Science News: Mindfulness Meditation Changes Brain’s Gray Matter, part 2

Posted: January 28, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Mindfulness, News, Science, The brain | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Even the New York Times has gotten in on the act.  Today they published an article titled How Meditation May Change the Brain on their Well Blog.  Hasn’t quite hit the main paper yet, but it’s still the Times.

And The Atlantic Monthly quotes the NYT’s report in their Cliché Watch Blog.  Erik Hayden, author of Meditation is Good for You — Not Sure Why, presents what appears to be an unnecessarily snarky spin on the story.  He characterizes meditation as “thinking about nothing” so that tells you where he’s coming from.  I have to admit I’m curious about what Mr. Hayden finds so cliché, but apparently it’s not sarcasm or cynicism.

Science News: 8 Weeks of Mindfulness Meditation Changes Brain’s Gray Matter

Posted: January 27, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Mindfulness, News, Science | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Every once in a while, research on mindfulness gets mainstream press coverage.  Not only is mindfulness therapy not a fad, according to the LA Times, but in even wider national coverage, scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital, as reported by Business Week, have shown that 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation can increase

gray matter density in the hippocampus (important for learning and memory) and in structures associated with compassion and self-awareness.The investigators also found that participant-reported reductions in stress were associated with decreased gray matter density in the amygdala, which plays a role in anxiety and stress. None of these brain structure changes were seen in the control group.

Business Weak also reported the primary investigator, Britta Holzel, as saying

“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life.

So now we know that there’s a strong correlation between the practice of meditation and changes in the brain that correlate with increased well-being and a higher quality of life.  Amazing!  Next question:  How does it work?  What is the mechanism behind the brain changes.  Is it the focusing?  Stress inoculation?  Gentleness with self and others?  Living in the present moment?  Maybe it’s all of the above and more, and I’m looking forward reading the science on these questions as it’s published.

Here are some additional links to articles on this release:

Mindfulness: a multi-part definition, part 5

Posted: January 26, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Definition, Mindfulness | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In The Mindful Way Through Anxiety, Susan Orsillo PhD, and Lizabeth Roemer, PhD, define mindfulness as:

…a specific way of paying atttention to things.  It involves purposefully expanding your attention to take in both what you are experiencing inside –your thought, feelings, and physical sensations — and what is happening around you.  But the kind of attention you bring to noticing is an essential aspect of this practice.  Mindfulness involves bringing a gentle and honest curiosity to your experiences.  It involves looking at familiar thought, people, and situations with a fresh perspective, as if you had never encountered them before.

This is an interesting definition because it builds on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition, “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” from Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, by breaking out process aspects of training in mindfulness.  Where Kabat-Zinn outlines the minimum requirements for being mindful, Orsillo and Roemer add additional qualities like gentleness, curiosity, and beginner’s mind to the definition.  Kabat-Zinn may argue that these additional qualities both support mindfulness and are a product of it, and I believe these are helpful, though not essential, aspirational qualities to outline, especially for those with anxiety, depression, and shame.

I received this book in the mail just today, and I look forward to giving it a thorough reading, and possibly even a review.

Mindfulness: a multi-part definition, part 4

Posted: December 18, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Definition, Mindfulness | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Saki Santorelli provides a more detailed definition of mindfulness elsewhere in Heal Thy Self, but for right now, I really like this one:

…a disciplined way of learning to pay attention to all that is arising within.  This is called mindfulness.

This definition is powerful because it so clearly focuses on the fact that our internal selves are constantly changing, and to be mindful is to start with that. Ultimately, and frequently, we lose self-awareness, but this provides us with the basis of practice.

Each time that we awaken to no longer being present ourselves or to another is, paradoxically, a moment of presence.  If we are willing to see the whole of our lives as practice, our awareness of the moments when we are not present, coupled with our intention to awaken, brings us into the present.  Given our penchant for absence, opportunities for practicing presence are abundant.

Practice doesn’t make perfect, and that can’t really be our goal, but more about that later.

Mindfulness: a multi-part definition, part 3

Posted: July 26, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Definition, Mindfulness | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

The last definition entry may have sounded a little overwhelming.  So, here, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse offers us some reassurance:

Awareness doesn’t prevent you from living, it makes living that much fuller. If you are enjoying a cup of tea and you understand the bitter and the sweet of temporary things, you will really enjoy the cup of tea.

Thank you to Ceez for bringing this quote to my attention.

Mindfulness: a multi-part defintion, part 2

Posted: July 25, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Definition, Mindfulness | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

In the first part of this definition series, I gave you a pithy explanation from a Westerner.  In this part, I’m going with Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen monk and strong advocate of mindfulness.

In The Miracle of Mindfulness he quotes the Sutra of Mindfulness as saying:

When walking, the practitioner must be conscious that he is walking.  When sitting, the practitioner must be conscious that he is sitting.  When lying down, the practitioner must be conscious that he is lying down..No matter what position one’s body is in, the practitioner must be conscious of that position.  Practicing thus, the practitioner lives in direct and constant mindfulness of the body…”

However he doesn’t leave us with a simple focus on posture.  He adds:

The mindfulness of the positions of one’s body is not enough, however.  We must be conscious of each breath, each movement, every thought and feeling, every thing which has any relation to ourselves.

That is a huge goal!  Being mindful of what your body is doing and what your mind is doing.  Noticing what the world is presenting to you in the way of bodily sensations. Spread that awareness to how those sensations make you feel and what thoughts they may trigger.  Imagine what it might be like to have all of those things have equal weight in your attentional mind at once.  Do you think you can do that?  Do you think you can build up to it?

Many of the definitions I will be presenting and commenting on may not be the best known formulations by their respective authors. Kalea Chapman, Psy.D. has a great list of mindfulness definitions by psychologists and others, and he’s an admirable blogger on the topics of psychology/psychotherapy (including mindfulness) and big pharma.  I strongly suggest you give the blog a look.

Mindfulness: a multi-part definition, part 1

Posted: July 8, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Definition, Mindfulness | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

So what is mindfulness anyway?  Let’s ask the experts.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is often credited with bringing mindfulness to medicine and health says:

Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness.  It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment’s thought to. It is a systematic approach to developing new kinds of control and wisdom in our lives, based on our inner capacities for relaxation, paying attention, awareness, and insight.  (Full Catastrophe Living, Fifteenth Anniversary Edition, 2005, p. 2)

Moment-to-moment awareness of what?  Our thoughts?  Our feelings?  Others’ expectations of us?  The fact that the car needs a tune-up? Everything?

And why does awareness need to be cultivated?  Can’t we just pay attention to things without any practice?  Will I do more on this blog than just ask questions?

Dr. Kabat-Zinn has a deeper understanding to share about mindfulness, but I thought this would be a good starting point.  More soon.

Here is a more complete and direct definition by Dr. Kabat-Zinn:

Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. — Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life