Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Meditation May Help Brain Block Out Distractions
Study focuses on a brain wave known as an alpha rhythm
New research suggests that mindfulness meditation can help relieve pain and improve memory by regulating a brain wave known as the alpha rhythm, which "turns down the volume" on distractions.
In a small study, researchers found that those participants using meditation were better able to modulate the waves -- when they were told where to direct their attention -- after they finished an eight-week course, compared to a control group that did no meditation.
"Mindfulness meditation has been reported to enhance numerous mental abilities, including rapid memory recall," study co-author Catherine Kerr, of the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release provided by Massachusetts General. "Our discovery that mindfulness meditators more quickly adjusted the brain wave that screens out distraction could explain their superior ability to rapidly remember and incorporate new facts."
The alpha rhythm plays a role in the cells that process senses like touch, sight and sound in the brain's cortex. It helps the brain ignore distractions, helping a person to focus while many things are going on, the study authors said. (MORE)
New research suggests that mindfulness meditation can help relieve pain and improve memory by regulating a brain wave known as the alpha rhythm, which "turns down the volume" on distractions.
In a small study, researchers found that those participants using meditation were better able to modulate the waves -- when they were told where to direct their attention -- after they finished an eight-week course, compared to a control group that did no meditation.
"Mindfulness meditation has been reported to enhance numerous mental abilities, including rapid memory recall," study co-author Catherine Kerr, of the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release provided by Massachusetts General. "Our discovery that mindfulness meditators more quickly adjusted the brain wave that screens out distraction could explain their superior ability to rapidly remember and incorporate new facts."
The alpha rhythm plays a role in the cells that process senses like touch, sight and sound in the brain's cortex. It helps the brain ignore distractions, helping a person to focus while many things are going on, the study authors said. (MORE)
Monday, April 25, 2011
Integrative Way: Meditation Can Relieve Pain, Stress
Scientists are beginning to discover the brain changes that occur during meditation and that contribute to its benefit.
Meditation has become increasingly popular, and also increasingly available, to the average consumer in the past five to 10 years.
While anyone who practices meditation on a regular basis can attest to its positive benefits — reduced stress and anxiety — going "om" may also lessen physical pain and provide other benefits.
How and why meditation is so effective in this way has been somewhat of a mystery in the past, but now thanks to modern technology, scientists are beginning to discover the brain changes that occur during meditation and that contribute to its benefit.
In fact, there's a new field of inquiry known as contemplative neuroscience, which is the study of how the brain physically changes when people meditate. This area of science has exploded in the past 10 years, especially with the development of functional MRI scans that allow scientists to literally see how brain structure and function change in response to meditation and other interventions.
Researchers have found that people who meditate on a regular basis actually develop thicker brains — they increase the connections between their brain cells, and they also increase the network of blood vessels in the brain, especially in those areas that help us to focus and pay attention, as well as areas of the brain involved with self-awareness and empathy. (MORE)
Meditation has become increasingly popular, and also increasingly available, to the average consumer in the past five to 10 years.
While anyone who practices meditation on a regular basis can attest to its positive benefits — reduced stress and anxiety — going "om" may also lessen physical pain and provide other benefits.
How and why meditation is so effective in this way has been somewhat of a mystery in the past, but now thanks to modern technology, scientists are beginning to discover the brain changes that occur during meditation and that contribute to its benefit.
In fact, there's a new field of inquiry known as contemplative neuroscience, which is the study of how the brain physically changes when people meditate. This area of science has exploded in the past 10 years, especially with the development of functional MRI scans that allow scientists to literally see how brain structure and function change in response to meditation and other interventions.
Researchers have found that people who meditate on a regular basis actually develop thicker brains — they increase the connections between their brain cells, and they also increase the network of blood vessels in the brain, especially in those areas that help us to focus and pay attention, as well as areas of the brain involved with self-awareness and empathy. (MORE)
Source: Seattle Times
Friday, April 22, 2011
Meditation Makes People More Rational Decision-Makers
Meditation, the ancient practice of mindfulness employed by all major religions, can actually reprogram the brain to be more rational and less emotional, researchers in Canada and the United States say.
The researchers looked at a classic psychological test called the Ultimatum Game. In this test, researchers propose this scenario: A friend or relative has won some sum of money and then offers the test subject a small portion of it - will they accept the money?
Surprisingly, despite the fact that it's a windfall, multiple tests over 30 years show that only about a quarter of people say yes. The rest reply that it's not fair because the person offering the money has lots and that they should get more.
People who practice Buddhist meditation behaved differently. Researchers found in their test that more than 50% of Buddhist meditators took the rational offer of free money, rather than rejecting it because it felt unfair. (MORE)
The researchers looked at a classic psychological test called the Ultimatum Game. In this test, researchers propose this scenario: A friend or relative has won some sum of money and then offers the test subject a small portion of it - will they accept the money?
Surprisingly, despite the fact that it's a windfall, multiple tests over 30 years show that only about a quarter of people say yes. The rest reply that it's not fair because the person offering the money has lots and that they should get more.
People who practice Buddhist meditation behaved differently. Researchers found in their test that more than 50% of Buddhist meditators took the rational offer of free money, rather than rejecting it because it felt unfair. (MORE)
Source: USA Today
Friday, April 15, 2011
Hatha Yoga is a Solution For Knee Problems
Yoga can be of great help to people suffering from Osteoarthritis or other knee problems. Celebrity Yoga Trainer Subodh Gupta talks about how various yoga postures can improve the condition.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease in which the cartilage gradually decays and fails to provide the shock absorbing padding that cushions the bones and this phenomenon has slowly been on the rise in the last few years. Many older people suffer from this painful arthritic condition, however this knee pain is not only restricted to older people but in fact young people are also getting effected by it. The most common risk factors for knee pain is old age, obesity, knee injuries. Knee injuries can be because of hyperextension, misalignment of knee, inappropriate way of doing exercise, tight muscles or because of combination of above factors. (MORE)
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease in which the cartilage gradually decays and fails to provide the shock absorbing padding that cushions the bones and this phenomenon has slowly been on the rise in the last few years. Many older people suffer from this painful arthritic condition, however this knee pain is not only restricted to older people but in fact young people are also getting effected by it. The most common risk factors for knee pain is old age, obesity, knee injuries. Knee injuries can be because of hyperextension, misalignment of knee, inappropriate way of doing exercise, tight muscles or because of combination of above factors. (MORE)
Source: MyBangalore.com
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Meditation 101: Coming to a Campus Near You
Somehow, of all the habits one could pick up while in college -- living on pizza and ramen noodles, sleeping few and odd hours, drowning one's sorrows in the free flow of a keg -- I got hooked on something entirely different: meditation.
During my sophomore year, I serendipitously became involved with a new interfaith project at Georgetown University called the John Main Center. Named after a Benedictine monk who, in the late 1970s, helped to reignite the practice of meditation within the Catholic tradition, the center was established to bring together individuals of various faith traditions to share in the practice of silent meditation.
My only notion of meditation up to that point in my life was essentially the image of an ascetic, bearded Yogi, chanting in a lotus position atop a mountain in India. Could it work for me?
Figuring that college is all about experimentation, I agreed to sign on in 2005 as one of four student directors. In exchange for the sweet deal of living in housing normally reserved for upperclassmen, we agreed to facilitate the twice-daily meditations and periodically plan special events at the center. (MORE)
During my sophomore year, I serendipitously became involved with a new interfaith project at Georgetown University called the John Main Center. Named after a Benedictine monk who, in the late 1970s, helped to reignite the practice of meditation within the Catholic tradition, the center was established to bring together individuals of various faith traditions to share in the practice of silent meditation.
My only notion of meditation up to that point in my life was essentially the image of an ascetic, bearded Yogi, chanting in a lotus position atop a mountain in India. Could it work for me?
Figuring that college is all about experimentation, I agreed to sign on in 2005 as one of four student directors. In exchange for the sweet deal of living in housing normally reserved for upperclassmen, we agreed to facilitate the twice-daily meditations and periodically plan special events at the center. (MORE)
Monday, April 11, 2011
Meditation Can Reduce Stress Among Managers
Managers often have to perform under constant work pressure. They are constantly involved in analysing, planning and operational decision-making which results in many feeling stressed by the end of the day.
Stress can affect almost every area in our life. It is often one of the major reasons why women experience absence of menstruation. People can often feel fatigue, various aches and pains, headaches and sleep disturbances because of excessive stress. Stress often leads to colds and infections due to lowered immune system responses.
Stress at work is causing depression and anxiety in one in five Britons and costing the country £100 billion a year in lost output.
The most practical and effective tool to decrease stress among managers is the daily practice of the meditation which reduce harmful stress and develops
the power of the brain.
After meditation one can feel more balanced and calm. This enables one to take the right and effective decision. One can feel more energetic and develop more focused attention.
In addition meditation can also help in determination. All our physical actions begin as a thought in our mind first and when strong enough, then only transform into physical activity. (MORE)
Stress can affect almost every area in our life. It is often one of the major reasons why women experience absence of menstruation. People can often feel fatigue, various aches and pains, headaches and sleep disturbances because of excessive stress. Stress often leads to colds and infections due to lowered immune system responses.
Stress at work is causing depression and anxiety in one in five Britons and costing the country £100 billion a year in lost output.
The most practical and effective tool to decrease stress among managers is the daily practice of the meditation which reduce harmful stress and develops
the power of the brain.
After meditation one can feel more balanced and calm. This enables one to take the right and effective decision. One can feel more energetic and develop more focused attention.
In addition meditation can also help in determination. All our physical actions begin as a thought in our mind first and when strong enough, then only transform into physical activity. (MORE)
Source: Journalism.co.uk
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Meditation Leads to Greater Pain Relief Than Morphine
Meditation has been part of the human experience for a long, long time. The earliest reports of defined meditation practice date back to about 1500 BCE in India, and became part of Western practice during the Roman Empire. As neuroscientists have studied meditation, they’ve discovered some interesting ways in which it affects the physical structure of the brain. These include effects that can be seen in autonomic functions and neurotransmitters as well as changes in blood flow and brain wave activity.
Meditation has been extensively studied for its effects of stress reduction and other clinical functions, and there have been several preliminary studies in its potential as a pain relief treatment. Now researchers at Wake Forest have published a study measuring the physical effects of meditation on pain — and it turns out it might be more effective than morphine.
“This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation,” said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., lead author of the study and post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. (MORE)
Meditation has been extensively studied for its effects of stress reduction and other clinical functions, and there have been several preliminary studies in its potential as a pain relief treatment. Now researchers at Wake Forest have published a study measuring the physical effects of meditation on pain — and it turns out it might be more effective than morphine.
“This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation,” said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., lead author of the study and post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. (MORE)
Source: Forbes
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Mindfulness Meditation Improves Connections In The Brain
When I’m stressed, I listen to a 20-minute mindfulness meditation tape. It always helps me feel calmer and more relaxed. Many meditative practices can do this. But mindfulness meditation is getting a lot of attention because it seems to help with so many physical and psychological problems—like high blood pressure, chronic pain, psoriasis, sleep trouble, anxiety, and depression. It’s also been shown to boost immune function and stop binge eating. No one knows for sure what’s behind these benefits, but physical changes in the brain probably play a role.
Mindfulness meditation is a mental discipline. You start by focusing your attention on your breath, a sensation in the body, or a chosen word or phrase. You note the thoughts, emotions, and background sounds that arise from moment to moment, observing them without analyzing them or making judgments about what’s going on around you. If you drift into thoughts about the past or concerns about the future, you bring your attention back to the present, for example, by refocusing on your breathing. It takes practice. (MORE)
Mindfulness meditation is a mental discipline. You start by focusing your attention on your breath, a sensation in the body, or a chosen word or phrase. You note the thoughts, emotions, and background sounds that arise from moment to moment, observing them without analyzing them or making judgments about what’s going on around you. If you drift into thoughts about the past or concerns about the future, you bring your attention back to the present, for example, by refocusing on your breathing. It takes practice. (MORE)
Source: Harvard Health
Friday, April 8, 2011
Meditation Works After Only 80 Minutes of Instruction
A study on 18 healthy young adults who had never previously practiced meditation shows that just over an hour of instructional meditation can help reduce the feeling of pain when meditation is employed during a burning sensation.
The study examined 18 young adults who had never practiced meditation before in their lives. The participants attended only four 20-minute classes and were exposed to a 120°F heat on their right calf both before and after the meditation classes. After they were taught Shamatha meditation, also called “focused attention”, they experienced an average of 57% less unpleasantness and 40% less intensity when they were burned.
Shamatha meditation teaches people to observe what’s going on inside their minds and shows them how to release their thoughts without judgment, continuously focusing on their breath or a spoken phrase. “There’s not just one thing happening”, said Dr. Fadel Zeidan of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. “Mindfulness meditation incorporates multiple mechanisms, multiple avenues for pain relief”.
The study itself raised another important question which needs to be explored by further research, and that is whether or not such meditation can have the same effect on chronic, real-life pain, especially since this type of pain is much more complex than the pain created inside of a lab or testing facility.
The study examined 18 young adults who had never practiced meditation before in their lives. The participants attended only four 20-minute classes and were exposed to a 120°F heat on their right calf both before and after the meditation classes. After they were taught Shamatha meditation, also called “focused attention”, they experienced an average of 57% less unpleasantness and 40% less intensity when they were burned.
Shamatha meditation teaches people to observe what’s going on inside their minds and shows them how to release their thoughts without judgment, continuously focusing on their breath or a spoken phrase. “There’s not just one thing happening”, said Dr. Fadel Zeidan of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. “Mindfulness meditation incorporates multiple mechanisms, multiple avenues for pain relief”.
The study itself raised another important question which needs to be explored by further research, and that is whether or not such meditation can have the same effect on chronic, real-life pain, especially since this type of pain is much more complex than the pain created inside of a lab or testing facility.
Source: Frenchtribune.com
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
In Pain? Try Meditation
You don't have to be a Buddhist monk to experience the health benefits of meditation. According to a new study, even a brief crash course in meditative techniques can sharply reduce a person's sensitivity to pain.
In the study, researchers mildly burned 15 men and women in a lab on two separate occasions, before and after the volunteers attended four 20-minute meditation training sessions over the course of four days. During the second go-round, when the participants were instructed to meditate, they rated the exact same pain stimulus -- a 120-degree heat on their calves -- as being 57 percent less unpleasant and 40 percent less intense, on average. (MORE)
In the study, researchers mildly burned 15 men and women in a lab on two separate occasions, before and after the volunteers attended four 20-minute meditation training sessions over the course of four days. During the second go-round, when the participants were instructed to meditate, they rated the exact same pain stimulus -- a 120-degree heat on their calves -- as being 57 percent less unpleasant and 40 percent less intense, on average. (MORE)
Source: CNN Health
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Yoga, Pilates Attracting More Men
Men realizing benefits to strength, flexibility
If you were to take a snapshot of people working out in a gym on any given evening, it wouldn't be a surprise to find the weight room dominated by men and the studio classes full of women.
"The first classes were created in the 1980s and they were targeted at women," said Roberto Morales, Fitness director at Club Mansfield in Montreal. "They incorporated a lot of dance, so it wasn't something that attracted most men."
That's largely because of differences in men's and women's fitness goals, he added.
"Most of the time men want to lose a bit of weight but gain muscle mass, and that usually can't be achieved in a group class setting," Morales said. "But a growing understanding of how classes work and new, more intense types of exercises are bringing men in."
Cross Fit, for example, is a class that incorporates Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and cardio to boost athletic performance.
"That's a hugely popular class among men, it gives them what they want from a workout," Morales said. "Spinning classes also have a lot of men in attendance for that reason." (MORE)
If you were to take a snapshot of people working out in a gym on any given evening, it wouldn't be a surprise to find the weight room dominated by men and the studio classes full of women.
"The first classes were created in the 1980s and they were targeted at women," said Roberto Morales, Fitness director at Club Mansfield in Montreal. "They incorporated a lot of dance, so it wasn't something that attracted most men."
That's largely because of differences in men's and women's fitness goals, he added.
"Most of the time men want to lose a bit of weight but gain muscle mass, and that usually can't be achieved in a group class setting," Morales said. "But a growing understanding of how classes work and new, more intense types of exercises are bringing men in."
Cross Fit, for example, is a class that incorporates Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and cardio to boost athletic performance.
"That's a hugely popular class among men, it gives them what they want from a workout," Morales said. "Spinning classes also have a lot of men in attendance for that reason." (MORE)
Source: Windsor Star
Monday, April 4, 2011
Meditation Improves Meetings
Ten minutes of meditation before a meeting could significantly improve its outcome, according to research by the Kyoto Convention Bureau.
A group of 20 did five separate exercises – including memory, language, comprehension and listening tests – on two separate occasions, 12 days apart.
Before the first session there was no preparation, but before the second participants each did a 10-minute meditation exercise.
The study found that after the second session delegates showed an average improvement of 12.5% in completing the tasks.
The largest individual improvement across all the tasks was 21%, while the smallest individual improvement was 2%.
Reverend Matsuyama, a Zen Buddhist priest, who conducted the meditation session, said: “It is a simple principle; if your tea cup is already filled, there is no point in pouring more tea in it. (MORE)
A group of 20 did five separate exercises – including memory, language, comprehension and listening tests – on two separate occasions, 12 days apart.
Before the first session there was no preparation, but before the second participants each did a 10-minute meditation exercise.
The study found that after the second session delegates showed an average improvement of 12.5% in completing the tasks.
The largest individual improvement across all the tasks was 21%, while the smallest individual improvement was 2%.
Reverend Matsuyama, a Zen Buddhist priest, who conducted the meditation session, said: “It is a simple principle; if your tea cup is already filled, there is no point in pouring more tea in it. (MORE)
Source: Air Business and Travel News
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Making Meditation Work for You
Meditation is one of those things that makes me go hmmmmmmm...It's a rather simple thing, right? Essentially, you're supposed to sit and be. There's no doing, which can be a tough thing for our minds, which are made to run around in circles like an excited dog nipping at his tail. Sounds easy, right? No, I'm not talking about the mind doing its excited thing because that's par for the course. I'm talking about the fact that sitting in stillness is pretty basic. Yet when one begins a relationship with meditation, things get complicated.
First off, there are teachers that try to help us sit in stillness (do we need someone to tell us how to sit still?!?!). They answer our questions (which is funny in and of itself -- meditation isn't about thinking and asking questions, it's about being, remember?), they give us techniques (sit...get ready...stay -- yeah, that's quite a technique), they provide us with instruction and advice regarding our posture. That sounds like an awful lot of work to just sit still. Like I said -- complicated. (MORE)
First off, there are teachers that try to help us sit in stillness (do we need someone to tell us how to sit still?!?!). They answer our questions (which is funny in and of itself -- meditation isn't about thinking and asking questions, it's about being, remember?), they give us techniques (sit...get ready...stay -- yeah, that's quite a technique), they provide us with instruction and advice regarding our posture. That sounds like an awful lot of work to just sit still. Like I said -- complicated. (MORE)
Source: Opposing Views
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Meditate To Reduce Stress
While most people are aware that meditation can help us to relax, a group of UniSA researchers hope to prove that a daily dose of meditation can do much more.
They have begun a research project investigating stress responses in people who meditate regularly compared to people who are long-term carers and who do not meditate.
Behavioural neuroscience researcher Dr Maarten Immink says ultimately the project aims to show that meditation reduces stress and that it can have physical as well as mental function benefits for people who live in higher stress situations.
“Previous research has already shown that meditation helps with attention, memory and decision making,” he says. (MORE)
They have begun a research project investigating stress responses in people who meditate regularly compared to people who are long-term carers and who do not meditate.
Behavioural neuroscience researcher Dr Maarten Immink says ultimately the project aims to show that meditation reduces stress and that it can have physical as well as mental function benefits for people who live in higher stress situations.
“Previous research has already shown that meditation helps with attention, memory and decision making,” he says. (MORE)
Source: HealthCanal.com
Friday, April 1, 2011
Meditation and Spiritual Awareness
Meditation is a spiritual practice which attempts to quiet the mind in order to reveal the divine reality of conscious awareness that remains hidden from us most of the time. This divine reality of conscious awareness is called many things however, I will call it the Power of the Spirit, because I believe that the divine reality of conscious awareness which is contacted in meditation is the Spirit of God. Whatever you choose to call it, and the name is not as important as the actual practice of communing with this reality through meditation, it is important to understand that the divine reality of consciousness that you contact during meditation is not you. You are its reflection, you are deeply rooted and connected to this Power of the Spirit, but you are not this power. This is why we must meditate, because we are not the Power of the Spirit, but are instead conduits of this Power. However, like an electric appliance cannot work unless it is plugged into an outlet, we too cannot work properly unless we plug ourselves into the Power of the Spirit. (MORE)
Source: Healthy Wealthy and Wise
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