Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

[LVT25]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi Work!
Thanks so much for sharing your website and experiences with mediation with us. I have been taking a yoga class once a week, and have done some positive affirmation/self hypnosis cds to quit smoking and the MWO cds--but this is as close to mediation as I've ever been. My mind always wanders. But I guess it takes practice. Also when I see the word Buddhism I kind of back off--I guess that is just ignorance on my part.
Anyway, I find it really interesting, I too have bookmarked the website and look forward to learning more about this mindfulness meditation.

:thanks:

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

LV and all--hey, don't think that if your mind "wanders" then you are doing it wrong... In mindfulness meditation, the practice is to NOTICE when your mind has wandered, and to gently bring it back to the present moment... over and over again.

I found a nice short article online just a few minutes ago, and it said that it could be freely distributed. Here's most of it:

You may have heard the term "Mindfulness" and have a rough idea of what it's about but in this article, you'll get a very clear understanding of what it is and why it's important to you.

Mindfulness is that gap where you, the awareness, are aware of what’s happening within your mind. You become clear and alert to what you think, say and do. Often people meditate as a way of being clearer without all the distractions the flood through the senses. However, becoming aware of your breath and focusing on the air flowing in and out of the lungs can also do it.

This may not sound like any big deal, but it’s a monumental leap of what any other creature can do. Humans are the only species on this planet that can do this. This is because every other species doesn’t identify with the mind to create an ego, they simply accept things as they are and are one with it.

For example, a cat doesn’t sit there and think, what does that human think of me, should I make my coat shinier so that he’ll pat me and give me food? No, they simply accept this moment and do what they do through instinct and being in alignment with the present moment.

In this way animals have an advantage over humans, but what we have is the next phase of evolution, where we have an amazing capacity to not only survive but also thrive like no other species.

The issue is though, our quest to survive and thrive has become out of balance with our essential nature of oneness with all. This imbalance causes us to experience pain, which ultimately leads us to not only search for but also to find what the Truth is for us. It’s life’s way of restoring balance and when you consider that we are not separate to life, it’s our way of restoring balance within ourselves.

So can you see why this is important now?

In a nutshell, the illusion of living day to day through entirely mind based activity (usually in hope or in fear that tomorrow will be different than today) causes pain, NOW. The way to begin to find your way through the pain is to bring awareness to your breath and from there, seeing what you think, say and do. The awareness creates a gap between you and what is perceived and through that a choice can be made for what is real, you the awareness or what your mind is telling you through a perception!

I think this is really important stuff for those of us who are struggling with thoughts, wishes, and regrets about alcohol.... Meditation can help us to train our brains to gently move back from the internal struggles about what we wish we had not done yesterday, and what we wish we could do right now, etc. ... and then move back into whatever is going on right now (the feel of the breeze against my face, the pressure of my fingers pressing the keys on this keyboard, the tension in my neck... whatever)...

best wishes, all

wip

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

oops here's the link from where I lifted that quote in the post just above

[SKendall]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

WIP and others. I am very interested in this thread, I have practiced casual mindfluness on and off, but without much discipline, unfortunately. When I first started to practice I lost a lot of my anxiety, and like many with AL problems we have "monkey minds" - going from limb to limb with emotions that we are unable to still. My goal is to invite more stillness into my life.

Thanks for this thread.

[Yosemite Sam]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

beginning meditation

Hey, Y'all,

here is a good article on beginning meditation, that I
found useful. It is also a good site to look around on.

Beginning Yoga Meditation

namaste, Sam

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hey, SK and Sam! Yeah, monkey mind or as I sometimes say, it seems as if there is a crazy 3-year-old child in there yammering away...

Sam, that's a really nice set of beginner instructions!

I just remember that I recently read online somewhere that there is one particular type of incense (frankincense) that apparently has been found to have some antidepressant properties... Here's a (non-scholarly) link, and here's a clip from that link:

The burning of incense made from aromatic plant material has been an integral, universal element of religious ritual worldwide for centuries. The world's most popular incense is frankincense, the resinous sap of the Boswellia tree. It seems the reason for its popularity might be more complex than the pleasant smell- researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University are part of a team who discovered that frankincense has a positive effect on area of the brain governing emotions, alleviating depression and anxiety... it appears plans are already in order to exploit the chemical components of frankincense to create new anti-depressant drugs.

I have not used incense for a long time... used to do it all the time in my Zen days... maybe I'll start that up again... along with all my other huge array of SUPPS!

wip

[MyHeartIsDrenchedInWine]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

wip,

Thanks for starting this great thread! I purchased the Mindfulness in plain English book and have bookmarked your site : )

Myheart

[Yosemite Sam]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

I just discovered that my practice is the opposite of mindful meditation...
Dang.
I do a mantra meditation and we are supposed to gently go back to the mantra
when we notice that we have been derailed by random thoughts.
According to what I have been reading of late, both mindful and concentration
meditations are supposed to end at the same point, so I guess they are not as
divergent paths as they seem.
Life should come with a book, just like fatherhood should.

Healthy thoughts to all, Sam

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Sam, the distinction between concentration practices (e.g. mantra, or focus on the breath sensations) and open practices (noticing everything that enters consciousness) are more artificial than real... those of us who teach mindfulness meditation (based on Vipassana) always start with concentration practices... the idea is that we must have some foundation of mental stability (concentration) before being able to benefit from the more "open" practice... and once I heard Joseph Goldstein, a very famous teacher say about this: "you can't get 'too much' concentration practice."

So, these two types of practice are not opposite, or opposing each other, at all... In concentration practices we are usually taught to notice and label whatever may have caught our attention and distracted us from the chosen focus point (mantra or whatever), and that is also a foundation training in all of the Vipassana teachings...

Yes, life should come with a book! Instead, we have to write the damn book ourselves, each and every moment!

best wishes,

wip

[IAD]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

How about some MINDLESS Meditation.....It works for me ! Ha! IAD..

[Alley]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

I Was Looking for This Thread!

Thanks, wip, for bringing this thread up the line. I didn't know it was around, but glad to read it. Y'all have already discussed several of the ideas I had been thinking about. I was going to post the phrases for practicing loving-kindness, AND also suggest that they could be switched very easily to affirmations for those who do that, but it's all already here! I'm beat tonight, but I so look forward to reading this thread. I really need to get back into practicing. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. And way to go on the AF days! Good evening. Alley

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Stress and Meditation

Why should people in recovery from alcohol-related problems engage in meditation? One major reason involves the human stress response. Over-use of alcohol in response to daily stressors tends to get out of control... and when we give up the alcohol, the stressors tend to come back at us, with a vengeance. Here's something I wrote for my professional website about mindfulness meditation and stress:


The Human Stress Response(s)


What is ?stress?? It?s anything that we (our minds and/or our bodies) perceive as threatening or significantly uncomfortable. Our bodies have an automatic, built-in set of systems designed to help us cope with threats (of all kinds), and this is a very good thing and necessary thing. But it can also become a source of problems, when stressors are too intense, too frequent, or too long-lasting.

What happens in our bodies and minds, when we encounter stressors? There are numerous processes that become engaged under these circumstances. Some aspects of our functioning temporarily become over-activated, and others become under-activated, in order to help us manage the perceived threat.

Here are some excerpts from the Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.com) online article about stress and how our bodies and minds respond to it:

The stress response, often referred to as the "fight-or-flight" reaction, is your body's rapid and automatic switch into "high gear." These physical changes help you deal with a physical threat: You need the energy, speed, concentration and agility either to protect yourself or to run as fast as possible.

But physical threats aren't the only events that trigger the stress response. Psychological "threats" ? such as the stress associated with work, interpersonal relationships, major life changes, illness or the death of a loved one ? can set off the same alarm system. The less control you have over these potentially stress-inducing events and the more uncertainty they create, the more likely you are to feel stressed. Even the typical day-to-day demands of living can contribute to your body's stress response.

When you encounter a threat (a stressor), the hypothalamus, a tiny region at the base of your brain, sets off an alarm system in your body. Through a combination of nerve and hormonal signals, this system prompts your adrenal glands, situated atop your kidneys, to release a surge of hormones ? the most abundant being adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances the brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.

Cortisol also curbs functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes.

The complex alarm system also communicates with regions of the brain that are involved with changes in mood, motivation and feelings of fearfulness.

The stress-response system is (normally) self-regulating. It decreases hormone levels and enables your body to return to normal once a crisis has passed. As levels of the hormones in your bloodstream decline, your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal, and other systems resume their regular activities.

However, many of our modern stressful circumstances, unlike most physical threats, tend to be prolonged. Consequently, you may be running on the fight-or-flight reaction longer than it's intended to operate. What's good for your body in a short-term crisis can be very harmful over long periods.
r />The long-term activation of the stress-response system ? and the subsequent overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones ? can disrupt almost all your body's processes, increasing your risk of obesity, insomnia, digestive problems, heart disease, depression, memory impairment, physical illnesses and other complications.

NOTE: this article?s url is: Stress: Unhealthy response to the pressures of life - MayoClinic.com

The important thing to remember is that stress, and the stress response, is all about perception. The physiological stress responses are exactly the same, in all of these situations:

? whether the threat (stressor) is real or imagined

? whether it comes from the outside world (a saber-toothed tiger!), or from our minds (memories of a bad encounter with a saber-toothed tiger) and

? regardless of whether it is accurately perceived, or exaggerated

Here are some examples of mentally- and emotionally-generated events that will activate the stress response:

? Imagined future events involving threat or failure

? Comparison of an actual situation with a desired ideal

? Self-criticism, negative judgments about oneself

? Memories of distressing events

? Hostility and/or anger toward others

? Rumination about negative events, their possible causes and implications

? Chronic pessimism

And here are some examples of behaviors that will activate the stress response:

? High-fat diet

? Sleep deprivation

? Social isolation

? Smoking

? Alcohol (and other drug) abuse

? Extreme physical exercise

? Sedentary lifestyle

? Hostile behavior

? Social subordination, or loss of control

Here are some of the well-researched potential results of chronic, repeated, or severe stressors:

? Depression

? High blood pressure

? Increased body fat; diabetes

? Heart disease

? Osteoporosis

? Immune suppression

? Chronic inflammation

? Auto-immune disorders (e.g., fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, psoriasis, lupus, asthma, allergies)

? Cancer

Finding and practicing ways to effectively manage the stressors within our lives is essential for the maintenance of our physical and emotional health. Mindfulness meditation has been a cornerstone of stress management within contemporary health care for (at least!) 30 years, since Jon Kabat-Zinn developed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Since that time, research has repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of this program for reduction and alleviation of stress-related problems.

NOTE: thanks to Willoughby Britton, PhD, for her excellent presentation: ?The Pathophysiology of Stress and Depression,? at the annual MBSR Research Conference in 2008. I have adapted some of her materials for this page.

[SingOn]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Great to see this discussion. I have been walking towards a meditation practice for a long time...here are some books that I have loved along the way:
*"Cool Water: Alcoholism, Mindfulness, and Ordinary Recovery" (by Wm Alexander - he's walked the talk)
"Don't Just Do Something, Sit There" by Sylvia Boorstein (rec. by Jon Kabat-Zinn)
"Meditation made Easy" by Lorin Roche (rec. by Jack Kornfield)

At the moment I'm reading memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert "Eat, Pray, Love". Very sad, very funny, and has a lot about meditation in it. Just before falling asleep last night, I read a part where she is given a new meditation by a Bali medicine man: "To meditate, only you must smile. Smile with face, smile with mind, and good energy will come to you and clean away dirty energy. Even smile in your liver. Practice tonight at hotel. Not to hurry, not to try too hard. Too serious, you make you sick. You can calling the good energy with a smile." I love that! (my liver probably does too!)

[MyOwnWoman]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi Wip - I just found this thread, and am so grateful for it!
As I'm recommitting myself to being AF, it's time again to try to incorporate meditation into my days.

I've also been reading about cortisol - I'm sure mine's all out of whack, and have read (as you've quoted above) that meditation is very useful in getting one's adrenals back on track.

I read Jon's book "Wherever you go there you are" years ago and was instantly intrigued. Also fell in love with Pema Chodron's works - she makes quite a case for how meditation can soothe the soul. Just yesterday a friend loaned me 2 of Pema's CDs, one about "how to meditate".

As much as I've aspired to a regular practice over the years, drinking always got in the way.
But now I'm ready to let meditation get in the way of drinking!!


Oh, by the way -- about what you said about affirmations. I too had much reservation about the whole concept. But it makes much more sense to me now.
I highly recommend seeing the film "What the bleep do we know?" -- quantum physicists are proving scientifically that our thoughts most certainly do affect "reality".

Thanks for the topic!

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi Alley, Song, and MOW! So glad that you are interested in this topic and this thread. I have found that since I have re-committed to daily sitting practice, the whole process feels very different, now that I am not drinking. I feel lighter, clearer when I am sitting (no surprise, I suppose... !). I had always had the nagging sensation or idea that it was something of a waste of time to do sitting practice while I was gettin drunk, most days... but I persisted, up till a few months ago. Now I begin to see that I was probably partly correct.... I think it is a bit like physical exercise... you can keep doing it while you are actively abusing alcohol, but it won't do you nearly as much good as it will if you are AF.

Pema Chodron! One of my favorites! I have recommended her book "When Things Fall Apart" probably a hundred times!

"Cool Water" is good... there are a couple of other mindfulness and meditation-based self-help books about substance abuse recovery, I need to dig those back out. Boorstein is very good... she is/was a student of... hell I am blanking on her name, the loving-kindness (metta) teacher who created the Insight Meditation Society with Jack and Joseph and whoever else.... damn. Anyway. Lots of good stuff out there and it is HIGHLY relevant to recovery programs!!

wip