Any meditators on the board?

[eXtremE]

Yep, all you need to do is learn the relaxation response and practice it daily. I still have my little red book I purchased many, many years ago. All ppl have experienced the fight or flight response and know what that is. Benson demonstrates that there is an equal and opposite innate response he coined the relaxation response to counter the negative effects of the FOF response but the relaxation response has to be learned and practiced. It is not as easily elicited as the FOF response.

[viv]

Yep, all you need to do is learn the relaxation response and practice it daily. I still have my little red book I purchased many, many years ago. All ppl have experienced the fight or flight response and know what that is. Benson demonstrates that there is an equal and opposite innate response he coined the relaxation response to counter the negative effects of the FOF response but the relaxation response has to be learned and practiced. It is not as easily elicited as the FOF response.

My life changed when I first read Herbert Benson's Relaxation Response, I slept with it underneath my pillow. I learned the techniques and applied them to my life. I eventually went on to learn more, became a certified hypnotherapist and worked with many clients and groups. I have seen many transformations. When I began in the 90s hypnosis was on the fringes, but now called meditation and guided imagery, it's become maninstream. It took a dive for a while because "you can take a pill for that" but now we realize that pills aren't the magic panacea and thank goodness we are getting back to the age old practices of being still and calming the mind, which in turn releases stress and the body responds.

Viv

[Sutra]

And we should all remember that meditation was part of Dr. Ornish's program, though the results are mainly affected by the food, meditation no doubt has a positive influence.

Was and is - all Dr Ornish's published research incorporates lifestyle changes, including the program that Medicare covers. There are free resources on his website for people who want to learn more about this aspect of his program.


http://ornishspectrum.com/video-library/

[BlueHeron]

You don't need the Eastern religion/Buddhism connection, but if that appeals to you, go for it. If you live near a Buddhist temple, you may be able to take inexpensive meditation classes - that's what I did.

You don't need classes (just like you don't need the ten-day program), but they can be helpful.

[JillinMI]

I especially am interested in meditation (along with McDougalling) to help with compulsive over-eating, and the non-food issues that can lead to that. There are two books I've read recently, that were helpful, that address meditation in a non-religious way.

10% Happier by Dan Harris
Dan is an ABC news correspondent whom, as he says, was the biggest meditation skeptic, but needed to do something after he had a "meltdown" on the air, due to stress, and drug abuse. In a roundabout way he was lead to meditation, and is a strong advocate of it now. He has some very helpful resources in the book.

For those who feel they have food addiction problems (or multiple addictions), and may need more help than in just the type of food, may want to look at...
Recover to Live by Christopher Kennedy Lawford
Although, this is a book on various addictions (including food) and the most current & effective treatments, an overriding theme for all the addictions was pretty much that meditation, in various forms, was a highly recommended treatment.

[hazelrah]

Do we have many meditators on this board? Meditation has become an important part of my life lately, and am wondering if there are fellow McDougallers?

Is anyone using the 'insight timer' app for meditation? I've been using it and quite like it.

My wife and I have read and listened to John Kabat-Zinn. There are phases when I think it is important, and there is no doubt that I sense physiological changes when I meditate, but it ususally ends up on the bottom of the heap when priorities get established in my head. And I have to admit that the idea that it leads to a more mindful day-to-day routine does not seem to be the case for me. I find myself forgetting things more than I used to. But what I find it invaluable for is when I have trouble returning to sleep because of stresss I am experiencing. The, "Lake," guided meditation works wonders in getting me back to sleep at 2, 3 or 4 in the morning. And I also believe, that , like aerobic exercise, the time spent meditating can help to offset some of the hours you need to sleep to get a full night's rest.

I do not have the insight timer app, but we took a meditation workshop through Ananda yoga and I have an, "Energization," app on my cell phone that is associated with Yogananda. I don't use it very often. Paradoxically, it is one of those things that I expect to do more of when daily pressures get lighter, which is exactly when I'll need it less. I sense that it is like most other things in life; it's rewards are commensurate the amount of effort you devote to it. And I'm just not willing to take it on right now.

But even with the limited place it's had in my life, I think it is a very valuable staff to assist you through life.

Mark

[hazelrah]

If you have been duped by Eastern Asian buddhist meditation salesmen I recommend this video:

I don't understand this comment. How can you be be duped by a buddhist meditation salesman? It seems like getting duped by a theater because you didn't like the movie you saw there. That seems a harsh criticism of the theater, particularly if the theater believed it was a good movie.

Mark

[txveggie]

I am more of a secular meditator, it is very helpful for many reasons, mostly just quieting my thoughts. A great book on what happens when you practice mindfulness is The Buddha Brain, a fun read about mediation is 10% Happier by Sam Harris.

[babybuddha]

I'm a long term practitioner and teacher of yoga and meditation techniques, currently on sabbatical as I move through another layer of personal healing. Trained in India in the classic traditions of Patanjali and the Vedas, my practice has evolved into a much broader heart centred approach to support emotional awakening/healing and Divine connection.

Centering ourselves, then dissociating from the tumult of scattered thoughts is the way in, a good teacher is needed, not just for the instruction but to be influenced by their calm emanations!!!

Like anything that is practised, overtime one becomes fluent, the technique recedes and one can enter more directly states of presence, flow and harmony that eventually constitute a new ground of being, so one is less afflicted by the daily vissicitudes of life. As we cultivate a true refuge for ourselves we thus contribute to peace and stability in the body of humanity.

I encourage anyone to explore seated/contemplative practices. It can all seem so very obscure and difficult to begin with, but our recalcitrant minds can be brought under control!

Jennifer

[Thrasymachus]

@hazelrah:
I was duped by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and his books, which are not even written by him. His Engrish is way too bad to even co-write ever a book in English. Listen to the guy on Youtube. If you go to his "co-authors" personal page he says he is the ghost writer for Yongey. Which is something that is easy to believe. That is actually what many-most Tibetan buddhist authors do. They have Westerners ghost write for them, Sogyal Rinpoche and the Dalai Lama do it too.

Second, they lie alot about Tibetan & buddhist history and make ridiculous claims for meditation like it is a panacea for suffering and that it should be the main pursuit of life. First, in Tibetan and other societies religion was mostly about buying or consuming karma, blessings and ceremony from the monks. Meditation had an actually small role in Buddhist history and almost no East Asian, Thai, Tibetan, meditates much or ever meditatied much. What they say is like saying to ignorant people that you can just train enough using my exclusive method to play like Lebron James. Some people have amazing mental fortitude and ability to endure, pain, suffering and cope. Just like you can increase your vertical jump and basketball skills especially if you are untrained, you can increase your calm and ability to cope to an extent with moderate meditation. But it has limits, just like there are limits for most of us in everything. We cannot become Lebron James no matter how hard we train.

[wade4veg]

I don't see how one can effectively meditate and still continue to communicate on this board with all the angst and vituperous comments directed at everyone in society that doesn't agree with this way of eating. You know, big pharma, big medicine, big AMA, big surgeons, as well as the vast conspiratorial network of food suppliers gnawing away at one's health.

Lots of valuable energy used up in attacking and fending off every 'imaginable" party that might lead one astray.
Negative energy that can only distract from the clearer vision of what one should be doing, rather than focusing on everyone you imagine is out to get you to do otherwise.

ommmmm......ommmmm.......ommmmmm______aaaahhhh, that's better

[dailycarbs]

Very interesting thread. I will try to tread carefully about what I think I know of the subject.

Do you ever go a day or a week without meditating due to a busy work/life schedule?

If you have a busy life and that is the reason why you find meditation helpful, how do you make time for the meditation?

First, Spiral, I have a short video for you. Don't be thrown by the appearance of the speaker or the fact that it's about "yoga." In this case, yoga means meditation practice.
http://youtu.be/sGjinhkxL7Y

In its purest sense, meditation is not a technique to achieve something else with. It is not for relaxation, or stress control. It is an end to itself. It is meant to achieve nothing because through its practice, one realizes that life is not a problem to solve or a goal to achieve. It is simply existence, to be experienced fully and joyfully, 100%, moment to moment. Therefore, meditation is a practice with no end in mind. Before anyone thinks I'm getting preachy, let me state that I'm a miserable failure at actually practicing this (so far). I'm just stating it as I understand it.

On a practical level, mindfulness meditation practice makes one…well, more mindful. What you find is that it sharpens your moment to moment awareness so that you recognize arising feelings, thoughts, anxieties, and fears as they happen in your life throughout the day. Surely, it should be obvious that such a skill would prove helpful in dealing with people and situations.

Lastly, I'm sorry if people have been duped (or feel as though they have been duped) by some guru or other. The Buddha taught us to question all things until we understand them from our own experience. Buddhism is not a belief system. It is a system of practice that you can follow to uncover the truth for yourself. Point is, it's up to each individual to do that. And the Buddha had something interesting to say about health too.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vvspcopswnci ... M.jpg?dl=0

[Spiral]

I don't see how one can effectively meditate and still continue to communicate on this board with all the angst and vituperous comments directed at everyone in society that doesn't agree with this way of eating. You know, big pharma, big medicine, big AMA, big surgeons, as well as the vast conspiratorial network of food suppliers gnawing away at one's health.

I think that having bogeymen like big phrama, big medicine and so on, provides one a simplified way of looking at a complex world and a simple set of scapegoats to blame for all of the complex problems in the world. Some people might think that we should dispense with "visions" and deal with reality itself. But reality is too complex to be viewed directly. So, instead we use "visions." Believing that big this and big that is responsible for all of our problems is such a vision.

[soul food]

I started meditating back in the 1970s and doing yoga. I didn't stick with it but would periodically return to it. I would say now I try and listen to the ensouled world..the cosmos..the living sacred reality we call life. I try and listen to it and I try and let it speak through me.

Big pharma...etc..big everything is US, me and you. So it's not just a blame game. Why can't we live in a beautiful world that listens to the dying monarch butterflies..the mass extinctions going... and respond. Why can't we listen to people who have to keep working past retirement because they can't pay the medical bills and respond. Why can't we have artful practices instead of factory farming. Why can't we have artful practices and a poetic sensibility that is able to hold and contain, care for, let be, and respond to the voices of all things..plants..animals..water...soil...sky..clouds..humans.? Why can't we work with the soul/image/imagination and cultivate a culture instead of an economic system that reduces the intrinsic value of everything to what the market will pay. Why can't we hold the grief of these ugly practices and let that grief cook us until we can find our souls and sing this world back to health.

I recently listened to a lecture by a poet and psychologist and the poet said he became a poet after he started meditating and the poems started coming out of him. I think he was listening.

soul food

[GeoffreyLevens]

I am a 'tater, deep into it for 45 years or so. Started w/ 20 years of TM and yes there is a strong cult component and yes, the basic technique is quite sound and also grotesquely overpriced. See http://www.natural-stress-relief.com for exact same thing, without the cult part, taught by "renegade" former TM teachers and prices appropriately; I think $45 total or there abouts.

There is much more to meditation than that though. Much more. First cut is mantra vs mindfulness. Both are very useful and properly done, the technique is selected to fit the individual's level of development and goals.

Past 3 1/2 years or so I have been doing Vipassana which can be learned 100% free of charge in 10 day retreats (free includes free room and food). Taught and run and paid for all by volunteers and donations. My present feeling/belief is that if you are really serious about getting free, free of addictions, compulsions, pre-programed reflex responses to life, free to respond appropriately to your life as it unfolds, then you cannot do better.

And this Vipassana is taught free of dogma and philosophy, only enough "story" to give you a framework of understanding what you are doing and why you are doing it, context for your experiences.

www.dhamma.org for info and for courses world wide.