to moderate reductions in anxiety, depression, and pain. The authors note that although these effects are small, they are “comparable with what would be expected from the use of an antidepressant in a primary care population but without the associated toxicities.”

Surprisingly, this review showed low evidence of improvements in quality of life. Furthermore, there was also low, insufficient, or no evidence of meditation programs’ effect on positive mood and feelings. According to the authors, meditation programs were not shown to be more beneficial than active treatments—such as exercise, therapy, or taking prescription drugs—on any outcomes of interest. But, Meditation did not seem to be harmful.

While it’s possible that the benefits of mindfulness practice and meditation generally may be more modest than originally assumed, several important barriers to the study of contemplative practices influence the quality of research being conducted. Most notable are the lack of funding (which influences number of participants, study length, and design) and poor measurement tools (which have been limited primarily to questionnaires of varying quality, an issue also likely tied to the lack of funding). While private and federal research grants are indeed awarded to the study of contemplative practices, these grants are typically much smaller than those awarded to more traditional research (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy or pharmacology trials).

Nevertheless, the consensus from this analysis is that while there are some benefits, mindfulness meditation programs are not a cure-all to every modern-day ailment.

How much practice is enough?

“How much meditation practice is enough?” Most people are looking for a CDC type of response(e.g., 3 times a week for 45-60 minutes), There is an old Zen saying: “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day—unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” To date, researchers have yet to arrive at a consensus about how much is “enough.”

Many meditation programs suggest that participants practice formal meditation (the “on the cushion” practice) anywhere from 15-30 minutes per day, 5-7 days per week. Many research studies, including some published research at Stanford University on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Compassion Cultivation Training, have found that some (not all) of the benefits from these programs are “dose dependent”—meaning that the participants who report the greatest amount of meditation practice are the ones who show the greatest gains. This is not universally true; there are some outcomes that do not seem to be influenced by minutes of practice. As is often the case, the research is mixed.

Aside from the raw number of minutes, other factors may interact to influence the benefits of mindfulness practice: the type (e.g., formal sitting meditation practice vs. informal meditation practices, mindfulness vs. compassion, etc.), the frequency (e.g., multiple times a day, multiple times a week), and the quality (e.g., sitting and actually doing the practice vs. doing the practice “on the go”). Using the analogy of going to the gym: It’s not enough to simply think about going to the gym, or talk about going to the gym, or wear gym clothes around town, or only go to the gym for a few weeks after making New Year’s resolutions. In order to gain the most benefits out of going to the gym, one has to really show up and do the exercises on a regular basis.

While it’s possible that in the next 10-15 years we will see a CDC-style recommendation regarding meditation practice, to date, the empirical data on the topic are still inconclusive. So my recommendations (for the time being) are to try out different durations, types, and frequencies of meditation and jot down how you feel before and after the practice. It’s even important to experiment with different times of the day. Making time to intentionally reflect on your experiences with the practice is key. The only way to find out what’s right for you is to experiment. 

Is there a dark side to meditation?

One of the big misconceptions about mindfulness practice and meditation more generally is that they will induce a sense of peace, calm, and stress reduction. While this can be the experience for some, it is not the experience for all. At times, sitting quietly with oneself can be a difficult—even painful—experience. For individuals who have experienced some sort of trauma, sitting and meditating can at times bring up recent or sometimes decades-old painful memories and experiences that they may not be prepared to confront.At times, it may be appropriate to seek outside support when practicing meditation, such as short-term psychotherapy, support groups, or meditation sangha groups. It’s also possible that some practices are more “difficult” than others. For example, practices where you visualize yourself as a small child might be particularly difficult if you experienced some sort of abuse as a young child. Rather than powering through the practices, be willing to gauge whether a particular type of meditation is suitable for you at this time in your life.

Mindfulness..... What, Why, How Part 2 of 3