************* The following message is relayed to you by [email protected] ************ Hi Sean
I put up the article as it is nice to see the main stream media beginning to recognize the usefulness of meditation. However I can only laugh at the irony of the military thinking they can use spiritual enlightenment to make better killers out of their soldiers. Sincerely Pete Sent from my iPad > On Apr 8, 2014, at 4:14 AM, Sean <[email protected]> wrote: > > ************* > The following message is relayed to you by [email protected] > ************ > Nice piece, Thanks Pete! > > The simple stuff always worth remembering, especially when we can be > 'mindful' any-time we choose to be. > > I'm more or less with the monks on this one however (re the article), as > trying to get something or do something with mindfulness sort of defeats the > essence of it, though loads of benefits can come out of it, using the > technique as a means to some conceptualised idealistic end is sort of like > expecting fruits before you plant the seeds... > > In TROM speak we'd probably say something like: we're dealing with industries > who's primary goals have nothing to do with actual life realisation or true > enhancement of what is, so whatever method they use will become distorted > until they grasp some of the basic facts of reality itself and the game > played regarding it. > > I find it ironic too that these people are usually the ones going around > telling everyone else they must 'face facts', often violently, of course, as > dictated by whatever holographic/hallucinogenic pattern they're running > en-mass at the time. > > Still tricky territory this one for me, because the folks of industry we > cannot deny are holding together a certain means of distribution and > fulfilment which more 'spiritual types' probably could not achieve and which > would probably descend into chaos if they let go of the reigns entirely at > this stage. > > However, it is clear most of these industrial perspectives will have to give > up the reigns eventually, and learn to trust reality more than conceptual > device, otherwise they'll never get what they're truly after, technology > they'll find does not deliver what they're after. > > This is the paradox of technology I find... I'm very involved with it, its > more or less my business at this period, and yet I know it is entirely > obsolete, from the moment of conception in fact, never more than a mimic of > actual-ness. We already have innately everything (and more) than tech will > ever prove or provide... > > Yet it seems we still must transition through the motions, the phases and > periods of mankind, unless of course there is something I'm missing here? > Another way to go about this? > > I can certainly say I love learning all there is to know about these things, > real or unreal : ) > > > ~ Sean > > > > >> On 07/04/14 16:46, [email protected] wrote: >> Send Trom mailing list submissions to >> [email protected] >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> http://lists.newciv.org/mailman/listinfo/trom >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> [email protected] >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> [email protected] >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of Trom digest..." >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. Mindfulness (Pete Mclaughlin) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 08:41:05 -0700 >> From: Pete Mclaughlin <[email protected]> >> To: TROM <[email protected]> >> Subject: [TROM1] Mindfulness >> Message-ID: <[email protected]> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" >> >> The mainstreaming of mindfulness meditationStressed-out Americans, from war >> veterans to Google workers, are embracing mindfulness meditation. Does it >> really work?By Frances Weaver | April 5, 2014 >> Tweet >> inShare >> 76 >> 30 >> >> Mindfulness: Not just for yogis anymore. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for >> lululemon athletica) >> Why is mindfulness so popular? >> It appeals to people seeking an antidote to life in work-obsessed, >> tech-saturated, frantically busy Western culture. There is growing >> scientific evidence that mindfulness meditation has genuine health benefits >> ? and can even alter the structure of the brain, so the technique is drawing >> some unlikely devotees. Pentagon leaders are experimenting with mindfulness >> to make soldiers more resilient, while General Mills has installed a >> meditation room in every building of its Minneapolis campus. Even >> tech-obsessed Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are using it as a way to unplug >> from their hyperconnected lives. "Meditation always had bad branding for >> this culture," says Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter. "But to me, it's a >> way to think more clearly and to not feel so swept up." >> >> What is mindfulness, exactly? >> It's a meditation practice central to the Buddha's teachings, which has now >> been adapted by Western teachers into a secular self-help technique. One of >> the pioneers in the field is Jon Kabat-Zinn, an MIT-educated molecular >> biologist who began teaching mindfulness in the 1970s to people suffering >> from chronic pain and disease. The core of mindfulness is quieting the >> mind's constant chattering ? thoughts, anxieties, and regrets. Practitioners >> are taught to keep their attention focused on whatever they're doing at the >> present moment, whether it's eating, exercising, or even working. The most >> basic mindfulness practice is sitting meditation: You sit in a comfortable >> position, close your eyes, and focus your awareness on your breath and other >> bodily sensations. When thoughts come, you gently let them go without >> judgment and return to the focus on the breath. Over time, this practice >> helps people connect with a deeper, calmer part of themselves, and retrain >> their brains not to g e > t >> stuck in pointless, neurotic ruminations about the past and future that >> leave them constantly stressed, anxious, or depressed. >> >> Does it work? >> Scientific research has shown that mindfulness appears to make people both >> happier and healthier. Regular meditation can lower a person's blood >> pressure and their levels of cortisol, a stress hormone produced by the >> adrenal gland and closely associated with anxiety. Meditation can also >> increase the body's immune response, improve a person's emotional stability >> and sleep quality, and even enhance creativity. When combining mindfulness >> with traditional forms of cognitive behavioral therapy, patients in one >> study saw a 10 to 20 percent improvement in the mild symptoms of their >> depression ? the same progress produced by antidepressants. Other studies >> have found that up to 80 percent of trauma survivors and veterans with PTSD >> see a significant reduction in troubling symptoms. Walter Reed National >> Military Medical Center is also teaching mindfulness as a form of treatment >> for patients with substance abuse problems. >> >> Why does it work? >> MRI scans have shown that mindfulness can alter meditators' brain waves ? >> and even cause lasting changes to the physical structure of their brains >> (see below). Meditation reduces electrical activity and blood flow in the >> amygdala, a brain structure involved in strong, primal emotions such as fear >> and anxiety, while boosting activity regions responsible for planning, >> decision-making, and empathy. These findings have helped attract the more >> skeptical-minded. "There is a swath of our culture who is not going to >> listen to someone in monk's robes," says Richard J. Davidson, founder of the >> Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and a professor at the University of >> Wisconsin-Madison, "but they are paying attention to scientific evidence." >> >> Who are these converted skeptics? >> Ironically enough, Silicon Valley's tech geeks are leading the way. "It >> seems counterintuitive, since technology is perhaps the biggest driver of >> mindlessness and distraction," says Ann Mack, a director at marketing >> communications brand JWT Worldwide. Google now has an in-house mindfulness >> program called "Search Inside Yourself," and the company has even installed >> a labyrinth at its Mountain View complex so employees can practice walking >> meditation. Tech leaders flock annually to the Wisdom 2.0 conference, and >> there are now countless smartphone apps devoted to the subject. But these >> developments have led to a growing concern that mindfulness is being >> co-opted and corrupted. >> >> Why is that? >> Long-term adherents of mindfulness worry that what is fundamentally a >> spiritual practice is being appropriated by new age entrepreneurs seeking to >> profit off it. Others are concerned that Fortune 500 executives are pushing >> meditation so that overworked employees can be even more productive without >> melting down. But Westerners clearly need some sort of strategy to cope with >> a world now filled with the inescapable distractions of technology. The >> average American now consumes 63 gigabytes of content, or more than 150,000 >> words, over 13.6 hours of media use every single day ? and all indications >> are that those numbers will keep climbing. For Janice Marturano, founder of >> the Institute for Mindful Leadership, mindfulness is not just a way of >> coping with the deluge of input; it's a way of confronting the modern world >> head-on. "There is no life-work balance," says Marturano. "We have one life. >> What's most important is that you be awake for it." >> >> Rewiring the brain >> Until recently, neurologists believed that a person's brain stopped >> physically developing when they were 25 to 35 years old. From that point >> onward, the hardware was set. But a growing body of research points to the >> possibility of lifelong "neuroplasticity" ? the ability of the brain to >> adapt to new input ? and a 2011 Massachusetts General Hospital study found >> that those who meditate regularly for as little as eight weeks changed the >> very structure of their brains. MRI scans showed that by meditating daily >> for an average of 27 minutes, participants increased the density of the gray >> matter (which holds most of our brain cells) in an area that is essential >> for focus, memory, and compassion. Previous research had already shown that >> monks who had spent more than 10,000 hours in meditation had extraordinary >> growth and activity in this part of the brain. But it's now clear that even >> relative beginners at mindfulness can quickly rewire their brains in a >> positive way. >> >> >> Sent from my iPad >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: >> <http://lists.newciv.org/pipermail/trom/attachments/20140407/4196f3d3/attachment.html> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Trom mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.newciv.org/mailman/listinfo/trom >> >> >> End of Trom Digest, Vol 117, Issue 5 >> ************************************ > > > _______________________________________________ > Trom mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.newciv.org/mailman/listinfo/trom _______________________________________________ Trom mailing list [email protected] http://lists.newciv.org/mailman/listinfo/trom
