Mindfulness meditation is as mindblowing as discovering calorie restriction

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  • posted by Jackie WilsonSaid
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    I’ve meditated on and off for 40 years. I wrote this recently for my daughter as I think she is ready. It may be of interest.

    To help relieve the stress of everyday life – essentially the flight response that is produced in real (car crash) or apparent (not having “enough” time) crisis – we need a counterbalance. Excess anxiety will produce cumulative long-term physical and mental ill effects if not managed.

    Meditation slows the breathing, heart rate, brain waves and thus metabolism and so is the exact opposite of stress. It helps you attune to your mind and body and the world via the breath. The beauty part is that each of us has WITHIN US the capacity to control and reverse the effects of stress by this simple practice. Yoga can produce similar effects due to its combo of focus and relaxation.

    There are researched and documented (Harvard) benefits to meditation but simply it has 2 features that evoke the relaxation response:
    1. Repetition.
    2. Disregarding random thoughts (or activities) when they come to mind.

    Both allow you to break the train of everyday thinking so produce temporary relief and long-term peace of mind. The world and its stressors are still out there but after meditation your mind is calmed and strengthened with a fresh perspective and insight.

    You get most benefit from learning properly and daily practice – 20 mins twice per day is most often recommended to get into the habit. And it’s not easy at first – that’s why it’s called meditation practice. I have meditated for 40 years – at first every day for a couple of years, after I did a ‘breathing meditation’ course as a ‘liberal studies’ module at college. It then becomes something that is a part of you and you can tap into it on the train, as a means of relaxing before sleep, at the sea shore etc.

  • posted by Jackie WilsonSaid
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    There’s a free 8 week Meditation programme on-line one with mp3s, videos and reading links:

    http://palousemindfulness.com

    And there are many alternative resources. One whose writing on the subject I enjoyed reading recently is Sam Harris, a neuroscientist, thinker etc. To my daughter I recommended Sam Harris’ 9 minute meditation as a guide in technique. This could be followed, for example, by a recording of the calm sea to allow you to drift off whilst concentrating on the breath. A long term favourite of mine to help me mindfully relax is Brian Eno’s Music For Airports Part 1.

    You can of course meditate in complete silence and your own brain will often take you on interesting journeys, whilst centring and grounding you.

    https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/how-to-meditate

    The longer guided meditation is more of an active experience which also engages the meditator in exploring consciousness/the self. SH follow up article also gives Soundcloud links to the mp3s of the 9 min and 26 mins meditations:

    https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/mindfulness-meditation

  • posted by Switzerland
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    Thank you for the information and the links, JackieWilsonSaid.

  • posted by orchid
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    Thank-you. Really useful Jackie WilsonSaid.

  • posted by Lucia
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    John green leaf Whittier. Don’t give up.

    I remember something a long, long time ago.
    I will have to google it.
    Sorry if I have misspelt it more than usual.

    Love Lucia
    Xxx

  • posted by orchid
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    Today’s Mindfulness.
    Ok – so I managed two sessions today – a shorter one, ten minutes guided this afternoon and just finished one unguided 10 minutes this evening. The problem with the evening one is that I yawn – 3-4 large yawns – every few minutes. It must be relaxing me, but I probably should not be back on the PC typing this up afterwards and undoing my mindfulness!
    Need to shut down now. Will post more tomorrow.

  • posted by Jackie WilsonSaid
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    orchid,
    Any meditation is good it seems.
    Not sure if you have the time in the early morning, but it’s the one time of day which by definition is quieter and welcomes meditators – other preferences are available of course.

  • posted by Leeanne
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    It really interests me but have yet to begin. I bought “The little book of mindfulness” and in it there’s a 10 step beginners guide to meditation. Even just reading it all makes me feel more relaxed!

  • posted by orchid
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    Yesterday I decided to stop the package on focus I was working through, yes I do realise the irony of stopping that one 🙁 and had a look at the one of creativity. I also set it for 10 minutes not 15 minutes.
    I went well yesterday and the visualisation I had to do came more easily to me than the ones in ‘focus’. I did it late afternoon and that worked. I am not a morning person and I was rushing this morning to get out the house to join the beginners running group so there was no way I would fit even 10 minutes in during that rush.
    Did another one on creativity this afternoon and it went well. Will continue with this for a while.
    I have an essay I need to get written over the weekend, I am hoping this will get my mind in the right place for writing!

  • posted by orchid
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    hi Leeanne, there are a number of apps that take you through a mindfulness session. I posted some links on another thread, and Jackie WilsonSaid has posted a few as well. The headspace app I use has a free section and you just pick the first one an sit inform of the PC, or plug in your phone and listen. It is easy to follow and might be enough to get you hooked!

  • posted by Switzerland
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    Hi everyone, I’ve continued mindfulness meditation daily and am encouraged by the benefits. I’m sleeping through of a night and I’m really noticing less of a stress response (which was always reaching for high carb foods) when tricky situations arise.
    If you haven’t experienced mindfulness meditation read the threads available and try it – you get better at it the more you do it and there are some real benefits.

  • posted by hashimoto
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    Hi folks, there was an article in the papers today that said research indicates that regular meditation can knock 7 years off your BRAIN AGE!!! I’m going to do more of it!!!! 🙂

  • posted by Jackie WilsonSaid
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    With reference to an interesting comment by RozyDozy in the forum on another thread about the free course mentioned, I would advise maybe to fast forward through the Kabat-Zinn video in Week 1. He is THE mindfulness guru that everyone refers back to but this is not one of his better talks – it’s a bit dull and lasts forever. His books are good.
    The background reading and other videos will give you sufficient context to make a start. The main thing though is to make a start; the course is for those who are interested in learning a bit more.
    With BSD I found that I wanted to read and watch around the subject as well as just do calorie restriction.
    With the Mindfulness course, in week 4 I’m finding that I’m learning a lot more about something with which I was already familiar. It’s also making me aware of new things too, e.g., yoga, which I always thought was a girly thing but it’s tough! [I know, closed minded].

  • posted by RozyDozy
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    Hello JackieWilsonSaid,
    I’m glad to know that you thought the talk a bit dull – it wasn’t just me! I think maybe a whole course is probably too much for me at the moment – I’ll read through the books I’ve got and see how I get on. I can see that there are benefits to mindfulness but I need to be in the right frame of mind – a bit like losing weight, I knew for months that I ought to do something but until something “clicks” in my brain…

    You thought yoga was a girly thing… I do pilates and I find that tough enough. I’ve not mastered the plank yet.

  • posted by Jackie WilsonSaid
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    RozyDozy,
    Yes, you do have to be ready for it – the good thing is that the books you have will give you some ideas for ‘having a go’.
    There’s a lot of mindfulness needed for the BSD – careful selection of ingredients, cooking methods and controlled eating.
    I’ve been trying to encourage my wife and daughter to try meditation for years. With the wife we suddenly have yoga in common and I now understand the connection. Daughter is trying to meditate regularly but is not ready for a course yet.

    Good luck with all.

  • posted by shalimar
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    Just started the Palouse course.

    Been sick though. Feel awake today for the first time in weeks.

    Walking back from the library … tripped on the sidewalk … the universe’s way to get me to be mindful … and it was a lovely warmish fall day with lots of crunchy multicolored autumn leaves to crunch underfoot. There was a lovely scent in the air. So very much to enjoy!!

  • posted by Ancient Weaver
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    Is there any significant difference between, mindfulness, visualisation, hypnotic trance (self induced), and lucid dreaming?

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