Throughout history, Buddhist monks and the eastern religion have been performing meditation, but recently, many people in different societies have been practicing meditation for relaxation and health purposes. Meditation is a practice that allows someone to train their mind to be in a state of consciousness that aids their mind and body in a positive way (Aldahadha). Meditation is about paying attention, focusing, and being extremely relaxed. It strengthens a person’s creativity and performance while enhancing relationships (Aldahadha). Meditators find that during meditation, their body and mind can freely absorb what is around them; this allows a person to have less anxiety. People that meditate are more direct, absorb life easier, are less tense and stressed, have increased memory and learning, are happier, have better cognitive skills, produce positive changes in gray matter density in their brains (related to memory and learning), and have increased emotional regulation as well as increased self-awareness ("The Science behind Meditation, and Why It Makes You Feel Better"). Someone that meditates on a consistent basis also has an increased attention span and has better physical health ("The Science behind Meditation, and Why It Makes You Feel Better"). Another positive effect of meditating is that it decreases someone’s chances of psychological disorders ("The Science behind Meditation, and Why It Makes You Feel Better").
Meditation has been around for thousands of years. In every religion, the instructions for meditating are the same; only the words differ ("Buddhist Meditation"). There are two major types of meditation that benefit the user, Mantra and Vipassana meditation ("Buddhist Meditation") By meditating, the human mind...
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...effects it may have on you (Figen). Continue this practice until it gets easier and meditate whenever you feel that it is needed (especially if you feel tense or stressed).
Scientific data shows that meditation has many significant benefits to a human, including health and cognitive improvements as well as decreased anxiety and psychological disorders (Figen and Harris). Also, most people that attend doctor visits are stressed, so by meditating once or twice daily, the visits to the doctor will be less stressful to a person (Burns). Meditation can help balance out your life, so why not try it? It's fairly simple and fast. In the future, I predict that meditation will be a major part to many peoples’ life to help people deal with their anxiety, and I also think that meditation will be used as a common therapy to help deal with physical and psychological health.
However, meditation is not as common within Buddhism as most believe. There is a large assumption “that Buddhism and meditation go hand in hand”, but the majority of Buddhists have focused on “cultivating moral behavior, preserving the Buddha’s teachings (dharma), and acquiring good karma”(Braun 2014, p.1). Meditation and Buddhism are often assumed to be one and same, but this is also not true. As Buddhism has gained popularity among lay people it’s practices have changed Buddha’s teaching of the middle path has adapted to meditation being “possible in the city” rather than with monks in jungles and caves (p.4). As seen in Burma, in less than 75 years Buddhism and meditation were able to grow “from a pursuit of the barest sliver of the population to a duty of the ideal citizen” (p.5). While meditation is not the core of Buddhism it has encouraged the growth of Buddhism as it’s practice of mindfulness has been inspiring an approachable model (p.6). Meditation and mindfulness are easily manipulated to secularization, but still have significance in Buddhism and following the patterns of your
Mindfulness is a concept or practice that was founded nearly 2600 years ago. It is a very integral component of the Buddhist faith and is believed to be associated with many benefits including self-control, tolerance, flexibility, objectivity, concentration, mental clarity, emotional intelligence, kindness, compassion, acceptance, and equanimity.
Steps for concentrative meditation, (1) find a quiet place, (2) sit in a comfortable position upright, (3) find an object to dwell on, for example your breathing, or on a particular word that is repeated, (4) a passive attitude, meaning do not get upset when distracting thoughts
Over twenty-five hundred years ago, Buddha Guatama practiced meditation and came to what is known as “The Four Noble Truth,” an important principle in Buddhism (Elder, 2010). This principle informs the reader of what suffering is and how affect is. This is a great example of how valuable meditation is- on the very first session ever recorded, the awareness that came from it would later be the foundation of a new religion. This proves how powerful meditation can be. Furthermore, some form of meditation can be found in various religions. Although the styles, techniques, and ideology behind the meditation can vary per religion, personal transformation is the key goal (Modi, Singh, 2012). Today, in Western society, mindful meditation (a form of meditation) has grown in popularity, used for relaxation and to help treat those who suffer from mental illness’ and mood disorders. Viewed as alternative medicine for the mind and soul, it is beneficial for our emotional and mental
Impulse control and decision-making, both executive functions, are believed to center in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994). Damage to this area increases deficits in decision making (Bechara et. al.,1994). Research has shown that chronic heroin use negatively impacts an individual’s ability to restrain impulses, leading to lack of planning and decreased adaptive and social cognition (Pau, Lee, & Chan, 2001). Heroin is a powerful opiate that crosses the blood-brain barrier and produces potent euphoria (Pau, Lee, & Chan, 2001). Impulse control is defined as an individual’s tendency to act on arising wishes or urges (Murphy & Mackillop, 2012). Greater mindfulness has been shown to decrease substance dependent individuals’ urge to use substances (Murphy & Mackillop, 2012). Mindfulness focuses on the emphasis on staying in the present moment, the natural impermanence of things in an individual’s environment, and the awareness of actions such as noticing what is experienced without judgment or reactive behavior (Murphy & Mackillop, 2012). Research on the implementation of mindfulness techniques and their ability to decrease impulsivity is necessary in order to examine the ways heroin-dependent adults react cognitively, behaviorally, and physiologically to external stimuli.
The studies showed that while meditated, the subjects showed signs of thought processes slowing down and changes occurring in the brain. The purpose of meditation, and mindfulness meditation as mentioned in this course, is to increase awareness while calming the normal thought processes that often overcrowd the mind with ideas that are deemed not-true by Buddhism. These brain scans clearly show that the purpose of meditation is achieved in doing so.
OK. So you’ve heard, that meditation is beneficial for you, maybe you’ve read lists about the advantages of meditation. A ton of different kind of meditations are on-line, and you found several resources, articles, blog posts about the theme to select from. These articles state, that the meditation has countless benefits, which are also proven by scientific research. You can believe them, since eminent scientists carried out extensive research on this subject. And they suggest, you should try them, and of course you should practice it each day. Every day - or you won’t have those benefits.
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
Meditation is a way to open up all areas of the body and release anything that may be toxic to the spirit. Channeling the spirit through meditation is another familiar practice due to the fact that is believed that the spirit is never dead, only the shell. Through meditation, people believe that they are able to channel their minds so that they might have a more intimate experience with God. People who practice the religion believe that there are more ways to reach God than through Jesus alone. Yes, Jesus is the central avenue but when a soul sees God in all things then they are able to experience the euphoria that comes with being one with
The first grant proposal addressed the effects of meditation on life-span cognitional developmental processes. From my understanding, there is a strong connection to the mindset and self-awareness, as one chooses to mediate for their own reason. Based on the informed information, meditation is used to decrease stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The provided background information and predicted research study will help determine the pros and cons of the process, using the meditation techniques.
It provides the necessary tools for you to be successful in listening to your inner self and in becoming more aware of the moment you are in without passing judgement on yourself or others. It is not a “one size fits all” book. It offers a variety of tips and techniques that even the worst skeptic of mindfulness may find beneficial. Authors: S.J. Scott & Barrie Davenport have produced this book in an instructive format. Each mindfulness step begins with the reasons why it is important and the benefits one may receive from practicing it.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (2010). Health info. Meditation: An introduction. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
In the past two decades, many philosophers, spiritual leaders, and psychological transitions have accentuated the importance of the quality of consciousness for the maintenance and enhancement of well-being. One of the characteristics of consciousness that has been discussed in relation to well-being is mindfulness. In concentration with the psychology discipline, mindfulness meditation practices have been increasingly used to treat a majority of pain, stress and anxiety-related conditions and also, increasing well-being. The ideology of mindfulness meditation has core roots in Buddhist philosophy and other pensive traditions where awareness and conscious attention are actively cultured (Brown, Kirk Warren,2003).
It is well known and proven that over time the benefits of meditating on a regular basis promotes the development of inner calmness, connectedness, focus, flow, a clear clarity of mind, a focused and more stable grounded concentration, along with coherency of thought, increased creativity, being more open and receptive to receive insights, solutions to problems and new ideas, a balanced and harmonious centred inner equilibrium, a relaxed happy body, mind and spirit, which in turn assists as a preventative tool that creates and maintains positive overall vibrant health and wellbeing.
First, I will present the research of the physical effects that meditation has on our body’s major internal systems and other common physical chronic conditions. Secondly, I will discuss how meditation practices can impact one 's mental and emotional health. Lastly, I will offer a definition of spirituality and how meditation can bring positive spiritual results.