Which mind/body method is best

[Andrew]

I know there is no research on this, but if I wanted to try one of these mind/body methods, which one seems to get the best results. IOW, which one should I try first.

 

[rainbow11]

Andrew,

Do you meditate? If not, I would start there.... learn some simple meditation techniques..... then after a bit, you might consider the mind/body/heart connection in regards to healing. Being able to breathe more mindfully can be very healing for the body, mind and soul.

One can accomplish quite a bit... and it can be very advantageous for the body. Learning your chakra system... learning how to illuminate your chakras can help all your body systems.... spinning vortexes of energy, those chakras. Quite often, the energy is stagnant there....

rainbow

 

[CJB]

Here's a link to a free on-line meditation class.

 

[jewel]

Thank you for this, CJB!

 

[Wayne]

EFT Story

I know there is no research on this, but if I wanted to try one of these mind/body methods, which one seems to get the best results. IOW, which one should I try first.

Hi Andrew,

You may want to check out this recent thread I started entitled, "Story -- EFT for Sensory Overload and More".

Good luck finding something that suits you really well.

Wayne

 

[MEKoan]

Hi Andrew,

I find meditation tremendously helpful and feel quite sure that my health would be, as it was, much more precarious without it. I practice simple Vipassana meditation, primarily.

I think this video is very good.

[video=youtube;WNmxxbqJMxI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNmxxbqJMxI[/video]

I like that she is actually meditating as she describes it. There are almost imperceptible little wobbles and moments where one can tell that she must summon her voice from the meditative state in order to speak - very familiar to what I experience.

It is not necessary to sit any particular way nor is it necessary to suffer nor is the purpose, necessarily, to achieve any exalted state of consciousness. Vipassana means simply to see things as they really are.

The only thing I would add to what she describes is that the way to calm down the usually frantic mind one brings to the exercise is to attend to the breath. She mentions this near the end as a way to regain a peaceful centre when you lose it but, of course, most of us don't arrive at the meditation experience with a peaceful centre to lose!

So, I begin by paying attention to the breath as a way to settle down and I return my attention to the breath every time I get caught up in my thoughts. The rest is just as she describes 'cept I don't sit like that which is fine actually :innocent1:

 

[Jody]

Andrew,

You familiar at all with psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)?

 

[Andrew]

Andrew,

You familiar at all with psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)?

No, but I looked it up on the Internet. I'm still trying to absorb this.

Anyway, my caregiver got me a book that I'm trying to read. What about the methods that everyone is talking about in other threads, like EFT, Lightning, etc.?

 

[MEKoan]

Hey Andrew,

Sorry to go on :innocent1: but Mindfulness and Vipassana meditation techniques do, actually, achieve a very similar purpose to things like LP in that they teach you how to simply observe your thoughts, with curiosity, without getting caught up in them and running off in all directions.

So, if the thought is, "I'll never get better!", these techniques allow you to recognize what you are thinking, let go of the limiting and negative thought, and make room for the reality of the present moment in which you may well be feeling not too bad.

In this way, you can free yourself from unnecessarily limiting, stressful or guilty thoughts, and fully engage with life in a way which is appropriate to your present level of ability. I think this accomplishes all that LP purports to do and, frankly, more.

Ok, I'll shut up now.

 

[oerganix]

Hey Andrew,

Sorry to go on :innocent1: but Mindfulness and Vipassana meditation techniques do, actually, achieve a very similar purpose to things like LP in that they teach you how to simply observe your thoughts, with curiosity, without getting caught up in them and running off in all directions.

So, if the thought is, "I'll never get better!", these techniques allow you to recognize what you are thinking, let go of the limiting and negative thought, and make room for the reality of the present moment in which you may well be feeling not too bad.

In this way, you can free yourself from unnecessarily limiting, stressful or guilty thoughts, and fully engage with life in a way which is appropriate to your present level of ability. I think this accomplishes all that LP purports to do and, frankly, more.

Ok, I'll shut up now.

I agree with Koan. Those other techniques are mostly spin offs from meditation, usually so the spinner can make money off people. I am a Taoist meditator, similar to Koan's practice. The thing with any technique is to keep practicing, keep practicing, keep practicing. After having meditated for decades, my body and mind go directly to a different state of being immediately upon commencing my practice. I can even do it in public, to a degree, eyes open and looking 'normal'. It's like wearing a litte groove, or train track, in your mind. It gets easier to stay on track the longer you do it. I have file on how to meditate that I can send you if you want to PM me. It's just one way. The way is not so important as the doing....it's the process that is so good for you, and like dancing, it may feel clumsy at first but just doing it, you get better at it, until it comes 'naturally'.

 

[Jody]

No, but I looked it up on the Internet. I'm still trying to absorb this.

Anyway, my caregiver got me a book that I'm trying to read. What about the methods that everyone is talking about in other threads, like EFT, Lightning, etc.?

PNI can sound very complicated but it doesn't have to be. Here's a link to an article I wrote about it last year, in case it helps to simplify it -- Psychoneuroimmunology -- Help From Within

Was the book from your caregiver on PNI?

I know someone who has had amazing results using EFT. She calls it the ghetto version because she picked up her practice of it after reading a bit on the net and working out her own version. She says she'll do it for a bit after big stressors, physical or emotional or mental, and while she'll feel a type of detoxing for a few hours or maybe a day afterward, she invariably feels much better after. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

I have done a bit of EFT. Couldn't do the verbal affirmations and tap at the same time:Retro redface: so I'd just tap the different areas. It made a difference in ... feeling calmer in the face of a stressful situation for instance. I was hit or miss with it for awhile so really, I've only dabbled a bit. But I have heard encouraging things from people I know.

 

[Sunday]

If you're interested in psychoneuroimmunology, I'd get a book or tape book (I got it at my library) by Joan Borysenko, one of the pioneering researchers in the field. She's intelligent, she has heart, and she writes well, not something you can say of a lot of doctors. The Power of the Mind to Heal is an excellent intro book. PNI is a kind of new umbrella term for a lot of old things gathered together - meditation is one of the main things JB recommends also. And as other writers have said, meditation comes in a lot of forms. The main thing is to find one that's comfortable and works for you - this may be more or less formal. I spent a lot of time trying to learn formal meditation until it clicked: oh, this is what happens when I lie down under a tree or look through a window or space out reading a book - the world opens. It's not necessarily fun, new, or exciting, but it can create change nonetheless.

I've used EFT and I'd say that it's effective in any form. Music - especially making it, but also listening to it, especially live - can change your brainwaves and alter your cells. So can poetry and visual art - that's essentially what the arts are for, changing your state. Time in nature can do this too.

In my book it's a good idea to have at least a few mind/body skills. Like meals, you may not want the same one all the time, no matter how nourishing. Sample from a buffet and see what works best for you; then pursue more of that.

 

[dannybex]

I know someone who has had amazing results using EFT. She calls it the ghetto version because she picked up her practice of it after reading a bit on the net and working out her own version. She says she'll do it for a bit after big stressors, physical or emotional or mental, and while she'll feel a type of detoxing for a few hours or maybe a day afterward, she invariably feels much better after. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

I have done a bit of EFT. Couldn't do the verbal affirmations and tap at the same time:Retro redface: so I'd just tap the different areas. It made a difference in ... feeling calmer in the face of a stressful situation for instance. I was hit or miss with it for awhile so really, I've only dabbled a bit. But I have heard encouraging things from people I know.

I too have had some surprisingly decent results with EFT lately, but I think the techniques and/or teacher are very critical. The person I saw last summer said it's very important to get as specific as possible about issues that bring up strong emotions, whether in the past or present. Get really specific. And tapping on that specific issue or incident may end up bringing up something else that you weren't even aware of. I've had major issues with a family member who shall remain anonymous, that truly affected my health, and was able to bring that down from a 9 (out of 10) to a 4, then a 2...within probably 10 minutes.

I know it all sounds silly, sound super woo-woo -- but you can find it all for free, so you don't have to buy anything. It does help I think to have at least one session with someone, but you may not need it, so I would start just by googling and seeing what you can learn from there.

And one more thing I should mention. I first heard about EFT in 2003. The clinic I was going to suggested it, so I said okay, what the hell. I think it was pretty new at the time. Anyway, the practitioner I saw was just waaaaaaaay too "happy"...or maybe I was way too angry?...but I didn't get anything from the session except more angry. It left me with a very poor impression of the whole thing. Bad enough that I didn't reconsider it until seven years later. So...I guess I'm just saying I'm as skeptical as anyone, but now, after reading more about it, and having a session last summer -- I'm seeing some surprising results -- that are hard to explain. My problem is I don't do it often enough...and also don't meditate often enough either.

Okay, I'll shut up.

 

[dannybex]

Study: Meditation and Immune Function

I probably posted this elsewhere but there are so many threads on these forums I might as well post it here too:

Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation.

Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, Rosenkranz M, Muller D, Santorelli SF, Urbanowski F, Harrington A, Bonus K, Sheridan JF. Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. rjdavids@facstaff.wisc.edu

OBJECTIVE: The underlying changes in biological processes that are associated with reported changes in mental and physical health in response to meditation have not been systematically explored. We performed a randomized, controlled study on the effects on brain and immune function of a well-known and widely used 8-week clinical training program in mindfulness meditation applied in a work environment with healthy employees.

METHODS: We measured brain electrical activity before and immediately after, and then 4 months after an 8-week training program in mindfulness meditation. Twenty-five subjects were tested in the meditation group. A wait-list control group (N = 16) was tested at the same points in time as the meditators. At the end of the 8-week period, subjects in both groups were vaccinated with influenza vaccine.

RESULTS: We report for the first time significant increases in left-sided anterior activation, a pattern previously associated with positive affect, in the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. We also found significant increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation compared with those in the wait-list control group. Finally, the magnitude of increase in left-sided activation predicted the magnitude of antibody titer rise to the vaccine.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function. These findings suggest that meditation may change brain and immune function in positive ways and underscore the need for additional research.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12883106?dopt=Abstract

 

[Wayne]

Okay, I'll shut up.

Hey Dan,

Is it possible you've been reading too many Koan posts?

 

[gracenote]

Hey Dan,

Is it possible you've been reading too many Koan posts?

It's impossible to ever read too many Koan posts. Impossible.

Peace out.

 

[Wayne]

Koan Posts

It's impossible to ever read too many Koan posts. Impossible.

Peace out.

Absolutely agree Gracenote. BTW, now that Koan has a new computer, shouldn't she be posting about a 100 times a day? :Retro wink:

Peace out... (and no, I've not been reading too many Koan posts. :Retro smile

 

[Andrew]

Was the book from your caregiver on PNI?

No, he gave me a book called Transform Your Life. He gave it to me because he's a Buddhist and I had asked him about Buddhism. He checked with others at the temple, and most said this book would be good to start. He told me to read the book slowly and reflect on what I read. But this book is not specifically for healing. It is about Buddhist practice.

I know someone who has had amazing results using EFT. She calls it the ghetto version because she picked up her practice of it after reading a bit on the net and working out her own version. She says she'll do it for a bit after big stressors, physical or emotional or mental, and while she'll feel a type of detoxing for a few hours or maybe a day afterward, she invariably feels much better after. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

There is actually an EFT DVD in my online queue at Blockbuster. Either they don't have many or it's in big demand. I've been waiting a long time. So I will see this eventually.

 

[MEKoan]

You know I'm madly in love with all of you, don't you?

I am!

Seriously!

 

[Lesley]

For anyone who finds all of these techniques a little overwhelming, I have a story to share. When she was about 10, my daughter started having daily headaches and difficulty falling asleep. I found a CD of relaxation exercises for kids, and we started doing them together before bed. The one we chose was a 15 minute progressive relaxation and visualization exercise.

I was also having multiple migraines each week, and medication was only a little bit helpful. After a while, I realized that when I had the first hint of a headache, I would feel my body relax, and often the headache went away.

I really think the key was that we did it every single day. I had a similar CD for adults that was 45 minutes, but I had trouble setting aside that much quiet time, and when I did I usually fell asleep.

I would recommend starting with something that you think you can commit to doing everyday. After that, you can continue to explore other techniques.