Mindfulness Meditation and The Reduction of Anxiety
Mindfulness meditation is a form of meditation that has been prevalent for thousands of years, and is only becoming increasingly more popular. “Over the past decade, neuroscientists like myself have become increasingly interested in studying how meditation affects the brain and body. The number of studies conducted per year in this new field of contemplative science is rising exponentially, with more than 200 studies published last year alone,” (Hasenkamp). It’s a form of meditation in which a person builds a practice of awareness, intentionally focuses their attention on the present moment, and accepts whatever the present moment brings, without any judgment.
New research presents mindfulness meditation as a helpful source for preventing and/or reducing anxiety. Mindfulness and it’s relation to anxiety is broken down into three parts; the neurological relation, the effects presented by focusing the mind on the present moment, and the reduction of any pre-existing physical symptoms of anxiety. Any presented research regarding mindfulness implements how essential it is in successfully decreasing anxiety. Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center recruited fifteen healthy volunteers with normal everyday levels of anxiety to partake in a study to see how mindfulness specifically affected anxiety. The volunteers of the study participated in four twenty-minute meditation classes where they learned about mindfulness and were taught how to focus one’s attention on the breath and body sensations, in attempt to non-judgmentally redirect thoughts and emotions. “In this study, we were able to see which areas of the brain were activated and which were deactivated during meditation-related anxiety relief.” (Zeidan)
The study revealed that anxiety relief due to meditation is associated with the activation of the anterior
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
As psychological field of study advances with its technologies to investigate changes in the mind, using such technology to look at effects of mindfulness meditation would strengthen its argument and understanding of the mechanisms in the brain, to change meditators into the new awaken state. This essay will reveal the evidence of mindfulness meditation making an impact on the mind. First, this essay will present the studies which found physiological functional differences in the body for those who did mindfulness meditation. Second, this essay will present the studies which found functional differences in the brain for those who perform mindfulness meditation. Third, this essay will present the studies which found structural differences in the brain for those who performed mindfulness meditation.
The origin of mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist philosophy and practice tradition which is more than two and half thousand years old. Mindfulness can be practisced by anyone of any faith and religion and involves training the mind and doesn’t enforce any religious belief system.
For thousands of years people have practiced mediation for spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Albeit there are many mediation types, in this paper I will be discussing and focusing on mindfulness mediation. Before further exploring mindfulness mediation, it is crucial to define mediation as a whole. Tang, Holzel, & Posner, 2016 state “Meditation can be defined as a form of mental training that aims to improve an individual’s core psychological capacities, such as attentional and emotional capacities” (p.213). Having that in mind, we can dive into mindfulness mediation. Mindfulness meditation is defined as “nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experiences (Tang, Holzel, & Posner, 2016).” A useful analogy to consider is going to the gym, going to the gym allows one to enhance the body, well similarly, practicing mindfulness is akin to taking the mind to the psychic gym, it enhances it. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present all while dismissing discursive thoughts and maintaining a special focus on breathing.
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.
Mindfulness involves accepting our thoughts and emotions without judgment, and without believing that there is a right or wrong way to feel in a given situation. Our thoughts and emotions are not labeled as good or bad. They are observed as simply happening until they pass. While practicing mindfulness one does not rehash the past or imagine the future. Attention is focused on what is being sensed in the present moment. There is a sense of self apart from things. Mindfulness is moment to moment awareness and purposefully placing attention on things that we wouldn’t normally give a second thought to. Mindfulness can be thought of as a way of being, rather than an activity. It is the awareness of wondering thoughts and purposefully directing them back, rather than letting them
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, as a therapeutic technique. The M square, as I call it, which stands for Mindfulness and Meditation is making an impact on today’s society, as it has been used by more people with each passing day. They are starting to acknowledge the benefits, some of which are the improvement in both mental and physical health, acceptance of one’s self, lower stress and depression, and maybe more, but to mention a few. Not excluding these two great men: Dr. Martinez, a Biocognitive Psychologist, and Keith Mitchell, an ex-American football linebacker in the National Football League. Both Dr. Martinez and Keith are strong supporters and practitioners of meditation and mindfulness.
People of western society have observed the practice and now over eighteen million people in the United States of America use meditation for various reasons (Clarke). There are many ideologies pertaining to mediations and its benefits; however, there is also statistically proven evidence to prove the benefits of meditation. I would like to focus on a study conducted by Harvard graduated at the Massachusetts General Hospital; the study was able to show the effects meditation had on certain areas of the brain such as the amygdala as well as the surrounding grey matter. The research showed grey matter being altered, which has a direct correlation between stress, internal emotions, acceptance and memory. The study consisted of sixteen participants who participated in an eight-week mindfulness program. Prior to, along with after the program, MRI scans of the brain showed that only twenty-seven minutes a day of meditation displayed denser grey matter in the amygdala and hippocampus which also led researchers to conclude meditation has the potential to help with self-awareness and compassion (Bushack). A Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology, Dr. Sara Lazar states, “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day”
To begin with, mindfulness is when someone can pay attention to the present moment “without being devoted to different points of view” (Martin, 1997). Along with staying focused on the present moment, mindfulness is when the particular person does not judge the current experience as the person tries to comprehend the present situation. Mindfulness makes a person reflect on one’s self by not only figuring out one’s thoughts, but also the feelings that go along with it. The complex nature of mindfulness demonstrates that it has multiple purposes that cultivates a person into realizing the potential of the brain (Davis & Hayes,
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).
What are your thoughts, views, musings and experiences etc. regarding meditation? As we all can learn from each other when it comes to sharing ways of creating a healthy, happy and vibrant life work balance.
Orme-Johnson, D. W., & Barnes, V. A. (2014). Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Technique on Trait Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal Of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 20(5), 330-341. doi:10.1089/acm.2013.0204
Mindfulness is not just about meditation it’s so much more. Mindfulness involves being fully present and aware of life. It’s about knowing where and what we’re doing. You could say it’s about taking time to smell the roses, living in the present. Author James Baraz stated that mindfulness is being aware what is happening right now without wishing it were different. Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Cindy March present on how simple it is to be more mindful and show compassion towards others and ourselves. Dr. Cindy March has been practicing mindfulness for over forty years. The concept of mindfulness is fairly new to me and Dr. March was able to not only enlighten me but open my eyes to simple and easy ways to be more present in life and my work.
“The practice of meditation can facilitate exploration of emotional states that support the process of self-actualization and improve overall college student well-being” (Crowley & Munk, 2017, p.91). In this quote, authors Claire Crowley and Dana Munk clearly state the major benefits of practicing mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation can be defined as a practice which helps a person self-regulate their mind and emotions, thus affecting mental states by engaging a specific skill set for attention to tasks (Sjöstedt, 2012). Generally speaking, the desire to try meditation comes from two types of people: first, one who is interested and perceives some type of benefit; and secondly, one who has experienced a significant amount of stress and anxiety and is seeking some kind of relief from these
In response to human’s disconnectedness among individual’s body, mind and community (Aoki, 2004) due to “business as usual” (Macy, 2012), mindfulness is newly emerged as an antidote for people to deal with “emotional and psychological sufferings” (Dalai Lama, 1999). What is mindfulness? You can find 27,900,000 results on Google just in 0.75 seconds (recorded in December, 2017) if you type “mindfulness”. There are a huge number of research and explanations about “mindfulness”, but in this paper, I refer “mindfulness”, according to Cambridge dictionary, simply as “the practice of being aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment.”