You sit without holding onto your goals. But when you see your brain proposing various goals, you don't need to freak out; the brain is always settling on stuff as goals.
Non-reactivity in this clinical sense means keeping the brains focus of activity regulated by the balance between the neocortex and the limbus system, not tipping over into fight or flight. I personally find that sitting makes it take more stress to kick my nervous system into panic mode. When I take time to chill and see myself as I am each day, i take the vagaries of the nutcases around me in stride. So I have to endure this irritant I would not choose, at least I had some balance and stability to start out with. Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Oct 20, 2010, at 5:51, Rose P <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Yes, indeed Mayka. This question of 'non-reactivity to experience' though, > I'm a little confused as to whether that's part of the aim of meditation > (this is not really the word I'm looking for at all......but I don't have a > better one...). Non-reactivity to experience could be helpful in certain > situations, but not in others? Or always helpful.....? For a beginner like > myself there's something appealing about non-reactivity as a 'goal', albeit > probably an unattainable one. > > Rose > > --- On Wed, 10/20/10, Maria Lopez <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Maria Lopez <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Zen] Positive neural changes in the brain due to meditation? > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 12:16 PM > > Empathy, care for a patient, altruism, love, compassion has always been in > very good reputable all Hospitals from Pamplona, Spain which are well know to > all high standard up Professional in the medical field in Europe . strangely > enough those hospitals happen to be in its majority in the hands of OPUS Dei > and catholic church (or at least they were) . The real mystery here is once > again in the heart. And no matter who embodies that heart. Nothing at all > is possible without the heart. If mindfulness is show in a scientific way > the outcome will be a disaster > > > --- On Wed, 20/10/10, Rose P <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Rose P <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Zen] Positive neural changes in the brain due to meditation? > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, 20 October, 2010, 12:21 > > > This was a really interesting article Ed. The bit that really stood out for > me was 'Years of meditation cultivates a natural non-reactivity to > experience.' It made me wonder whether, once everything else is stripped away > (the words, the concepts, the debates, and indeed the 'wondering'...), is > non-reactivity to experience the essence, the key, the aim of the practise.... > > Rose > > --- On Wed, 10/20/10, ED <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: ED <[email protected]> > Subject: [Zen] Positive neural changes in the brain due to meditation? > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 6:48 AM > > > > Mindfulness: Meditation Vs. Skill Set > > October 7, 2010 > By 4u Articles > As a long term yogic and vipassana meditator, and a mindfulness-based > psychotherapist who regularly teaches meditation practices to my patients, I > find the growth of mindfulness as a clinical intervention very timely. Last > year, I attended two conferences focused on the use of mindfulness as a > clinical intervention: Meditation and Psychotherapy at Harvard Medical School > and Mindfulness and Psychotherapy at UCLA. > Interestingly, the conference at Harvard featured a greater percentage of > presenters who do not use meditation as an intervention in their clinical > work. For them, mindfulness is a teachable skill set, extrapolated from a way > of viewing life gained from sustained Buddhist meditation practices. > These presenters included: Steven Hayes, founder of ACT, Lizbeth Roemer, U > Mass GAD researcher and clinician, Tal Ben-Shahar, Harvard Lecturer on > Positive Psychology, and Jayme Shorin, LICSW, sensorimotor trainer. The fact > that the organizers of the Harvard conference felt it necessary to devote > over half of the presentation time to methodologies that do not include > meditation was, for me, significant. > Though this might be expected at a Mindfulness and Psychotherapy conference, > in fact the UCLA conference featured more presenters discussing the use of > meditation and compassion practices as a clinical intervention. > These presenters included: Thich Nhat Hahn, Vietnamese Buddhist monk and > meditation teacher, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Harriett Kimble Wrye, and > Trudy Goodman, all psychologists and meditation teachers, and Dr. Daniel > Siegel & Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar presenting the neurobiology of > meditation. > Due to the continuing trend in mental health toward brief, CBT [Cognitive > Behavior Therapy] methods and away from depth-oriented, psychodynamic > therapies, one can easily see how a reduction of mindfulness to an easily > deliverable skill set would be a natural outcome of the environment in which > it is delivered. > But is the doing away with meditation practice psychotherapeutically wrong or > ineffective? Not necessarily. > Even in the East, Karma Yoga is an example of a path to liberation which > eschews formal meditation practice in favor of a commitment to the work one > does in the world as spiritual practice. > Also, with neuroscience showing significant brain changes from long-term > mindfulness meditation, one can easily see how a researcher like Steven Hayes > could create mental exercises that simulate, through active questioning of > the validity of language, the realization of the contextual nature of the > self., i.e., Am I really these thoughts and beliefs that my mind continually > comes up with? > Years of meditation cultivates a natural non-reactivity to experience. But > why wait years, when simple instructions for distress tolerance, like those > featured in DBT can be dispensed to patients suffering from emotion > dysregulation? Following in the footsteps of ACT is Acceptance-based > psychotherapy which focuses on delivering skills for realizing and accepting > here and now experience with compassion; something vipassana meditation and > metta practices are well documented at cultivating in long-term > practitioners. Yet again, why practice meditation at all when mindfulness > skills can be learned and behaviors changed? > Additionally, it must be acknowledged that most psychotherapists will not > want to learn and commit to a daily mindfulness meditation practice, or be > trained to teach mindfulness meditation. Therefore, it may be more desirable > and practical in clinical settings to deliver a CBT-like mindfulness skill > set rather than teach meditation > > In light of all these benefits, what do we lose in clinical practice when we > allow instruction of vipassana/mindfulness meditation to fall into disfavor > or become outmoded? The following list is my best guess at an answer to this > question: > 1.The long and short term stress-reducing physical effects of meditation > 2.The plethora of profoundly, positive neural changes evidenced in the brains > of long term vipassana/Tibetan Buddhist meditators > 3.The deep emotional healing that comes from metta/forgiveness/compassion > meditation practices > 4.The benefits of setting aside time in our busy lives for silence, > meditation and contemplation > 5.The cultivation of peacefulness > 6.The deepening of connection with and respect for our planet and all living > things upon it, which naturally arise from sustained meditation practice > 7.The shared joy of a community of meditators; whether traditional sanghas or > 8-week mindfulness-based groups like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction > (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression Relapse Prevention > (MBCT), or Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for addiction recovery (MBRP). > I have seen patients experience radical change from incorporating mindfulness > meditation and mindfulness skills into their daily lives and I am excited to > offer MBRP, a mindfulness-based intervention for addiction relapse prevention > in San Jose, CA in March 2008. Please contact me for more information. > http://www.4u-2.com/health/health-meditation/mindfulness-meditation-vs-skill-set/ > > > > > >
