Brief meditation boosts attention, curbs stress

[LightEye]

dear friends,

http://uk.reuters.com/article/health...88503420071008

be well, be love.

david

brief meditation boosts attention, curbs stress
tue oct 9, 2007 12:37am bst

new york (reuters health) - recent studies have suggested that months to years of intensive meditation can improve attention and lower stress. researchers now believe that in less than one week of meditation practice with the integrative body-mind meditation training method can produce noteworthy improvement in attention and ones' state of mind.

the study of 40 chinese undergraduates found that participation in 20-minute integrative meditation sessions over 5 days showed greater improvement in attention and overall mood, and lower levels of anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue, compared with students in a control group who participated in relaxation training.

dr. yi-yuan tang from university of oregon in eugene and colleagues report their research in today's issue of proceedings of the national academy of sciences.

integrative meditation, they explain, "incorporates several key components body and mind techniques including body relaxation, breathing adjustment, mental imagery, and mindfulness training, which have shown broad positive effects in attention, emotions, and social behaviors in previous studies. this combination may amplify the training effect over the use of only one of these components."

as mentioned, after just 5 days, students in the integrative meditation group showed significantly greater improvement on tests of attention and mood than did the relaxation control group. their reaction to a mental stressor was also significantly improved, as evidenced by a significant decrease in stress-related cortisol levels.

[billybobbutterball]

dear friends,

http://uk.reuters.com/article/health...88503420071008

be well, be love.

david

brief meditation boosts attention, curbs stress
tue oct 9, 2007 12:37am bst

new york (reuters health) - recent studies have suggested that months to years of intensive meditation can improve attention and lower stress. researchers now believe that in less than one week of meditation practice with the integrative body-mind meditation training method can produce noteworthy improvement in attention and ones' state of mind.

[snip]

as mentioned, after just 5 days, students in the integrative meditation group showed significantly greater improvement on tests of attention and mood than did the relaxation control group. their reaction to a mental stressor was also significantly improved, as evidenced by a significant decrease in stress-related cortisol levels.

as it turns out i have been stumbling around trying to meditate on the art of meditation -- or perhaps what i have been actually doing is contemplating meditation. (i get the two mixed up something terrible) the link that our lighteyes provided is rather sketchy. here is coverage that provides extra interesting details.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-bmb100807.php

"study in china seen as launching pad for larger, more comprehensive inquiry on how meditation works"

one of the elements in this meditative experiment is 'soothing music'. david wilcock has warned against using electronic gizmos and such in 'crude' attempts to modify the brain/mind, so i don't know if music would fall into that category when used in a blank-mind state

much of my recent reading has gratuitously uncovered more and more emphasis on the absolute spiritual need for meditation over and against merely gathering up and hoarding transient intellectualizations.

i confess that i suffer from trying to over-stuff my mind with more and more knowledge -- all this activity right in the face of knowing i would be far better off putting books down, turning of the computer, and to start listening internally. yes, i realize this meditation advice is true ... but knowing is not doing. (help! my brain's fallen and i can't get my thoughts back up!)

best, billbobinfoholic

[johnasmodeus]

i confess that i suffer from trying to over-stuff my mind with more and more knowledge

ha ha ha not just you, buddy. i read and study like a starving man eats - for no good reason other than i never seem to feel full.