Health Benefits of Meditation and mindful practice studied

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manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
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http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013...tic-effects-of-meditation/UPI-34021387168162/

Here is the article...

European researchers say they may be able to explain the biological mechanism resulting in the therapeutic effects of meditation.

Study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said mindfulness-based training had beneficial effects on inflammatory disorders in prior clinical studies and are endorsed by the American Heart Association as a preventative intervention.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice," Davidson said in a statement.

Davidson and first author Perla Kaliman of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona said the findings showed a down-regulation -- the process by which a cell decreases the quantity of a cellular component, such as RNA or protein -- of genes that have been implicated in inflammation. The affected genes include the pro-inflammatory genes RIPK2 and COX2 as well as several histone deacetylase -- HDAC -- genes, which regulate the activity of other genes by removing a type of chemical tag.

What's more, the extent to which some of those genes were down-regulated was associated with faster cortisol -- stress hormone -- recovery to a social stress test involving an impromptu speech and tasks requiring mental calculations performed in front of an audience and video camera.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice," Davidson said.

There was no difference in the tested genes between the two groups of people at the start of the study. The observed effects were seen only in the meditators following mindfulness practice, the study said.

The findings were published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.




I have been a lay Taoist for some time and have been mediating and doing qigong for decades. I have always felt fantastic after mediation and especially Zhan Zhuang or post standing.. Seems the study mentioned above has some promise at the molecular level. Much of Tai Chi or taiji as its referred to now if done right is moving mediation. Circle walking from the bagua tradition when done correctly is a moving mediation as well.



MWJstanding3.jpg


This posture is seen across many martial arts and is the single biggest treasure for the lay person to begin.


01_wuji.jpg


this is the yang style wuji incredibly simple but takes lifetimes to perfect.

Practicing just the yang opening posture for 3 minutes is impossible to most lay people. Its amazing how simple and difficult it is.


shutterstock_79725661.jpg


you dont have to be sitting down like the above picture or get yourself into knots trying to get into a lotus position. You can just sit on a chair with your hands on your legs or sides. It starts with relaxing and clearing the ambient noises in our minds.
 
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Kaido

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My only problem with this stuff is that I'm usually running just behind the energy curve, so I'm kind of tired all the time. So if I try this, I end up dozing off :D

I once heard that an hour of studying will burn more glycogen from your brain than an hour of exercise will. Pretty interesting how the mind correlates to the body!

And there's also an interesting discussion on stuff like acupuncture. I can't say I believe everything from Eastern medicine, but I stubbed the side of my foot the other day and it lit up my foot, leg, back, etc. with pain haha, so things are definitely connected in weird ways!
 

Zodiark1593

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Oct 21, 2012
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To an extent, I've learned to alter my blood pressure slightly with careful breathing and clearing my mind. Poses may not be necessity, but whatever you feel gets control over yourself.
 

Kaido

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Feb 14, 2004
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To an extent, I've learned to alter my blood pressure slightly with careful breathing and clearing my mind. Poses may not be necessity, but whatever you feel gets control over yourself.

We definitely practice it to some extent in America..."take a few deep breaths" or "count to ten" when you need to calm down. I think a lot of the poses are more cues to get you in the right frame of mind, but I dunno. I also used to think stuff like yoga & pilates were "for girls", but it turns out I'm far too much of a wimp to do the majority of the moves :biggrin:
 

kyrax12

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May 21, 2010
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This is pretty interesting. I might put meditation into my daily routine of exercise and gaming.
 

phucheneh

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Jun 30, 2012
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Random overly-personal post:

I'm on-again-off-again sober. Not much for wild benders, no legal trouble, ect...I just decide sometimes that maybe it would be best for me to embrace a 'sober' lifestyle. So I go to a few meetings with a lot of freedom and alternative thinking (i.e. not the southern baptist 'JEBUS SAVE ME FROM THE DRUGS AND ALCOHOL' meetings). Lots of talk of meditation. And a few people who genuinely follow Buddhist or other 'eastern' teachings.

Perhaps I should give it more credit, is about all I'm trying to say, I reckon.
 

manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
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My only problem with this stuff is that I'm usually running just behind the energy curve, so I'm kind of tired all the time. So if I try this, I end up dozing off :D

I once heard that an hour of studying will burn more glycogen from your brain than an hour of exercise will. Pretty interesting how the mind correlates to the body!

And there's also an interesting discussion on stuff like acupuncture. I can't say I believe everything from Eastern medicine, but I stubbed the side of my foot the other day and it lit up my foot, leg, back, etc. with pain haha, so things are definitely connected in weird ways!
At first you may feel a little tired but it actually gives you much more energy and focus than you put into it. I do chi gung standing and moving postures for an hour first thing everyday at six am. By 7 when I get my kids up and ready for school I have no trouble getting going. If you invest 20 minutes every day you will not believe how much better you feel. If you really want to start ten minutes a day will get you going.
To an extent, I've learned to alter my blood pressure slightly with careful breathing and clearing my mind. Poses may not be necessity, but whatever you feel gets control over yourself.
Exactly! After meditating and studying tai chi for a while your first breath gets you there! A side benefit is that first breath also prepares me to kick some ass! If you learn how to breath your entire body feels better!
 

manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
13,559
8
0
This is pretty interesting. I might put meditation into my daily routine of exercise and gaming.
Try it it will make you a better gamer reaction time wise and help you exercize by getting your chi/energy moving.
Random overly-personal post:

I'm on-again-off-again sober. Not much for wild benders, no legal trouble, ect...I just decide sometimes that maybe it would be best for me to embrace a 'sober' lifestyle. So I go to a few meetings with a lot of freedom and alternative thinking (i.e. not the southern baptist 'JEBUS SAVE ME FROM THE DRUGS AND ALCOHOL' meetings). Lots of talk of meditation. And a few people who genuinely follow Buddhist or other 'eastern' teachings.

Perhaps I should give it more credit, is about all I'm trying to say, I reckon.


Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism are great ways of getting in touch with yourself. I used to spend way too much time worrying and spinning my wheels and defeating myself before I found how to quiet my mind. I discovered / became a lay Taoist because it made so much sense to me while still working within my spiritual beliefs. You can be a christian and a Taoist and a pastafarian if you want noone can judge you better than you can see for yourself.

Find a tai chi study group in your area most are cheap/free and will surprise you by how easy and hard things are at the same time.

I used to take five different anti anxiety medications and now I am down to just a occasional beta blocker for situational stresses. I will NEVER take a SSRI or any of that garbage ever again....


Here is a video of contactless sparring we do call push hands or toisou. My push hands partner and I have done this so often we close our eyes and basically use it as a moving meditation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adJwzXfCufE


Here is a set of moving meditations called the five animal set from the Wudang Toaist tradition. My four year old triplets are learning this and tai chi and Brazilian jui jitsu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Up2Mnq7JSM
 
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