Results:
• Reduced psychological symptoms and better quality of life
• Reduced risk of new depressive episode if having more than three previously diagnosed depression
• Reduced pain
• Faster healing process (patients with psoriasis)
• Improved quality of sleep
• Decreased respiratory rate
• Decreased levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine
• Increased well-being (shown for the healthy persons)
• Increased antibody formation in the immune system (shown for the healthy persons)
• Increased activity in the brain’s left frontal lobe (shown for the healthy persons)
• Increased thickness of the cortex of the brain’s left frontal lobe (shown for the healthy persons)
Every time we get angry we become better at being angry, and it reinforces the habit to be angry. When it’s really bad, we say that we see red, which means that we do not see what actually happens. At that moment, you can actually say that you “lose” your mind. Every time we are self-centered we become better at being self-centered and empty minded. Every time we become fearful, we become better at fear, practice makes you learn.
There are dozens of different techniques for stress reduction but that mindfulness actually works has been proven
by different researchers. Mindfulness is based on Zen Buddhist meditation. The word “Zen” means precisely to be. Zen is not just to sit down and meditate, but Zen is a way of life, a way of being. The actual sitting meditation in Zen is called zazen. The idea of Zen is to eventually get rid of prejudices and the likes and instead take everything as it is and just be alert, observe with acceptance and letting go. Mindfulness is the Western equivalent of Zen.
The following are quotes from Läkartidningen 2006, volume 103
What happens in mindfulness? And how different this type of
meditation is from other meditations, such as transcendental meditation (TM) which had resurgence in the West during the 1970 – and 1980.
The authors attempted to define mindfulness like describing
a state of deliberate, non-evaluative attention
on the present. It is this special attention that is perceived
as healing. Rather than go with the example of pain sensations,
anxiety and catastrophic thinking, you learn to relate
as a benevolent but unbiased observer of your own mental
activity. The different meditation techniques all seek to achieve
this special, focused but relaxed attention.
It may seem simple, but it is not.
No, it’s not easy but you can learn the technique if you really want.
After you have been practicing for few days, try adding one more step to your exhalation. for example, if your normal breathing is 2-2, without walking any faster, lenghten your exhalation and practice 2-3 fo four or five times. Then go back to 2-2. In normal breathing ´, we never expelall the air from our lungs. There is always some left. By adding another step to your exhalation, you will push out more of this stale of air. Don´t overdoit. Four or five times are enough. More can make you tired. After breathing this way four or five times, let your breath return to normal. Then, five or ten minutes later, you can repeat the process. Remember to add a step to the exhalation, not the inhalation.
When we practice walking meditation, we arrive in each moment. Our true home is in the present moment. When we enter the present moment deeply, our regrets and sorrows disappear, and we discover life with all its wonders. Breathing in, we say ourselves, “I have arrived.” Breathing out, we say, “I am home”. “When we do this, we overcome dispersion and dwell peacefully in the present moment, which is the only moment for us to be alive.
We who have two legs can easily practice walking meditation. We must not forget to be grateful. We walk for ourselves, and we walk for those who cannot walk. We walk for all living beings – past, present and future.
En liknelse från Indien: folk i Indien fånga apor på följande sätt: de skär hål i en kokosnöt, ett så stort att apan kan få in sin hand där. Sedan hängs en banan i ett snöre inne i hålet och både kokosnöten och bananen fästs i ett träd. När apan vill ha bananen sticker den sin hand i kokosnöten och tar tag i bananen. Hålet är lagom stort att sticka in handen men inte att få ut den knuten kring en banan. Allt apan behöver göra är att släppa taget om bananande för att bli fri igen. Men de flesta apor gör inte det.
På samma sätt fungerar vi själva kring vardagliga händelser trots att vi har vår stora intelligens. Vi måste alltså öva att släppa taget och inte hänga kvar. Vi vill gärna behålla våra behagliga tankar och vilja tänka på dem igen och igen. Vissa tankar vill vi inte ha kvar men just därför ockuperar de vårt sinne. Intentionen i meditationen är att observera detta och inte försöka skjuta undan och inte heller hålla kvar. Man ska bara observera vad som händer från stund till stund och låta bli att reagera på det. Detta må gälla även vår förflutna och framtid men dem ska vi också bara observera och släppa taget.
Egentligen kan vi alla detta automatiskt: varje natt du somnar släpper du taget om sinnet och somnar in. De tankar som visar sig då som drömmar är naturligtvis också tankar men de styr du inte. Kan vi falla i sömn kan vi falla i vakenhet. Meditation betyder att släppa taget av medvetandet i vaket tillstånd.
