Newsletter – June 2016
/in Newsletter /by admin
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Newsletter – May 2016
/in Newsletter /by admin| Mindfulness Therapy Effective in Dealing with Recurrent Depression: Study
Source: Mainnewsonline.com Writer: Tanya Campbell Date: 30 Apr 2016
Researchers have reported that mindfulness therapy could help decrease the risk of repeated bouts of depression. Depression isn’t easy to deal with but with mindfulness therapy, the research team has noticed better control among individuals. Mindfulness therapy also offers long term benefits for individuals in controlling their mind and deal with negative thoughts which could eventually lead to depression. A team headed by Willem Kuyken, of the University of Oxford in England, conducted a new study wherein they examined the results of nine published studies. The research involved around 1,300 patients with depression history. The researchers compared the efficiency of mindfulness therapy against usual depression care and other existing treatments, which includes antidepressants. The team reported that they found that post 60 weeks of follow-up, the participants who had have undergone mindfulness therapy had lesser chances of experiencing a relapse of depression as compared to the ones who received normal care, and possessed nearly same risk for the ones who received other active treatments. According to the study authors, mindfulness therapy could provide more benefits as compared to other treatments for patients suffering from severe depression. The study has appeared online in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on April 27. An expert not linked to the study described the mindfulness approach. Dr. Ami Baxi, a psychiatrist who directs adult inpatient services at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City said that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) improves awareness of thoughts and emotions that an individual has experienced and allows development of skills to deal with them in a better way. In an accompanying editorial, Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison informed that mindfulness practices were in initially created as therapeutic treatments, and have originally emerged in thoughtful traditions to cultivate well-being and virtue. As per Davidson, “The questions of whether and how they might be helpful in alleviating symptoms of depression and other related psychopathologies are quite new, and the evidence base is in its embryonic stage”. A report published in Healio revealed, “As an update to a previous meta-analysis assessing efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of depressive relapse in recurrent depression, researchers identified four additional trials suitable for inclusion, yielding 10 studies for qualitative analysis. Study participants (n = 1,258) had a mean age of 47.1 years, and 75% were female.” Participants who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy had lower risk for depressive relapse within a 60-week follow-up period, compared with those who did not receive mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (HR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.58-0.82). “Inspired in part by Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness involves training the brain to deal with negative emotions using techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises and yoga,” according to a news report published by Independent. But the new study – the largest-ever analysis of research on the subject – found mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) helped people just as much as commonly prescribed anti-depressant drugs and that there was no evidence of any harmful effects. According to a report in Livescience by Sara G. Miller, “In the analysis, the researchers looked at nine studies that included a total of about 1,300 people. After 60 weeks, the researchers looked at whether or not the participants experienced a relapse in their depression symptoms. They found that, compared with people receiving other types of treatment for depression, those who received MBCT were less likely to experience a relapse of symptoms. In addition, the effects were similar among people of different age groups, educational levels, marital status and sex, according to the study.” The new meta-analysis “provides strong evidence that MBCT is effective in reducing risk of depressive relapse and is particularly effective for patients with higher levels of depressive severity before treatment,” said Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in an editorial that was published alongside the study in the journal. |
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| Vihara News
Meeting at the Vihara on Saturday May 14th at 6:00 p.m. The Vihara will hold a meeting at its premises on May 14, Saturday, at 6:00 p.m. The purpose of this meeting is to: 1. Plan the organization of the Vesak ceremony (which is on May 28 & 29) 2. Discuss the future programs for the progress of the Vihara and community. The meeting will end strictly at 7:30 p.m.. Refreshments will be served afterwards. You are cordially invited to attend!
Vesak on May 28th & 29th Vesak ceremony at the Vihara will be held on May 28th & 29th (Saturday & Sunday). On 28th, the program will begin with a Bodi Puja at 6:00 p.m. followed by Buddhist devotional hymns sung by the students of children’s Dhamma classes. On Sunday 29th, the program will begin at 6:00 a.m. with the observance of the Eight Precepts. There will be a Dhamma talk for Sila observers in Sinhala at 10:00 a.m. After Buddha Puja, Dana, and lunch for the attendees, a Dhamma talk will be given in English for all the participants. The Vihara has invited several Bhikkhus from distant temples to participate and conduct some services. You will also receive the invitation card by mail during mid-May. |
Newsletter – April 2016
/in Newsletter /by admin| Mindfulness Vs Meditation: The Difference between These Two Pathways to Well-Being and Peace of Mind
Mar 10, 2016 By Lecia Bushak Both meditation and mindfulness are rooted in ancient Buddhism, but meditation is the larger term that encompasses mindfulness amid other techniques. Pixabay, public domain The terms “meditation” and “mindfulness” are tossed around quite a bit these days, highlighted in studies touting their health benefits, or yoga studios declaring new ways for you to find inner peace in your busy life. The terms are often used interchangeably, and sometimes, in their simplified forms, refer to the same general thing — the idea of calming your frenzied mind. The differences between mindfulness and meditation have been debated and interpreted in thousands of ways, and the debate likely will continue. They’re two sides of the same coin — they complement each other, and they very often overlap. At the same time, each has its own specific definition and purpose. Much like yoga, the history of meditation and mindfulness is ancient and spiritual, originating in religion. Meditation predates even ancient times, having its origins in prehistoric religions that involved rhythmic chants, or mantras. But the earliest records of meditation can be found in the Vedas, the oldest texts of Hinduism, dating from 1700-1100 BCE. Later on, different forms of meditation began developing in Buddhism and Taoism, mainly in India and China. Ancient meditation focused on spiritual growth and transcending emotions to live in a calm present state. After being introduced to the West in the 20th century, meditation was realigned to match the goals of a modern, secular society — and it was soon used as a way to reduce stress and improve healthy living, similar to the Western world’s version of yoga. This painting from the 1800s, “Man Meditating in a Garden Setting,” depicts a man practicing traditional meditation. Wikimedia / PD-US The Main Differences Though it’s often a fine line, here’s the main difference between the two: Meditation is a large umbrella term that encompasses the practice of reaching ultimate consciousness and concentration, to acknowledge the mind and, in a way, self-regulate it. It can involve a lot of techniques or practices to reach this heightened level of consciousness — including compassion, love, patience, and of course, mindfulness. So mindfulness is a type of meditation, alongside tantra, yoga, sexuality, silence, breathing, and emptiness. Mindfulness is the act of focusing on being in the present, such as focusing completely on drinking a hot cup of tea, taking in its scent, warmth, and taste and removing overpowering emotions from the mind. “Mindfulness is a form of meditation,” Lodro Rinzler, a meditation author and teacher, as well as founder of MNDFL, told Medical Daily. “There are many forms of meditation, including contemplation and visualization, but mindfulness is the type where you bring your full mind to an object.” Being mindful of your breath, for example, is a common form of mindfulness during meditation. Following your breath improves your awareness of being in the present. This is called mindfulness meditation, known as shamatha among Buddhists. Rinzler adds that eating could be another way to practice mindfulness: “You can be mindful of your food, truly tasting it, and when you drift off into all sorts of thoughts, returning to tasting your food — that is an act of mindfulness.” The practice of meditation predates the idea of mindfulness, Rinzler explains. Mindfulness is often aligned with the “time of the Buddha,” in which the Buddha discovered that focusing entirely on his breath would allow him to see reality and reach meditation more quickly. In the modern age, Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who is well-known for his teachings on mindfulness, introduced The Five Mindfulness Trainings to the world. One of Hanh’s students, Jon Kabat-Zinn, would become famous for popularizing mindfulness as a stress reduction and health-based approach in the U.S. In 1979, Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, started the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society to treat chronically ill patients. This jumpstarted the notion and trend of employing mindfulness as a way to live a healthier life. Health Benefits of Combining the Two Whether you want to learn all about the different techniques of meditation — or if you simply want to learn how to be more mindful in your daily life to reduce stress, there’s plenty of evidence to support that harnessing your mind to be in the present can improve your mental and physical health. One recent study found that people who practice mindfulness had healthier glucose levels, suggesting that improved focus and self-control could help fight obesity and unhealthy eating habits. Mindfulness meditation was also linked to improved sleep quality among older adults who would normally be using pills. It has been associated with improved focus, reduced dependency on opioid drugs, and lowered anxiety and depression levels. But perhaps what’s most remarkable is that research has actually shown that mindfulness and positive thinking had a beneficial effect on the DNA of breast cancer patients, suggesting that the effects of mindfulness meditation on the body may be far more extensive than we know. Embarking on the journey of meditation can be difficult — but if you want to start out with baby steps, take ten minutes out of each day to remain mindful when drinking tea, taking a break during work, or focusing on your breath before sleep. There’s quite a bit of power in the simple act of focusing your mind. |
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| Vihara News
Bhante Rahula Appointed as President and Treasurer of the Vihara At the meeting held at the Vihara on April 2, most venerable Dr. Pannila Ananda nayaka Thero, founding director and president of the Vihara, appointed Bhante Rahula as new president and treasurer of the Vihara. Bhante Rahula expects to send you a message with all details during this week.
Sri Lankan New Year Celebration at the Vihara, Sunday April, 17th
The annual Sri Lankan New Year Celebration at Houston Buddhist Vihara will be held on Sunday, April 17, 2015 from 8:00 am. As shown in the program, a variety of traditional Sri Lankan cultural events will be featured throughout the day. You are cordially invited to participate at the celebration. Please contact the Vihara for more information. You are encouraged to wear traditional Sri Lankan costumes for the New Year Celebration. |
Newsletter – March 2016
/in Newsletter /by admin| Can Meditation Slow Down the Aging Process?
By Jo Marchant / Mosiac
It’s seven in the morning on the beach in Santa Monica, California. The low sun glints off the waves and the clouds are still golden from the dawn. The view stretches out over thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean. In the distance, white villas of wealthy Los Angeles residents dot the Hollywood hills. Here by the shore, curlews and sandpipers cluster on the damp sand. A few metres back from the water’s edge, a handful of people sit cross-legged: members of a local Buddhist centre about to begin an hour-long silent meditation.
Such spiritual practices may seem a world away from biomedical research, with its focus on molecular processes and repeatable results. Yet just up the coast, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), a team led by a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist is charging into territory where few mainstream scientists would dare to tread. Whereas Western biomedicine has traditionally shunned the study of personal experiences and emotions in relation to physical health, these scientists are placing state of mind at the centre of their work. They are engaged in serious studies hinting that meditation might – as Eastern traditions have long claimed – slow ageing and lengthen life.
—————- Elizabeth Blackburn has always been fascinated by how life works. Born in 1948, she grew up by the sea in a remote town in Tasmania, Australia, collecting ants from her garden and jellyfish from the beach. When she began her scientific career, she moved on to dissecting living systems molecule by molecule. She was drawn to biochemistry, she says, because it offered a thorough and precise understanding “in the form of deep knowledge of the smallest possible subunit of a process”.
Working with biologist Joe Gall at Yale in the 1970s, Blackburn sequenced the chromosome tips of a single-celled freshwater creature called Tetrahymena (“pond scum”, as she describes it) and discovered a repeating DNA motif that acts as a protective cap. The caps, dubbed telomeres, were subsequently found on human chromosomes too. They shield the ends of our chromosomes each time our cells divide and the DNA is copied, but they wear down with each division. In the 1980s, working with graduate student Carol Greider at the University of California, Berkeley, Blackburn discovered an enzyme called telomerase that can protect and rebuild telomeres. Even so, our telomeres dwindle over time. And when they get too short, our cells start to malfunction and lose their ability to divide – a phenomenon that is now recognised as a key process in ageing. This work ultimately won Blackburn the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In 2000, she received a visit that changed the course of her research. The caller was Elissa Epel, a postdoc from UCSF’s psychiatry department. Psychiatrists and biochemists don’t usually have much to talk about, but Epel was interested in the damage done to the body by chronic stress, and she had a radical proposal.
Epel, now director of the Aging, Metabolism and Emotion Center at UCSF, has a long-standing interest in how the mind and body relate. She cites as influences both the holistic health guru Deepak Chopra and the pioneering biologist Hans Selye, who first described in the 1930s how rats subjected to long-term stress become chronically ill. “Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older,” Selye said.
Back in 2000, Epel wanted to find that scar. “I was interested in the idea that if we look deep within cells we might be able to measure the wear and tear of stress and daily life,” she says. After reading about Blackburn’s work on ageing, she wondered if telomeres might fit the bill.
With some trepidation at approaching such a senior scientist, the then postdoc asked Blackburn for help with a study of mothers going through one of the most stressful situations that she could think of – caring for a chronically ill child. Epel’s plan was to ask the women how stressed they felt, then look for a relationship between their state of mind and the state of their telomeres. Collaborators at the University of Utah would measure telomere length, while Blackburn’s team would measure levels of telomerase.
Blackburn’s research until this point had involved elegant, precisely controlled experiments in the lab. Epel’s work, on the other hand, was on real, complicated people living real, complicated lives. “It was another world as far as I was concerned,” says Blackburn. At first, she was doubtful that it would be possible to see any meaningful connection between stress and telomeres. Genes were seen as by far the most important factor determining telomere length, and the idea that it would be possible to measure environmental influences, let alone psychological ones, was highly controversial. But as a mother herself, Blackburn was drawn to the idea of studying the plight of these stressed women. “I just thought, how interesting,” she says. “You can’t help but empathise.” It took four years before they were finally ready to collect blood samples from 58 women. This was to be a small pilot study. To give the highest chance of a meaningful result, the women in the two groups – stressed mothers and controls – had to match as closely as possible, with similar ages, lifestyles and backgrounds. Epel recruited her subjects with meticulous care. Still, Blackburn says, she saw the trial as nothing more than a feasibility exercise. Right up until Epel called her and said, “You won’t believe it.”
The results were crystal clear. The more stressed the mothers said they were, the shorter their telomeres and the lower their levels of telomerase.
The most frazzled women in the study had telomeres that translated into an extra decade or so of ageing compared to those who were least stressed, while their telomerase levels were halved. “I was thrilled,” says Blackburn. She and Epel had connected real lives and experiences to the molecular mechanics inside cells. It was the first indication that feeling stressed doesn’t just damage our health – it literally ages us.
Read the complete article in: http://mosaicscience.com/story/can-meditation-really-slow-ageing |
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| Vihara News
All Day Seela Meditation Program – 6am-6pm Sunday, March 20th. Dhamma Talk begins 5pm
An all day Seela and Meditation program will be held at the Vihara on Sunday, March 20th from 6am-6pm. Dhamma Talk in Sinhala will be from 5-6pm.
Next Meditation at Vipassana Retreat Is on March 26
This is an early reminder that the next meditation session at Vipassana Retreat at Willis will be on Saturday, March 26. This is a guided practice with Bhante Rahula. The program begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m. with breaks in between each session and a 45-minute break for lunch.
Interested persons in participation should inform Bhante Rahula by emailing him atrbasnagoda@yahoo.com on or before Thursday, March 24. |
Newsletter – February 2016
/in Newsletter /by admin| Arianna Huffington’s 5 Secrets to Thriving at Work
01/16/2016 Carolyn Gregoire, Senior Health & Science Writer, The Huffington Post
In the American workplace, we tend to accept stress, burnout, sleep deprivation and 24/7 connectivity as facts of life.
So often, we believe that success requires being the last person to leave the office at night, and tethering ourselves to our smartphones so that we can immediately respond to emails from the boss. But after a while, the long hours and constant busyness to leave us stressed, unhappy and overwhelmed.
Do we really have to sacrifice our wellness (and sanity) in order to succeed? Not if Arianna Huffington has anything to say about it.
In her 2014 bestseller Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom and Wonder, the president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group charts a more sustainable course to success — one that allows time for health, personal fulfillment, joy and giving back. In fact, she argues that prioritizing well-being and happiness can actually make you better at your job.
“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work,” she writes, “instead of the quality of time we put in.”
Here are five of Huffington’s best secrets to maximizing the quality of your time and achieving sustainable success.
1) Use all your vacation days.
American employees use on average only half of their vacation days — and bear in mind that they’re only given an average of 16 days of paid vacation (including holidays) to begin with. Here’s another sobering statistic: In a given year, Americans leave 175 million vacation days unused.
It’s important that you take a real break from work — something that we’re not very good at as a culture. The majority of Americans (61 percent) confess to working while on vacation. Taking time to rest and recharge is critical for success and well-being. Resist the urge to email your boss from the beach and know that things will work themselves out without you.
“Living a life in which we work all the time and never prioritize recharging simply isn’t sustainable — not for individuals, and not for companies either,” Huffington wrote in a blog post last year.
To the extent that you’re able, follow the example of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who says that he takes six weeks of vacation per year. “I take a lot of vacation and I’m open about it internally to try to set a good example,” Hastings said at a conference in New York last month.
Granted, your employer may not give you a full six weeks — but you can still take advantage of however many days you do have by using every last one.
2) Find a way to give back.
The simplest way to improve your work life may be to find a way to improve the lives of others. There’s no question that giving is good for your body, mind and spirit — and, Huffington insists, it can even boost productivity and fulfillment at work.
It may sound counterintuitive, but giving your time to others — even when you feel stretched thin — can improve your mood and well-being, which in turn can help you make more effective use of your time. One study even found weekly volunteering could improve well-being as much as a major salary boost.
“Empathy, compassion, and giving — which is simply empathy and compassion in action — are the building blocks of our being,” Huffington wrote in a 2013 blog post. “With them we flourish; without them we perish.”
Volunteering has been found to reduce depression and stress levels, improve mood and give people a greater sense of purpose in life — all things that can translate into renewed energy and creativity at work. Giving to others can also keep you healthy, curbing your risk for developing a chronic disease by reducing levels of inflammation.
3) Sleep eight hours every night.
Skimping on sleep is a fast track to stress, burnout and job dissatisfaction — a reality that Huffington herself knows all too well.
After collapsing from exhaustion and being hospitalized for a broken cheekbone in 2007, Huffington now calls herself a “sleep evangelist.” Getting eight hours of quality shut-eye each night without fail is one of her best secrets to success.
Sleep deprivation can impair focus, learning, memory and decision-making, and over time can contribute to a whole host of physical and mental health problems. On the flip side, adequate rest can improve health outcomes, productivity and mood.
“The science is in on what most people already intuitively know — we perform better, we think better, and we make better decisions when we’re refreshed and well-rested,” Huffington wrote in a blog post last year. “To cite just one example, a study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation are directly comparable to being drunk.”
4) Slow down.
“My mother was a towering example of the joys of slowing down,” Huffington wrote in a LinkedIn blog with advice to her 22-year-old self. “She believed that rushing through life was a sure way to miss the gifts that come only when you give 100 percent of yourself to a task, a conversation, a dinner, a relationship, a moment.”
Huffington argues that many of us are suffering from a personal time deficit crisis — or as writer James Gleick calls it, “hurry sickness.”
For high achievers in particular, it’s easy for life to start feeling like a never-ending cycle of work, family and other obligations. But to create a life of success and well-being, it’s imperative that we find a way to balance work with everything else that matters to us — family, friends, health and time for rest and reflection. Pruning down your schedule to the most essential activities and saying “no” to the rest is one place to start, while disengaging from digital distractions can also help you to better enjoy unoccupied time.
5) Build mindfulness into your day.
You don’t have to be an advanced yogi or a Buddhist to enjoy the benefits of a meditation practice — as little as 10 minutes a day of sitting still and cultivating a focus on the present moment can make a real difference.
“Every element of well-being is enhanced by the practice of meditation,” Huffington wrote in Thrive. “Through mindfulness, I found a practice that helped bring me fully present and in the moment, even in the most hectic of circumstances.” Starting the day with a little mindfulness can also seriously boost your well-being and your brain power. Meditation has been linked with improved memory and focus, better emotional well-being, reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mental clarity — all of which can contribute to a more dynamic work day. |
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| Vihara News
All Day Seela Meditation Program – 6am-6pm Saturday, February 6th. Dhamma Talk begins 5pm An all day Seela and Meditation program will be held at the Vihara on Saturday, February 6th from 6am-6pm. The program for the day will be conducted in Sinhala by Ven. Kirinde Chandakitthi Thero. Dhamma Talk in Sinhala will be from 5-6pm Monthly Dhamma Talk, February 20th at 6.30pm The monthly Dhamma will be held on Saturday, February 20th at 6.30pm This month’s Dhamma Talk is sponsored by Thamaranganie and Sanka Tennakoon. Details will be emailed in due course. Vihara Improvement Project – Stage I – 2016 On January 1, 2016, the Vihara announced plans for making improvements to the infrastructure. The priority for 2016 is to construct new resident quarters (Avasa) for monks. This will replace the ageing present quarters. The estimate for this stage of the project is $270,000. This includes the following:construction of the new Avasa ($220,000) Demolition of existing Avasa building ($10,000) Construct Parking Lot2 ($14,500) Construct sidewalk ($7,500) Renonvations to the Dana Hall ($18,000)
As of this date the Vihara has received pledges totalling more than $120,000 for this project. We need to raise another $150,000 to finish the project. Please review these documents and make your pledge. Proposed Avasa Building Project Meditation at Vipassana Retreat Begin on Feb. 27 The first monthly meditation session at Vipassana Meditation Retreat at Willis will be on February 27, Saturday.
The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. Each day we will have 4 sittings of 45 minutes with a 15-minute break in between and one-hour break for lunch. The program will end with a discussion and chanting.
If you wish to participate in February sitting, please inform Bhante Rahula by emailing him at rbasnagoda@yahoo.com
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Newsletter – January 2016
/in Newsletter /by admin| The 5 Most Important Things We Learned About Mindfulness in 2015
12/29/2015 By Carolyn Gregoire, Senior Health & Science Writer, The Huffington Post
2014 may have been the year of the “mindful revolution,” but 2015 proved that mindfulness is here to stay. The more we learn about mindfulness — the cultivation of a focused awareness on the present moment, most commonly through meditation — the more health and well-being benefits we discover. This year, researchers delved further into the science of meditation and uncovered even more surprising evidence of the practice’s powerful effects on the mind and body. Here are the five most incredible scientific findings on mindfulness of 2015. 1. We figured out how mindfulness improves health. We know that mindfulness is linked to a number of physical and mental health benefits, including reduced risk of cancer, heart disease and depression, as well as lower blood pressure and improved immune system functioning. What’s been less clear is exactly how mindfulness leads to so many positive health outcomes. In a study published in February in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, Carnegie Mellon researchers found that mindfulness positively influences health via stress reduction pathways. They developed a model to show that mindfulness increases activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is responsible for deliberation and planning and which can regulate and “turn down” the biological stress response. By better understanding the mechanisms by which mindfulness improves physical health, doctors may one day be able to develop more targeted mindfulness-based interventions. 2. Meditation keeps the brain young. Meditation doesn’t just make you feel good — it can actually keep you young. A study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that the brains of long-term meditators seem to age at a slower pace than those of other people. Brain scans revealed that these meditators showed less age-related reduction of gray matter volume. Gray matter is a layer of tissue critical to cognition and memory storage that tends to begin shrinking in a person’s 20s. “If these are replicated results, this will be a really big deal,” UCLA neuroscientist and study co-author Dr. Florian Kuth told The Huffington Post. “This could make a huge impact.” 3. It’s an effective treatment for insomnia. Before you turn to sleeping pills to treat insomnia, give mindfulness a try. Anecdotally, many people have found success using guided meditations for falling asleep, and now, research has shown that meditation really can help you get a good night’s rest. A team of psychologists at the University of Southern California administered a six-week course of mindfulness meditation to a group of older adults with sleep troubles. At the end of the six weeks, the participants were falling asleep faster, waking up less often during the night and experiencing less daytime sleepiness. “Mindfulness meditation appears to have a role in addressing the prevalent burden of sleep problems among older adults,” the study’s authors wrote. 4. Mindfulness relieves pain more effectively than a placebo. People struggling with chronic pain could benefit from mindfulness practices, according to some exciting new research. Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that study participants who practiced mindfulness meditation experienced greater pain relief than those who received a placebo. And it wasn’t just that the participants said they had less pain: Brain scans revealed that mindfulness practice resulted in completely different patterns of brain activity than the placebo. 5. Mindfulness is good for kids, too. Mindfulness interventions can be a powerful way to combat stress among underprivileged students at public schools. In a recent study, researchers from Johns Hopkins evaluated the effects of an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program on stress and trauma among low-income students of color at two Baltimore-area public schools. Compared to a control group, students in the stress reduction program had significantly reduced levels of somatization, depression, negative mood, poor coping, rumination and other negative symptoms.
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| Vihara News
All Day Seela Program, Saturday, January 9th 8:30AM – 4:30PM, Dhamma Talk at 6.30pm All-day Seela program will be held at the Vihara from 8:30am to 4:30pm on Saturday, January 9th. This program will be conducted by Ven. Udahene Seelarathana Thero, Abbot of the Darwin Buddhist Temple, Australia. The Vihara invites all interested persons to take part. The Buddha Puja will be held at 6pm prior to the Dhamma Talk at 6.30pm. Ven. Seelarathana Thero will deliver the Dhamma Talk in Sinhala. Ven. Seelarathana will be returning to Australia on January 11th. The Vihara appreciates the tremendous service performed by him during his residency at the Vihara. Your presence will go a long way towards showing your appreciation. Donations can be made in his name or to the Vihara.
Meditation Sessions at Vipassana Retreat Begin in February The first monthly meditation session at Vipassana Meditation Retreat at Willis will be on February 27, Saturday. The program for the whole year will be sent to you separately this week. Each program will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. Each day we will have 4 sittings of 45 minutes with a 15-minute break in between and one-hour break for lunch. The program will end with a discussion and chanting. If you wish to participate in February sitting, please inform Bhante Rahula by emailing him at rbasnagoda@yahoo.com |
Newsletter – December 2015
/in Newsletter /by admin| Buddhist Psychological Practices That Can Help Relieve Anxiety
Source: Huffington Post Many people use the words fear and anxiety interchangeably, as if they referred to identical emotional states. Yet while we may conceive of the two words as entirely corresponding, the neurobiology is quite different. The physiological reactions that occur when we hear the crackling sound of footsteps behind us, while walking alone on a wooded trail, creates a soaring heart rate, a knotted stomach, limbs activated, ready to run. In some truly overwhelming situations, we may literally ‘freeze’ with fear, unable to move, such as someone frozen in the path of a charging bear or tiger. Meanwhile, anxiety doesn’t fully urge us to fight, flee or freeze; it is there to alert us to the possibility of danger: slight dizziness, nausea, dry mouth and racing, repetitive thoughts. Anxiety primes us only to worry even more. Many clinicians define fear as a negative reaction triggered by present, dangerous stimuli (such as the sound of a bear in the woods), whereas anxiety is triggered by uncertainty: while we’re anxious no real threat is actually present; we’re simply alert to the possibility of future, unseen dangers. To put it simply: We can point to our fears, while we’re anxious about what we don’t know. It’s worth noting that any or all of the sensations present during a fearful event can, in the future, turn into the triggers of subsequent anxiety disorders. This is due to the part of the brain that is most alert and functioning during threatening situations — the amygdala — which is not particularly smart or discerning; it records whatever seems important during a menacing event, unable to discern what is benign from what’s dangerous. Let’s use an example: While driving and listening to an old Ramones song we wind up in a car collision, the same Ramones tune in the future might activate anxiety — we’ll feel nauseous and uncomfortable, though the tune had nothing to do with the accident. In the future, our discomfort with the Ramones will strike us as mysterious, if we even note the connection. Another example: suppose the once, during our childhood, perhaps in the second grade, a teacher wearing a cardigan asks us a question and when our answer is disappointing, the teacher shames us in front of a classroom of our peers. In the future we may very well become anxious around people who wear brown cardigans; once again we won’t discern why, and may well add spurious reasons to justify our discomfort and disapproval. So everything recorded during a hazard can turn into a trigger for anxiety. Why is the amygdala so fallible? Well, a ‘fast and dirty alarm system in the brain’ helped to keep our ancestors alive; think of them living hundreds of thousands of years ago in a world filled with predators, the average life expectancy barely 20 years. So the midbrain needed to work fast. This is why it is preconscious, working at too quickly for conscious oversight, which would only slow it down. Yes, conscious awareness would be more accurate in discerning what’s truly dangerous from what’s safe, but consciousness is far too slow to save us from lurking bears or coiled snakes, so evolution decided that its better to be safe than sorry, to mistake a few sticks for snakes. Even if we wind up, later on, needlessly terrified of entirely safe people, places and things. Anxiety is very human trait that relies on our ability to anticipate and speculate about the future; imagination allows us to visualize impossible outcomes and unlikely scenarios — and to worry about them. The capacity to fantasize can allow us to write wonderful books, plot charming movies and paint beautiful paintings, not to mention construct utopian ideals to strive towards, but worry can lead to spiraling thoughts, insomnia, psychological disorders aplenty; much of the content of our minds no longer serve us well, rendering us tormented and, at times, isolated and distraught. Yes, the mind can really play tricks that make it all to easy to abandon the present, which is, of course, the only place of true safety and utility. When we find the mind latching onto unlikely narratives that we can’t reason with or let go, sometimes we have to learn how to trick the mind into disarming itself. Here are some spiritual tools we can use: Long, smooth rewarding exhalations are the first, go-to practice when working with anxiety; long exhalations relax that vagal-vagus nerve, which sends messages to the midbrain, via what’s called the insula, essentially telling the amygdala which activates fear: “Everything’s okay, I’m safe.” The second solution is to greet, rather than resist or even dread, our worries and anxieties each time they arise: note how the Buddha welcomed his inner tormentor, Mara, always with great patience. Personally, I even give my personal demons names, but I never give my anxieties negative or condescending titles; the point of greeting each visitor is to avoid believing that worry is actually who I am, rather than just a visitor in the mind. If I don’t identify with anxiety, I can give it permission to arise without resistance or clinging. So when the sweaty hands, tension and racing thoughts begin, I simply think “Welcome anxiety. You’re allowed.” While this might sound counterproductive, reducing the resistance to anxiety has been clinically shown, in a wide variety of MBSR studies, to reduce the strength and duration of anxiety attacks. I’ve found this out over and over again through the years, the faster I grant permission to an emotional energy to arise, the less painful it feels and the faster it passes. Affect labeling, a clinical term for noting our emotional states, either aloud or in handwriting — “I’m frightened/anxious/scared” — has been shown to be effective as well. A study of high school students demonstrated that those who wrote out their fears before taking an exam invariably fared better in the test and experienced less trepidation. If, after we’ve journaled out an anxiety, worry returns with some energy in persistence, remind it that we’ve given it time to vent, now its our turn to enjoy life for a little while, until our next journal session. After a few days pass we can return to these notations; with a fresh perspective we may note that anxiety is actually the activation of an ‘inner child’ that believes every new challenge in life will lead to abandonment and disaster; in essence a repetition of childhood abandonments or traumas. While we’ve grown up to be adults, our fears still view the world from the perspective of a frightened infant, seeing annihilation around every corner. Another tactic is to question our anxiety honestly and with interest, trying to understand its logic: I use the question “And why is that so bad?” Generally this practice reveals the insanity belying most of my anxiety. For example, many years ago, when I was anxious about an upcoming meeting with a higher up at work, I put this practice into use: I asked: “And why am I worrying about speaking with my boss?” My anxiety responded: “Because they might fire me!” “And why would that be so bad?” “I might wind up penniless and unable to pay my rent!” “And why would that so bad?” “I’ll be homeless, living on the streets! Vulnerable to roving gangs — I might be stabbed and killed.” And so, with a few questions, the overblown and ludicrous nature of my anxiety was revealed — it turned a meeting with my employer into a life threatening endeavor. Finally, I’d also like to recommend the Buddhist practice of appropriate attention: Yoniso Manasikara in Pali. The Buddha described this practice as “understanding the appeal, drawbacks and escape from behaviors that cause suffering.” (sn 12, Nidana-samyutta Sutta) Let’s investigate the worrying mind through the lens of appropriate attention: The Appeal of Anxiety and Worry: dreading possible future calamities, visualizing catastrophes, appeals to the mind as it creates a false of being prepared for unwanted developments. When I worry, I believe I’m less likely to be caught off guard, which makes me feel safer. The Drawback of Anxiety and Worry: conjuring up a variety of misfortunes, most of which will never come to pass, creates an unquiet mind that cannot settle peacefully into the present moment, where speculated catastrophes have yet to occur; the mind prone to worrying doesn’t appreciate times of joy, as it is forever surveying the imagination for disasters looming in the realm of possibilities. The Skillful Escape from Anxiety and Worry: given that the worrying mind is seeking a sense of security — which is revealed through reviewing its appeal — I might ask myself: “what skillful ways can I provide the mind with a sense of security in times of uncertainty?” Skillful escapes generally require creativity. I might conclude that rather than worrying, my mind would more fruitfully establish a sense of security by reflecting on all the times in life I’ve been caught off guard by sudden events — job losses, relationships dissolving — yet survived without any preparation. Such reflections build a sense of reassurance, and meet our underlying need. I hope the above is of help to some and worth any time you invested into it.
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Dhamma Talk at 6pm on December 20th A Dhamma talk will be held at 6pm on Sunday, December 20th. This Dhamma Talk is sponosored by Asanka and Suren Lewkebandara family. Further details will be e-mailed in due course. New Year’s Day Blessing Service at 6pm on January 1st 2016 The treaditional New Year’s Day Blessing Service will be held on Friday, January 1st, 2016. More details will be e-mailed closer to the end of the year.
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