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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday November 05 2016, @10:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the relaxation-in-smaller-doses dept.

As mindfulness meditation and yoga have become mainstream and more extensively studied, growing evidence suggests multiple psychological and physical benefits of these mindfulness exercises, as well as for similar practices like tai chi and qi gong.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses analyzing hundreds of research studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions help decrease anxiety, depression, stress, and pain, and help improve general health, mental health, and quality of life. These practices also appear to reduce inflammation and increase immune response.

Trade in your luggage for yoga pants.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @01:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @01:04PM (#422818)

    What technique works for you? What do you think about? Should you lay down or sit up?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @02:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @02:55PM (#422849)

    Sit down cross-legged and chant ,"oooooommmmmm puto chingon." Puto Chingon is Hindi for "spirit and happiness."

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:22PM (#422855)

      Sitting crosslegged and chanting Na myoho arenge ku with eyes closed worked for some of the characters on old TV police shows.

      They were the ones who did the deed, of course.

    • (Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:23PM

      by art guerrilla (3082) on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:23PM (#422856)

      oooooooommmmmm is hindi for oooooommmmmm ? ? ?

    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday November 05 2016, @08:04PM

      by mhajicek (51) on Saturday November 05 2016, @08:04PM (#422909)

      ohwa tagu Siam.

      --
      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday November 06 2016, @11:42AM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday November 06 2016, @11:42AM (#423080) Journal

      So why should it work better (for a non-Indian) if you say it in Hindi than if you say it in your own language?

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:44PM

    by PizzaRollPlinkett (4512) on Saturday November 05 2016, @03:44PM (#422862)

    audiodharma.org has Gil Fronsdal's five-part beginner's meditation series, which is a good place to start. Also Bhante G's "Mindfulness in Plain English" book.

    --
    (E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Empyrean on Saturday November 05 2016, @10:30PM

    by Empyrean (5241) on Saturday November 05 2016, @10:30PM (#422933)

    Here is the Zen inspired meditation technique that I use:

    1. Find a good spot facing a wall (preferably monochromatic).
    2. Sit down and assume a comfortable, balanced posture (spine straight). Some people insist on sitting in full/half lotus or seiza, however, I think this is unnecessary (I use a chair). The purpose of any sitting technique is to make sitting still for long periods bearable.
    3. Keep your eyes open, but slightly closed (helps prevent you from drifting off). Chin and gaze slightly downward.
    4. Relax your body, especially the shoulders.
    5. Now you're ready to begin. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth or nose (I find breathing out through the mouth makes me yawn). If you can, try to breathe with your belly rather than your chest. This technique is more efficient and thus uses less energy. I also find it soothing.
    6. Pay attention to your breathing. Thoughts will arise, but don't engage them, just let them go, however, don't try to force them to disappear, just let them pass. Every time you realize that you are drifting off (i.e. getting swept up in your thoughts), and you will frequently at first, bring your attention back to your breath.
    7. When you are ready, try to expand your awareness to encompass the wall, your body, the sensation of sitting, and the sounds you hear. Try to be as aware and present as possible in the current moment.
    8. When the bell rings (I have a meditation timer on my phone) get up slowly and stretch things out a bit.

    Start with 5 minutes per day and gradually increase. I do 15-20 minutes twice per day.

    The purpose and effect of meditation is to cultivate awareness (some people call this mindfulness), although it has other positive and sometimes even negative side-effects (you'll never hear this from a new age mindfulness meditation instructor). Meditation can be like looking into a mirror and not everyone is prepared to face their true self.

    Following the breath is basically is basically a tool to keep your attention rooted in the present. Eventually, after several years of practice, you can try casting off the training wheels and focus on just sitting.

    Anyway, I hope this helps!

    Oh, although some Zen masters advise against this, if you have a terrible itch feel free to scratch it if it's the only thing you can focus on.