 I just got back from a 10-day retreat in Kaufman, Texas, where I learned teachings passed down for centuries from the man himself, Gautama Buddha. If learning to meditate like Buddha isn't a great marketing spin for a meditation retreat, I don't know what is! The seminar was a mind-blowing experience with its share of ups and downs. This is my story, and my take on the meditation technique of vipassana.
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I am a strong believer in understanding and trying many different meditation disciplines to find the one(s) that work for you. This guest blog written by Diamond over at eHealthInformer outlines four of them.  Though meditation has been around for centuries, it's still only just starting to take off in the Western world. It first gained popularity in the West during the 1960s as culture changed with music and narcotic experimentation. The Beatles learned Transcendental Meditation from the Maharishi in Rishikesh, which changed their musical sound and lyrics meanings to be about spirituality and eastern philosophy.
Around this time other bands and influential people began learning and experimenting with meditation. However, since then meditation has spread deeply throughout Western culture and is now considered as standard as yoga or shisha pipes. Meditation is now used not only for spiritual connection but mind health, stress relief, developing focus and vision exercises. Not everyone wishes to use meditation for spiritual purposes, though that is the area the techniques were bred from. These four unique meditation practices are among the most effective and widely practiced to date. Using the information below you should be able to decide which is right for you and your desires.  The idea of sitting in lotus pose even for 20 minutes can feel overwhelming…or boring. Even if you’re interested in achieving flow state, if you’re a typical high-achiever Type A personality, then you might think that sitting cross-legged and breathing deeply is a waste of precious time.If you’re nodding your head in agreement, there are two things you should know. First, if you think you’re too busy to meditate, you probably need meditation more than anyone! Secondly, meditation takes many forms—it isn’t all chanting and hanging out in rock gardens. Check out four ways you can reap the benefits of meditating even if it’s not your thing. Read More...
 Adolescents assigned to a mindfulness meditation program appeared to have improvements in memory in a recent study.
"These results are consistent with a growing body of research in adults that has found mindfulness meditation to be a helpful tool for enhancing working memory capacity," said Kristen E. Jastrowski Mano of the psychology department at the University of Cincinnati, who coauthored the new study. Read more... 
I just did an interview today with Lewis Harrison from "That was Zen This is Tao" radio show broadcast on WIOX 91.3 FM Roxbury NY. Sorry for the sound quality, I didn't get the recording setup in time, as I just got back from Alaska and was still on Alaska time! 3 hours behind Austin! Anyway, it's still clear enough to get the points! Check out the interview below or you can find it on SoundCloud.
 With evidence growing that training the mind or inducing specific modes of consciousness can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body. A new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France reports the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of intensive mindfulness practice. The study investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. Read More...
 Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain’s grey matter. Read More...
 Many people have tried to sell me on the idea of meditating. Sometimes I try it, and have an incredible, refreshing experience. But usually, as I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, while I know that I’m supposed to be letting all thoughts go, more and more fly through my mind. Soon I have a laundry-list of “to-dos” in my head … and then my legs fall asleep. It’s all downhill from there. This TED Talk, however, might actually convince me to give meditation another shot. Read More...
 Lucid dreaming is one category of dreams that many people experience. It occurs when the individual is dreaming and during that dream the individual is completely aware that they are dreaming. Some people report a low-level lucidity state where one is aware they are dreaming but not able to alter the content of the dream. Other people have experienced high-level lucidity where one is aware they are dreaming but are also able to alter the dream, and have the freedom to do whatever they desire within the dream. Read More...
 At first glance, Quiet Time - a stress reduction strategy used in several San Francisco middle and high schools, as well as in scattered schools around the Bay Area - looks like something out of the om-chanting 1960s. Twice daily, a gong sounds in the classroom and rowdy adolescents, who normally can't sit still for 10 seconds, shut their eyes and try to clear their minds. I've spent lots of time in urban schools and have never seen anything like it. This practice - meditation rebranded - deserves serious attention from parents and policymakers. An impressive array of studies shows that integrating meditation into a school's daily routine can markedly improve the lives of students. If San Francisco schools Superintendent Richard Carranza has his way, Quiet Time could well spread citywide. Read More...
 Sometimes the weight of the world can really bring us down and create un-wanted stress in our lives. Whether it’s a demanding job with long hours, living up to the expectations of a spouse or family member, or going to school we can really become frustrated with our situations. Meditation can be a great tool to help bring us back to our underlying essence and help us to feel more at peace with our lives and whatever our current situations may be. Read More...
 What is meditation? You can ask that question and get a million different answers. After 3 years of dabbling with mediation and speaking with many people who have all tried it and played with it at different “levels,” it is clear that there are many ideas of what meditation is and how it “looks” or “feels.” Read More...
 Our lives are filled with distractions -- email, Twitter, texting we're constantly connected to technology, rarely alone with just our thoughts. Which is probably why there's a growing movement in America to train people to get around the stresses of daily life.
It's a practice called "mindfulness" and it basically means being aware of your thoughts, physical sensations, and surroundings. Tonight, we'll introduce you to the man who's largely responsible for mindfulness gaining traction. His name is Jon Kabat-Zinn and he thinks mindfulness is the answer for people who are so overwhelmed by life, they feel they aren't really living at all. Read More... |
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