
Meditation study shows changes associated with awareness, stress (2011) - ekm2
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/
======
fsloth
Meditation seems to sound really weird to lot of people but the zen breathing
exercises I've done are mechanical and completely devoid of mystical
culturally relative concepts.

Simple introductory exercise in meditation for those unfamiliar with it. No
mystical chanting required. The only caveat is that it can be as boring as
hell. I'm not an expert but this should contain the essentials of a simple zen
practice:

Equipment: timer and a comfortable place to sit without interruptions

Time: 10 minutes (or 5, whatever you feel like but try to commit to the
timespan you choose). Put the time on the timer.

1\. Sit down. The position should be stable so you don't fidget around.

2\. Get a good posture: keep you back straight

3\. Concentrate on your breathing. Keep breathing slow and deep breaths

4\. Count your breaths, mentally, from one to ten, starting from one on
exhale, two on inhale etc until you reach ten and go back to one.

5.Start the timer

Proceed until timer runs out.

Try to maintain this: sit still, back straight, rythmic breathing, count each
breath.

You may observe thoughts arising. Observe the thoughts but do not get lost in
them. You will notice you have been lost in your thoughts because you loose
count of your breaths, at which point you just start counting from one. Do not
try to block the thoughts.

If you can keep complete count throughout the entire span on first try then
that's great!

Any weird sensations you might get are just pointless disruptions created by
your mind.

~~~
fdsary
I think this comment was important to me. I've never understood what the fuzz
is about, but after reading this I decided "fuck it, why not try?".

I just did a 5 minute one. Genius idea about the timer, wouldn't be possible
otherwise. Afterwards I felt 5kg lighter. I will put this in my life toolbox.
Thank you.

~~~
fsloth
I'm glad you found it usefull!

The relationship between this sort of meditation and the various schools that
use meditation as part of their doctrine seems to me be like the difference
between engaging in an exercise and exercising as part of a particular
club/school.

Personally I've had a few moment in my life where there introspective skills
I've gained from this have probably been for the better.

Not sure if it's from the practice, or just some anxiety relieving placebo
effect caused by the practice, though. Seems to be good for me, whichever the
underlying effect.

------
radva42
I have been practicing mindfulness meditation for the last 14 months - 30
minutes, everyday and I have to say that it has been virtually the most
important skill that I have picked up. Because it's essentailly that - a
skill. I was very stressed and the anxiety started to affect virtually every
aspect of my life. My family wanted me to seek professional help (take pills),
but I decided to try to take care of it myself so I started reading books... a
lot of books about the brain, how it works, etc. and this is how I was
introduced to mindfulness. Now, 14 months later the effects are so profound
that I have hard time imagining what my mind looked like before. The biggest
change I have noticed is the ability to not act on thoughts and easily let
them go by accepting them. Things that used to trigger me before are just
thoughts now: the thought comes, I notice it and it passes. The best word that
comes to mind when trying to describe the feeling is ... grounded. I feel
grounded, calm.

I know it sounds cliche, but now I realize that it's true that the moment you
stop fighing your thoughts and urges, they lose their power. I remember
reading things again and aain and could not wrap my head about this concept
before.

\- Does the anxiety go away? No, but my relationship with the anxiety and
stress changed.

IMHO Self-reflection and emotional intelligence are the most important skills
one can develop. Because if you develop them, you stop being in your own way
and sabotaging yourself and it leads to generally happier life.

This is what I did i nthe last 14 months: \- Lay down, close my eyes and
observe the sensetion of breathing in my belly. \- In the beginning my mind
was immediately distracted with thoughts. It took me sometimes a few minutes
until I was able to realize that I have been distracted all along. Then I had
to force myself to ignore the distrating thought and pay attention to my
breathing. It was really hard in the beginning and my sessions lasted usually
15 minutes max. \- But as I got better it became easier...now I have no
problems to let go of a thought ... even a very emotiaonally charged one. It's
like I have a switch in my head.

I have recommended mindfulness to all my friends and relatives and virtually
none of them have made more than a few sessions. That makes me sad, because I
can see what effects it can have, but there's nothing more than recommending
that I can do - it's really a personal commitment.

~~~
NiceOneBrah
Thanks for the comment. Are there any books or resources about mindfulness
that you found particularly helpful?

~~~
dsuth
Check out Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind for a good book on practicing meditation.
It's not religious, but basically a transcript of a Zen Master's talks on zen
and the practice of meditation to his group of students. It's what I recommend
to people who want to 'get' meditation.

[http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Shunryu-
Suzuki/dp/1...](http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Shunryu-
Suzuki/dp/1590308492)

Not specifically related to meditation, but The Tao of Pooh is still the best
book I know of that deals with the concepts behind this stuff. I re-read these
books whenever I lose my way, which happens more often than I'd like to admit
;)

------
krick
I surfed through the links quite rapidly, but I haven't seen any description
on what exactly exercises they used. "Meditation" is a term so easily abused,
you know. There's quite a few schools calling "meditation" something
completely different, some techniques almost opposites (quite literally) of
each other. Hell, why to talk about different schools when even Zen has both
very different zazen and other meditation practices, which all could be
commonly referred to as "meditation" by western people!

So I would hope to see some more detailed explanation of what participants
were told to do, which I couldn't see somehow. In other case it sounds only a
little more meaningful than "Participating in an eight-week doing something
program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with
memory".

~~~
kranner
[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925492710...](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092549271000288X)

Looks like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a specific practice
developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

~~~
estefan
I can't recommend his "Mindfulness for Beginners" book enough. Although I've
been "meditating" for years, this book is packed with subtleties that are
easily missed. In other teachings, it can be very difficult to separate
religious dogma ("all you need is love, man") to the things that actually make
a difference, scientifically, to your practice ("bring gentleness and kindness
to the process").

One line especially made me realise I'd missed something important for years:
Be aware "as if your life depended on it". That's about it.

------
KobaQ
The goal of meditation is not to get a better brain. As the goal of yoga is
not to get a sexy body. These articles and even more the countless yoga ads
with young beautiful ladies are really counterproductive from the viewpoint of
yoga. They might be helpful from another perspective.

I can't summarize the real goal of yoga properly (meditation is one of the
important exercise beside contemplation; the asanas are for preparation only),
but it's more to be able to let go of the selfish desires like becoming
smarter, getting a sexier body, getting more money, fame, admiring ("Oh, you
look so good lately" ... "Yes, you know, I'm doing yoga."). The goal is more
to be able to coordinate (not suppress) the desires to avoid doing harm and at
the end creating harm for yourself. Meditation gives us insight to where the
desires are coming from. Are they essential? Do I need to fullfil them? Or do
I need to eat another snickers just because the last one has made my blood
sugar go like a rollercoaster?

~~~
sanswork
"The goal of meditation for me."

"The goal of yoga for me."

You clearly take the spirituality focused route in your yoga and meditation
and thats great for you but you can't proclaim that the only right way to do
it is your way and everyone doing it for different reasons is wrong.

~~~
j42
I think he's criticizing the cultural caricature that accompanies any activity
becoming mainstream... but perhaps misdirected as the context in which one
finds value isn't really important in contrast to value itself. Perhaps the
elegance is in how deeply individual a practice it can be (turning the locus
of one's awareness inward).

And to the OP, isn't it great that yoga can hold so much value through _both_
a spiritual and physical lens? I think the mental and spiritual component has
a lot to offer, but it's hard to claim that someone pursuing a positive
activity, regardless of motivation is a bad thing.

------
burke
It's always funny watching peoples' reaction to meditation as a means to an
end. People want to meditate for cognitive benefits, but meditation
purportedly teaches that meditation should not be done for any particular
benefit.

I think the real source of this dissonance is Zen, which tends to center
around elimination the ego, or the sense of self. Doing this type of
meditation for any sort of benefit seem incongruous, since you're practicing
elimination of self with the intention of improving the self.

There are a lot of kinds of meditation though. The weird paradoxical component
is kinda unique to Zen, AFAIK. A lot of styles are quite comfortable with the
idea of meditating for cognitive benefit.

Even with Zen, I don't think it's incongruous to practice selflessness via Zen
in the moment with the intention of applying that skill in other moments to
benefit you in various ways.

------
ozborn
I think if you are looking for mental self improvement this Havard article may
be more appropriate ([http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-
changes-...](http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-
brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110)). The short summary is
_exercise_. Not only do you get your "better brain", but the rest of your body
benefits as well.

~~~
kranner
Why the implied either/or? Why not do both meditation and exercise?

~~~
ozborn
It's a personal choice. For me there is definitely an implied or because I
struggle to make time for exercise as it is. I also prefer almost any form of
exercise over meditation. :)

~~~
codyb
I think many people (including Siddhartha or Buddha) used to walk for
meditation. If that's the case, and you practiced mindfulness while exercising
it might be possible to do both at once.

Often when you hear of great athletes, especially great endurance athletes
like Michael Phelps, they talk about how they don't think about the whole X
meters or Y miles at once. They focus on performing the next stroke or next
step or next pump of the pedal perfectly. This to me, as a layman, sounds
similar to the idea of focusing on the next breath as is a common practice
during some types of meditation.

When I used to meditate I used to like to let my mind wander, then focus on
breathing. Or vice versa. And many people prefer guided meditations.

As there are so many types of meditation I do not see any reason to believe
that some types might overlap with exercise quite comfortably. Guided
meditations might be more difficult because it would presumably be harder to
both focus on the next stroke and focus on the meditation, and I guess that
goes as well for the wandering mind meditation (you really don't want to run
absentmindedly in NYC where I live, maybe in the country or even suburbia it
would be more feasible).

Anyways, I guess to me it doesn't seem like it has to be an either or but
could be one activity. If Siddhartha can do it, so can we :-).

I should start running again though, that's great exercise!

~~~
kranner
Walking meditation e.g. as described in 'Mindfulness in Plain English' is slow
and deliberate, and I don't think one can get much physical benefit out of it.

I'm no expert but I think concentration is only part of the picture. This can
be concentration on the breath, or concentration on a physical activity as you
describe it. The other part is using the highly developed concentration state
for the actual (mindfulness) meditation, which is pretty hard if you're moving
around, at least for a beginner.

I'm talking about Vipassana practice, which is all I know about. As you say
there are many forms of meditation.

edit: I used the word 'deliberate'. I should say seemingly deliberate. To be
exact, it's not about deliberation or thinking at all.

------
jherdman
I've been using the Headspace app
([https://www.headspace.com/](https://www.headspace.com/)) for a few months
now and LOVE it. I highly recommend giving it a try. They have a free
introductory course you can try too.

~~~
DenisM
What does it do, and how does that help you?

~~~
maroonblazer
For one, it gives you 10, 10-minute meditations for free, so you get a sense
of what the whole enterprise is about without laying down any cash. For some
(many?), that's all you need to get going.

Second, having listened to quite a few guided meditations, I find the
Headspace guy (I think his name is Andy) to be one of the best. The
meditations strike a near-perfect balance of helping direct my energy and
attention in a way that doesn't draw attention to himself or his
voice/delivery. i.e. he gives excellent guidance and gets out of the way.

------
redmaverick
There are different types of meditation styles. I had experience with a type
of meditation mentioned in the article. It is known as mindfulness meditation.
Even in mindfulness meditation there are different approaches. Mine is
mindfulness through the awareness of bodily sensations.

[http://www.dhamma.org/](http://www.dhamma.org/)

This is the 10 day course I underwent. It is pretty brutal and intense. You
meditate for 8 hrs a day in total silence for 10 days.

 _Description_

The mindfulness meditation consists of two parts. Part 1 is concentration or
Anapana. Part 2. is Vipassana which is awareness through bodily sensations.

The first 3 - 4 days are spent in Anapana. You simply observe the incoming
breath and outgoing breath. That's it. The problem is that your mind gets
hijacked into the past or future frequently. All you have to do is observe the
incoming breath and outgoing breath. After a few seconds this new habit
pattern of the mind gets disrupted. You don't get frustrated or despondent
because this is the way the mind works. You keep bringing your mind back into
the present by focusing back on your breath.

You do this for 8 hours a day for 3 to 4 days with breaks in-between. What you
realize is that with persistent effort you can actually stay in the present
for quite a while. Your mind becomes very concentrated.

Now, this concentrated mind is a tool. With your powerful concentrated mind
you start observing the area under the nostrils and above the upper lip. You
become aware of an interesting phenomenon. There is an interplay of a
multitude of sensations spontaneously occurring in that region. The sensations
feel like tiny extremely weak electric currents zapping through on the surface
and disappearing. Or it could be a weak throbbing and itching sensation.
Sometimes you get the feeling of the area under investigation being in a state
of tension. It doesn't matter what the sensation is like. What matters is that
you are aware of these sensations.

The remaining days you try to stay in the present via bodily sensations.

Now, instead of just focusing on the area under the nostrils and above the
upper lip, you start scanning the whole body from the top of the head to the
tips of your feet and then you realize that these sensations are present
throughout your whole body. Again, the same thing happens. You start scanning
the body beginning from the top but your mind tries to hijack awareness from
the present into either the past or future. Again, you just smile to your self
without getting frustrated and patiently and persistently you bring the mind
back into the present moment.

You do this for the remaining days. Now there are two important things you
will experience via mindfulness meditation.

1\. The mind and body are very deeply connected. The sensations you feel
through out your body react to the contents of the thoughts present in your
mind. Some traumatic event from your distant past surfaces up while you are
meditating. Your natural reaction is to get caught up in it. Your bodily
sensations change in response to that. Now, instead of getting caught up in it
you just try to observe the sensations and try to be equanimous. This leads to
point#2.

2\. All the sensations you experience are impermanent. Your entire body is in
a state of flux and so is your mind. Any sensation no matter how pleasant or
unpleasant is only transitory. There is no need to crave pleasant sensations
or flee from unpleasant sensations because they are all going to change
anyways.

This is how you rewire your brain by persistent mindfulness meditation. You
teach your mind not to fall into old patterns and to try and be equanimous.

~~~
bobsgame
I went to one of these and got freaked out because it's an unmistakable cult.

The teachers on the podiums up at the front is a creepy psychological hack,
the recorded chanting they play while you meditate is hypnotic programming,
the 2 hour video lectures of the great leader convincing you of his religion
being your only stimulation, the bowing and mindless chanting from the
regulars being passed off as "optional for first timers."

Many of the people there mentioned they go several times a year, with that
glassy eyed obsessed stare. At least one person mentioned they had moved their
home to be near the group.

I tried to skip a session because I didn't get enough sleep and the management
came and got me out of my room. That's when I knew it was time to leave.

Also, if you leave early, you get excommunicated and blacklisted.

The point of all this is to make you unquestionably loyal to the group and to
become an evangelist, which is how these things become so popular.

The danger of cults is that if you go for long enough you can permanently lose
your identity and self respect. It's probably not actually possible to 100%
master the skill of meditating painlessly, which undermines your confidence
and makes you more determined to achieve the enlightenment they promise, which
exposes you to more brainwashing and makes you more submissive to the great
leader, etc.

They do at least provide a source of protein and the food was pretty good.

The technique itself is pretty useful, and after the 4 days of silent nonstop
meditation reality felt really weird and everyone in the outside world looked
like an impulsive idiot being emasculated by their smartphones. This feeling
lasted a few days and then wore off.

I'm sure the effect lasts much longer if you do the full 10 days. I'm pretty
sure you would get that same effect going through any very intensive and
stressful course and avoiding anything fun or distracting, and the culty
brainwashing stuff is totally unnecessary.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-Hms7bHqY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-Hms7bHqY)

~~~
timeofgifts
> I went to one of these and got freaked out

That's the problem, you freaked out and left, even though they ask everyone
multiple times at the beginning whether you are ready to stay for the full 10
days.

As someone who took more than one of these courses I can say that the single
most important thing you should do during your first course is not quit.
Strange things start happening to people when they are put into an environment
where they can't do anything but eat, sleep and meditate. Your mind starts
playing tricks on you and you start reacting to your thoughts. Wave after wave
of anger, joy, confusion, happiness, sexual fantasies, tranquility, fear, etc,
come and go. It's like your mind switches to different modes. You don't notice
this during normal life, and that's the real beauty of these courses and
centers. To give you an opportunity to observe all that is happening in your
mind.

Although I experience this before, it still happens to me when I take a course
and start wondering what am I doing here, this is a waste of time, this is all
a cult, a scam, etc. Nope, it's just my mind reacting :) That's how you learn,
I don't think there's another way to silence the mind.

>I tried to skip a session because I didn't get enough sleep and the
management came and got me out of my room.

That's their job. It's not a holiday and you are there to work hard. In fact I
can easily say that my first course was the hardest thing I've done in my
life, it was just brutal. But my mind felt much clearer, I had way less
anxiety and just felt kind of happy.

~~~
lostcolony
You have two comments on HN, one linking to one of these ten day courses, and
now this one defending it, nothing else. You may want to be a bit more active,
and on other topics, if you want to be seen as credible.

~~~
justsee
Here is a write-up of my experience doing that particular 10 day meditation
course, which I'm surprised to discover wrapped up almost 10 years to the day:
[http://weblog.squareapple.net/archives/2004/11/26/art_of_liv...](http://weblog.squareapple.net/archives/2004/11/26/art_of_living.html)

------
rohitarondekar
I'm not well versed with reading research papers etc but I have one question.
Could it be possible that by simply practicing mindfulness meditation the
brain restructured itself via a placebo style effect rather that because of
the meditation itself?

For anybody who has access to the paper what did the control group do during
the eight weeks?

~~~
fernly
Not clear what distinction you are trying to make. They practiced mindfulness
meditation according to a specific, published plan, and brain anatomy changes
were noted. It doesn't seem they are making any claim other than, this series
of exercises produce this effect.

The paper doesn't seem to be available, but the abstract at the author's
page[0] says "Healthy but stressed individuals are randomized to either a
meditation-based stress reduction intervention or health education control
intervention."

[0][https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Perso...](https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/12961)

~~~
insickness
If the control group were doing nothing for eight weeks, they would expect no
change. An expectation of change can illicit substantial differences. That's
the placebo effect.

When administering medication and checking for results, the control group is
given a sugar pill rather than nothing. If they were given nothing it would
not eliminate the placebo effect.

~~~
danielharan
(You mean elicit, not illicit)

Placebo might be a fair critique if we were talking about people's self-
reported stress or well-being. Here we're talking about _physical changes in
the amygdala_.

~~~
insickness
The brain and nervous system changes based on it's use and function. Look up
neoroplasticity. This is nothing new. A placebo could certainly elicit a
change within 8 weeks if participants thought it was helping them cope with
stress. If you think dancing clockwise in a circle for ten minutes a day will
help you, it probably will. That doesn't mean there is anything useful in the
practice.

------
chrissyb
The thing i don't like about the term "meditation" is that its too closely
intertwined with spirituality. Where meditation should actually be associated
with relaxation.

This article only mentions the control group twice, once to say "None of these
changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted
merely from the passage of time". This is just bad reporting - How about
telling us what the control group were actually doing?

If they (control group) were not taking part in any type of consistent
relaxation for 8 weeks then how would you expect to see any changes in the
control group?

[http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/yoga-
woo/](http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/yoga-woo/)

~~~
kranner
They weren't expecting to see changes in the control group. Control groups
represent the baseline, untreated state.

Also, meditation and relaxation are not the same thing.

~~~
chrissyb
You're right, meditation is relaxation with a sprinkle of woo.

~~~
vidarh
You think meditation is relaxation, you do not realise how much effort it
takes. I'd suggest finding a tutorial and trying even 5 minutes.

As for the "sprinkle of woo", some meditation practices comes with buckets of
foo, while some are entirely woo free.

~~~
dthunt
I've done this for an hour or so on occasion. I don't find it a particular
strain. I may be doing something different than what you are doing, though.

~~~
vidarh
The point is not that it's a particular strain. The point is that most people
can't just sit back and let their mind go - to maintain focus requires
concentration, and concentration is not "free" \- it takes energy. It may feel
energising - especially after you're done -, the same way exercise does, but
people who think that meditation is "just relaxation" usually have no idea
what is involved.

------
louwrentius
I see a lot of anekdotes here on HN about meditation. But anekdotes are not
science. I dislike the very close relation between meditation and spirituality
that turns into fluffy bullshit.

I distrust peoples self-reporting because it is extremely unreliable.

The 'eight weeks to a better brain' sounds like any link-bait you see on the
internet (' 6-pack in 12 days!').

Also, the results may be merely from the fact that these people spent ~30
minutes a day deliberately relaxing. What would happen if the control group
would just lie on a couch for 30 minutes, doing nothing? None of that in the
article.

~~~
aragot
Or that the group learnt a new skill, which involves both new physical and
mental agility. For example would learning to dance for an introverted person
produce the same changes in the brain?

------
pgrote
What is the best way to learn how to meditate? Any good resources?

~~~
chdir
Either join a course or pick up a good book. I found this book immensely
useful and simple to follow: "Mindfulness in Plain English" [1]

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Plain-English-
Anniversary-...](http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Plain-English-Anniversary-
Edition/dp/0861719069)

~~~
nodata
Is that book the same as this free one?
[http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html](http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html)

Does your book contain exercises?

~~~
vidarh
It's the same book.

I strongly recommend it.

You don't need exercises: The book is a step by step "instruction manual".

There is only one exercise (in this context; there are many other forms of
meditation) Sit comfortably. Breath in. Breath out. Repeat. Now gently try to
let go of your thoughts, and gently focus your attention on your breath. When
your mind slips, bring it back to the breath. Repeat for as long as you want
to sit.

The reason you want to read the book is because it deals systematically with
the practicalities, such as how to deal with pains and aches and distractions,
or how to deal with sudden intense nonsensical urges (for example, when I
started I went through a period where I'd get one minute or so in and then be
_convinced_ that I'd failed to set my timer, and that I had been sitting for
way too long, and that I'd be late for _something, anything_ ; it took weeks
to push past that barrier).

I'd also strongly recommend this series [1] of recordings of a course by Gil
Fronsdal. It covers the same practice, and fits very well with the book. And
like the book, the course recording is very much kept secular.

[1]
[http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma12/GilMed07.html](http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma12/GilMed07.html)

------
CWIZO
Does anyone have any experience with meditation and RSI? I've been having
RSI(like) problems for almost 3 years now. Recently I've read the Mindbody
Prescription book[0] after finding this HN thread[1]. I must say it did help
somewhat but I think I'm still in the process of healing myself. The bit I'm
struggling is uncovering suppressed feelings and emotions. So I'm wondering
wether meditation would help here. Any thoughts?

[0] [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-
Body-P...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body-Pain-
ebook/dp/B00FOTRPJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417164485&sr=8-1&keywords=Mindbody+Prescription)

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1269951](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1269951)

~~~
westoncb
I've also been treating RSI in the framework of Mindbody Prescription. I'm
still just starting with meditation, but it seems like the main skill it
teaches (this post describes it well:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8670184](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8670184))
is precisely what's good for getting over the RSI(like) problem: the main
thing is to understand the 'sensations' aren't something that you need to deal
with when they arise, it's okay if they arise—just let them pass. I'd gotten
into a way of thinking that if the sensations were there it meant things were
going poorly, if not they were going well; while what seems better is, things
are okay either way. You don't want to stop the sensations, you want to
understand they aren't harmful. I've done a decent survey of meditation
literature, and I think a good overview from a number of perspectives would be
this one: [http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Meditation-
Inspiration...](http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Meditation-Inspiration-
Contemporary-ebook/dp/B00ISAN12I/)

Also, I thought this book was better than any of Sarno's for TMS stuff
[http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Recovery-Back-Neck-Pain-
ebook/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Recovery-Back-Neck-Pain-
ebook/dp/B0056VBF4I/)

Lemme know if you have other questions or anything.

~~~
CWIZO
Nice, I'll go trough this things. I'll be in touch if I have any questions.
Thanks.

------
frabbit
16 participants in the study! Neuro-imaging bolloxology. Meditation might be
pleasant, but this is a pretty poor piece of science reporting.

~~~
szx
That's actually a pretty common study size in neuro-imaging/fMRI studies. You
may still disagree with the statistical validity of the findings, but there's
nothing unusual about this specific study in that regard.

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lultimouomo
Ought to wonder if today's XKCD is related...

[http://xkcd.com/1453/](http://xkcd.com/1453/)

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rd108
This is my old lab! I'm turning these neuroscience findings into consumer
products now-- using biosensors for meditation tracking and biofeedback.
[http://www.brainbot.me](http://www.brainbot.me) Check it out if you're
interested, but full disclosure- this is my company

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dorfsmay
In case you wonder if this s yet another study about this matter, note that
the article is from 2011/01.

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jahaja
I'd like this to be compared to an equal amount of non-stimulated time that is
not necessarily meditation.

I feel that the main issue here could be that a lot of people, in western
culture at least, are constantly stimulated.

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andersthue
I read Dan Harris' book 10% happier and started meditating for just 5 minutes
a day.

I can highly recommend it. I am much more aware and present when doing it than
those days I do not.

~~~
Matumio
I made a similar experience. When I force myself to sit still and focus on
breathing for just 7 minutes in the morning, it seems to make me more aware of
what I'm doing for the rest of the day. Sometimes I continue to 40 minutes.
Too often I skip it entirely and e.g. surf the net instead, which makes me
feel like a work-addicted wreck who won't grant himself just 7 minutes of
peace.

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jastanton
Are there any other training programs for better memory?

~~~
codyb
Domonic O'Brians methods work like magic with relatively little practice.
They're also a form of meditation in some sense because of the concentration
required to use the imagination so vividly. He has a six cd course I've never
gotten all the way through but the techniques I employed helped me remember
french vocabularly, art history (dates, names, etc), people and their names,
and phone numbers with relative ease (especially compared to rote
memorization). The best thing is, the more you do it, the better you get and
the easier and faster it is.

Looks like he has many books [0] here on Amazon. He won the World Memory
Championships a number of times.

[0] - [http://www.amazon.com/Dominic-
OBrien/e/B001KHNR2K](http://www.amazon.com/Dominic-OBrien/e/B001KHNR2K)

~~~
sjcsjc
Thanks for this. I'd never heard of him, but after a bit of googling, reading
and mentally going through my house, I can see that this stuff works. Cheers
codyb.

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hunterjrj
Another suggestion for anyone who would prefer a guide that is unbiased/free
of religion and mysticism: How to Meditate by Lawrence LeShan.

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dbingham
[http://xkcd.com/1453/](http://xkcd.com/1453/)

Timely this.

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robodale
A few lowballs of Jameson on ice combined with a heavy 3D shooter on the XBox
is my meditation.

