Meditation

[Sheila]

That sounds really admirable, Moui. How great that you’re seeing this benefit of being able to choose more easily how you respond to a triggering situation. If everybody were better at this, we could wipe out war in 10 years!

As you know, there are many different kinds of meditation with different aims, methods, results. And, it’s true, there are times when *none* of them is what is called for. In early w/d, I could not tolerate anything like meditation. Nor brainwave entrainment.

[Moui]

I should have specified I'm talking about mindfulness meditation here. This may have been more suitable for my personal journal but I thought I would post here in case someone else is practicing mindfulness or is curious. In name of honesty if something triggers my most 'deep painful grooves' I still go boom like the deathstar in star wars.. But I am more aware of what's happening.. these are the same issues I'm going to address in therapy. Right now it is still my achilles heel. But these are old old patterns from 10-15 years (not ssri/wd related at all). I've only meditated daily for a couple of short months. I try to keep in mind how much progress I make in physical strength gains in the same time as a gauge.

[Luc]

[Luc]

Relaxation Response Practice Like Deep Breathing or Meditation Found to Alter Genes

Natural Society July 3rd, 2013

The well known and once Harvard doctor Herbert Benson who coined the term ‘relaxation response’ has been providing insightful research to explain what seekers and adepts have known for centuries, namely that practices which induce ‘deep rest’ like prayer, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing produce very measurable results in the immune system, energy metabolism and insulin secretion. Further, these practices also lead to a host of other beneficial physiological changes. Now a study published in PLOS ONE which combined advanced profiling of genes and the relaxation response has helped to determine the true potential of those physiological changes on our overall health.

While many studies have shown that meditation, yoga, breathing, etc. have a deep impact on our health, “we can now identify the key physiological hubs through which these benefits might be induced.” This is what Benson, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute and co-senior author of the PLOS ONE report tells us. We can now see exactly how the genes are affected by these practices to positively affect diseases like hypertension, severe anxiety, insomnia, and even premature aging.

“Many studies have shown that mind/body interventions like the relaxation response can reduce stress and enhance wellness in healthy individuals and counteract the adverse clinical effects of stress in conditions like hypertension, anxiety, diabetes and aging,” says Herbert Benson, MD. “Now for the first time we’ve identified the key physiological hubs through which these benefits might be induced.”

Even the NY Times has reported on the relaxation response, touting surprising benefits like:

Reduced asthmatic outbreaks
Lowering of blood pressure
Lessening of disease due to increased immune response
Slowing of heart and respiratory rates
Improved mood
Increased cognitive functioning

As modern society works to reverse the fight-or-flight syndrome, sometimes called hyper-arousal, a left over sympathetic nervous system response to stress, either real or imagined, there is evidence of alteration of gene expression within individuals, and this is big news. Now there is more science to back up practices that were once thought to be contrived or ‘new age’ at best. Where once yoga and meditation was considered a cult, now it has peer-reviewed, scientific articles in mainstream western institutions to support its efficacy. It looks like the yoga and meditation ‘high’ that many people report (and essentially what Benson describes as the relaxation response) is not imagined after all.

“The combination of genomics and systems biology in this study provided great insight into the key molecules and physiological gene interaction networks that might be involved in relaying beneficial effects of relaxation response in healthy subjects,” says Manoj K. Bhasin, PhD, co-lead author of the study and co-director of the BIDMC Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Center.

http://naturalsociety.com/specific-g...tion-response/

[Luc]

The number of possible types of meditation may be, in fact, infinite, but here are some examples. I've edited the source text to make it shorter:


University of the Heart

by ASATAR BAIR on JUNE 12, 2010


8 Basic Kinds of Meditation (And Why You Should Meditate On Your Heart)

1. Mindfulness, also called ‘Vipassana’, comes from the Buddhist tradition. I’d say mindfulness is the most popular form of meditation in the western world. It’s all about ‘being present’, letting your mind run, and accepting whatever thoughts come up, while practicing detachment from each thought. Mindfulness is taught along with an awareness on the breath, though the breathing is often considered to be just one sensation among many others, not a particular focus. [...]

2. Zazen is the generic term for seated meditation in the Buddhist tradition, but in the modern Zen tradition, it is often referred to as ‘just sitting’. It is a minimal kind of meditation, done for long periods of time, with little instruction beyond the basics of posture (sit with your back straight). There is no particular attention to the breath, nor an attempt to change the breath. [...]

3. Transcendental Meditation is a simplified practice that emerges from Vedanta, the meditative tradition within Hinduism. In TM, you sit with your back straight (ideally in the Lotus or half-Lotus posture), and use a mantra, a sacred word that is repeated. Your focus is on rising above all that is impermanent. TM is a more involved method than either mindfulness or zazen. [...]

4. Kundalini is another practice that comes from Vedanta. Kundalini is the name for the rising stream of energy that exists in a human being (there is also a downward stream, not emphasized in Kundalini). The aim of Kundalini meditation is to become aware of that rising stream, and to ride the stream to infinity. The practitioner concentrates on their breath flowing through each of the energy centers of the body, always moving upward, toward the energy center just above the top of the head.[...]

5. Qi gong is a form of Taoist meditation that uses the breath to circulate energy through the organs and energy centers of the body in a oval pattern called the ‘microcosmic orbit’. Attention is focused on the breath and the circulation of energy (called ‘qi’ or ‘chi’). Attention is also focused on the three major centers used in Taoist meditation: a point about two inches below the navel, the center of the chest, and the center of the forehead. [...]

6. Guided visualization is a popular form of meditation that involves concentration upon an image or imaginary environment. It is usually done while listening to a recording. An example would be to imagine you are in a grassy field, with a clear sky overhead. There is sometimes a focus on the breath, but generally no attempt to use or control the breath, and because the sensation is imaginary, and the impetus for it comes from outside, the practice tends to be rather passive.[...]

7. Trance-based practices. This is my category for a whole set of reflective practices that generate a trance state. The hallmarks of a trance are: awareness of the self and the environment is limited, conscious control of the experience is absent, rational thinking is absent, and memory of the experience is very limited. Often these kinds of practices involve drugs, music, shallow, rapid breathing (which produces an intoxicating effect), or a form of hypnotic suggestion. [...]

8. Heart Rhythm Meditation focuses on the breath and heartbeat, making the breath full, deep, rich, rhythmic, and balanced. Attention is focused on the heart as the center of the energetic system. One tries to identify oneself with the heart. By focusing on the breath, you make your breath powerful. And then learning to direct the breath, to feel the circulation of breath as your pulse in different parts of your body, then on your magnetic field, you learn to direct and circulate energy. [...]


http://www.iam-u.org/index.php/8-bas...-on-your-heart