Mindfulness Meditation

I've been meditating for years and I've found it helpful. In the last few years, there seems to be more mention of mindfulness. When I research meditation, it's almost always with regards to mindfulness and being in the present moment now. Mindfulness seems to have become something of a buzzword and it's being pushed at work and other places. However, unlike meditation in general, I seem to have a negative reaction to mindfulness meditation. Many of the mindfulness meditation techniques just fail to work for me the way that other forms of meditation do. I've been doing some research to try to figure out why there's such a disconnect between meditation in general and mindfulness practices in particular for me. Ran across one article I though resonated well: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/my-mindfulness-journey/ Still looking for more information on mindfulness meditation versus other meditation and self-help practices. If anyone runs across any material on meditation that they've found helpful, please share it. Thanks.

That was an excellent article. I see nothing wrong with daydreaming per se--one might consider it a form of meditation. I remember when in the army many years ago on kitchen duty for 12 hours daydreaming helped me get thru the monotony of washing endless piles of pots and pans!

There are so many kinds of meditation--one needs to find what works for them. "Mindfulness' has become the popular mainstream buzzword. Various meditation traditions have been around for hundreds of years. You are free to make up your own as well.

For instance, I make my daily one hour walk like a meditation. Sometimes mindful, sometimes daydreaming, always relaxing and rejuvenating. I'm a great observer of details, even notice things like license plates and how the sequences change over time. But I also need a break at times and just let my mind wander.

I don't do any formal meditation these days (unless naps count :-)).

I did do Transcendental Meditation for several years long ago which along with various other healing practices helped release extreme tension and anxiety.

I've taken a 12 week in-person course in Insight Meditation* in recent years but each time it did not stick for me (I did the course three times!). The teacher said give it an honest try but you may find that this is not for you! These days I resist doing anything that feels like a duty:-).

*
https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/programs-for-beginners/
All programs (including online) at no cost, registration. or obligation.

p.s. I have some more comments and suggestions to explore but want to do a little research first to line up sources.

Grasshopper wrote:
https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/programs-for-beginners/
All programs (including online) at no cost, registration. or obligation.

p.s. I have some more comments and suggestions to explore but want to do a little research first to line up sources.

Thanks for the response and the information on a meditation program. Look forward to hearing what else you may come up with.

I've had people recommend these to me and I recently went through both courses:
https://palousemindfulness.com/
https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being

The walking you mentioned seems very much in line with what research is calling awe walks: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-right-mindset/202011/what-are-awe-walks
It is considered a form of mindfulness by the mindfulness community. From what I've read, it activates the default mode network that they typically try not to activate in mindfulness activities. However, it's still considered mindfulness when you're noticing your surroundings while walking and when you're "being in the moment". The study showed people got more benefit from walking when they noticed their surroundings and tried to cultivate a sense of awe at nature rather than just walking for exercise with random thoughts in their heads.

What be interested to hear more about your experiences with Transcendental Meditation. Do you repeat a certain word or phrase and concentrate on that or is it different than that?

I've been doing biofeedback on and off, at first with a EEG and later a GSR since I was a teenager. I find that one of the easier forms of meditation to do because you get feedback as to whether you're reaching the mind states you want to reach. I typically prefer theta to alpha. From what I've been reading theta is more related to access of memories. I've also read that the same parts of the brain are used for thinking about the future as are used for accessing memories. I also like some breathing techniques. They seem to be somewhat effective. I've read that humming can increase nasal nitric oxide and help decrease rhinitus and other nasal issues. Since I have a lot of sinus infections and allergy issues, it can be helpful.

The article on walking is awesome. I'd not heard of 'awe walking' but can totally relate. For me it doesn't need to be 'intentional' as the author states but can occur spontaneously in nature and even urban settings as inspirational. I'm fortunate to live in an urban area with great vistas, landscapes, mountains, and the ocean--I don't need to go far to find some.

In TM you gently repeat a mantra but don't 'concentrate' on it or try to control it, just let it go if it slips away, and gently come back to it when you notice you are not repeating it.

Elaine Aron explains it this way [in her Meditation Part II* article below]:
"...many think of TM and prayer as involving concentrating on a mantra or prayer, TM and Centering Prayer actually ask the opposite of you. The idea is to use one word or "mantra" as a vehicle to slip down into deep rest so that the body can repair the effects of stress. Once in this state, sometimes the word or mantra slips away, is lost, forgotten. One does not try to hold on to it. Any effort or work at it, according to this philosophy, is counterproductive. But when the word slips away, you are in pure awareness." [I would also add that you may have actually fallen asleep!--easy to do if too relaxed or tired. In Zen they have ways to keep you awake. ]

Elaine shared that she has done TM twice daily for many years.

I took a college course in biofeedback years ago and as a term project used GSR to demonstrate that TM did consistently put me into alpha state.

Looks like you have done a lot of exploring of meditation and related fields. What works best for you?

Articles to peruse:

https://www.tm.org/wellness-program/comparing-meditation-techniques

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/attending-the-undervalued-self/201208/meditation-part-i

*
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/attending-the-undervalued-self/201208/meditation-part-ii

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-highly-sensitive-person/201911/meditation-highly-sensitive-people

A last note on meditation: I remember anti-guru philosopher J. Krishnamurti saying in his talks and writings that true meditation is a process of expanding awareness so that the meditator becomes one with the meditation; in other words, you are living it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

Grasshopper wrote:A last note on meditation: I remember anti-guru philosopher J. Krishnamurti saying in his talks and writings that true meditation is a process of expanding awareness so that the meditator becomes one with the meditation; in other words, you are living it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

That's kind of how it is with altered states of awareness or as I refer to them in my experience--expanded states of awareness. I love when that happens to me!

It's a lifetime of work of aspiration and allowing inspiration.

"...And because that gift will be so fantastical in it’s reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all 'So worth the wait.'
Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche — this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you."

--excerpted from https://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/articles/the-manifesto-of-encouragement.aspx
(Well worth the read!)