O2
Meditation
Introduction to the Meditation Practice
"On the Zen path, we seek for ourselves the experience of Shakyamuni. However, we do not owe fundamental allegiance to him, but to ourselves and to our environment. If it could be shown that Shaykamuni never lived, the myth of his life would be our guide. In fact, it is far better to acknowledge at the outset that myths and religious archetypes guide us, just as they do every religious person. The myth of the Buddha is my own myth. The path is personal and intimate. We must walk it for ourselves. In this spirit, we invest ourselves in our practice, confident of our heritage, and train earnestly side by side with our brothers and sisters. It is this engagement that brings peace and realisation."-
Robert Aitken Roshi, Taking the Path of Zen
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Shinkantaza"
Although shikantaza means 'just sitting', it is far from meaning 'just to sit. Having established a firm practice base with breath-counting, we let go of our focus on the breath and sit with moment-to-moment awareness, as though we were in a jungle clearing, aware that a tiger is nearby. With this alert practice, in the immenseness of all that is, the individual self inevitably finds itself reduced until it disappears altogether. Inside and outside become one."
LEARN
What is (Zen) Meditation?
Breath counting
"Breath counting - becoming intimate with each inhalation and counting from one to ten on the exhalation - reveals how jumpy and restless our minds are, hence the term "monkey mind". Whenever we lose the count, having drifted off on a thought, and more significantly, when we notice we have lost the count, we just return to one without recrimination or judgement.""Over time, as a firm practice base is established - with regular daily zazen, sitting with the group on a weeknight, and attending sesshin, students may find that in the midst of this busy world, there is peace and ease. They may choose to investigate one of the primary koans with the teacher, and/or take up the practice of shikantaza"
Kinhin
Between each sitting period of 25 minutes, there is kinhin, or walking meditation, a practice where we continue to count our breaths, keying our breath to our steps. We are present with our footsteps as we walk slowly round the dojo clasping our left hand over our right at waist level. Kinhin is halfway between the quality of attention demanded by sitting and the quality of attention demanded in the everyday world. Kinhin can be practised in our everyday lives as well, for example, as we walk along the street, with thumb and forefinger lightly touching."
Zazen
"Zazen or seated meditation is a path to discovering insight and wisdom and realising our true nature. It helps us overcome greed, selfishness, negativity and worry, cultivates intimacy and closeness with ourselves and all of life, and gives us a foundation for ethical and noble aspirations in this life and a basis of peace, relaxation and inner joy. Our practice is to actualise our realisation in the world, to embody the Buddha's Way."
Ritual
"Ritual helps us to deepen our religious spirit and to extend its vigour to our lives. As well, it is an opening for the experience of forgetting the self as the words or the action become one with you, and there is nothing else."
"Gassho - the act of placing your hand's palm to palm, with the tips of your forefingers an inch from your nose - is a sign of joining together in respect. We bow with our hands at gassho as we enter or leave the dojo, and before zazen (seated meditation), we bow in this way twice at our seats - once to our sisters and brothers on the opposite side of the dojo and once to sisters and brothers beside us, and to our cushion."
"Raihai - a full prostration - is done three times before and after sutras. We bow to the floor and raise our hands a few inches, lifting the Buddha's feet over our heads, throwing everything away, or pouring everything out from the top of the head. All our self-concern, all our preoccupations are thrown away completely. There is just that bow."
Scientific Papers on Zen meditation
Age effects on gray matter volume and attentional performance in Zen meditation
Giuseppe Pagnoni, Milos CekicNeurobiology of aging 28 (10), 1623-1627, 2007
These findings suggest that the regular practice of meditation may have neuroprotective effects and reduce the cognitive decline associated with normal aging.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197458007002436
Zen meditation: An integration of current evidence
To date, actual evidence about Zen meditation is scarce and highlights the necessity of further investigations. Comparison with further active treatments, explanation of possible mechanisms of action, and the limitations of current evidence are discussed.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197458007002436
An electroencephalographic study on the Zen meditation (Zazen)
Akira Kasamatsu M.D.,Tomio Hirai M.D.
In Zen meditation, the slowing of EEG pattern is confirmed on the one hand, and the dehabituation of the alpha blocking on the other. These indicate the specific change of consciousness.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-1819.1966.tb02646.x
Cardiorespiratory and autonomic-nervous-system functioning of drug abusers treated by Zen meditation
Pei-ChenLoaPing-HsienTsaibHui-JaneKangbWu JueMiao Tianb
Among 18 voluntary drug addicts during the 10-minute Zen meditation session, about two-third subjects have significant improvement in autonomic nervous system function characterized by heart rate variability .... The group averages of all the parameters exhibit significantly positive changes in the 10-minute session of abdominal-respiration Zen meditation. Even the subject with heart transplant showed the improvement of all the quantitative indicators during the AR Zen meditation.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2225411018300051
What it means to be Zen: Marked modulations of local and interareal synchronization during open monitoring meditation
Anne Hauswal da Teresa Übelackerb Sabine Leskeb Nathan Weisza The most prominent effects occur in brain structures crucially involved in processes of awareness and attention, which also show structural changes in short- and long-term meditators, suggesting continuative alterations in the meditating brain. Overall, our study reveals strong changes in ongoing oscillatory activity as well as connectivity patterns that appear to be sensitive to the psychological state changes induced by Zen meditation.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811914010702
Alterations in Brain Structure and Amplitude of Low-frequency after 8 weeks of Mindfulness Meditation Training in Meditation-Naïve Subject
Cuan-Chih Yang, Alfonso Barrós-Loscertales,Meng Li, Daniel Pinazo,Viola Borchardt, César Ávila & Martin Walter
However, longitudinal studies observing resting network plasticity effects in brains of novices who started to practice meditation are scarce and generally related to one dimension, such as structural or functional effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate structural and functional brain network changes (e.g. DMN) after 40 days of mindfulness meditation training in novices and set these in the context of potentially altered depression symptomatology and anxiety. We found overlapping structural and functional effects in precuneus, a posterior DMN region, where cortical thickness increased and low-frequency amplitudes (ALFF) decreased, while decreased ALFF in left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex correlates with the reduction of (CES-D) depression scores. In conclusion, regional overlapping of structural and functional changes in precuneus may capture different components of the complex changes of mindfulness meditation training.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-47470-4
Quantitative EEG Study on Zen Meditation (Zazen)
Tetsuhito Murata M.D.,Yoshifumi Koshino M.D.,Masao Omori M.D.,Ichiro Murata M.D.,Masashi Nishio M.D.,Kazumasa Sakamoto M.D.,Tan Horie M.D.,Kiminori Isaki M.D.
Quantitative EEG was continuously recorded prior to and during Zen meditation (Zazen) in 20 monks of the Soto sect (Group P: 10 priests; Group D: 10 disciples) and 10 control subjects with no experience in Zen training (Group C). As shown by an EEG topography during meditation, slow alpha appeared in the majority of subjects regardless of their experience in Zen training, while theta appeared only in Groups P and D predominantly in the frontal region, with its frequency increasing in proportion to an increasing length of experience in Zen training. In the quantitative analysis, in the monks with experience in Zen training, it was suggested that theta 2-3 (6.0-8.0 Hz) waves increased while the degree of increase in alpha 2 (9.0-10.0 Hz) wave was attenuated during the temporal course of meditation. The present EEG changes occurring during meditation may reflect intrinsic changes induced by Zazen, namely a mental state in which despite the attainment of relaxation the quality of consciousness is heightened.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1819.1994.tb03090.x
MRI scanning during Zen meditation: the picture of enlightenment
Rients Ritskes, A Ritskes-Hoitinga, A Stødkilde-Jørgensen, Klaus B Bærentsen, T Hartmann
The relevance of the wisdom traditions in contemporary society: the challenge to psychology, 195-198, 2004
A group of experienced Zen meditation practitioners were scanned with fMRI during the conscious switch from normal consciousness to a meditative state of mind. This switching has been hypothesized to be realized by a dedicated "neural switch"(Travis et al., 1999). In the literature increased activity is reported to occur in the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia during meditation (Hirai, 1989). On the basis of other publications, de-activation in the gyrus occipitalis was expected (Newberg et al., 1997). The present study showed a simultaneous occurrence of patterns of brain activation and de-activation in the mentioned structures. It is hypothesized that this combination of events may reveal the neural basis of the experience of Zen meditation practitioners when entering the meditative state.
Heart rate dynamics in different levels of Zen meditation
Caroline Peressuttia Juan M.Martín-Gonzálezb Juan M.García-Mansoa Denkô Mesac
Zen meditation affects the heart system at different levels, the parasympathetic system (The parasympathetic system is responsible for stimulating the "rest and digest" or "feed and reproduce" [4] activities that occur when the body is at rest, especially after eating, including sexual arousal, salivation, lacrimation (tears), urination, digestion and defecation. Its action is described as complementary to that of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the stimulating activities associated with the fight response or escape.) and increase attention.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167527309007517Domain-Specific
Enhancement of Metacognitive Ability Following Meditation Training
The present study demonstrates that meditation training develops the capacity to reflect on experience and thoughts. Moreover, enhances knowledge and skills for organizing, guiding, and controlling one's thinking, actions, and learning processes. For example:- skills for task orientation (what am I to do?)- goal setting (what am I to achieve?)- planning (how do I reach that goal?)- a systematical approach (step-by-step)- monitoring oneself during task execution (am I not making a mistake, do I understand all of it?)- evaluating the outcome (is the answer correct?)- and reflection (what can I learn from this episode?).
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/xge-a0036882.pdf
Zen meditation and access to information in the unconscious.
Madelijn Stricka Tirza H.J.van Noordena Rients R. RitskescJan R. de Ruiterb Ap Dijksterhuisa
Im two experiments and two different research paradigms, we tested the hypothesis that Zen meditation increases access to accessible but unconscious information. Zen practitioners who meditated in the lab performed better on the Remote Associate Test (RAT; Mednick, 1962) than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. In a new, second task, it was observed that Zen practitioners who meditated used subliminally primed words more than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. Meditation increase the ability to be in contact with our conscience mind.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../abs/pii/S1053810012000530
Zen meditation: an integration of current evidence
Alberto Chiesa
Zen meditation found increased alpha and theta activity, generally related to relaxation, in many brain regions, including the frontal cortex. Theta activity in particular seemed to be related to the degree of experience, being greater in expert practitioners and advanced masters. Moreover, Zen meditation practice could protect from cognitive decline usually associated with age and enhance antioxidant activity. From a clinical point of view, Zen meditation was found to reduce stress and blood pressure, and be efficacious for a variety of conditions, as suggested by positive findings in therapists and musicians.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19422285/
Preliminary functional magnetic resonance imaging Stroop task results before and after a Zen meditation retreat.
Elisa Harumi Kozasa phd,João Radvany md , phd,Maria Ângela M. Barreiros phd,José Roberto Leite phd,Edson Amaro Jr md , phd
The fMRI results show enhanced activation of the anterior cingulate, right dorsolateral prefrontal, insular, occipital and parietal cortices after meditation practice. According to the literature, these areas represent functional activation related to attentional circuitry2-5 and reinforce the idea that meditation can further develop attentional abilities that have lasting effects.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2008.01809.x
The pineal is activated during meditation. From a scientific point of you improve your sleeping pattern. On the other side, religions believe the pineal is the site of the soul. Meditation will improve your spiritually and scientifically life by activating the pineal.
Correlation between Pineal Activation and Religious Meditation Observed by Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging Chien-Hui Liou, Chang-Wei Hsieh, Chi-Hong Wang
The pineal is activated during meditation. From a scientific point of you improve your sleeping pattern. On the other side, religions believe the pineal is the site of the soul. Meditation will improve your spiritually and scientifically life by activating the pineal.
The human brain possesses plenty of functions but little is known about its scientific relationship with mind and spirit. Neuroscientists, Buddhist scholars and Dalai Lama discussed attention, mental imagery, emotion, mind, brain functions and meditation, suggesting religious meditation offers an effective means to investigate the mystery of mind and spirit. In this study, we report that, together with other brain regions, the pineal body exhibits significant activation during meditation. The pineal plays a vital role in the intrinsic awareness which might concern the spirit or soul. Our results demonstrate a correlation between pineal activation and religious meditation, which might have profound implications for the physiological understanding of intrinsic awareness.
Meditation improves self-regulation over the lifespan
Yi-Yuan Tang, Michael I. Posner, Mary K. Rothbart
The use of meditation to improve emotion and attention regulation has a long history in Asia and there are many practitioners in Western countries. Much of the evidence on the effectiveness of meditation is either anecdotal or a comparison of long-term meditators with controls matched in age and health.
Recently, it has been possible to establish changes in self-regulation in undergraduate students after only 5 days of meditation practice, allowing randomized trials comparing effects of meditation with other self-control methods such as relaxation training. Early studies took place in Chinese universities; however, similar effects have been obtained with U.S. undergraduates, and with Chinese children aged 4.5 years and older Chinese participants aged 65 years .
Studies using neuroimaging techniques have shown that meditation improves activation and connectivity in brain areas related to self-regulation, and these findings may provide an opportunity to examine remediation of mental disorders in a new light.
https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12227
Awareness of subtle emotional feelings: a comparison of long-term meditators and non-meditators
Lisbeth Nielsen 1, Alfred W Kaszniak
The authors explored whether meditation training to enhance emotional awareness improves discrimination of subtle emotional feelings hypothesized to guide decision-making. Long-term meditators and nonmeditators were compared.
Meditators reported greater emotional clarity than controls, and meditators with higher clarity had reduced arousal and improved valence discrimination. These findings suggest that meditation may influence how emotionally ambiguous information is processed, regulated, and represented in conscious awareness.
The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation
Yi-Yuan Tang, Britta K. Hölzel & Michael I. Posner
Mindfulness meditation enhances self-regulation, including attention control and emotions! Research on mindfulness meditation faces a number of important challenges in study design that limit the interpretation of existing studies.A number of changes in brain structure have been related to mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness practice enhances attention. The anterior cingulate cortex is the region associated with attention in which changes in activity and/or structure in response to mindfulness meditation are most consistently reported. Mindfulness practice improves emotion regulation and reduces stress. Fronto-limbic networks involved in these processes show various patterns of engagement by mindfulness meditation. Meditation practice has the potential to affect self-referential processing and improve present-moment awareness. The default mode networks — including the midline prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, which support self-awareness — could be altered following mindfulness training. Mindfulness meditation has potential for the treatment of clinical disorders and might facilitate the cultivation of a healthy mind and increased well-being. Future research into mindfulness meditation should use randomized and actively controlled longitudinal studies with large sample sizes to validate previous findings. The effects of mindfulness practice on neural structure and function need to be linked to behavioural performance, such as cognitive, affective and social functioning, in future research. The complex mental state of mindfulness is likely to be supported by the large-scale brain networks; future work should take this into account rather than being restricted to activations in single brain areas.
https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3916
EEG based interpretation of human brain activity during yoga and meditation using machine learning: A systematic review
Padmavathi Kora, K.Meenakshia K.Swarajaa A.Rajanib Mantena Satyanarayana Rajuc.
Meditation practices induce progressive mental fitness.
Yoga has advantageous effects on brain activity as reflected by changes in alpha, beta, and theta brainwaves and to diminished amygdala activation, which performs a primary role in processing memory, decision-making, and emotional responses (including fear, anxiety, and aggression) and diminished negative thoughts.
Meditation practices for health: state of the research.
Maria B Ospina, Kenneth Bond, Mohammad Karkhaneh, Lisa Tjosvold, Ben Vandermeer, Yuanyuan Liang, Liza Bialy, Nicola Hooton, Nina Buscemi, Donna M Dryden, Terry P Klassen
To review and synthesize the effects of meditation on physiological and neuropsychological outcomes. Comprehensive searches were conducted in 17 electronic databases of medical and psychological literature up to September 2005.
Five broad categories of meditation practices were identified (Mantra meditation, Mindfulness meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong). The three most studied conditions were hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases, and substance abuse. Sixty-five intervention studies examined the therapeutic effect of meditation practices for these conditions. Qi Gong and Zen Buddhist meditation significantly reduced blood pressure. Yoga helped reduce stress. Yoga was no better than Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction at reducing anxiety in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Meta-analyses of results from 55 studies indicated that some meditation practices produced significant changes in healthy participants.
Come and Sit in silence.
Allow your self to experience a moment of peace. Look into the mirror
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Contacts
oliveriodiego@hotmail.it
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Diego Oliverio, Hypnotherapy Practitioner