Meditation may physically alter regions of the brain

24 Friday Jan 2020

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Harvard researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital reported that the practice of mindfulness meditation can physically alter regions of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress.kol.jpg

The study, to be published in January 2015, in “Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging” indicates that the brain’s gray matter may change as a result of meditation.

“Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” said Sara Lazar, the study’s senior author. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Researchers measured MR images of participants brains during the eight-week “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction” program, conducted by the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. Participants spent an average of 27 minutes in meditation during the program. The program was delivered through recorded audios and guided meditations.

Compared to measurements on MR scans of a control group who did not participate in the program, the participants’ brains showed an increase in gray-matter density in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the region of the brain associated with learning, introspection, memory and awareness.There also was a decrease in gray-matter density in the amygdala, the region associated with anxiety and stress. However, the Insula, a region of the brain thought to be associated with self-awareness according to earlier research, remained unchanged, and the researchers hypothesize that participants may have to meditate for longer periods of time before any change is noticed in this region.

418234_10151301447999689_275921219_n.jpgIt has been noted that meditation can reduce stress but according to Britta Hölzel, one of the authors, “Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change.”

The researchers believe that these findings of physiological change can pave the wave for a better understanding and treatment of stress-related disorders. The study was supported by the BBC, National Institutes of Health and the Mind and Life Institute.

Creativity is akin to insanity

23 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by in Research, Social Science

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Creativity is akin to insanity, say scientists who have been studying how the mind works. Brain scans reveal striking similarities in the thought pathways of highly creative people and those with schizophrenia. Both groups lack important receptors used to filter and direct thought. It could be this uninhibited 394562_495612957133604_562232499_nprocessing that allows creative people to “think outside the box”, say experts from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.  more here BBC News

 

Relaxation

22 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Health, Meditation, mindfulness, Relaxation, Wellness

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I started engaging in relaxation tools as a teenage in the mid 70’s when I first started practicing Hatha and Raja Yoga. After 38 years I can say with confidence that it works for me. Since 1983 amongst other things I have taught Hatha Yoga,  and relaxation techniques. 
In the past 30 years, there has been considerable interest in the relaxation response and how inducing this state may benefit health. Research has focused primarily on illness and conditions in which stress may play a role either as the cause of the condition or as a factor that can make the condition worse.0854f-feelings-54

Currently, there is some scientific evidence that relaxation techniques may be an effective part of an overall treatment plan for some disorders, including:

  • Anxiety. Studies have suggested that relaxation may assist in the treatment of phobias or panic disorder. Relaxation techniques have also been used to relieve anxiety for people in stressful situations, such as when undergoing a medical procedure.
  • Depression. In 2008, a major review of the evidence for relaxation in the treatment of depression found that relaxation techniques were more effective than no treatment for depression, but not as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy.
  • Headache. There is some evidence that biofeedback and other relaxation techniques may be helpful for relieving tension or migraine headaches. In some cases, these mind and body techniques were more effective than medications for reducing the frequency, intensity, and severity of headaches.
  • Pain. Some studies have shown that relaxation techniques may help reduce abdominal and surgery pain.

Relaxation involves practice and willingness to fully engage in the process of relaxing. Stay tuned for some great relaxing tools.

Mindfulness: Reason Mind, Emotion Mind, and Wise Mind

21 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Meditation, mindfulness

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I have been practicing meditation since the mid-70’s and started a mindfulness meditation practice in the mid-90’s. Mindfulness has to do with the quality of awareness that we bring to what we are doing and experiencing, to being in the here and now.  It has to do with learning to focus on being in the present, to focusing our attention on what we are doing and what is happening in the present. Wherever we go
Many of us are distracted by images, thoughts and feelings of the past, perhaps dissociating, worrying about the future, negative moods and anxieties about the present.   It’s hard to put these thing away and concentrate on the task at hand.
I started teaching mindfulness to patients a few years ago and often used the following as a hand out:
Mindfulness has to do with states of mind. Reason Mind, Emotion Mind, and Wise Mind. Reason Mind is your rational, thinking, logical mind. It plans and evaluates things logically. It is your “cool” part. Reasonable Mind can be very beneficial. It is easier to be in Reasonable Mind when you feel good. It is much harder to be in Reasonable Mind when you don’t feel good.
You Would Use Your Reasonable Mind To:
Build a bridge
Figure out how to double a recipe
Balance your checkbook
Figure out the fastest way from point “A” to point “B”
Emotion Mind describes times when emotions are what influence or control your thinking and behavior. Emotional Mind can also be very beneficial. Emotions are what motivate us to action. Emotions are what keep us attached to others and building relationships.
Emotion Mind can be aggravated by:
Illness, Lack Of Sleep, Tiredness, Drugs, Alcohol, Hungry, Overeating, Poor nutrition and/or lack of exercise, Environmental stress and threats, not taking your meds.
Both Emotion and Reasonable Mind Are Equally Important And Valuable
Reasonable mind gives you a way to solve your problems.
Emotion mind gives you a reason (motivation) to want to solve them.
Wise Mind is the integration of emotional and reasonable mind. Wise mind is that part of each person that can know and experience truth. It is where the person knows something to be true or valid. It is where the person knows something in a centered (balanced) way. It is almost always quiet and calm in this part of the mind.
Everyone Has A Wise Mind!
Some people have simply never experienced it.
No one is in Wise Mind all of the time.
Wise Mind – An Analogy for Wise Mind is like a deep well in the ground. The water is at the bottom of the well. The entire underground is an ocean called Wise Mind. But on the way down, there are often trap doors that stop progress. Sometimes the trap doors are so cleverly built that you actually believe that there is no water at the bottom of the well. The trap door may look like the bottom of the well. Perhaps it is locked and you need a key. Perhaps it is nailed shut and you need a hammer. Perhaps it is glued shut and you need a chisel.

Addicted And Pregnant

20 Monday Jan 2020

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by KARI ANN RINKER.  Article from NPR
I bought my first and only pregnancy test when I was 26.

At the time, I had been doing a lot of meth. I was fortunate if I remembered to eat one meal a day. Refilling my birth-control prescription had become just another missed detail in a life that had ceased to have much meaning for me.pytest

I was an addict, and I was staring at two very bright pink lines on a stick.

I showed the test to my boyfriend. “What are we going to do?” I asked. He replied, “Have a baby, I guess.”

He wanted to see the pregnancy through. I was much less certain about motherhood. How would the pregnancy affect my drug and alcohol use? I don’t recall ever feeling as vulnerable and afraid as I did then. Read more click here.

Top Songs I listened to in 2019: Ritviz

20 Monday Jan 2020

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I have a 16,000 plus digital audio collection and I use Media Monkey to manage my files. One feature of Media Monkey is you can sort your collection based on the number of times played. This playlist is based on the top music and/or music video files I played/listened/streamed from my server in 2019.

Ritviz
21-year old Singer, DJ & Dance Music Producer. His music is bass heavy, and rich in eastern sounds owing to his training as a Hindustani classical musician since the age of 6.

 

Link to Top Songs I Listened Too in 2019

Particle Accelerator used to Peek Inside Fossilized Poop

17 Friday Jan 2020

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Scientists study every inch of an animal—from the tip of their nose right down to their, well, poop. And the same goes for ancient creatures. But until now, only a limited amount could be learned from from studying fossilized feces, also known as coprolites. As Ryan F. Mandlebaum reports for Gizmodo, scientists recently turned to a synchrotron particle-accelerator for help discerning every morsel of data locked inside the prehistoric poop.

Their study, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, documents a new method to examine the treasures hidden within the coprolite without destroying the samples. These ancient turds are actually troves of information. Due to their phosphate-rich chemistry, poop can actually preserve many delicate specimens, such as muscle, soft tissue, hair and parasites. READ MORE HERE

Fossil Poop

Los Desaparecidos The Disappeared

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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Los Desaparecidos   The Disappeared

“To disappear” was newly defined during the twentieth century military dictatorships in Latin America. “Disappear” evolved into a transitive verb describing those considered threats to the State who were kidnapped, tortured, and killed by their own military,especially in the 1970s in Argentina, thedisappearedBrazil, Chile, and Uruguay.

The Disappeared brings together the work of twenty-seven living artists from South America who, over the course of the last thirty years, have made art about los desaparecidos or the disappeared.

Clients find healing, self-expression through restorative art program

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in emotions, Self expression, Wellness

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Hung on the walls of the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, you can see — and even purchase — Jim Lucas’ saving grace.
The formerly homeless Fort Collins man is a recovering addict who has been clean for four years after a 15-year struggle with meth, his “drug of choice.” He hasn’t had a drink in 11 years. He found his way off the streets around the same time he became clean. 99863-12294804_1654036424877096_324062485663564059_n
“Funny how that works out,” he said.
The struggle to go back to methamphetamine and substance abuse is always there, but Lucas, 53, has the best sober companion he could ask for: art. He’s one of around 15 artists participating in ArtSpe@k, a restorative art program at the Murphy Center in partnership with Front Range Community College’s community studio that encourages Murphy Center guests to tap into their creative side. For more click.

 

Integration & Mindfulness

13 Monday Jan 2020

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Mindful awareness can be considered as a way of being, more than something that involves our “doing” something. Engage a certain “state of mind” that has the range of qualities we have heard repeatedly even though there is no fixed and final definition of mindfulness: How we pay attention (different from awareness), on purpose (but it doesn’t have to be done with active effort, it can in fact be an intention that happens “automatically” as a habit of being, not a consciously thought out plan of carrying out a way of focusing attention) to the unfolding of present moment experience (but, in fact, we can pay attention to memories of the past or plans for the future—but do so…) with a sense alertness, attention to detail, and with kindness and compassion. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE @ PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

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