Article on brain benefits of daily meditation
 

http://www.zonediet.com/blog/2011/09...for-the-brain/

Worth a look. Here's an excerpt:

"[M]ore recent, better controlled, shorter-term studies have taken either non-meditators or experienced meditators and put them into an intensive meditation program to be compared to equally matched subjects waiting to enter the same a program. Using a more tightly controlled group of subjects, it has been found that meditation does indeed have benefits in reducing sensitivity to pain (6), improving ability to modulate alpha waves that help reduce distractions (7), increasing brain grey matter (8), and increasing telomerase activity (9). The increased telomerase activity is usually associated with increased lifespan because when telomeres on the DNA become too short, the cell dies."

I have been using transcendental meditation technique and that is the only thing keeping me sane in this ordeal. Without that I am sure I will be even worse. For PTSD victims it helps them a lot.

I personally find mindfulness meditation helpful (20 mins once or twice a day). I had been doing it off and on for several years prior to my concussion, which made it easier to pick up again. It helps to find a good CD or book with some basic meditation techniques (Thich Nhat Hanh has a few good ones; some people like Jon Kabat-Zinn's).

Hi guys, first post. I think I've found what I've been looking for in this forum.

I'm working on a theory that meditation can be instrumental in recovery and/or adaptation to a frontal TBI as I've suffered. In the East it is anecdotal legend that long-term meditation can produce actual physiogical changes in and around the area of the brain that western medicine calls the pineal gland (apparently this has been supported by brain autopsies of people with a life history of spiritual training of some kind). The pineal gland, thought to be the physical center of clairvoyance, is located in the center of the brain, and thus more cushioned from frontal trauma.

I believe that my own spiritual practices over the years (meditation, martial arts, prayer) contributed to strengthening of my own psychic center (pineal gland), and this has at least partially offset the raging emotions and primitive drives of my limbic system, unfortunately most of which is also near the more protected center of the brain.

At any rate, I have had doozies of anger sessions, but haven't killed anyone yet (come close!). Anyone else have thoughts along these lines?

Kenjhee

Would others agree than a benefit, if not the most important benefit of meditation is the relaxation and release of stress that it causes?

Do you think it is possible to get these benefits throughout the day by making choices in how and what we let are mind think upon?

For me, understanding my symptoms and letting go of a personal need to react in frustration to them has given me great relief.

The explosive problems from PCS are easier to handle and prevent when I have given up control of those things that may be the triggers.

btw, For those with strong held Christian beliefs, most meditation practices are counter to Christian principles.

Research indicates it is more than relaxation. Lots of interest in the medical field about its benefits. One research even indicates it increases cerebral blood flow which definitely PCS subjects needs and (exercise is another way but not sure how many tolerate exercise).

One recent study from UCLA:
http://www.physorg.com/news161355537.html

TM and the other meditation techniques mentioned are a religious belief system based on Buddhism. Promoting it on this forum is contrary to the TOS guidelines.

My mistake. Looks like this isn't the place I've been looking for after all.

Hi Kenjhee

I hope you will decide to stay after I explain the actual guidelines here.

This community is open and welcoming to members of all faiths and philosophies.

There is nothing wrong or against our guidelines with people who wish to discuss TM or anything else related to their belief, provided it is done in a manner *respectful* of others here, and never as an attempt to proselytize, or to debate other religions in a way as to negate them

All that our guidelines state is that posts of a mostly religious nature should be made to the sanctuary for spiritual support forum, but not that spiritual practice as it impacts health and well being may not be discussed

I hope that explains things more clearly and that you will decide to stay.

ps

here are the community guidelines for all to be able to see for themselves what it states
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1293
specific to spiritual posting

Hello, my friend. Well, now, that's what I call hospitable. Maybe I will stay a bit. I looked around some, and it'd be a shame to leave so soon as this forum looks like it's about the best.

For the record, I have no interest in pushing a religious agenda of any kind. My interest is quite simply Traumatic Brain Injury and anything that might help it. If that involves what others might call a spriritual practice, so be it. If it's a new drug, or therapeutic technique, let's talk about that.

Also for the record, not that it matters, I actually consider myself a Christian, but I am not not what you'd call a traditional one. I have no problem investigating Buddhism, Taoism, or any of the "ism"s if I feel it can broaden my perspective. I strongly feel that meditation (and I consider prayer to be a form thereof) has contributed to the healing of my brain pathways, and it is not a matter of simple stress reduction.

So, happy to be aboard!

Kenjhee

Welcome Kenjhee. I'm so pleased you decided to stay. :)

My own TBI was several years ago now and I because I recovered fully I don't usually post to this forum, although I do read the threads.

Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help you navigate your way around the site.

Koala ...can you tell us something about your recovery...the process, maybe what worked or helped ...how long, when did you start noticing improvements (possibly start a new thread). This might be encouraging for most of us.

By the way --- I think that PCSLife was just trying to say is that meditation helps (basically quieting the mind). Am I right here?

I didn't take that as any sort of religious thing.

I think meditation can take on many forms. I know there's one just to quiet the mind by saying a word (mantra) over and over...and keep out other thoughts.

I try to do this for a few mins each day.

What I was trying to say is that meditation in whatever form, is a religious practice, even for those who are not aware of its religious nature. Trying to hide the fact that it is based primarily on Buddhism and secondarily the other eastern religions. It is the most prominent commonality between all of the eastern religions.

The mantra concept is religious in nature and origin.

The Vatican has spoken specifically in opposition to the practice of meditation. btw, I am not catholic.

The Christian concepts of meditation are always in a context of prayer, not on emptying the mind or focusing on self.

The meditation spoken of in the meditation research is of the eastern religion variety. Western society has convoluted the many eastern practices to westernize them. But, they still have the eastern religious basis.

I am not talking out of ignorance. My wife studied TM before we were married. TM and other eastern meditations have been infiltrating Christian thought for ages.

For me, repeating anything is wrong. My brain will get stuck on the repetition and wear me out. I have been stuck on mundane thoughts for as long as two days. I put up with the side effects of an SSRI to reduce such events.

So, again, my point is that I don't believe it is proper to present meditation as just another therapy like CBT or such.

I could go on about the therapeutic value of prayer, but out of respect for others, I don't.

If you do not agree with the practice of meditation, or its therapeutic value, that is your prerogative, but it would be appreciated if you would allow others to discuss it without introducing religious debate on the subject.


thank you

Agreed. Meditation is likely as old as man, so it would be silly to connect it solely to religion, and it is not what most people think of when they think of meditation.

Mark -- you're entitled to your opinion on this issue. You are not entitled to telling others what is or is not allowed in our community. Please defer from doing so in the future.

DocJohn

For what it's worth, there seems to be a difference between TM and mindfulness meditation: the latter (in at least some instances) does not promote repetition of a mantra, but rather encourages us to attend to our breathing, while maintaining a tolerant and accepting attitude towards any thoughts or emotions that arise. In part, the focus on breathing is to take a break from our endlessly cycling thoughts, calm down, and observe what it actually going on in our hearts and minds. This can be helpful for some people with issues like depression and anxiety. However, it is true that mindfulness meditation practitioners may count breaths or repeat certain phrases as part of the practice.

Personally, I find meditation helpful, but I do it in relatively small doses - about 20 mins per day. I feel that this gives me some of the benefits of practicing without (for me) taking things too far.

I note also that at least one well-regarded mindfulness meditation teacher, the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, has attempted to find common ground between Christianity and Buddhism (he even wrote a book called Living Buddha, Living Christ), although one might debate how persuasively he does this.

Also: if you're going to exclude meditation on religious grounds (or on the grounds that the repetition of words or sounds is problematic for people recovering from TBI), you would probably have to exclude yoga as well, as it also includes some of these elements.

I am not trying to offend anybody. I am sorry if anybody was offended.

greenfrogs comment about yoga is true. The Christian community is struggling with the concept of whether there can be Christian yoga and the many attempts to blend meditation as it has been practiced for centuries with Christianity.

The scientific medical and alternative therapy communities have tried to find therapies that they can sell but also need to remove the religious connections so they can get them coded for insurance reimbursement.

I think it would be acceptable to many if we could openly discuss the various religious concepts that help with our mTBI and PCS.

Agreeing to disagree but still be open and accepting is an attribute worth seeking.

We all do have a common interest, recovering from or learning to live with our PCS symptoms.

My best to you all.

Yeah but you have a Bible verse in your signature, so you are promoting your religion too. :wink:

There's nothing religious about meditation. Christian contemplative meditation is a tradition that's been around for a long, long time.

Ooh I'm glad this thread was bumped, I think I was off the computer when it was around...

I'm about to start an 8 week mindfulness course paid for and facilitated by my workplace. Went to the taster session and I think it might be something that is very helpful - have actually been trying to apply it already to good effect.

I particularly like the idea of its being a way of noticing your feelings and experiences, but sort of distancing yourself from them and staying calm. Perfect for someone who needs to constantly focus on my PCS symptoms so that I can tell when I'm overdoing it, but cannot afford to get stressed about them since that would be damaging. Good to hear it is/was helping greenfrog too.

Other ways of coping eg through distraction I think would not work so well for PCS, since we really need to pay attention to our symptoms all the time.

I am told that there is a fair amount of evidence for its beneficial effects and that we will be exploring this during the course as well. I'm guessing the evidence must be ptretty convincing since my petty, grasping employers would definitely not be paying for such a scheme unless they were pretty confident that it would reduce the number of sick days!

With regard to the religious issue, the facilitator (who is in fact a Church of England vicar) told us that 'mindfulness' is as Mark says originally and essentially an aspect of Buddhist practice, but one which has been deliberately removed from this religious context. The promoters of mindfulness seem very keen to present it as something which, whilst derived from Buddhism, no longer implies or involves religious belief of any kind. I'm really looking forward to it.

Instead of making a new thread about this, I decided to just ask my question on this one.

Sometimes my brain gets very overwhelmed with everything it's taken in throughout the day...my thoughts will be racing and I'll start to get extremely anxious...to the point I feel like I'm going to go crazy (literally). There is a technique I've learned to do to release my mind of the racing, anxious thoughts.

I'll lock myself in my room, shut the blinds, put earplugs in, lay on the bed (on my back) and close my eyes...clearing my mind of everything. Once my mind is cleared, I just lay there relaxed, with a clear mind, occasionally taking deep breaths. I'll do this for probably 10-15 minutes.

My question: Is this considered meditation? I'm not doing anything spiritual, just clearing my mind of everything and relaxing.

Whatever it is, it works really well. And I recommend it to anyone who get overwhelmed with thoughts throughout the day.

I would call that "mindful breathing." Some people might use that as a way to meditate, but I don't think being aware of your body and its processes could be considered exclusive to any religion.

Okay, I obviously discovered this thread a little late in the game. I'd like to contribute my 2 cents.

Mindfulness practice goes way beyond sitting meditation. It is perhaps best described as paying attention with an attitude of openness, acceptance, and non-judgment. Here are some things in our life toward which we can apply such an attitude: thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, circumstances, other people, ourselves, etc.

In mindfulness-based meditation, a common strategy is to begin by focusing on one's breath, and perhaps gradually scanning one's whole body, focusing on different parts of the body as you go through the process. As for thoughts and emotions, they will come up. The idea is not to resist them, suppress them, react to them, judge them, or get attached to them. Instead of "clearing the mind," one simply mindfully observes one's thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations, without passing judgment on them or getting attached to them.

As I mentioned above, this strategy of mindfulness can be applied outside of sitting meditation sessions. Indeed, it can be applied in almost any context. Mindful walking, eating, and work (such as doing the dishes) are common examples of practices that can serve as an extension of a daily sitting meditation practice.

Pete