From the window of my London hotel room Big Ben displays itself, a prominent, elegant presence amid the vista of river, billowing clouds, and spreading jumble of skyline. Big Ben has a grandeur as a piece of architecture, but I find my eye drawn more to the broad, open expanse of sky and river. The panorama above and below Big Ben's rounded bluntness includes a resplendence of steeples and bridges that occupy the central view from my window. I notice how my mind, at first glance, takes in the spaciousness of the cloud-filled sky and the soothing expanse of the river below like a regal oil painting by some turn-of-the-century landscape artist, or like a postcard-perfect snapshot.
But as I gaze more carefully, with a sustained attention, I notice that the still snapshot-like rendering of this scene dissolves into a whirl of constant motion, a continuing series of tiny movements that add up to a vastly altered picture. There are tiny successive changes in the shape of clouds as they glide across the sky, sometimes opening up patches of sky through which rays of sunlight spill along the landscape, illuminating shadows into patches of light.
There's the translucent shine of buildings and roads and bright red buses as they momentarily bathe in the glow. The scene before me shimmers with kinetic energy. And so it is with our inner landscapes. This shift in my perception mirrors how the mind works: the tendency to assume it has got the whole picture on first glance, to rush on without a closer look, and the sometimes startling fact that if one continues to look more carefully, there is always more to be discovered beyond those initial assumptions. Too often we take our first impressions, the conclusions from a first hasty glance, as the lasting truth of the moment. But if we keep looking and noticing, we become aware of greater detail and nuance, of changes and second thoughts, and much more. We can see things more as they actually are, rather than as they appear to be. We can bring a more precise understanding to the moment.
If we sustain our gaze within, sometimes our probe may detect pain behind the masks we wear. But if we continue to look, we can see how the patterns of pain hold that very mask in place, and as we investigate further we see even these patterns shift and rearrange themselves. We see how our reactions to our emotions can keep us at a distance from ourselves. And if we sustain our focus, allowing ourselves to open more honestly, our awareness penetrates further, unraveling and dissolving, peeling away the layers as we look still further. We begin to connect with more genuine parts of ourselves, at first in glimpses. Then, as we sustain our gaze, we connect with a source that breathes awareness into every layer of our being.
This book is about seeing ourselves as we genuinely are, not as we seem on first glance as viewed through the filters of our habitual assumptions and emotional patterns. We will explore how through the practice of mindfulness—a method for training the mind to expand the scope of awareness while refining its precision—we can reach beyond the limiting ways we see ourselves. We will see how to disengage from the emotional habits that undermine our lives and our relationships. We will discover how a precise mindfulness can investigate these emotional habits, bringing an insightful clarity to distinguish between the seeming and the actual.
The Power of Mindfulness I've seen the power of this distinction in the lives of my clients. One client found herself obsessed by self-recrimination for not having done something well enough. Thought highly successful in her career, she was her biggest critic. She told me, for example, "Last week I had to give a very important presentation-lots of people were going to be there whose opinions really matter to me. So I prepared more than usual and thought I had done a pretty good job. Afterward, several people complimented me. But one person said, 'You did a terrific job. It could have been a little shorter, though.' That was it. For the last several days that's all I can think about- how I went on too long. I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about it."
This was no isolated event. The feeling that she never did things quite well enough haunted her-in her work, in her marriage, in caring for her children, even in her cooking. It was constant preoccupation, one that marred her closest relationships and made the smallest challenge an occasion for self-doubt or self-criticism.
A more systematic investigation led her to realize that at the root of this preoccupation was a hidden emotional pattern, the deep conviction that no matter how well she did something, it would never be quite up to her own impossibly high standards. This mistaken conviction distorted her perceptions, so she overlooked the evidence of how well she actually did accomplish things. And it let her to drive herself far too hard, so that she cheated herself of time for life's meaningful pleasures. Mindfulness helps us to identify such hidden emotional patterns, bringing them into the light of awareness so that we can begin to free ourselves from their hold.
Once couple had fights that threatened their relationship. A mutual mindful awareness allowed them to detect the hidden patterns that caused them to have essentially the same argument over and over. Whenever she started to feel insecure about his affection for her, she would become needy. He would feel that she was controlling him and withdraw in anger. The result; a stormy fight. By looking closely at what had happened after they both calmed down, they were able to see how his angry withdrawal and her anxious clinging were both emotional reactions to an underlying symbolic reality.
Their constant battles, on closer investigation, had little to do with the situation at hand, and much to do with the symbolic meanings of what had happened: his fear of being controlled and her oversensitivity to signs of rejection because of a deep feeling that she was being emotionally deprived. Learning to identify these habitual emotional reactions as they began to take hold allowed the couple to avoid fights and to communicate more skillfully.
A dedicated mediator who had tried to relieve the distress of her lifelong feelings of disconnection by going on long retreats found herself obsessing even more about these very feelings while meditating at a retreat center. As she put it, "Your madness follows you on you spiritual path." But learning how to see these seemingly formidable emotional reactions as transparent and temporary allowed her to use them as fuel for her practice, deepening her compassion for herself as well as for others.
This transformation beings with refocusing the lenses of your conditioning to see things more clearly, as they actually are. You might wonder, Who am I, if I am not my usual pattern of assumptions and self-definitions? This question can be asked from both a psychological and spiritual perspective-a process of inner discovery that hope this book will inspire.
sexta-feira, 2 de setembro de 2011
Identify your emotional style
We each have our own style, that unique combination of hopes, fears, values and behavior that make us human.
Each style has a primary emotional issue that defines it. The question is if our issues keep us from reaching our potential, if these issues have reached that self-sabotage level. They can create problems if we do not face them.
RULE TO REMEMBER: Not confronting your issues will open the door for self-sabotage.
The process of facing these issues (and your emotional style) will help you build strength and understand yourself more completely:
Admit your emotional style
Recognize your triggers and your responses to them
Create new thoughts and feelings based on the facts
Have those available when triggers arise
Tara Bennett-Goleman's "Emotional Alchemy" is a great source of information on these 10 emotional styles. She provides much detail. These are just brief descriptions to help you get started:
Emotional Styles
Abandonment
Entitlement
Subjugation
Exclusion
Mistrust
Failure
Unlovability
Perfectionism
Deprivation
Vulnerability
We each have our own style, that unique combination of hopes, fears, values and behavior that make us human.
Each style has a primary emotional issue that defines it. The question is if our issues keep us from reaching our potential, if these issues have reached that self-sabotage level. They can create problems if we do not face them.
RULE TO REMEMBER: Not confronting your issues will open the door for self-sabotage.
The process of facing these issues (and your emotional style) will help you build strength and understand yourself more completely:
Admit your emotional style
Recognize your triggers and your responses to them
Create new thoughts and feelings based on the facts
Have those available when triggers arise
Tara Bennett-Goleman's "Emotional Alchemy" is a great source of information on these 10 emotional styles. She provides much detail. These are just brief descriptions to help you get started:
Emotional Styles
Abandonment
Entitlement
Subjugation
Exclusion
Mistrust
Failure
Unlovability
Perfectionism
Deprivation
Vulnerability
Physical Intelligence and Will
Considering the number of books in print, there has been surprisingly little published about Will. There are different kinds of will, and for the purpose of this article, I'll refer to "lower will" and "higher Will." Lower will, like intention, concerns taking the time to do something that requires effort.
Higher Will is not something we can train, but is something that appears after we've
worked to develop lower will. If we have a sense of inner peace and balance, and feel
connected to something greater than us, we are aligned to a larger purpose and can easily do the “right” thing.1
A desire to change encourages us to develop our will. The effort is worth it if we're
interested bettering our lives. After reading Roberto Assagioli's The Act of Will, Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ3, and Tara Bennett- Goleman's Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart4, it seemed to me that a crucial step was missing. It wasn't clear how the lower will could be developed so thatit would impact the ability to make lasting changes.
As a kinesthetic learner with a background in professional dance, teaching, choreography,transpersonal psychology and the Enneagram*, I felt compelled to develop "PhysicalIntelligence"(PQ), a system that translates emotional energy into physical energy andteaches people how to train and trust the body's intelligence. (PQ represents one'sPhysical Quotient, rather than IQ which represents one's Intelligence [Intellectual]Quotient.)
Common ways to develop lower will include exercising more, eating nutritiously, daily
meditation, yoga, or tai chi. Exercises in Physical Intelligence increase the ability to engage the will and develop emotional fluency. Emotional fluency is a form of Emotional Intelligence that gives us the flexibility to respond as each situation demands: in an Eight-like way when the situation requires you to be a leader and in control; in a Nine-like way when the situation requires you to be patient and to just listen.
Applying PQ gives us tools for managing emotional energy so we can express our
feelings in a timely manner with the appropriate amount of energy. This makes it easier to make a break between the impulse to take action and the action itself.
In my experience, the missing link in the development of will is the relationship betweenpersonality and the body. Our mental states influence our physical actions as much asphysical actions influence our minds and moods. This means that we can make change bynot just thinking about it, or wanting to feel differently, but also by training the body tomove in ways that are unfamiliar.
My students have reported making leaps in personal growth (from using PQ techniques)
that were surprising to them, including a Five who found herself behaving in a very
social, amiable way at her three-year old daughter's birthday party, a Two who found anew kind of courage in the face of fear after 9/11 that gave her the strength to support others.
Our Enneagram types (see thumbnail descriptions at end) imply that we have certain
strengths that can also be our downfall due to overuse. Strengths become habits from
years of experience. Their familiarity becomes a crutch as we react without thinking; theease of drawing on them becomes a trap. This causes blindness, preventing us from
responding to each moment with new eyes. It might serve us better if we could tailor ourresponses to the circumstances. It may be that when someone is ill, a generous and caring
Two-like response would best serve the moment. Or if someone is frozen with anxiety, acourageous Six-like response or a peaceful Nine-like response might be called for.
Mindfulness
When we want to make a change in our lives, we first become mindful of what it is we
want to change. This is what allows us to notice our no longer desired behaviors so that we can stop a habitual response before we take action. In our automatic pilot settings, after a disturbing emotion has been triggered, the impulse to take action flows automatically into action.
There are many benefits of mindfulness meditation. Besides relaxation and training the ability to focus attention, it also trains the ability to notice without judging.
By noticing the breath, the sounds in the room, the smell of the air, the temperature, without judgment, and then letting the awareness go, we release our attachment to these things ornto any story line that might concern us. We can transfer this ability to our emotions, learning how to observe them without judgment, without a story line, and then to let them go, eventually learning we may not have to respond in any set way.
In Emotional Alchemy, Bennett-Goleman describes the "magic quarter second" that lies
between the intent to take a particular action and the action itself. Within this quarter second, at what I call the "Choice Point," I believe will resides.
In her book, Bennett-Goleman describes the work of neurosurgeon Benjamin Libet. His
discovery suggests:
“…why mindfulness can be such a powerful method of bringing intelligence to our
emotional lives. Because the brain has no nerve endings-and so feels no pain-and because neurosurgeons need to be sure they have not inadvertently strayed into the wrong area of the brain, patients do not get a full anesthesia during brain surgery, but remain awake and aware. This allows them to speak or move a part of the body to let the surgeon know that all is well.
“Taking advantage of this unusual opportunity, Dr. Libet did a simple experiment: He
would ask patients during surgery to move their finger. He used an ingenious clock face that tracked time in thousandths of a second, allowing the patients to note the time with extraordinary accuracy. This way they could report the precise moment when they became aware of the urge to move the finger.
“In short, it let him separate the moment of intent to move, from the moment of
awareness of that intent, from the moment of actual action.
“…the brain begins to activate an impulse prior to the dawning in our awareness of the intent to make that very action. "Once the person is aware of the intent to move, Libet discovered, there is another quarter-second before the movement begins. This window is crucial: it is the moment when we have the capacity to go along with the impulse or to reject it."
Once we've developed our mindfulness to a point where we can notice the intent to act, we find ourselves poised at the choice point. We might ask "What do I do instead?" and "How do I do something different?" It's difficult to change a behavior pattern even though it no longer serves us. We can't change our Enneagram type; our emotional and behavior patterns are habituated from a lifetime of use and etched in our psyche. It's much easier to travel a paved path than to forage through unchartered territory:
"Repetition of actions intensifies the urge to further reiteration and renders their
execution easier and better, until they come to be performed unconsciously.
In this way, habits are formed. They can be compared to streets and roads; it is so
much easier and more convenient to walk along a street than to force one's way through the undergrowth of uncultivated land."
"…Gustave Le Bon, in his book La Psychologie de l'éducation, goes so far as to state
that 'education is the art of making the conscious pass into the unconscious'."
— Roberto Assagioli
The Act of Will6
Neuron Pathways
Neuron pathways are the channels through which information travels between the brain
and body. A neuron pathway begins with a message, thought or impulse from the brain.
This message travels along nerves, muscles, neurons, neuron peptides, molecules,
receptors, pherons, membranes, and connective tissue. They communicate a message to
appropriate muscle groups which then engage the body in the desired action.
Messages also flow in the opposite direction along the same neuron pathways. A physical sensation, like touching a hot stove, sparks a series of messages. The muscles enervate the nerves, and the nerves send a message to the brain -- pain. The brain returns a message along the same neuron pathway -- remove your hand.
The body is intelligent and this series of messages is communicated quickly, fluidly, and unconsciously. This example is part of the automatic nervous system. Distinct from that, but equally important, are neuron pathways that are trained to perform special actions like chores of daily living, doing sports, and expressing emotion.
An infant learning to drink from a cup demonstrates the laborious development of a
neuron pathway. At first unable to grasp the cup, eventually the infant will lift it to his lips, only to miss and dribble the milk all over his face and onto the bib.
With repetition,this neuron pathway is trained, and the infant eventually will drink without spilling. By the time we're adults, we've engaged this pattern so many times it has become unconscious, and we can even read the newspaper, hold a conversation, and drink a cup of coffee without spilling.
We have equally well-developed neuron pathways for all our thoughts, feelings and
activities; for getting dressed in the morning, cooking, driving, for the way we listen, express emotion, our degree of self-confidence, the way we organize our desks and our lives. The thinking and feeling patterns that we engage in most often have the most well- developed pathways. If we always tell ourselves we're a failure, it creates a pathway that affects our posture and how we function. Believing we are unstoppable in manifesting our dreams creates pathways that are energizing and mobilizing, affecting our postures
and how we function.
In the same way the infant learned to drink, we can learn to ride a bike, ski, manage
anger, or express affection. We can train emotional as well as physical neuron pathways by "moving in the way of" a thinking or feeling pattern that is new. When we engage that neuron pathway, the correlated inner state will arise.
A simple physical exercise can demonstrate how movement can influence inner states
(see "EnneaMotion: The Somatic Enneagram," EM Feb.'02 issue).
For example, a type One who is overly critical, constantly judging and pointing out
what's wrong with others and himself, may not have a neuron pathway for a calm
acceptance. A PQ exercise for this inner state includes: walking with less rigidity, less directness, with a lighter use of energy, with gestures that are open, calm and accepting.
Repetition trains a neuron pathway for calm acceptance.
Or consider someone who'd like to be authentically generous with their time as they caremfor a loved one who is ill. This person could do the PQ exercise for Enneagram type Two, the exercise for loving generosity, which includes gestures with an open, embracingmquality, moving gently in a curving path through space. Repetition of these movements will start to generate a sense of loving generosity.
We also have neuron pathways that are too developed with over-use. A person with a
highly developed pathway for the expression of anger won't notice he's angry and raises his voice at the least provocation-this response is on-call, always ready, often used and is effortless; a remedy could be found in training the opposite quality of tolerance and listening.
There is a time and place for the expression of all emotions; but to do this smoothly, we need to have presence of mind (or mindfulness) and emotional fluency-the ability to respond in whichever way best serves each moment.
The following is an example of a Two whose work with PQ exercises, most notably
moving with the courage of the Six, impacted her coaching and counseling practice:
"Your work has helped in my executive coaching and private counseling practice. Now
more able to "step into" the various types, I can more closely "feel" in my own body what others are experiencing. This added level of insight has increased my ability to
understand more deeply and more quickly.
"One other thing happened for which I can't thank you enough. I have been an
optimistic person with a positive outlook most of my life; the events of 9/11 and the fearthat followed moved me to an emotional place that I had little experience with.
In your
training, we translated the high side for each type into movement and developed a
physical stance to peg the memory into the body.
Through this exercise, I was able to get in touch with the courage of the Six. I hadn't understood it from an intellectual perspective, but the movement exercise allowed me to truly feel courage. It is not courage because you think things will be fine…it is courage in the face of fear. That experience has helped me stay engaged in my work and be a support to others. On the 12th, I was called in by a corporation to train their managers and employees in handling the stress while supporting their clients. By tapping into Six energy, I was able to help people in the face of tragedy.
Emotional Alchemy: Effecting Change
"In each of us there are, potentially, all the elements and qualities of the human being,
the germs of all virtues and of all vices. In each of us there are the potential criminal and
the potential saint or hero. It is a question of different development, valuation, choice,
control, and expression."
— Roberto Assagioli
The Act of Will7
Part of the work of will, and of PQ, is developing alternative responses. This can loosen the fixation of our Enneagram type, making us more balanced and responsive to life's situations.
We can expand our palette of options to give us easier access to the virtues of all
Enneagram styles. At different times, we might benefit from having the drive and
motivating passion of a Three, the observation skills of a Five, the peacemaking ability of a Nine, etc. Once you identify a desired state, PQ exercises translate its attributes intoncorresponding movement. With repetition, you train the neuron pathways for that state, establishing a muscle memory for recall. This eases your access to that inner state, and you become more emotionally fluent.
Hoping to learn something about the alchemy that transforms emotions, I attended a
course on "Emotional Alchemy," co-taught by Tara Bennett-Goleman (author of the book
by the same title), and her husband, Daniel Goleman, who has popularized the term,
"Emotional Intelligence." The workshop included lectures about the brain, about the
amygdala being the source of our gut response and call to action, and most memorably,
about the "magic quarter second" described earlier, a time for the "thought to be caught"when you can, in fact, stop yourself from doing something you may later regret. We learned about the difference between brain time and real time, and that the neocortex in
front of the amygdala can actually stop the "call to action" before we act.
The other part of the course included guided mindfulness practice. Finally, we asked the
question, "How do you effect change?" The answer was: "Become mindful, and then do
something different." With mindfulness, we're able to break the chain of events and make
a change. I agree with their conclusion, but think that for most people, a more concrete
tool is required to make lasting change. Oftentimes, a response other than the one we've
always had doesn't even occur to us. We may not know what that "something different"
would even be. Or perhaps we know what we want to do, but not how to do it. In fact, if
we haven't "done" this "something different" before, there's not a neuron pathway to
engage in order to do it.
My suggestion would be to explore a range of alternatives by doing the PQ practices
when we are not at a choice point; do the training when there is no decision to be made.
That way, we are less pressed, can practice responses at leisure, then, in a moment of
need we have a neuron pathway already developed. (See Figure 2.)
Thinking, Feeling and the Body (Movement and Behaviors)
This is an "imagination" exercise which illustrates the relationship between thinking,
feeling and the body.8
Your thoughts affect your feelings and your body: Close your eyes for a moment, and
imagine that you've run into somebody you care a great deal about, whom you haven't
seen in a long time. Notice your body. Notice your breathing, notice your posture, your
energy. Notice your feelings. Stay with this for a moment, and then let it go.
Now imagine a time when you received a bad critique, were hurt or rejected. Notice your body; notice your breathing and the tension in your muscles. You may feel tense, heavyand sluggish.
Did you notice how choosing to hold onto different thoughts or memories brought on
either a sense of elation, or a depression and an inability to function?
Your feelings affect your thoughts and your body. Close your eyes and remember a time
when you fell in love. And notice your body and the tension (or lack of tension) in your muscles. Notice your breath. Notice the thoughts, images and memories that may surface.
Did you notice how these feelings had an impact on both your thoughts and energy?
Your body (movement and behaviors) affects your thoughts and your feelings. Close
your eyes again, and take a deep breath. Take a few moments to simply focus on deep
breathing. Allow other thoughts to come and go, always returning to the breath. If you
were running around all day forever multi-tasking or trying to catch up, your thoughts could become anxious and nervous, your feelings short-tempered and high strung. Keep your mind on just the breath.
Did you notice an impact on your thoughts and feelings?
These principles have been used for thousands of years in such practices as meditation, yoga, tai chi, and chi gong which are based on the recognition that the body, thoughts and feels are inextricably connected.
Triggers
The example of touching a hot stove and then removing your hand illustrates that
information travels along the neuron pathways in two directions: from the inside out, and
from the outside in.
Inside out: When we're angry, our thoughts and our energy are heavy; if we're happy,
our thoughts and energy are light. Another kind of example is when your mind says,
"Drive to work," and your body knows what to do. Our thoughts and feelings impact our
bodies (actions and behaviors).
Outside in: Sinking into a hot bathtub can have a calming effect on thoughts and
feelings. Our physical actions impact our inner states.
The "missing link" in developing will is based on the fact that information travels along
neuron pathways from the outside in. This means that we can broaden our palette of
emotions and thoughts by training the body to "move in the way of" a variety of inner
states, and establishing and training a neuron pathway we can call upon when needed. We
etch that particular pathway into physical memory by dedicating a "trigger" to activate it.
The trigger is made up of a physical stance and a word or short phrase.
The stance, similar to a mudra (Sanskrit for a gesture designed to elicit a particular inner
state), is a body position with a particular gesture that represents the inner quality you're
training.
The word or short phrase, similar to a mantra(Sanskrit for a sound designed to elicit a
particular inner state), represents the essence of the inner quality you're training.
Every neuron pathway has its own trigger.
The useful application of triggers is well-expressed in the following quote:
I learned that physical postures can change my emotions. I noticed being more able to
capture the stability of type Eight when I came home and had to deal with my Six mother.
I felt the strength in my body and just didn't react much. I found the Eight postures were
helpful in finding my personal power, which I really appreciate. The triggers are helping
me find physical integrity within myself when under attack, instead of feeling so
vulnerable.
— C.K., type Six
The Five alluded to earlier most often embraced the neuron pathway for withdrawing
during social occasions. Not wanting to do that at a special event, she employed her
triggers.
Last night I did my triggers before I gave a dinner party, and again before the 3rd
birthday party I gave for my daughter. As you know, social occasions can feel very
awkward to me, especially when one is the "mom" or the "little woman" expected to see
to everyone else's needs. However, instead of escaping to my bedroom to hide, I engaged
myself in the preparations slowly and methodically and in the obligatory small talk
without any resentment or "checking out." I was interested to observe the sound of my
voice and the expression on my face were "sweet." There's no other word for it. I just felt
really sweet, like a Two, in relation to my guests, both the toddlers and the adults. I don't
think I've ever explored that particular quality in myself, and it was completely
spontaneous. Consider this is a testimonial to this work!
— G.H, type Five
In summary, the ability to engage our will includes the following steps:
develop mindfulness
expand our palette of options (when not at a choice point) by developing neuron
pathways and their triggers which represent alternative inner states
notice when we're at a choice point
make a decision about how to respond
do the trigger (the stance and word or short phrase) for that inner state which will
energize the corresponding neuron pathway
This series of steps will elicit the desired inner state.
With the desire to change, enough mindfulness to catch yourself during the "magic
quarter second," and the use of triggers to develop emotional fluency, it becomes easier
to engage your will and make positive change. Expansion of our choices brings us out of
contraction and towards wholeness which is a key to living a joyful life.
* Enneagram types. The Enneagram (ennea = nine in Greek) describes nine different
personality styles, each with a different set of strengths and challenges.
Below are thumbnail descriptions of the nine styles to assist in understanding some of the
language in this article.
Type One: The Perfectionist, The Reformer
Excellent detail and organizational skills, logic and reasoning...may be too serious or
critical under stress.
Type Two: The Giver, Helper, Nurturer
Excellent people skills, supportive and cheerful...may be intrusive or too needy under
stress.
Type Three: The Achiever, Performer
Motivated, action-oriented and efficient...may be too competitive or image-conscious
under stress.
Type Four: The Individualist, Artist, Romantic
Creative, intuitive and tactful...may be too hypersensitive under stress.
Type Five: The Investigator, Thinker, Researcher
Perceptive, innovative and focused...may be too abstract or slow to take action under
stress.
Type Six: The Loyalist, Trooper
Reliable, cooperative and committed...may be insecure or defensive under stress.
Type Seven: The Enthusiast, Idea Person
Positive, practical and accomplished...may be too pleasure-oriented or outspoken under
stress.
Type Eight: The Challenger, Leader, Boss
Resourceful, self-confident and decisive...may be too no-nonsense or controlling under
stress.
Type Nine: The Peacemaker, Mediator
Natural mediator, optimistic and level-headed...may be too accommodating or
unresponsive under stress.
Special thanks to Don Riso and Russ Hudson who gave me a context in which to develop
my ideas, and to Tom Condon for the several conversations we've had about Physical
Intelligence which were always an inspiration.
Andrea Isaacs, founding co-editor and co-publisher of the Enneagram Monthly,
combined her background in dance and psychology to develop "Physical Intelligence."
She is a faculty member for Continuing Education at the Institute of Transpersonal
Psychology, for the Riso-Hudson Training Program, is an IEA Board member, and
teaches workshops internationally. She can be reached at info@EnneaMotion.com or
(518) 265-5058.
My thoughts about lower will and higher will have been inspired by a conversation with
Robert Frager, one of the founders of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.
Assagioli, Roberto, M.D., The Act of Will (Penguin Books, NY), 1973.
Goleman, Daniel, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (Bantam
Books, NY), 1995.
Bennett-Goleman, Tara, Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
(forward by the Dalai Lama) (Harmony Books, New York), 2001.
Bennett-Goleman, pages 144-145.
The Thinking-Feeling-Body connection has been inspired by numerous conversations
with Jack Labanauskas, editor of the Enneagram Monthly, about the "three-legged stool."
In terms of making change, he was fond of saying, “If you can't move the stool by
grabbing one of its legs, grab a different leg.”
Considering the number of books in print, there has been surprisingly little published about Will. There are different kinds of will, and for the purpose of this article, I'll refer to "lower will" and "higher Will." Lower will, like intention, concerns taking the time to do something that requires effort.
Higher Will is not something we can train, but is something that appears after we've
worked to develop lower will. If we have a sense of inner peace and balance, and feel
connected to something greater than us, we are aligned to a larger purpose and can easily do the “right” thing.1
A desire to change encourages us to develop our will. The effort is worth it if we're
interested bettering our lives. After reading Roberto Assagioli's The Act of Will, Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ3, and Tara Bennett- Goleman's Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart4, it seemed to me that a crucial step was missing. It wasn't clear how the lower will could be developed so thatit would impact the ability to make lasting changes.
As a kinesthetic learner with a background in professional dance, teaching, choreography,transpersonal psychology and the Enneagram*, I felt compelled to develop "PhysicalIntelligence"(PQ), a system that translates emotional energy into physical energy andteaches people how to train and trust the body's intelligence. (PQ represents one'sPhysical Quotient, rather than IQ which represents one's Intelligence [Intellectual]Quotient.)
Common ways to develop lower will include exercising more, eating nutritiously, daily
meditation, yoga, or tai chi. Exercises in Physical Intelligence increase the ability to engage the will and develop emotional fluency. Emotional fluency is a form of Emotional Intelligence that gives us the flexibility to respond as each situation demands: in an Eight-like way when the situation requires you to be a leader and in control; in a Nine-like way when the situation requires you to be patient and to just listen.
Applying PQ gives us tools for managing emotional energy so we can express our
feelings in a timely manner with the appropriate amount of energy. This makes it easier to make a break between the impulse to take action and the action itself.
In my experience, the missing link in the development of will is the relationship betweenpersonality and the body. Our mental states influence our physical actions as much asphysical actions influence our minds and moods. This means that we can make change bynot just thinking about it, or wanting to feel differently, but also by training the body tomove in ways that are unfamiliar.
My students have reported making leaps in personal growth (from using PQ techniques)
that were surprising to them, including a Five who found herself behaving in a very
social, amiable way at her three-year old daughter's birthday party, a Two who found anew kind of courage in the face of fear after 9/11 that gave her the strength to support others.
Our Enneagram types (see thumbnail descriptions at end) imply that we have certain
strengths that can also be our downfall due to overuse. Strengths become habits from
years of experience. Their familiarity becomes a crutch as we react without thinking; theease of drawing on them becomes a trap. This causes blindness, preventing us from
responding to each moment with new eyes. It might serve us better if we could tailor ourresponses to the circumstances. It may be that when someone is ill, a generous and caring
Two-like response would best serve the moment. Or if someone is frozen with anxiety, acourageous Six-like response or a peaceful Nine-like response might be called for.
Mindfulness
When we want to make a change in our lives, we first become mindful of what it is we
want to change. This is what allows us to notice our no longer desired behaviors so that we can stop a habitual response before we take action. In our automatic pilot settings, after a disturbing emotion has been triggered, the impulse to take action flows automatically into action.
There are many benefits of mindfulness meditation. Besides relaxation and training the ability to focus attention, it also trains the ability to notice without judging.
By noticing the breath, the sounds in the room, the smell of the air, the temperature, without judgment, and then letting the awareness go, we release our attachment to these things ornto any story line that might concern us. We can transfer this ability to our emotions, learning how to observe them without judgment, without a story line, and then to let them go, eventually learning we may not have to respond in any set way.
In Emotional Alchemy, Bennett-Goleman describes the "magic quarter second" that lies
between the intent to take a particular action and the action itself. Within this quarter second, at what I call the "Choice Point," I believe will resides.
In her book, Bennett-Goleman describes the work of neurosurgeon Benjamin Libet. His
discovery suggests:
“…why mindfulness can be such a powerful method of bringing intelligence to our
emotional lives. Because the brain has no nerve endings-and so feels no pain-and because neurosurgeons need to be sure they have not inadvertently strayed into the wrong area of the brain, patients do not get a full anesthesia during brain surgery, but remain awake and aware. This allows them to speak or move a part of the body to let the surgeon know that all is well.
“Taking advantage of this unusual opportunity, Dr. Libet did a simple experiment: He
would ask patients during surgery to move their finger. He used an ingenious clock face that tracked time in thousandths of a second, allowing the patients to note the time with extraordinary accuracy. This way they could report the precise moment when they became aware of the urge to move the finger.
“In short, it let him separate the moment of intent to move, from the moment of
awareness of that intent, from the moment of actual action.
“…the brain begins to activate an impulse prior to the dawning in our awareness of the intent to make that very action. "Once the person is aware of the intent to move, Libet discovered, there is another quarter-second before the movement begins. This window is crucial: it is the moment when we have the capacity to go along with the impulse or to reject it."
Once we've developed our mindfulness to a point where we can notice the intent to act, we find ourselves poised at the choice point. We might ask "What do I do instead?" and "How do I do something different?" It's difficult to change a behavior pattern even though it no longer serves us. We can't change our Enneagram type; our emotional and behavior patterns are habituated from a lifetime of use and etched in our psyche. It's much easier to travel a paved path than to forage through unchartered territory:
"Repetition of actions intensifies the urge to further reiteration and renders their
execution easier and better, until they come to be performed unconsciously.
In this way, habits are formed. They can be compared to streets and roads; it is so
much easier and more convenient to walk along a street than to force one's way through the undergrowth of uncultivated land."
"…Gustave Le Bon, in his book La Psychologie de l'éducation, goes so far as to state
that 'education is the art of making the conscious pass into the unconscious'."
— Roberto Assagioli
The Act of Will6
Neuron Pathways
Neuron pathways are the channels through which information travels between the brain
and body. A neuron pathway begins with a message, thought or impulse from the brain.
This message travels along nerves, muscles, neurons, neuron peptides, molecules,
receptors, pherons, membranes, and connective tissue. They communicate a message to
appropriate muscle groups which then engage the body in the desired action.
Messages also flow in the opposite direction along the same neuron pathways. A physical sensation, like touching a hot stove, sparks a series of messages. The muscles enervate the nerves, and the nerves send a message to the brain -- pain. The brain returns a message along the same neuron pathway -- remove your hand.
The body is intelligent and this series of messages is communicated quickly, fluidly, and unconsciously. This example is part of the automatic nervous system. Distinct from that, but equally important, are neuron pathways that are trained to perform special actions like chores of daily living, doing sports, and expressing emotion.
An infant learning to drink from a cup demonstrates the laborious development of a
neuron pathway. At first unable to grasp the cup, eventually the infant will lift it to his lips, only to miss and dribble the milk all over his face and onto the bib.
With repetition,this neuron pathway is trained, and the infant eventually will drink without spilling. By the time we're adults, we've engaged this pattern so many times it has become unconscious, and we can even read the newspaper, hold a conversation, and drink a cup of coffee without spilling.
We have equally well-developed neuron pathways for all our thoughts, feelings and
activities; for getting dressed in the morning, cooking, driving, for the way we listen, express emotion, our degree of self-confidence, the way we organize our desks and our lives. The thinking and feeling patterns that we engage in most often have the most well- developed pathways. If we always tell ourselves we're a failure, it creates a pathway that affects our posture and how we function. Believing we are unstoppable in manifesting our dreams creates pathways that are energizing and mobilizing, affecting our postures
and how we function.
In the same way the infant learned to drink, we can learn to ride a bike, ski, manage
anger, or express affection. We can train emotional as well as physical neuron pathways by "moving in the way of" a thinking or feeling pattern that is new. When we engage that neuron pathway, the correlated inner state will arise.
A simple physical exercise can demonstrate how movement can influence inner states
(see "EnneaMotion: The Somatic Enneagram," EM Feb.'02 issue).
For example, a type One who is overly critical, constantly judging and pointing out
what's wrong with others and himself, may not have a neuron pathway for a calm
acceptance. A PQ exercise for this inner state includes: walking with less rigidity, less directness, with a lighter use of energy, with gestures that are open, calm and accepting.
Repetition trains a neuron pathway for calm acceptance.
Or consider someone who'd like to be authentically generous with their time as they caremfor a loved one who is ill. This person could do the PQ exercise for Enneagram type Two, the exercise for loving generosity, which includes gestures with an open, embracingmquality, moving gently in a curving path through space. Repetition of these movements will start to generate a sense of loving generosity.
We also have neuron pathways that are too developed with over-use. A person with a
highly developed pathway for the expression of anger won't notice he's angry and raises his voice at the least provocation-this response is on-call, always ready, often used and is effortless; a remedy could be found in training the opposite quality of tolerance and listening.
There is a time and place for the expression of all emotions; but to do this smoothly, we need to have presence of mind (or mindfulness) and emotional fluency-the ability to respond in whichever way best serves each moment.
The following is an example of a Two whose work with PQ exercises, most notably
moving with the courage of the Six, impacted her coaching and counseling practice:
"Your work has helped in my executive coaching and private counseling practice. Now
more able to "step into" the various types, I can more closely "feel" in my own body what others are experiencing. This added level of insight has increased my ability to
understand more deeply and more quickly.
"One other thing happened for which I can't thank you enough. I have been an
optimistic person with a positive outlook most of my life; the events of 9/11 and the fearthat followed moved me to an emotional place that I had little experience with.
In your
training, we translated the high side for each type into movement and developed a
physical stance to peg the memory into the body.
Through this exercise, I was able to get in touch with the courage of the Six. I hadn't understood it from an intellectual perspective, but the movement exercise allowed me to truly feel courage. It is not courage because you think things will be fine…it is courage in the face of fear. That experience has helped me stay engaged in my work and be a support to others. On the 12th, I was called in by a corporation to train their managers and employees in handling the stress while supporting their clients. By tapping into Six energy, I was able to help people in the face of tragedy.
Emotional Alchemy: Effecting Change
"In each of us there are, potentially, all the elements and qualities of the human being,
the germs of all virtues and of all vices. In each of us there are the potential criminal and
the potential saint or hero. It is a question of different development, valuation, choice,
control, and expression."
— Roberto Assagioli
The Act of Will7
Part of the work of will, and of PQ, is developing alternative responses. This can loosen the fixation of our Enneagram type, making us more balanced and responsive to life's situations.
We can expand our palette of options to give us easier access to the virtues of all
Enneagram styles. At different times, we might benefit from having the drive and
motivating passion of a Three, the observation skills of a Five, the peacemaking ability of a Nine, etc. Once you identify a desired state, PQ exercises translate its attributes intoncorresponding movement. With repetition, you train the neuron pathways for that state, establishing a muscle memory for recall. This eases your access to that inner state, and you become more emotionally fluent.
Hoping to learn something about the alchemy that transforms emotions, I attended a
course on "Emotional Alchemy," co-taught by Tara Bennett-Goleman (author of the book
by the same title), and her husband, Daniel Goleman, who has popularized the term,
"Emotional Intelligence." The workshop included lectures about the brain, about the
amygdala being the source of our gut response and call to action, and most memorably,
about the "magic quarter second" described earlier, a time for the "thought to be caught"when you can, in fact, stop yourself from doing something you may later regret. We learned about the difference between brain time and real time, and that the neocortex in
front of the amygdala can actually stop the "call to action" before we act.
The other part of the course included guided mindfulness practice. Finally, we asked the
question, "How do you effect change?" The answer was: "Become mindful, and then do
something different." With mindfulness, we're able to break the chain of events and make
a change. I agree with their conclusion, but think that for most people, a more concrete
tool is required to make lasting change. Oftentimes, a response other than the one we've
always had doesn't even occur to us. We may not know what that "something different"
would even be. Or perhaps we know what we want to do, but not how to do it. In fact, if
we haven't "done" this "something different" before, there's not a neuron pathway to
engage in order to do it.
My suggestion would be to explore a range of alternatives by doing the PQ practices
when we are not at a choice point; do the training when there is no decision to be made.
That way, we are less pressed, can practice responses at leisure, then, in a moment of
need we have a neuron pathway already developed. (See Figure 2.)
Thinking, Feeling and the Body (Movement and Behaviors)
This is an "imagination" exercise which illustrates the relationship between thinking,
feeling and the body.8
Your thoughts affect your feelings and your body: Close your eyes for a moment, and
imagine that you've run into somebody you care a great deal about, whom you haven't
seen in a long time. Notice your body. Notice your breathing, notice your posture, your
energy. Notice your feelings. Stay with this for a moment, and then let it go.
Now imagine a time when you received a bad critique, were hurt or rejected. Notice your body; notice your breathing and the tension in your muscles. You may feel tense, heavyand sluggish.
Did you notice how choosing to hold onto different thoughts or memories brought on
either a sense of elation, or a depression and an inability to function?
Your feelings affect your thoughts and your body. Close your eyes and remember a time
when you fell in love. And notice your body and the tension (or lack of tension) in your muscles. Notice your breath. Notice the thoughts, images and memories that may surface.
Did you notice how these feelings had an impact on both your thoughts and energy?
Your body (movement and behaviors) affects your thoughts and your feelings. Close
your eyes again, and take a deep breath. Take a few moments to simply focus on deep
breathing. Allow other thoughts to come and go, always returning to the breath. If you
were running around all day forever multi-tasking or trying to catch up, your thoughts could become anxious and nervous, your feelings short-tempered and high strung. Keep your mind on just the breath.
Did you notice an impact on your thoughts and feelings?
These principles have been used for thousands of years in such practices as meditation, yoga, tai chi, and chi gong which are based on the recognition that the body, thoughts and feels are inextricably connected.
Triggers
The example of touching a hot stove and then removing your hand illustrates that
information travels along the neuron pathways in two directions: from the inside out, and
from the outside in.
Inside out: When we're angry, our thoughts and our energy are heavy; if we're happy,
our thoughts and energy are light. Another kind of example is when your mind says,
"Drive to work," and your body knows what to do. Our thoughts and feelings impact our
bodies (actions and behaviors).
Outside in: Sinking into a hot bathtub can have a calming effect on thoughts and
feelings. Our physical actions impact our inner states.
The "missing link" in developing will is based on the fact that information travels along
neuron pathways from the outside in. This means that we can broaden our palette of
emotions and thoughts by training the body to "move in the way of" a variety of inner
states, and establishing and training a neuron pathway we can call upon when needed. We
etch that particular pathway into physical memory by dedicating a "trigger" to activate it.
The trigger is made up of a physical stance and a word or short phrase.
The stance, similar to a mudra (Sanskrit for a gesture designed to elicit a particular inner
state), is a body position with a particular gesture that represents the inner quality you're
training.
The word or short phrase, similar to a mantra(Sanskrit for a sound designed to elicit a
particular inner state), represents the essence of the inner quality you're training.
Every neuron pathway has its own trigger.
The useful application of triggers is well-expressed in the following quote:
I learned that physical postures can change my emotions. I noticed being more able to
capture the stability of type Eight when I came home and had to deal with my Six mother.
I felt the strength in my body and just didn't react much. I found the Eight postures were
helpful in finding my personal power, which I really appreciate. The triggers are helping
me find physical integrity within myself when under attack, instead of feeling so
vulnerable.
— C.K., type Six
The Five alluded to earlier most often embraced the neuron pathway for withdrawing
during social occasions. Not wanting to do that at a special event, she employed her
triggers.
Last night I did my triggers before I gave a dinner party, and again before the 3rd
birthday party I gave for my daughter. As you know, social occasions can feel very
awkward to me, especially when one is the "mom" or the "little woman" expected to see
to everyone else's needs. However, instead of escaping to my bedroom to hide, I engaged
myself in the preparations slowly and methodically and in the obligatory small talk
without any resentment or "checking out." I was interested to observe the sound of my
voice and the expression on my face were "sweet." There's no other word for it. I just felt
really sweet, like a Two, in relation to my guests, both the toddlers and the adults. I don't
think I've ever explored that particular quality in myself, and it was completely
spontaneous. Consider this is a testimonial to this work!
— G.H, type Five
In summary, the ability to engage our will includes the following steps:
develop mindfulness
expand our palette of options (when not at a choice point) by developing neuron
pathways and their triggers which represent alternative inner states
notice when we're at a choice point
make a decision about how to respond
do the trigger (the stance and word or short phrase) for that inner state which will
energize the corresponding neuron pathway
This series of steps will elicit the desired inner state.
With the desire to change, enough mindfulness to catch yourself during the "magic
quarter second," and the use of triggers to develop emotional fluency, it becomes easier
to engage your will and make positive change. Expansion of our choices brings us out of
contraction and towards wholeness which is a key to living a joyful life.
* Enneagram types. The Enneagram (ennea = nine in Greek) describes nine different
personality styles, each with a different set of strengths and challenges.
Below are thumbnail descriptions of the nine styles to assist in understanding some of the
language in this article.
Type One: The Perfectionist, The Reformer
Excellent detail and organizational skills, logic and reasoning...may be too serious or
critical under stress.
Type Two: The Giver, Helper, Nurturer
Excellent people skills, supportive and cheerful...may be intrusive or too needy under
stress.
Type Three: The Achiever, Performer
Motivated, action-oriented and efficient...may be too competitive or image-conscious
under stress.
Type Four: The Individualist, Artist, Romantic
Creative, intuitive and tactful...may be too hypersensitive under stress.
Type Five: The Investigator, Thinker, Researcher
Perceptive, innovative and focused...may be too abstract or slow to take action under
stress.
Type Six: The Loyalist, Trooper
Reliable, cooperative and committed...may be insecure or defensive under stress.
Type Seven: The Enthusiast, Idea Person
Positive, practical and accomplished...may be too pleasure-oriented or outspoken under
stress.
Type Eight: The Challenger, Leader, Boss
Resourceful, self-confident and decisive...may be too no-nonsense or controlling under
stress.
Type Nine: The Peacemaker, Mediator
Natural mediator, optimistic and level-headed...may be too accommodating or
unresponsive under stress.
Special thanks to Don Riso and Russ Hudson who gave me a context in which to develop
my ideas, and to Tom Condon for the several conversations we've had about Physical
Intelligence which were always an inspiration.
Andrea Isaacs, founding co-editor and co-publisher of the Enneagram Monthly,
combined her background in dance and psychology to develop "Physical Intelligence."
She is a faculty member for Continuing Education at the Institute of Transpersonal
Psychology, for the Riso-Hudson Training Program, is an IEA Board member, and
teaches workshops internationally. She can be reached at info@EnneaMotion.com or
(518) 265-5058.
My thoughts about lower will and higher will have been inspired by a conversation with
Robert Frager, one of the founders of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.
Assagioli, Roberto, M.D., The Act of Will (Penguin Books, NY), 1973.
Goleman, Daniel, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (Bantam
Books, NY), 1995.
Bennett-Goleman, Tara, Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart
(forward by the Dalai Lama) (Harmony Books, New York), 2001.
Bennett-Goleman, pages 144-145.
The Thinking-Feeling-Body connection has been inspired by numerous conversations
with Jack Labanauskas, editor of the Enneagram Monthly, about the "three-legged stool."
In terms of making change, he was fond of saying, “If you can't move the stool by
grabbing one of its legs, grab a different leg.”
A recent executive education program I attended got me thinking about the ways in which embedded emotional responses continually undermine our goals and intentions. Which reminded me of Tara Bennett-Goleman’s 2001 book, "Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart." The book combines Buddhist approaches to mindfulness to a branch of cognitive psychology known as schema therapy. To make sure we’re all on the same page, here’s a brief description of each of these elements.
“Ordinarily our attention swings rather wildly, carried here and there by random thoughts, fleeting memories, captivating fantasies, snatches of things seen, heard, or otherwise perceived,” Bennett-Goleman writes. “By contrast, mindfulness is distraction-resistant, sustained attention to the movements of the mind itself.” Think of it as “a way to expand the scope of awareness while refining its precision,” or “the capacity to see things just as they are from moment to moment.”
The negative emotional habits or patterns that derail us are what Bennett-Goleman calls schemas.
Schema therapy identifies ten major schemas: vulnerability (the fear that a minor setback will leave you jobless and homeless), subjugation (always giving in to the demands and needs of others), abandonment, emotional deprivation, perfectionism, unlovability, mistrust, social exclusion, failure, and entitlement. Most of us have one or two principal schemas.
Each schema “has a unique signature, a pattern of typical triggers and reactions,” Bennett-Goleman writes. Mindfulness serves as “the crucial radar, alerting us to the fact that a schema has been stirred.”
Breaking free from power of a schema starts with learning to notice when you’re in the grip of one. Once you’re able to do that, you can identify the hallmarks of how that particular schema affects you. Equipped with that information, you’re in a position to do something different—to find an antidote that disrupts your usual response—the next time one of your schemas is triggered.
Here, then, are the five steps Bennett-Goleman recommends:
1. When you detect a schema attack, “intentionally make at least one positive response that blocks part of the usual pattern,” advises Bennett-Goleman. If your unlovability schema has been triggered, try to remember something kind or affectionate that someone has said to you recently.
2. Challenge your automatic thoughts. Conduct a reality check that tests the automatic assumptions underlying the schema. For example, if a difficult conversation with a client has put you under attack from the vulnerability schema, ask yourself how many times such conversations have actually resulted in your becoming homeless.
3. Disrupt the unpleasant mood. To prevent being swept away by the negative feelings, try to just note them. Bring mindful attention to them in a way that allows you to see yourself as having the feelings—instead of being held by them.
4. “Do something constructive that changes the schema script for the better.” If a last-minute request from an acquaintance has triggered your deprivation schema—your tendency to neglect your own needs and plans in an overeagerness to care for others—try to craft a response to the request that acknowledges your desire to help the acquaintance without completely discarding the plans you had made for yourself.
5. Practice making a more positive response every chance you get. “As human beings our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world,” Gandhi once said, “as being able to remake ourselves.” Once you’ve found a more positive response to embedded maladaptive one, iteration becomes the order of the day
“Ordinarily our attention swings rather wildly, carried here and there by random thoughts, fleeting memories, captivating fantasies, snatches of things seen, heard, or otherwise perceived,” Bennett-Goleman writes. “By contrast, mindfulness is distraction-resistant, sustained attention to the movements of the mind itself.” Think of it as “a way to expand the scope of awareness while refining its precision,” or “the capacity to see things just as they are from moment to moment.”
The negative emotional habits or patterns that derail us are what Bennett-Goleman calls schemas.
Schema therapy identifies ten major schemas: vulnerability (the fear that a minor setback will leave you jobless and homeless), subjugation (always giving in to the demands and needs of others), abandonment, emotional deprivation, perfectionism, unlovability, mistrust, social exclusion, failure, and entitlement. Most of us have one or two principal schemas.
Each schema “has a unique signature, a pattern of typical triggers and reactions,” Bennett-Goleman writes. Mindfulness serves as “the crucial radar, alerting us to the fact that a schema has been stirred.”
Breaking free from power of a schema starts with learning to notice when you’re in the grip of one. Once you’re able to do that, you can identify the hallmarks of how that particular schema affects you. Equipped with that information, you’re in a position to do something different—to find an antidote that disrupts your usual response—the next time one of your schemas is triggered.
Here, then, are the five steps Bennett-Goleman recommends:
1. When you detect a schema attack, “intentionally make at least one positive response that blocks part of the usual pattern,” advises Bennett-Goleman. If your unlovability schema has been triggered, try to remember something kind or affectionate that someone has said to you recently.
2. Challenge your automatic thoughts. Conduct a reality check that tests the automatic assumptions underlying the schema. For example, if a difficult conversation with a client has put you under attack from the vulnerability schema, ask yourself how many times such conversations have actually resulted in your becoming homeless.
3. Disrupt the unpleasant mood. To prevent being swept away by the negative feelings, try to just note them. Bring mindful attention to them in a way that allows you to see yourself as having the feelings—instead of being held by them.
4. “Do something constructive that changes the schema script for the better.” If a last-minute request from an acquaintance has triggered your deprivation schema—your tendency to neglect your own needs and plans in an overeagerness to care for others—try to craft a response to the request that acknowledges your desire to help the acquaintance without completely discarding the plans you had made for yourself.
5. Practice making a more positive response every chance you get. “As human beings our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world,” Gandhi once said, “as being able to remake ourselves.” Once you’ve found a more positive response to embedded maladaptive one, iteration becomes the order of the day
A recent executive education program I attended got me thinking about the ways in which embedded emotional responses continually undermine our goals and intentions. Which reminded me of Tara Bennett-Goleman’s 2001 book, "Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart." The book combines Buddhist approaches to mindfulness to a branch of cognitive psychology known as schema therapy. To make sure we’re all on the same page, here’s a brief description of each of these elements.
“Ordinarily our attention swings rather wildly, carried here and there by random thoughts, fleeting memories, captivating fantasies, snatches of things seen, heard, or otherwise perceived,” Bennett-Goleman writes. “By contrast, mindfulness is distraction-resistant, sustained attention to the movements of the mind itself.” Think of it as “a way to expand the scope of awareness while refining its precision,” or “the capacity to see things just as they are from moment to moment.”
The negative emotional habits or patterns that derail us are what Bennett-Goleman calls schemas.
Schema therapy identifies ten major schemas: vulnerability (the fear that a minor setback will leave you jobless and homeless), subjugation (always giving in to the demands and needs of others), abandonment, emotional deprivation, perfectionism, unlovability, mistrust, social exclusion, failure, and entitlement. Most of us have one or two principal schemas.
Each schema “has a unique signature, a pattern of typical triggers and reactions,” Bennett-Goleman writes. Mindfulness serves as “the crucial radar, alerting us to the fact that a schema has been stirred.”
Breaking free from power of a schema starts with learning to notice when you’re in the grip of one. Once you’re able to do that, you can identify the hallmarks of how that particular schema affects you. Equipped with that information, you’re in a position to do something different—to find an antidote that disrupts your usual response—the next time one of your schemas is triggered.
Here, then, are the five steps Bennett-Goleman recommends:
1. When you detect a schema attack, “intentionally make at least one positive response that blocks part of the usual pattern,” advises Bennett-Goleman. If your unlovability schema has been triggered, try to remember something kind or affectionate that someone has said to you recently.
2. Challenge your automatic thoughts. Conduct a reality check that tests the automatic assumptions underlying the schema. For example, if a difficult conversation with a client has put you under attack from the vulnerability schema, ask yourself how many times such conversations have actually resulted in your becoming homeless.
3. Disrupt the unpleasant mood. To prevent being swept away by the negative feelings, try to just note them. Bring mindful attention to them in a way that allows you to see yourself as having the feelings—instead of being held by them.
4. “Do something constructive that changes the schema script for the better.” If a last-minute request from an acquaintance has triggered your deprivation schema—your tendency to neglect your own needs and plans in an overeagerness to care for others—try to craft a response to the request that acknowledges your desire to help the acquaintance without completely discarding the plans you had made for yourself.
5. Practice making a more positive response every chance you get. “As human beings our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world,” Gandhi once said, “as being able to remake ourselves.” Once you’ve found a more positive response to embedded maladaptive one, iteration becomes the order of the day
“Ordinarily our attention swings rather wildly, carried here and there by random thoughts, fleeting memories, captivating fantasies, snatches of things seen, heard, or otherwise perceived,” Bennett-Goleman writes. “By contrast, mindfulness is distraction-resistant, sustained attention to the movements of the mind itself.” Think of it as “a way to expand the scope of awareness while refining its precision,” or “the capacity to see things just as they are from moment to moment.”
The negative emotional habits or patterns that derail us are what Bennett-Goleman calls schemas.
Schema therapy identifies ten major schemas: vulnerability (the fear that a minor setback will leave you jobless and homeless), subjugation (always giving in to the demands and needs of others), abandonment, emotional deprivation, perfectionism, unlovability, mistrust, social exclusion, failure, and entitlement. Most of us have one or two principal schemas.
Each schema “has a unique signature, a pattern of typical triggers and reactions,” Bennett-Goleman writes. Mindfulness serves as “the crucial radar, alerting us to the fact that a schema has been stirred.”
Breaking free from power of a schema starts with learning to notice when you’re in the grip of one. Once you’re able to do that, you can identify the hallmarks of how that particular schema affects you. Equipped with that information, you’re in a position to do something different—to find an antidote that disrupts your usual response—the next time one of your schemas is triggered.
Here, then, are the five steps Bennett-Goleman recommends:
1. When you detect a schema attack, “intentionally make at least one positive response that blocks part of the usual pattern,” advises Bennett-Goleman. If your unlovability schema has been triggered, try to remember something kind or affectionate that someone has said to you recently.
2. Challenge your automatic thoughts. Conduct a reality check that tests the automatic assumptions underlying the schema. For example, if a difficult conversation with a client has put you under attack from the vulnerability schema, ask yourself how many times such conversations have actually resulted in your becoming homeless.
3. Disrupt the unpleasant mood. To prevent being swept away by the negative feelings, try to just note them. Bring mindful attention to them in a way that allows you to see yourself as having the feelings—instead of being held by them.
4. “Do something constructive that changes the schema script for the better.” If a last-minute request from an acquaintance has triggered your deprivation schema—your tendency to neglect your own needs and plans in an overeagerness to care for others—try to craft a response to the request that acknowledges your desire to help the acquaintance without completely discarding the plans you had made for yourself.
5. Practice making a more positive response every chance you get. “As human beings our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world,” Gandhi once said, “as being able to remake ourselves.” Once you’ve found a more positive response to embedded maladaptive one, iteration becomes the order of the day
peaquizas em meditação
Pesquisa sobre meditação
Origem: Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre
Este artigo precisa citações adicionais para a verificação. Ajude a melhorar este artigo adicionando referências de confiança. Material de Unsourced pode ser desafiado e removido.
Pesquisa sobre os processos e os efeitos da meditação é um subcampo crescente de pesquisas neurológicas. Ao escanear o cérebro usando a tecnologia moderna, tais como cientistas fMRI e EEG, trabalhando em conjunto com meditadores, têm ajudado a ampliar nossa compreensão de como ocorre a meditação.
Meditação alterações do cérebro e do corpo. É semelhante a aprender a andar de bicicleta ou tocar um instrumento em que há mudanças estruturais e funcionais que ocorrem no cérebro com a prática repetida durante um período prolongado de tempo.
A meditação tem sido historicamente praticada dentro das tradições religiosas, especialmente pelos monges. Hoje muito do que é considerado a meditação no Ocidente é secular na natureza, por exemplo mindfulness programas baseados. Hoje mindfulness-baseada práticas meditativas tornaram-se populares dentro da comunidade médica e psicológica ocidental. Para mais informações, consulte Mindfulness (psicologia) e do budismo e da psicologia.
Note-se que a informação sobre a pesquisa sobre meditação encontrada nesta página está incompleta. Algumas das pesquisas sobre meditação está localizado nas páginas individuais que descrevem um estilo particular de meditação. Esses estilos podem ser encontrados através de outras páginas na Wikipedia, como meditação e meditação budista.
Também é improvável que esta página jamais cobrir completamente todos os estudos que são publicados exigentes como a meditação funciona por causa da grande quantidade de estudos sobre meditação e da relativa novidade deste campo da neurociência.
Conteúdo
1 Use Ocidental Terapêuticas
1,1 Mindfulness baseado redução do estresse
2 Fluxo
3 Meditação e estresse
3,1 National Institutes of Health
3,2 Goleman: Amígdala e córtex pré-frontal
4 substância cinzenta e branca
5 Theoria
6 Meditação e EEG
7 Meditação e Percepção
8 A Resposta de Relaxamento
9 Os efeitos adversos
10 NCCAM estudos
11 Ver também
12 Referências
13 Ligações externas
Uso Terapêutico ocidental
A meditação tem entrado no mainstream dos cuidados de saúde como um método de estresse e redução da dor. Como um método de redução de estresse, a meditação tem sido usada em hospitais em casos de doença crónica ou terminal para reduzir complicações associadas com o aumento do estresse, que incluem sistema imunológico deprimido.
Há uma crescente concordância na comunidade médica que os fatores mentais, como estresse contribuem significativamente para a falta de saúde física, e há um movimento crescente no campo da ciência para financiar a investigação nesta área. Existem hoje vários grandes programas de saúde que ajuda aqueles, os doentes e saudáveis, na promoção do seu bem-estar interior, especialmente aqueles programas de atenção baseado.
Mindfulness baseado em redução de estresse
Mindfulness (psicologia) e Mindfulness baseado redução do estresse
A 2003 meta-análise revelou que a atenção plena baseada em redução de estresse, que envolve a conscientização contínua de consciência, sem procurar em censurar os pensamentos, concluiu que a forma de meditação pode ser de grande utilidade para os indivíduos a tentar lidar com os problemas clínicos e não clínicos. Diagnósticos para os quais MBSR foi encontrado para ser útil incluíram dor crônica, fibromialgia, pacientes com câncer e doença arterial coronariana. Melhorias foram observadas para as medidas de saúde física e mental.
Fluxo
A meditação mindfulness, anapanasati, e técnicas relacionadas, são destinados para treinar a atenção por causa da visão provocando. Uma maior, atenção mais flexível faz com que seja mais fácil de estar ciente de uma situação, mais fácil ser objetivo na emocionalmente ou moralmente situações difíceis, e mais fácil de atingir um estado de consciência, ágil ou criativo "fluxo".
Pesquisa da Harvard Medical School também mostra que durante a meditação, os sinais fisiológicos mostram que há uma diminuição na respiração e aumento da freqüência cardíaca e os níveis de saturação de oxigênio no sangue.
Meditação e estresse
National Institutes of Health
De acordo com o National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Praticar meditação tem sido mostrado para induzir algumas mudanças no corpo ... Alguns tipos de meditação pode funcionar, afetando o sistema (involuntário) nervoso autônomo." O sistema nervoso simpático e sistema nervoso parassimpático duas divisões do sistema nervoso autônomo do corpo. O sistema nervoso simpático é responsável pela nossa reação ao estresse ou medo e é coloquialmente conhecido como a "luta ou fuga" do sistema. O sistema nervoso parassimpático está ativo durante os períodos de repouso e associada a "descansar e digerir". O NIH continua, "Pensa-se que alguns tipos de meditação pode funcionar reduzindo a atividade do sistema nervoso simpático e aumento da atividade do sistema nervoso parassimpático."
Goleman: Amígdala e córtex pré-frontal
Uma teoria, apresentada por Daniel Goleman e Tara Bennett-Goleman [19] sugere que a meditação [esclarecimentos necessários] funciona por causa da relação entre a amígdala eo córtex pré-frontal. [20] Em termos muito simples, a amígdala é a parte do cérebro que decide se devemos ficar com raiva ou ansioso (entre outras coisas), e do córtex pré-frontal é a parte que nos faz parar e pensar sobre as coisas (que também é conhecida como o centro inibitória).
O córtex pré-frontal é muito bom em análise e planejamento, mas leva muito tempo para tomar decisões. A amígdala, por outro lado, é mais simples (e mais velhos [21], em termos evolutivos). Faz julgamentos rápidos sobre uma situação e tem um efeito poderoso sobre nossas emoções e comportamento, ligadas às necessidades de sobrevivência. Por exemplo, se um ser humano vê um leão saltando para eles, a amígdala irá desencadear uma luta ou fuga resposta muito antes de o córtex pré-frontal responde.
Mas em fazer julgamentos precipitados, a nossa amígdalas são propensos ao erro [carece de fontes?], Como ver perigo onde não existe nenhum. [Carece de fontes?] Isto é particularmente verdadeiro na sociedade contemporânea, onde os conflitos sociais são muito mais comuns do que encontros com predadores, e uma situação basicamente inofensivo, mas emocionalmente carregadas podem provocar medo ou raiva incontrolável -. ocasionando um conflito, ansiedade, estresse e [22]
Substância cinzenta e branca
Estudos feitos por Yale, Harvard, Hospital Geral de Massachusetts mostraram que a meditação aumenta a massa cinzenta no cérebro e retarda a deterioração do cérebro, como parte do processo natural de envelhecimento.
O experimento incluiu 20 indivíduos com intensa "insight meditação" treinamento budista e 15 anos que não meditar. O exame do cérebro revelou que aqueles que meditavam ter um aumento da espessura da massa cinzenta em regiões do cérebro que são responsáveis pela atenção e processamento de estímulos sensoriais. O aumento na espessura variou entre 0,004 e 0,008 polegadas (3,175 x 10-6m - 6,35 x 10-6m) e foi proporcional à quantidade de meditação. O estudo também mostrou que a meditação ajuda a desacelerar a deterioração do cérebro devido ao envelhecimento.
Um estudo envolvendo a participação de um grupo de faculdades alunos, que foram convidados a usar uma técnica de meditação chamado de treinamento corpo-mente integrativa, concluiu que "a meditação pode melhorar a integridade e eficiência de certas conexões no cérebro" através de um aumento em seu número As varreduras do cérebro e robustez mostraram fortes alterações de substância branca no córtex cingulado anterior.
Dr. James Austin, um neurofisiologista da Universidade de Colorado, informou que a meditação no Zen "reestrutura a circuitos" do cérebro em seu livro Zen and the Brain (Austin, 1999). Isto foi confirmado usando imagens de ressonância magnética funcional, uma técnica de escaneamento do cérebro que mede o fluxo sanguíneo no cérebro. [Carece de fontes?]
Theoria
Quinze freiras carmelitas do mosteiro veio para o laboratório para entrar uma máquina fMRI enquanto meditando, permitindo que os cientistas lá para digitalizar seus cérebros usando fMRI enquanto eles estavam em um estado conhecido como Unio Mystica (e também Theoria) [27]. Os resultados mostraram que longínquas partes do cérebro foram recrutados na manutenção desta união mística com Deus. [27] Durante um teste de meditação, utilizando fMRI dois estados foram comparados. Atividade durante os últimos 6 minutos de meditação e atividade durante 6 minutos de meditação controlada. Como resultado, nos aumentos de análise controlada foram encontrados no putâmen, mesencéfalo, córtex cingulado anterior pregenual e formação hipocampal / parahipocampal.
No entanto, nos últimos seis minutos múltiplos focos de ativação dentro parietal, córtex pré-frontal e temporal, assim como nos giros precentral e pós-central, e do hipocampo / formação hipocampal foram identificados. O artigo [28] mostra a ativação durante a meditação. Os valores foram analisados pronta na Mente-Corpo Medical Institute.
Meditação e EEG
Eletroencefalograma (EEG) de meditadores hábeis mostrou um aumento significativo na atividade de ondas gama na faixa de 80-120 Hz durante a meditação. Houve também um aumento na faixa de 25 a 42 Hz. Esses meditadores tinha 10-40 anos de treinamento em budistas baseado mental [esclarecimentos necessários] treinamento. EEG feito em meditadores que tinham recebido treinamento recente demonstrou aumentar consideravelmente menos [29].
Os meditadores experientes também mostrou atividade gamma aumentou, enquanto em repouso e não meditar.
Durante a meditação há um aumento modesto em alfa lento ou atividade teta onda EEG.
Chang e Lo encontrou resultados diferentes, explicável, talvez pelo fato de que eles não mostram sinais de sequer ter testado para gama. [31] Primeiro, eles classificam cinco padrões em meditação baseada na normal de quatro faixas de frequência (delta <4 Hz, theta 4 a < 8 Hz, alfa de 8 a 13 Hz, e beta> 13 Hz). Os cinco padrões encontrados foram:
1) delta
2) + delta theta
3) teta + alfa lento
4) alfa de alta amplitude
5) amplitude suprimido ("silencioso e quase flat")
Eles descobriram padrão # 5 único e caracterizado por:
1) de energia extremamente baixo (supressão significativa da amplitude EEG)
2) correspondentes padrões temporais sem ritmo particular EEG
3) pico não domina na distribuição espectral
Eles tinham coletado padrões EEG de mais de 50 praticantes de meditação ao longo dos cinco anos anteriores. Cinco cenários meditação EEG são então descritos. Eles afirmam ainda que a maioria meditação é dominada por ondas alfa. Eles descobriram delta e ondas teta ocorreram ocasionalmente, às vezes, enquanto as pessoas adormeceu e às vezes não. Em particular, eles encontraram a amplitude padrão suprimida correlacionada com "o sentimento de bênçãos."
O Nuallain, Sean em Ciências Cognitivas 4 (2), é a primeira a se inter-relacionam o trabalho sobre gamma sincronizado em consciência com o trabalho bem-atestada na gama de meditação em um contexto experimental. Ele apresente os dados experimentais e simulados para mostrar que o que ambos têm em comum é a capacidade de colocar o cérebro em um estado em que está maximamente sensível e consome energia em uma taxa mais baixa (ou mesmo zero), por alguns instantes. Argumenta-se que esta pode corresponder a um estado de "altruísta" e do mais típico estado não-zero, em que gama não é tão proeminente, corresponde a um estado de auto-empírica. Assim, o "poder zero" no título não se refere apenas ao espectro de energia do cérebro, medido pela transformação de Hilbert, mas também para um estado psicológico de renúncia pessoal.
Meditação e Percepção
Estudos têm demonstrado que a meditação tem efeitos de curto e longo prazo em várias faculdades de percepção.
Em 1984, Brown et al. realizou um estudo que mediu o limiar absoluto de percepção de duração do estímulo de luz em praticantes e não praticantes de meditação mindfulness. Os resultados mostraram que os meditadores têm um limiar de detecção significativamente menor para os estímulos de luz de curta duração.
Em 2000, Tloczynski et al. estudaram a percepção das ilusões visuais (a ilusão de Müller-Lyer ea Ilusão Poggendorff) por mestres zen, meditadores iniciantes e não-meditadores. Não houve efeitos estatisticamente significativos encontrados para a ilusão de Müller-Lyer, no entanto, não foram para o Poggendorff. Os mestres zen experimentaram uma redução estatisticamente significativa na ilusão inicial (medido como erro em milímetros) e um menor decréscimo na ilusão para os ensaios subseqüentes.
A teoria do mecanismo por trás das mudanças na percepção que acompanham a meditação mindfulness é descrito assim pelo Tloczynski:
"Uma pessoa que medita, consequentemente, percebe mais objetos como estímulos diretamente experientes e menos como conceitos ... Com a remoção ou minimização de estímulos cognitivos e da consciência em geral aumentando, portanto, a meditação pode influenciar tanto a qualidade (precisão) e quantidade (detecção) de percepção."
Brown também aponta para isso como uma possível explicação para o fenômeno: ". [Taxa maior de detecção de flashes de luz única] envolve acalmar alguns dos processos mentais superiores que normalmente impedem a percepção de eventos sutis" Em outras palavras, a prática pode temporariamente ou permanentemente alterar parte do processamento de cima para baixo envolvidos na filtragem de eventos sutis geralmente considerado ruído pelos filtros perceptivos.
A Resposta de Relaxamento
Dr. Herbert Benson da Mente-Corpo Medical Institute, que é afiliada à Universidade de Harvard e vários hospitais de Boston, relata que a meditação induz a uma série de mudanças bioquímicas e físicas no corpo referidos coletivamente como a "resposta de relaxamento".
A resposta de relaxamento inclui alterações no metabolismo, a freqüência cardíaca, respiração, pressão arterial e química do cérebro. Benson e sua equipe também tem feito estudos clínicos em mosteiros budistas nas montanhas do Himalaia.
Efeitos adversos
O seguinte é uma declaração oficial de os EUA governo executar Centro Nacional para Medicina Complementar e Alternativa:
A meditação é considerada segura para pessoas saudáveis. Tem havido raros relatos de que a meditação pode causar ou agravar sintomas em pessoas que têm determinados problemas psiquiátricos, mas esta questão não foi totalmente pesquisado. Pessoas com limitações físicas podem não ser capazes de participar de certas práticas meditativas que envolvem movimento físico. Indivíduos com condições existentes de saúde física ou mental devem falar com seus prestadores de cuidados de saúde antes de iniciar uma prática meditativa e faça seu instrutor de meditação consciente de sua condição.
Ambos recompensas positivas e potenciais benefícios da meditação têm sido observados na literatura acadêmica. Efeitos adversos foram relatados, [37] e pode, em alguns casos, ser o resultado de "uso indevido de meditação". [38] O NIH aconselha os meditadores prospectivo para "perguntar sobre a formação ea experiência do instrutor de meditação ... [eles] estão considerando. "
Kundalini é uma síndrome de efeito alegado adversos de praticar Kundalini Yoga.
Como acontece com qualquer prática, a meditação pode também ser usado para evitar a enfrentar problemas em curso ou crises emergentes na vida de quem medita. Em tais situações, pode ser útil para aplicar atitudes conscientes adquirida em meditação, enquanto ativamente envolvidos com os problemas atuais. De acordo com o NIH, a meditação não deve ser usado como um substituto para cuidados de saúde convencional ou como uma razão para adiar a ver um médico [36].
NCCAM estudos
Uma comparação entre o efeito de várias técnicas de meditação sobre a pressão arterial sistólica.
Em junho de 2007 os Estados Unidos Centro Nacional para Medicina Complementar e Alternativa (NCCAM) publicou uma organização independente, peer-reviewed, meta-análise do estado da investigação meditação, conduzido por pesquisadores da Universidade de Alberta Centro de Prática Baseada em Evidências. O relatório examinou 813 estudos envolvendo cinco categorias de meditação: meditação mantra, a meditação mindfulness, yoga, Tai Chi e Qi Gong, e incluiu todos os estudos em adultos através de Setembro de 2005, com um foco particular na pesquisa relativos à hipertensão, doença cardiovascular, e abuso de substâncias.
O relatório concluiu, "A pesquisa científica sobre as práticas de meditação não parece ter uma perspectiva teórica comum e é caracterizado pela qualidade metodológica pobres. Conclusões definitivas sobre os efeitos de práticas de meditação na saúde não pode ser tirada com base nas provas disponíveis. Futuras pesquisas sobre meditação práticas deve ser mais rigorosa na concepção e execução de estudos e na análise e comunicação dos resultados. " (P. 6) Ele observou que não há explicação teórica dos efeitos na saúde da meditação comum a todas as técnicas de meditação.
Uma nova análise do conjunto de dados em 2008 reafirmou os pontos fracos da pesquisa, concluindo que "A maioria dos ensaios clínicos sobre práticas de meditação são geralmente caracterizadas pela qualidade metodológica pobre, com riscos significativos para a validade em todos os domínios principais de qualidade avaliados". Esta foi a conclusão, apesar de um aumento estatisticamente significativo na qualidade de toda a pesquisa meditação revista, em geral, ao longo do tempo entre 1956-2005. Dos 400 estudos clínicos, 10% foram encontrados para ser de boa qualidade. A chamada foi feita para o estudo rigoroso de meditação.
Estes autores também observaram que este resultado não é exclusivo para a área de pesquisa da meditação e que a qualidade da informação é um problema freqüente em outras áreas da medicina complementar e alternativa (CAM) de pesquisa e domínios de investigação relacionados com a terapia.
Em 2006 NCCAM revisto a sua definição de meditação, enfatizando a experiência da "suspensão da actividade do pensamento". Esta definição levou à possibilidade de comparar a meditação silêncio mental orientado com descansando sozinho e estudos descobriram significativas diferenças fisiológicas entre os dois. Foi constatou que todas as abordagens para a meditação pode conseguir alguns benefícios não-específica no entanto a abordagem silêncio mental pode estar associado a benefícios específicos adicionais que são clinicamente benéficos.
Origem: Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre
Este artigo precisa citações adicionais para a verificação. Ajude a melhorar este artigo adicionando referências de confiança. Material de Unsourced pode ser desafiado e removido.
Pesquisa sobre os processos e os efeitos da meditação é um subcampo crescente de pesquisas neurológicas. Ao escanear o cérebro usando a tecnologia moderna, tais como cientistas fMRI e EEG, trabalhando em conjunto com meditadores, têm ajudado a ampliar nossa compreensão de como ocorre a meditação.
Meditação alterações do cérebro e do corpo. É semelhante a aprender a andar de bicicleta ou tocar um instrumento em que há mudanças estruturais e funcionais que ocorrem no cérebro com a prática repetida durante um período prolongado de tempo.
A meditação tem sido historicamente praticada dentro das tradições religiosas, especialmente pelos monges. Hoje muito do que é considerado a meditação no Ocidente é secular na natureza, por exemplo mindfulness programas baseados. Hoje mindfulness-baseada práticas meditativas tornaram-se populares dentro da comunidade médica e psicológica ocidental. Para mais informações, consulte Mindfulness (psicologia) e do budismo e da psicologia.
Note-se que a informação sobre a pesquisa sobre meditação encontrada nesta página está incompleta. Algumas das pesquisas sobre meditação está localizado nas páginas individuais que descrevem um estilo particular de meditação. Esses estilos podem ser encontrados através de outras páginas na Wikipedia, como meditação e meditação budista.
Também é improvável que esta página jamais cobrir completamente todos os estudos que são publicados exigentes como a meditação funciona por causa da grande quantidade de estudos sobre meditação e da relativa novidade deste campo da neurociência.
Conteúdo
1 Use Ocidental Terapêuticas
1,1 Mindfulness baseado redução do estresse
2 Fluxo
3 Meditação e estresse
3,1 National Institutes of Health
3,2 Goleman: Amígdala e córtex pré-frontal
4 substância cinzenta e branca
5 Theoria
6 Meditação e EEG
7 Meditação e Percepção
8 A Resposta de Relaxamento
9 Os efeitos adversos
10 NCCAM estudos
11 Ver também
12 Referências
13 Ligações externas
Uso Terapêutico ocidental
A meditação tem entrado no mainstream dos cuidados de saúde como um método de estresse e redução da dor. Como um método de redução de estresse, a meditação tem sido usada em hospitais em casos de doença crónica ou terminal para reduzir complicações associadas com o aumento do estresse, que incluem sistema imunológico deprimido.
Há uma crescente concordância na comunidade médica que os fatores mentais, como estresse contribuem significativamente para a falta de saúde física, e há um movimento crescente no campo da ciência para financiar a investigação nesta área. Existem hoje vários grandes programas de saúde que ajuda aqueles, os doentes e saudáveis, na promoção do seu bem-estar interior, especialmente aqueles programas de atenção baseado.
Mindfulness baseado em redução de estresse
Mindfulness (psicologia) e Mindfulness baseado redução do estresse
A 2003 meta-análise revelou que a atenção plena baseada em redução de estresse, que envolve a conscientização contínua de consciência, sem procurar em censurar os pensamentos, concluiu que a forma de meditação pode ser de grande utilidade para os indivíduos a tentar lidar com os problemas clínicos e não clínicos. Diagnósticos para os quais MBSR foi encontrado para ser útil incluíram dor crônica, fibromialgia, pacientes com câncer e doença arterial coronariana. Melhorias foram observadas para as medidas de saúde física e mental.
Fluxo
A meditação mindfulness, anapanasati, e técnicas relacionadas, são destinados para treinar a atenção por causa da visão provocando. Uma maior, atenção mais flexível faz com que seja mais fácil de estar ciente de uma situação, mais fácil ser objetivo na emocionalmente ou moralmente situações difíceis, e mais fácil de atingir um estado de consciência, ágil ou criativo "fluxo".
Pesquisa da Harvard Medical School também mostra que durante a meditação, os sinais fisiológicos mostram que há uma diminuição na respiração e aumento da freqüência cardíaca e os níveis de saturação de oxigênio no sangue.
Meditação e estresse
National Institutes of Health
De acordo com o National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Praticar meditação tem sido mostrado para induzir algumas mudanças no corpo ... Alguns tipos de meditação pode funcionar, afetando o sistema (involuntário) nervoso autônomo." O sistema nervoso simpático e sistema nervoso parassimpático duas divisões do sistema nervoso autônomo do corpo. O sistema nervoso simpático é responsável pela nossa reação ao estresse ou medo e é coloquialmente conhecido como a "luta ou fuga" do sistema. O sistema nervoso parassimpático está ativo durante os períodos de repouso e associada a "descansar e digerir". O NIH continua, "Pensa-se que alguns tipos de meditação pode funcionar reduzindo a atividade do sistema nervoso simpático e aumento da atividade do sistema nervoso parassimpático."
Goleman: Amígdala e córtex pré-frontal
Uma teoria, apresentada por Daniel Goleman e Tara Bennett-Goleman [19] sugere que a meditação [esclarecimentos necessários] funciona por causa da relação entre a amígdala eo córtex pré-frontal. [20] Em termos muito simples, a amígdala é a parte do cérebro que decide se devemos ficar com raiva ou ansioso (entre outras coisas), e do córtex pré-frontal é a parte que nos faz parar e pensar sobre as coisas (que também é conhecida como o centro inibitória).
O córtex pré-frontal é muito bom em análise e planejamento, mas leva muito tempo para tomar decisões. A amígdala, por outro lado, é mais simples (e mais velhos [21], em termos evolutivos). Faz julgamentos rápidos sobre uma situação e tem um efeito poderoso sobre nossas emoções e comportamento, ligadas às necessidades de sobrevivência. Por exemplo, se um ser humano vê um leão saltando para eles, a amígdala irá desencadear uma luta ou fuga resposta muito antes de o córtex pré-frontal responde.
Mas em fazer julgamentos precipitados, a nossa amígdalas são propensos ao erro [carece de fontes?], Como ver perigo onde não existe nenhum. [Carece de fontes?] Isto é particularmente verdadeiro na sociedade contemporânea, onde os conflitos sociais são muito mais comuns do que encontros com predadores, e uma situação basicamente inofensivo, mas emocionalmente carregadas podem provocar medo ou raiva incontrolável -. ocasionando um conflito, ansiedade, estresse e [22]
Substância cinzenta e branca
Estudos feitos por Yale, Harvard, Hospital Geral de Massachusetts mostraram que a meditação aumenta a massa cinzenta no cérebro e retarda a deterioração do cérebro, como parte do processo natural de envelhecimento.
O experimento incluiu 20 indivíduos com intensa "insight meditação" treinamento budista e 15 anos que não meditar. O exame do cérebro revelou que aqueles que meditavam ter um aumento da espessura da massa cinzenta em regiões do cérebro que são responsáveis pela atenção e processamento de estímulos sensoriais. O aumento na espessura variou entre 0,004 e 0,008 polegadas (3,175 x 10-6m - 6,35 x 10-6m) e foi proporcional à quantidade de meditação. O estudo também mostrou que a meditação ajuda a desacelerar a deterioração do cérebro devido ao envelhecimento.
Um estudo envolvendo a participação de um grupo de faculdades alunos, que foram convidados a usar uma técnica de meditação chamado de treinamento corpo-mente integrativa, concluiu que "a meditação pode melhorar a integridade e eficiência de certas conexões no cérebro" através de um aumento em seu número As varreduras do cérebro e robustez mostraram fortes alterações de substância branca no córtex cingulado anterior.
Dr. James Austin, um neurofisiologista da Universidade de Colorado, informou que a meditação no Zen "reestrutura a circuitos" do cérebro em seu livro Zen and the Brain (Austin, 1999). Isto foi confirmado usando imagens de ressonância magnética funcional, uma técnica de escaneamento do cérebro que mede o fluxo sanguíneo no cérebro. [Carece de fontes?]
Theoria
Quinze freiras carmelitas do mosteiro veio para o laboratório para entrar uma máquina fMRI enquanto meditando, permitindo que os cientistas lá para digitalizar seus cérebros usando fMRI enquanto eles estavam em um estado conhecido como Unio Mystica (e também Theoria) [27]. Os resultados mostraram que longínquas partes do cérebro foram recrutados na manutenção desta união mística com Deus. [27] Durante um teste de meditação, utilizando fMRI dois estados foram comparados. Atividade durante os últimos 6 minutos de meditação e atividade durante 6 minutos de meditação controlada. Como resultado, nos aumentos de análise controlada foram encontrados no putâmen, mesencéfalo, córtex cingulado anterior pregenual e formação hipocampal / parahipocampal.
No entanto, nos últimos seis minutos múltiplos focos de ativação dentro parietal, córtex pré-frontal e temporal, assim como nos giros precentral e pós-central, e do hipocampo / formação hipocampal foram identificados. O artigo [28] mostra a ativação durante a meditação. Os valores foram analisados pronta na Mente-Corpo Medical Institute.
Meditação e EEG
Eletroencefalograma (EEG) de meditadores hábeis mostrou um aumento significativo na atividade de ondas gama na faixa de 80-120 Hz durante a meditação. Houve também um aumento na faixa de 25 a 42 Hz. Esses meditadores tinha 10-40 anos de treinamento em budistas baseado mental [esclarecimentos necessários] treinamento. EEG feito em meditadores que tinham recebido treinamento recente demonstrou aumentar consideravelmente menos [29].
Os meditadores experientes também mostrou atividade gamma aumentou, enquanto em repouso e não meditar.
Durante a meditação há um aumento modesto em alfa lento ou atividade teta onda EEG.
Chang e Lo encontrou resultados diferentes, explicável, talvez pelo fato de que eles não mostram sinais de sequer ter testado para gama. [31] Primeiro, eles classificam cinco padrões em meditação baseada na normal de quatro faixas de frequência (delta <4 Hz, theta 4 a < 8 Hz, alfa de 8 a 13 Hz, e beta> 13 Hz). Os cinco padrões encontrados foram:
1) delta
2) + delta theta
3) teta + alfa lento
4) alfa de alta amplitude
5) amplitude suprimido ("silencioso e quase flat")
Eles descobriram padrão # 5 único e caracterizado por:
1) de energia extremamente baixo (supressão significativa da amplitude EEG)
2) correspondentes padrões temporais sem ritmo particular EEG
3) pico não domina na distribuição espectral
Eles tinham coletado padrões EEG de mais de 50 praticantes de meditação ao longo dos cinco anos anteriores. Cinco cenários meditação EEG são então descritos. Eles afirmam ainda que a maioria meditação é dominada por ondas alfa. Eles descobriram delta e ondas teta ocorreram ocasionalmente, às vezes, enquanto as pessoas adormeceu e às vezes não. Em particular, eles encontraram a amplitude padrão suprimida correlacionada com "o sentimento de bênçãos."
O Nuallain, Sean em Ciências Cognitivas 4 (2), é a primeira a se inter-relacionam o trabalho sobre gamma sincronizado em consciência com o trabalho bem-atestada na gama de meditação em um contexto experimental. Ele apresente os dados experimentais e simulados para mostrar que o que ambos têm em comum é a capacidade de colocar o cérebro em um estado em que está maximamente sensível e consome energia em uma taxa mais baixa (ou mesmo zero), por alguns instantes. Argumenta-se que esta pode corresponder a um estado de "altruísta" e do mais típico estado não-zero, em que gama não é tão proeminente, corresponde a um estado de auto-empírica. Assim, o "poder zero" no título não se refere apenas ao espectro de energia do cérebro, medido pela transformação de Hilbert, mas também para um estado psicológico de renúncia pessoal.
Meditação e Percepção
Estudos têm demonstrado que a meditação tem efeitos de curto e longo prazo em várias faculdades de percepção.
Em 1984, Brown et al. realizou um estudo que mediu o limiar absoluto de percepção de duração do estímulo de luz em praticantes e não praticantes de meditação mindfulness. Os resultados mostraram que os meditadores têm um limiar de detecção significativamente menor para os estímulos de luz de curta duração.
Em 2000, Tloczynski et al. estudaram a percepção das ilusões visuais (a ilusão de Müller-Lyer ea Ilusão Poggendorff) por mestres zen, meditadores iniciantes e não-meditadores. Não houve efeitos estatisticamente significativos encontrados para a ilusão de Müller-Lyer, no entanto, não foram para o Poggendorff. Os mestres zen experimentaram uma redução estatisticamente significativa na ilusão inicial (medido como erro em milímetros) e um menor decréscimo na ilusão para os ensaios subseqüentes.
A teoria do mecanismo por trás das mudanças na percepção que acompanham a meditação mindfulness é descrito assim pelo Tloczynski:
"Uma pessoa que medita, consequentemente, percebe mais objetos como estímulos diretamente experientes e menos como conceitos ... Com a remoção ou minimização de estímulos cognitivos e da consciência em geral aumentando, portanto, a meditação pode influenciar tanto a qualidade (precisão) e quantidade (detecção) de percepção."
Brown também aponta para isso como uma possível explicação para o fenômeno: ". [Taxa maior de detecção de flashes de luz única] envolve acalmar alguns dos processos mentais superiores que normalmente impedem a percepção de eventos sutis" Em outras palavras, a prática pode temporariamente ou permanentemente alterar parte do processamento de cima para baixo envolvidos na filtragem de eventos sutis geralmente considerado ruído pelos filtros perceptivos.
A Resposta de Relaxamento
Dr. Herbert Benson da Mente-Corpo Medical Institute, que é afiliada à Universidade de Harvard e vários hospitais de Boston, relata que a meditação induz a uma série de mudanças bioquímicas e físicas no corpo referidos coletivamente como a "resposta de relaxamento".
A resposta de relaxamento inclui alterações no metabolismo, a freqüência cardíaca, respiração, pressão arterial e química do cérebro. Benson e sua equipe também tem feito estudos clínicos em mosteiros budistas nas montanhas do Himalaia.
Efeitos adversos
O seguinte é uma declaração oficial de os EUA governo executar Centro Nacional para Medicina Complementar e Alternativa:
A meditação é considerada segura para pessoas saudáveis. Tem havido raros relatos de que a meditação pode causar ou agravar sintomas em pessoas que têm determinados problemas psiquiátricos, mas esta questão não foi totalmente pesquisado. Pessoas com limitações físicas podem não ser capazes de participar de certas práticas meditativas que envolvem movimento físico. Indivíduos com condições existentes de saúde física ou mental devem falar com seus prestadores de cuidados de saúde antes de iniciar uma prática meditativa e faça seu instrutor de meditação consciente de sua condição.
Ambos recompensas positivas e potenciais benefícios da meditação têm sido observados na literatura acadêmica. Efeitos adversos foram relatados, [37] e pode, em alguns casos, ser o resultado de "uso indevido de meditação". [38] O NIH aconselha os meditadores prospectivo para "perguntar sobre a formação ea experiência do instrutor de meditação ... [eles] estão considerando. "
Kundalini é uma síndrome de efeito alegado adversos de praticar Kundalini Yoga.
Como acontece com qualquer prática, a meditação pode também ser usado para evitar a enfrentar problemas em curso ou crises emergentes na vida de quem medita. Em tais situações, pode ser útil para aplicar atitudes conscientes adquirida em meditação, enquanto ativamente envolvidos com os problemas atuais. De acordo com o NIH, a meditação não deve ser usado como um substituto para cuidados de saúde convencional ou como uma razão para adiar a ver um médico [36].
NCCAM estudos
Uma comparação entre o efeito de várias técnicas de meditação sobre a pressão arterial sistólica.
Em junho de 2007 os Estados Unidos Centro Nacional para Medicina Complementar e Alternativa (NCCAM) publicou uma organização independente, peer-reviewed, meta-análise do estado da investigação meditação, conduzido por pesquisadores da Universidade de Alberta Centro de Prática Baseada em Evidências. O relatório examinou 813 estudos envolvendo cinco categorias de meditação: meditação mantra, a meditação mindfulness, yoga, Tai Chi e Qi Gong, e incluiu todos os estudos em adultos através de Setembro de 2005, com um foco particular na pesquisa relativos à hipertensão, doença cardiovascular, e abuso de substâncias.
O relatório concluiu, "A pesquisa científica sobre as práticas de meditação não parece ter uma perspectiva teórica comum e é caracterizado pela qualidade metodológica pobres. Conclusões definitivas sobre os efeitos de práticas de meditação na saúde não pode ser tirada com base nas provas disponíveis. Futuras pesquisas sobre meditação práticas deve ser mais rigorosa na concepção e execução de estudos e na análise e comunicação dos resultados. " (P. 6) Ele observou que não há explicação teórica dos efeitos na saúde da meditação comum a todas as técnicas de meditação.
Uma nova análise do conjunto de dados em 2008 reafirmou os pontos fracos da pesquisa, concluindo que "A maioria dos ensaios clínicos sobre práticas de meditação são geralmente caracterizadas pela qualidade metodológica pobre, com riscos significativos para a validade em todos os domínios principais de qualidade avaliados". Esta foi a conclusão, apesar de um aumento estatisticamente significativo na qualidade de toda a pesquisa meditação revista, em geral, ao longo do tempo entre 1956-2005. Dos 400 estudos clínicos, 10% foram encontrados para ser de boa qualidade. A chamada foi feita para o estudo rigoroso de meditação.
Estes autores também observaram que este resultado não é exclusivo para a área de pesquisa da meditação e que a qualidade da informação é um problema freqüente em outras áreas da medicina complementar e alternativa (CAM) de pesquisa e domínios de investigação relacionados com a terapia.
Em 2006 NCCAM revisto a sua definição de meditação, enfatizando a experiência da "suspensão da actividade do pensamento". Esta definição levou à possibilidade de comparar a meditação silêncio mental orientado com descansando sozinho e estudos descobriram significativas diferenças fisiológicas entre os dois. Foi constatou que todas as abordagens para a meditação pode conseguir alguns benefícios não-específica no entanto a abordagem silêncio mental pode estar associado a benefícios específicos adicionais que são clinicamente benéficos.
research on meditation
Research on meditation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Research on the processes and effects of meditation is a growing subfield of neurological research. By scanning the brain using modern technology such as fMRI and EEG scientists, working together with meditators, have helped to further our understanding of how meditation occurs.
Meditation changes the brain and the body. It is similar to learning to ride a bike or play an instrument in that there are structural and functional changes that occur in the brain with repeated practice over an extended period of time.
Meditation has historically been practiced within religious traditions especially by monks. Today much of what is considered meditation in the West is secular in nature, for instance mindfulness-based programs. Today mindfulness-based meditative practices have become popular within the wider medical and psychological Western community. For more information see Mindfulness (psychology) and Buddhism and psychology.
It should be noted that the information about the research on meditation found on this page is incomplete. Some of the research on meditation is located on the individual pages describing a particular style of meditation. Those styles can be found through other pages on Wikipedia, such as Meditation and Buddhist meditation.
It is also unlikely that this page will ever completely cover all the studies that are published discerning how meditation works because of the sheer quantity of studies on meditation and the relative newness of this field of neuroscience.
Contents
1 Western Therapeutic Use
1.1 Mindfulness-based stress reduction
2 Flow
3 Meditation and stress
3.1 National Institutes of Health
3.2 Goleman: Amygdala and pre-frontal cortex
4 Gray and White Matter
5 Theoria
6 Meditation and EEG
7 Meditation and Perception
8 The Relaxation Response
9 Adverse effects
10 NCCAM studies
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
Western Therapeutic Use
Meditation has entered the mainstream of health care as a method of stress and pain reduction. As a method of stress reduction, meditation has been used in hospitals in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress that include depressed immune systems.
There is growing agreement in the medical community that mental factors such as stress significantly contribute to a lack of physical health, and there is a growing movement in mainstream science to fund research in this area. There are now several mainstream health care programs which aid those, both sick and healthy, in promoting their inner well-being, especially those mindfulness based programs.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Mindfulness (psychology) and Mindfulness-based stress reduction
A 2003 meta-analysis found that mindfulness-based stress reduction, which involves continuous awareness of consciousness, without seeking to censor thoughts, concluded that the form of meditation may be broadly useful for individuals attempting to cope with clinical and nonclinical problems. Diagnoses for which MBSR was found to be helpful included chronic pain, fibromyalgia, cancer patients and coronary artery disease. Improvements were noted for both physical and mental health measures.
Flow
Mindfulness meditation, anapanasati, and related techniques, are intended to train attention for the sake of provoking insight. A wider, more flexible attention span makes it easier to be aware of a situation, easier to be objective in emotionally or morally difficult situations, and easier to achieve a state of responsive, creative awareness or "flow".
Research from Harvard medical school also shows that during meditation, physiological signals show that there is a decrease in respiration and increase in heart rate and blood oxygen saturation levels.
Meditation and stress
National Institutes of Health
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Practicing meditation has been shown to induce some changes in the body...Some types of meditation might work by affecting the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system." The sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system are two divisions of the autonomic nervous system of the body. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our reaction to stress or fear and is colloquially known as the "fight-or-flight" system. The parasympathetic nervous system is active during times of rest and associated with "rest and digest". The NIH goes on, "It is thought that some types of meditation might work by reducing activity in the sympathetic nervous system and increasing activity in the parasympathetic nervous system."
Goleman: Amygdala and pre-frontal cortex
One theory, presented by Daniel Goleman & Tara Bennett-Goleman[19] suggests that meditation[clarification needed] works because of the relationship between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex.[20] In very simple terms, the amygdala is the part of the brain that decides if we should get angry or anxious (among other things), and the pre-frontal cortex is the part that makes us stop and think about things (it is also known as the inhibitory centre).
The prefrontal cortex is very good at analyzing and planning, but it takes a long time to make decisions. The amygdala, on the other hand, is simpler (and older [21] in evolutionary terms). It makes rapid judgments about a situation and has a powerful effect on our emotions and behaviour, linked to survival needs. For example, if a human sees a lion leaping out at them, the amygdala will trigger a fight or flight response long before the prefrontal cortex responds.
But in making snap judgments, our amygdalas are prone to error[citation needed], such as seeing danger where there is none.[citation needed] This is particularly true in contemporary society where social conflicts are far more common than encounters with predators, and a basically harmless but emotionally charged situation can trigger uncontrollable fear or anger — leading to conflict, anxiety, and stress.[22]
Gray and White Matter
Studies done by Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital have shown that meditation increases gray matter in the brain and slows down the deterioration of the brain as a part of the natural aging process.
The experiment included 20 individuals with intensive Buddhist "insight meditation" training and 15 who did not meditate. The brain scan revealed that those who meditated have an increased thickness of gray matter in parts of the brain that are responsible for attention and processing sensory input. The increase in thickness ranged between .004 and .008 inches (3.175 x 10−6m - 6.35 x 10 −6m) and was proportional to the amount of meditation. The study also showed that meditation helps slow down brain deterioration due to aging.
A study involving the participation of a group of colleges students, who were asked to use a meditation technique called integrative body-mind training, concluded that "meditating may improve the integrity and efficiency of certain connections in the brain" through an increase in their number and robustness Brain scans showed strong white matter changes in the anterior cingulate cortex.
Dr. James Austin, a neurophysiologist at the University of Colorado, reported that meditation in Zen "rewires the circuitry" of the brain in his book Zen and the Brain (Austin, 1999). This has been confirmed using functional MRI imaging, a brain scanning technique that measures blood flow in the brain.[citation needed]
Theoria
Fifteen Carmelite nuns came from the monastery to the laboratory to enter a fMRI machine whilst meditating, allowing scientists there to scan their brains using fMRI while they were in a state known as Unio Mystica (and also Theoria).[27] The results showed that far-flung parts of the brain were recruited in the sustaining of this mystical union with God.[27] During a meditation test, using fMRI two states were compared. Activity during the last 6 minutes of meditation and activity during 6 minutes of controlled meditation. As a result, in the controlled analysis increases were found in putamen, midbrain, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampal/parahippocampal formation.
However, in the last 6 minutes multiple foci of activation within prefrontal, parietal and temporal cortices as well as in the precentral and postcentral gyri, and hippocampal/parahippocampal formation were identified. The article [28] shows activation during meditation. The prompt values were analyzed at the Mind-Body Medical Institute.
Meditation and EEG
Electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings of skilled meditators showed a significant rise in gamma wave activity in the 80 to 120 Hz range during meditation. There was also a rise in the range of 25 to 42 Hz. These meditators had 10 to 40 years of training in Buddhist-based mental[clarification needed] training. EEG done on meditators who had received recent training demonstrated considerably less rise.[29]
The experienced meditators also showed increased gamma activity while at rest and not meditating.
During meditation there is a modest increase in slow alpha or theta wave EEG activity.
Chang and Lo found different results, explicable perhaps by the fact they show no sign of even having tested for gamma.[31] First they classify five patterns in meditation based on the normal four frequency ranges (delta < 4 Hz, theta 4 to <8 Hz, alpha 8 to 13 Hz, and beta >13 Hz). The five patterns they found were:
1) delta
2) delta + theta
3) theta + slow alpha
4) high-amplitude alpha
5) amplitude suppressed ("silent and almost flat")
They found pattern #5 unique and characterized by:
1) extremely low power (significant suppression of EEG amplitude)
2) corresponding temporal patterns with no particular EEG rhythm
3) no dominating peak in the spectral distribution
They had collected EEG patterns from more than 50 meditators over the prior five years. Five meditation EEG scenarios are then described. They further state that most meditation is dominated by alpha waves. They found delta and theta waves occurred occasionally, sometimes while people fell asleep and sometimes not. In particular they found the amplitude suppressed pattern correlated with "the feeling of blessings."
O Nuallain,Sean in Cognitive Sciences 4(2), is the first to interrelate the work on synchronized gamma in consciousness with the well-attested work on gamma in meditation in an experimental context. It adduces experimental and simulated data to show that what both have in common is the ability to put the brain into a state in which it is maximally sensitive and consumes power at a lower (or even zero) rate, briefly. It is argued that this may correspond to a “selfless” state and the more typical non-zero state, in which gamma is not so prominent, corresponds to a state of empirical self. Thus, the “zero power” in the title refers not only to the power spectrum of the brain as measured by the Hilbert transform, but also to a psychological state of personal renunciation.
Meditation and Perception
Studies have shown that meditation has both short-term and long-term effects on various perceptual faculties.
In 1984, Brown et al. conducted a study that measured the absolute threshold of perception for light stimulus duration in practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness meditation. The results showed that meditators have a significantly lower detection threshold for light stimuli of short duration.
In 2000, Tloczynski et al. studied the perception of visual illusions (the Müller-Lyer Illusion and the Poggendorff Illusion) by zen masters, novice meditators, and non-meditators. There were no statistically significant effects found for the Müller-Lyer illusion, however, there were for the Poggendorff. The zen masters experienced a statistically significant reduction in initial illusion (measured as error in millimeters) and a lower decrement in illusion for subsequent trials.
The theory of mechanism behind the changes in perception that accompany mindfulness meditation is described thus by Tloczynski:
“A person who meditates consequently perceives objects more as directly experienced stimuli and less as concepts… With the removal or minimization of cognitive stimuli and generally increasing awareness, meditation can therefore influence both the quality (accuracy) and quantity (detection) of perception.”
Brown also points to this as a possible explanation of the phenomenon: “[the higher rate of detection of single light flashes] involves quieting some of the higher mental processes which normally obstruct the perception of subtle events.” In other words, the practice may temporarily or permanently alter some of the top-down processing involved in filtering subtle events usually deemed noise by the perceptual filters.
The Relaxation Response
Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard University and several Boston hospitals, reports that meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the "relaxation response."
The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains.
Adverse effects
The following is an official statement from the US government-run National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
Meditation is considered to be safe for healthy people. There have been rare reports that meditation could cause or worsen symptoms in people who have certain psychiatric problems, but this question has not been fully researched. People with physical limitations may not be able to participate in certain meditative practices involving physical movement. Individuals with existing mental or physical health conditions should speak with their health care providers prior to starting a meditative practice and make their meditation instructor aware of their condition.
Both positive rewards and potential benefits of meditation have been noted in academic literature. Adverse effects have been reported,[37] and may, in some cases, be the result of "improper use of meditation".[38] The NIH advises prospective meditators to "ask about the training and experience of the meditation instructor... [they] are considering."
Kundalini syndrome is a claimed adverse effect from practicing Kundalini Yoga.
As with any practice, meditation may also be used to avoid facing ongoing problems or emerging crises in the meditator's life. In such situations, it may be helpful to apply mindful attitudes acquired in meditation while actively engaging with current problems. According to the NIH, meditation should not be used as a replacement for conventional health care or as a reason to postpone seeing a doctor.[36]
NCCAM studies
A comparison of the effect of various meditation techniques on systolic blood pressure.
In June, 2007 the United States National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) published an independent, peer-reviewed, meta-analysis of the state of meditation research, conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center. The report reviewed 813 studies involving five broad categories of meditation: mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong, and included all studies on adults through September 2005, with a particular focus on research pertaining to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and substance abuse.
The report concluded, "Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and reporting of results." (p. 6) It noted that there is no theoretical explanation of health effects from meditation common to all meditation techniques.
A further analysis of this data set in 2008 reaffirmed the weaknesses of the research, finding that "Most clinical trials on meditation practices are generally characterized by poor methodological quality with significant threats to validity in every major quality domain assessed". This was the conclusion despite a statistically significant increase in quality of all reviewed meditation research, in general, over time between 1956-2005. Of the 400 clinical studies, 10% were found to be good quality. A call was made for rigorous study of meditation.
These authors also noted that this finding is not unique to the area of meditation research and that the quality of reporting is a frequent problem in other areas of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research and related therapy research domains.
In 2006 NCCAM revised their definition of meditation, emphasizing the experience of the “suspension of thought activity". This definition led to the possibility of comparing mental silence oriented meditation with resting alone and studies have found significant physiological differences between the two. It has been found that all approaches to meditation can achieve some non-specific benefits however the mental silence approach may be associated with additional specific benefits which are clinically beneficial.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Research on the processes and effects of meditation is a growing subfield of neurological research. By scanning the brain using modern technology such as fMRI and EEG scientists, working together with meditators, have helped to further our understanding of how meditation occurs.
Meditation changes the brain and the body. It is similar to learning to ride a bike or play an instrument in that there are structural and functional changes that occur in the brain with repeated practice over an extended period of time.
Meditation has historically been practiced within religious traditions especially by monks. Today much of what is considered meditation in the West is secular in nature, for instance mindfulness-based programs. Today mindfulness-based meditative practices have become popular within the wider medical and psychological Western community. For more information see Mindfulness (psychology) and Buddhism and psychology.
It should be noted that the information about the research on meditation found on this page is incomplete. Some of the research on meditation is located on the individual pages describing a particular style of meditation. Those styles can be found through other pages on Wikipedia, such as Meditation and Buddhist meditation.
It is also unlikely that this page will ever completely cover all the studies that are published discerning how meditation works because of the sheer quantity of studies on meditation and the relative newness of this field of neuroscience.
Contents
1 Western Therapeutic Use
1.1 Mindfulness-based stress reduction
2 Flow
3 Meditation and stress
3.1 National Institutes of Health
3.2 Goleman: Amygdala and pre-frontal cortex
4 Gray and White Matter
5 Theoria
6 Meditation and EEG
7 Meditation and Perception
8 The Relaxation Response
9 Adverse effects
10 NCCAM studies
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
Western Therapeutic Use
Meditation has entered the mainstream of health care as a method of stress and pain reduction. As a method of stress reduction, meditation has been used in hospitals in cases of chronic or terminal illness to reduce complications associated with increased stress that include depressed immune systems.
There is growing agreement in the medical community that mental factors such as stress significantly contribute to a lack of physical health, and there is a growing movement in mainstream science to fund research in this area. There are now several mainstream health care programs which aid those, both sick and healthy, in promoting their inner well-being, especially those mindfulness based programs.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Mindfulness (psychology) and Mindfulness-based stress reduction
A 2003 meta-analysis found that mindfulness-based stress reduction, which involves continuous awareness of consciousness, without seeking to censor thoughts, concluded that the form of meditation may be broadly useful for individuals attempting to cope with clinical and nonclinical problems. Diagnoses for which MBSR was found to be helpful included chronic pain, fibromyalgia, cancer patients and coronary artery disease. Improvements were noted for both physical and mental health measures.
Flow
Mindfulness meditation, anapanasati, and related techniques, are intended to train attention for the sake of provoking insight. A wider, more flexible attention span makes it easier to be aware of a situation, easier to be objective in emotionally or morally difficult situations, and easier to achieve a state of responsive, creative awareness or "flow".
Research from Harvard medical school also shows that during meditation, physiological signals show that there is a decrease in respiration and increase in heart rate and blood oxygen saturation levels.
Meditation and stress
National Institutes of Health
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Practicing meditation has been shown to induce some changes in the body...Some types of meditation might work by affecting the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system." The sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system are two divisions of the autonomic nervous system of the body. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our reaction to stress or fear and is colloquially known as the "fight-or-flight" system. The parasympathetic nervous system is active during times of rest and associated with "rest and digest". The NIH goes on, "It is thought that some types of meditation might work by reducing activity in the sympathetic nervous system and increasing activity in the parasympathetic nervous system."
Goleman: Amygdala and pre-frontal cortex
One theory, presented by Daniel Goleman & Tara Bennett-Goleman[19] suggests that meditation[clarification needed] works because of the relationship between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex.[20] In very simple terms, the amygdala is the part of the brain that decides if we should get angry or anxious (among other things), and the pre-frontal cortex is the part that makes us stop and think about things (it is also known as the inhibitory centre).
The prefrontal cortex is very good at analyzing and planning, but it takes a long time to make decisions. The amygdala, on the other hand, is simpler (and older [21] in evolutionary terms). It makes rapid judgments about a situation and has a powerful effect on our emotions and behaviour, linked to survival needs. For example, if a human sees a lion leaping out at them, the amygdala will trigger a fight or flight response long before the prefrontal cortex responds.
But in making snap judgments, our amygdalas are prone to error[citation needed], such as seeing danger where there is none.[citation needed] This is particularly true in contemporary society where social conflicts are far more common than encounters with predators, and a basically harmless but emotionally charged situation can trigger uncontrollable fear or anger — leading to conflict, anxiety, and stress.[22]
Gray and White Matter
Studies done by Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital have shown that meditation increases gray matter in the brain and slows down the deterioration of the brain as a part of the natural aging process.
The experiment included 20 individuals with intensive Buddhist "insight meditation" training and 15 who did not meditate. The brain scan revealed that those who meditated have an increased thickness of gray matter in parts of the brain that are responsible for attention and processing sensory input. The increase in thickness ranged between .004 and .008 inches (3.175 x 10−6m - 6.35 x 10 −6m) and was proportional to the amount of meditation. The study also showed that meditation helps slow down brain deterioration due to aging.
A study involving the participation of a group of colleges students, who were asked to use a meditation technique called integrative body-mind training, concluded that "meditating may improve the integrity and efficiency of certain connections in the brain" through an increase in their number and robustness Brain scans showed strong white matter changes in the anterior cingulate cortex.
Dr. James Austin, a neurophysiologist at the University of Colorado, reported that meditation in Zen "rewires the circuitry" of the brain in his book Zen and the Brain (Austin, 1999). This has been confirmed using functional MRI imaging, a brain scanning technique that measures blood flow in the brain.[citation needed]
Theoria
Fifteen Carmelite nuns came from the monastery to the laboratory to enter a fMRI machine whilst meditating, allowing scientists there to scan their brains using fMRI while they were in a state known as Unio Mystica (and also Theoria).[27] The results showed that far-flung parts of the brain were recruited in the sustaining of this mystical union with God.[27] During a meditation test, using fMRI two states were compared. Activity during the last 6 minutes of meditation and activity during 6 minutes of controlled meditation. As a result, in the controlled analysis increases were found in putamen, midbrain, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampal/parahippocampal formation.
However, in the last 6 minutes multiple foci of activation within prefrontal, parietal and temporal cortices as well as in the precentral and postcentral gyri, and hippocampal/parahippocampal formation were identified. The article [28] shows activation during meditation. The prompt values were analyzed at the Mind-Body Medical Institute.
Meditation and EEG
Electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings of skilled meditators showed a significant rise in gamma wave activity in the 80 to 120 Hz range during meditation. There was also a rise in the range of 25 to 42 Hz. These meditators had 10 to 40 years of training in Buddhist-based mental[clarification needed] training. EEG done on meditators who had received recent training demonstrated considerably less rise.[29]
The experienced meditators also showed increased gamma activity while at rest and not meditating.
During meditation there is a modest increase in slow alpha or theta wave EEG activity.
Chang and Lo found different results, explicable perhaps by the fact they show no sign of even having tested for gamma.[31] First they classify five patterns in meditation based on the normal four frequency ranges (delta < 4 Hz, theta 4 to <8 Hz, alpha 8 to 13 Hz, and beta >13 Hz). The five patterns they found were:
1) delta
2) delta + theta
3) theta + slow alpha
4) high-amplitude alpha
5) amplitude suppressed ("silent and almost flat")
They found pattern #5 unique and characterized by:
1) extremely low power (significant suppression of EEG amplitude)
2) corresponding temporal patterns with no particular EEG rhythm
3) no dominating peak in the spectral distribution
They had collected EEG patterns from more than 50 meditators over the prior five years. Five meditation EEG scenarios are then described. They further state that most meditation is dominated by alpha waves. They found delta and theta waves occurred occasionally, sometimes while people fell asleep and sometimes not. In particular they found the amplitude suppressed pattern correlated with "the feeling of blessings."
O Nuallain,Sean in Cognitive Sciences 4(2), is the first to interrelate the work on synchronized gamma in consciousness with the well-attested work on gamma in meditation in an experimental context. It adduces experimental and simulated data to show that what both have in common is the ability to put the brain into a state in which it is maximally sensitive and consumes power at a lower (or even zero) rate, briefly. It is argued that this may correspond to a “selfless” state and the more typical non-zero state, in which gamma is not so prominent, corresponds to a state of empirical self. Thus, the “zero power” in the title refers not only to the power spectrum of the brain as measured by the Hilbert transform, but also to a psychological state of personal renunciation.
Meditation and Perception
Studies have shown that meditation has both short-term and long-term effects on various perceptual faculties.
In 1984, Brown et al. conducted a study that measured the absolute threshold of perception for light stimulus duration in practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness meditation. The results showed that meditators have a significantly lower detection threshold for light stimuli of short duration.
In 2000, Tloczynski et al. studied the perception of visual illusions (the Müller-Lyer Illusion and the Poggendorff Illusion) by zen masters, novice meditators, and non-meditators. There were no statistically significant effects found for the Müller-Lyer illusion, however, there were for the Poggendorff. The zen masters experienced a statistically significant reduction in initial illusion (measured as error in millimeters) and a lower decrement in illusion for subsequent trials.
The theory of mechanism behind the changes in perception that accompany mindfulness meditation is described thus by Tloczynski:
“A person who meditates consequently perceives objects more as directly experienced stimuli and less as concepts… With the removal or minimization of cognitive stimuli and generally increasing awareness, meditation can therefore influence both the quality (accuracy) and quantity (detection) of perception.”
Brown also points to this as a possible explanation of the phenomenon: “[the higher rate of detection of single light flashes] involves quieting some of the higher mental processes which normally obstruct the perception of subtle events.” In other words, the practice may temporarily or permanently alter some of the top-down processing involved in filtering subtle events usually deemed noise by the perceptual filters.
The Relaxation Response
Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard University and several Boston hospitals, reports that meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the "relaxation response."
The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains.
Adverse effects
The following is an official statement from the US government-run National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
Meditation is considered to be safe for healthy people. There have been rare reports that meditation could cause or worsen symptoms in people who have certain psychiatric problems, but this question has not been fully researched. People with physical limitations may not be able to participate in certain meditative practices involving physical movement. Individuals with existing mental or physical health conditions should speak with their health care providers prior to starting a meditative practice and make their meditation instructor aware of their condition.
Both positive rewards and potential benefits of meditation have been noted in academic literature. Adverse effects have been reported,[37] and may, in some cases, be the result of "improper use of meditation".[38] The NIH advises prospective meditators to "ask about the training and experience of the meditation instructor... [they] are considering."
Kundalini syndrome is a claimed adverse effect from practicing Kundalini Yoga.
As with any practice, meditation may also be used to avoid facing ongoing problems or emerging crises in the meditator's life. In such situations, it may be helpful to apply mindful attitudes acquired in meditation while actively engaging with current problems. According to the NIH, meditation should not be used as a replacement for conventional health care or as a reason to postpone seeing a doctor.[36]
NCCAM studies
A comparison of the effect of various meditation techniques on systolic blood pressure.
In June, 2007 the United States National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) published an independent, peer-reviewed, meta-analysis of the state of meditation research, conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center. The report reviewed 813 studies involving five broad categories of meditation: mantra meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong, and included all studies on adults through September 2005, with a particular focus on research pertaining to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and substance abuse.
The report concluded, "Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence. Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and reporting of results." (p. 6) It noted that there is no theoretical explanation of health effects from meditation common to all meditation techniques.
A further analysis of this data set in 2008 reaffirmed the weaknesses of the research, finding that "Most clinical trials on meditation practices are generally characterized by poor methodological quality with significant threats to validity in every major quality domain assessed". This was the conclusion despite a statistically significant increase in quality of all reviewed meditation research, in general, over time between 1956-2005. Of the 400 clinical studies, 10% were found to be good quality. A call was made for rigorous study of meditation.
These authors also noted that this finding is not unique to the area of meditation research and that the quality of reporting is a frequent problem in other areas of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research and related therapy research domains.
In 2006 NCCAM revised their definition of meditation, emphasizing the experience of the “suspension of thought activity". This definition led to the possibility of comparing mental silence oriented meditation with resting alone and studies have found significant physiological differences between the two. It has been found that all approaches to meditation can achieve some non-specific benefits however the mental silence approach may be associated with additional specific benefits which are clinically beneficial.
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