Author: Ralph

life. coffee. stories.

Types of Meditation

RalphLeave a comment

You may have heard about the benefits of meditation. But what exactly is a meditation and where does it come from? In this post, we will explore types of meditation and their roots.

  1. Meditation Type – Format
  2. Meditation Type – How To
  3. Meditation Type – Origin
  4. Summary

Meditation Type – Format

There are two large types of meditation: guided vs. unguided meditations. It is recommended that beginners try guided meditation with an experienced teacher that can be trusted. Meditation can be done 1:1 or in a group.

  • Guided meditation: a teacher guides you through the basic steps of the practice
  • Unguided meditation: meditate alone, without someone else explaining the process, paying attention to the body and thoughts for a set period.

Meditation Type – How To

For non-religious purpose, there are common meditation techniques you can use.

  • Focused breathing:
    1. Close your eyes and keep your spine straight
    2. Notice the inhalation and exhalation of your breath
    3. Pay attention to the end of each breath
    4. Count 1 to 10, inhaling at odd numbers, exhaling at even numbers
    5. If your mind wanders com back to observing breath
  • Box breathing: helps with mind and body relaxation in stressful times
    1. inhale for 4 seconds
    2. hold breath for 4 seconds
    3. exhale for 4 seconds
    4. hold breath for 4 seconds
    5. repeat 12-15 times
  • Body scan: helps with syncing mind and body by performing a mental scan from top of the head to the end of the toes. Bringing attention to any sensations, tensions, aches, or discomforts as they are.
  • Noting: during breathing technique or visualization technique, you can “note” your distraction. Labeling the distraction as a thought or emotion can help restore awareness, and helps you letting go of distractions.
  • Visualization: this technique can help you maintain a certain type of emotion such as warmth and kindness. An example involves mentally visualizing a bright warm light at a certain body point and spreading the feeling throughout the body.
  • Loving kindness: is used to strengthen feeling of kidness, compassion, and acceptance. Kindness is wishing good things to happen to the person. It starts first with self and the spreading the loving kindness to others. It involves visualizing a person and mentally visualizing a warm and good emotion.
  • Compassion: similar to kindness, compassion is hoping bad things will not happen to the person. It involves focosing on the person and paying attention to the sesations that arises.
  • Reflection: this technique involves asking questions using the second person perspective such as “what are you most grateful for?” and reflecting on the question while paying attention to the feelings that arise in response to the question.

Meditation Type – Origin

Although most people will recognize what meditation involves – closing eyes and sitting still – there is no concrete definition of what “meditation” is. There is an ongoing debate within the scientific community on the definition of meditation. The roots of meditative practices can be traced back to religious origins.

  • Buddhist traditional meditations: Buddhists have diverse meditative practices varying by each school for their goal of awakening and nirvana. Their main practices focused on body contemplations and mindful breathing. Some of the main/popular Buddhist school of meditation are as following:
    • Theravāda tradition: focuses on Vipassana and Samantha techniques (later explained)
    • Tibetan tradition: focuses on visualization techniques
    • Sarvastivada-tradition: turns the attention away from the objects of experience to the nature of mind. Zen-tradition meditation draws from Sarvastivada-tradition meditation.
  • Secular meditation practices often use the following two types of Buddhist meditation (Theravāda tradition):
    • Vipassana (insightful) meditation: this type of meditation aims to develop wisdom and compassion. It involves focusing on the breath and awareness of all the physical and mental sensations that arise.
    • Samantha (calming) meditation: this type of meditation aims to create a quieter and more peaceful state of mind. Calming meditation involves focusing on the breath, a mantra, a visualization, a physical object, or a sensation in the body and returning to this sensation when the mind starts to wander.
  • Hinduism traditional meditation: Hinduism meditation also has many schools. Studies on various types of yoga meditation such as Ananda Marga yoga, Tantric yoga, and Kundalini yoga have been shown physiological effects on relaxations. Chakra meditation, which focuses on seven points of center of energy, also draws from hinduism and Buddhism tradition.
  • Tao traditional meditation: includes qiqong meditation, a Chinese meditation that involves harnessing energy in the body to either send the energy inward for self healing or outward to help heal another person.
  • Christian (Contemplative Prayer): One of the Christian prayers includes Roman Catholic church’s rosary prayer.
  • Judaism (kabbalistic practice): kabbalah is a range of Jewish mystical activity to gain a deeper religious understanding
  • Islam (Sufi dhikr) traditional meditation: dhikr is incorporated as a formal technique that also seeks to gain a focused attention for deeper religious undertsanding.
  • Transcendental meditation: was founded by Maharishi Mahesh in 1950s. It is taught one-on-one by instructors trained and licensed by Maharishi foundation. It involves twice a day 20 minute meditation.

Summary

We explored the traditional roots and types of meditations. While this is not an exhaustive list of meditation descriptions, we hope that this post has helped understand and explore where meditation practices come from, and which meditation type to choose for your needs! We also encourage double-checking our sources!

Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physicia

Sandbox

RalphLeave a comment

I had doubted before,
but now I am starting to believe
in imagination.
a world that appeared
like a giant wall of mountains,
I flew over it over an afternoon nap.
from an ice-cold fjord
to a vast dry desert,
from a leisurely relaxed sunset view
to a shadowed corner in concrete jungle,
from ever-lasting solitude
to transcendental meeting of a soulmate,
all were possible.
so let me give it a try again.
and believe in imagination.

5.27.2023

Shyness: What We Can Do About It

RalphLeave a comment

Socialization plays an important role in maintaining physical health as well as mental health. However, socialization can be challenging for some people who have particular difficulty with meeting new people. In this post, we will discuss what shyness is, what we can do to overcome shyness, and what are benefits to overcoming shyness.

  1. What Is Shyness?
  2. Where Does Shyness Come From?
  3. What Can We Do About Shyness?
  4. Summary

What Is Shyness?

Shyness is defined as a predisposition to be concerned about others’ social evaluation. This predisposition leads to being sensitive to rejection, avoiding any potential for criticism, and keeping a low profile from initiating actions that may call attention to themselves.

Shyness differs from social anxiety disorder and social anxiety by the intensity of stress one gets in a social situation. Social anxiety disorder is a mental health condition involving persistent fear of rejection and criticism from others in its most intense form. Social anxiety has less to the extent intensity but more than regular shyness.

Where Does Shyness Come From?

While some shy individuals may attribute their shyness to their natural predisposition, it may stem from a social environment. For example, living in a strict environment for orderliness and enforcing vertical relationships may lead to shaming those who do not follow conventional mannerisms, make mistakes, or defy orders from superiors. Or, an individual simply may not have had the opportunity to learn social skills because of their busy academic or career life.

Whether shyness comes from an innate tendency or is learned from the environment is unclear. Jerome Kagan, a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, found that the tendency for shyness is an inherited biological trait that can be detected in infants at 4 months of age. Some argue both genetic inheritance and learning from the environment play partial roles.

Carl Jung, a founding figure of analytical psychology, is attributed to defining introversion and extroversion, characteristics incorporated in a widely popular metric called Myers-Briggs Type Indicator created by Isabel Briggs Myers. The description of introversion and extroversion has helped create a perception that both are healthy variations of personality styles.

What Can We Do About Shyness?

Even though being shy is nothing to be shy about, you may be interested in overcoming shyness. There are a few easy steps that you can take to face your shyness.

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy. A study on group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBGT) has shown short-to-medium-term efficacy for social anxiety disorder (SAD), anxiety, and depression. A study on internet-based CBT programs to address shyness program has shown to be cost-effective.
  • Reduce alcohol intake. Some individuals may try to mask their shyness with the help of alcohol intoxication. However, a study has shown that individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUD) have a higher tendency to be shy during hangovers, which may lead to more alcohol use.
  • Reduce adolescent caffeine consumption. A study has shown that caffeine consumption during adolescence increases the expression of mRNA in the amygdala, which may increase the likelihood of anxiety-related disorders through dysregulation of the neuroendocrine stress response system.
  • Try a healthy diet. According to a systematic review study, there are benefits to taking probiotics for anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and memory disorders.

Summary

While it is okay to be shy, there are multiple ways that you can overcome your shyness. It takes an incremental effort to change, but little by bit, you can explore more social relationships and have higher self-confidence in interpersonal relationships by taking these measures.

This post was inspired by Health Life Guru and Health Tips Now. Please check them out!

Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physician.

Meditation: Can We Protect Our Mind?

RalphLeave a comment

Meditation has become a very popular way to de-stress in recent years. With readily available apps, you can start exploring meditation too. This post will outline the effects of meditation.

  1. Meditation: the Popularization
  2. Effects of Meditation
  3. Meditation: Health Benefit
  4. Summary

Meditation: the Popularization

Meditation has drawn popular interest from academics such as Herbert Benson and Jon Kabat-Zinn starting in the 1960s and 1970s. The Relaxation Response, a book written by Herbert Benson in 1975, helped popularize Transcendental Meditation, a technique developed by Maharishi Mahesh in the 1950s. Jon Kabat-Zinn created a standardized 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course in the 1970s at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Effects of Meditation

meditation’s effect on mood and sleep

One of the known benefits of meditation is its calming effects of reducing anxiety. A neuroimaging study in 2012 using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) by Gaëlle Desbordes, a neuroscientist at Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) showed changes in the amygdala, a brain region that regulates emotion, among those who practiced for 2 months of meditation. Another study in 2012 by Sara Lazar using fMRI at MGH showed thickening of the brain after an 8-week meditation course.

Another benefit of meditation is its protective effects on heart health. A study conducted by Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at MGH and affiliate medical centers indicates that people who meditated over an 8-week period had changes in genes that regulate inflammation, glucose metabolism, and blood pressure (however, there are weaknesses to how the study was conducted).

meditation’s cost-effectiveness

Meditation: Health Benefit

A treatment that incorporates meditation practice called Multicomponent Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) can help adults who have chronic insomnia. Both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians recommended CBT-I. It involves 6-8 sessions during which cognitive, behavioral, and psychoeducational interventions are conducted to help adjust thoughts and behaviors about sleeping. Meditation is conducted to reduce stress, anxiety, and increased relaxation with focused attention.

Summary

Since its popularization in the 1960s and 1970s, meditation has been embraced by many for helping to reduce stress. While there are ongoing studies on its health effects, some studies appear to show benefits. We explored the effects of meditation in this post. Our future posts may explore more about other aspects of meditation. Thank you for reading our post!

This post was inspired by Health Life Guru and Health Tips Now. Please check

Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physician.

How to Improve Cognitive Level

RalphLeave a comment

While many people resign to the fact that cognitive function level declines with age, there are small changes in daily life we can do to reduce its effect. These lifestyle changes will not only improve your cognitive function level but also reduce the likelihood of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This post will pinpoint small changes we can embrace to improve our cognitive level.

  1. Why Do We Forget As We Age?
  2. What Is The Difference Between Normal Aging And Neurodegenerative Disease?
  3. What Is My Chance Of Dementia?
  4. What Can I Do To Improve My Cognition?
  5. Summary

Why Do We Forget As We Age?

Anyone who has looked for where they had put their keys will be familiar with how easily we can forget things. Older people tend to experience this forgetfulness much more frequently. So why do we forget as we age?

We forget with the reduction of neurons, a major type of brain cells. Although we form millions of neurons in the early years of life, it is said that we start to lose them in our 30s and 40s. A reason why the number of neurons decreases as we age could be because of reduced blood flow to the brain. This may lead to changes in chemicals in the brain, such as reduced epinephrine or blood glucose. Shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region that plays an important role in learning and memory, may lead to forgetfulness.

What Is The Difference Between Normal Aging And Neurodegenerative Disease?

Once we start noticing forgetfulness, we may begin to have this worrying thought: “What if I have dementia?”

Memory loss of normal aging involves infrequent forgetfulness. Perhaps once in a while, you will forget about a meeting, a bill payment, or a person’s name. But severe memory loss that makes it difficult to do everyday things like driving, being confused with time, people, and places, or finding your way home, might be a good indication for you to start planning a visit to your doctor.

If you suspect yourself of having a neurodegenerative disease, talk to your doctor. If you are aged over 65 years old and had Medicare Part B for longer than 12 months, you may be eligible for an Annual Wellness Visit to develop a free personalized plan to help prevent dementia. Your doctor may be able to assess your cognitive level with questionnaires like Mini-Mental State Examination.

Such memory-related questionnaires can help differentiate between different stages of dementia. Mild Cognitive Impairment is the stage between the expected decline in memory due to normal aging and the more serious decline due onset of dementia.

What Is My Chance Of Dementia?

Measuring the prevalence of dementia is difficult to measure, especially since the early onset of cognitive impairment is difficult to differentiate from memory loss from normal aging.

With increasing age, the chance of having dementia increases. In 2019, approximately 2% of those aged 70-75 years old had dementia, while 27.7% of individuals aged more than 90 years old had dementia.

There are conditions and activities that may lead to a higher chance of memory loss and neurodegenerative diseases. Excessive drinking of alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and having depression may lead to memory loss. Having chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol level, and depression may lead to an increased likelihood of dementia. Even hearing impairment could increase the likelihood of cognitive impairment.

What Can I Do To Improve My Cognition?

  • Getting enough daily sleep (7-8 hours) is recommended to improve your cognitive function level.
  • A healthy diet, such as eating fruits that have a lot of antioxidants and omega-3-rich foods such as fatty fish and walnuts can improve brain health.
  • Regular aerobic physical exercises, such as tai chi and walking, for 150 minutes each week is recommended.
  • Social engaging activities, such as volunteering or hobbies, that make you happy interacting with others can have protective effects by improving memory and self-esteem.
  • Journaling and creative writing have been shown to improve the quality of life and well-being of older adults.
  • Relaxation techniques, such as meditation or yoga, can help you reduce stress levels, blood pressure levels, and muscle tension, which can help improve your memory function.

Summary

There’s no worry if you are experiencing memory loss. If it is infrequent, it may be a temporary event. However, if you would like to proactively increase your cognitive level and also prevent the later chances of having neurodegenerative disease, consider taking the lifestyle change actions recommended above. With small incremental efforts each day, you can find tremendous improvement in your quality of life.

This post was inspired by Health Life Guru and Health Tips Now. Please feel free to pay a visit to them!

Disclaimer: This web post is for information purposes. If you have medical needs, please contact your primary care physician