While Mindfulness may be defined as a state in which one passively observes the ebb and flow of thoughts while not getting involved with them, the ancient Eastern meditator seeks to unite their awareness with the “space between the thoughts” in order to achieve mental silence, such as in the practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation. [...]
William Shakespeare describes an understanding of the unity between mind, mood, the organs of the body and general health in Twelfth Night:
when the rich golden shaft
Hath kill’d the flock of all affections else
That live in her; when liver, brain and heart,
These sovereign thrones, are all supplied, and fill’d
Her sweet perfections with one Self king!
Dr [...]
Eastern mystics have often asserted that the presence or absence of altered states of consciousness (such as mental silence) comprise the crucial difference between religious ritual and religious experience. Western scholars such as William James (1902) mirror the Eastern ideas:
In just the degree that we come into a conscious realisation of our oneness with the [...]
In general behaviour strategies of therapy focus on moderating the impact of illness by modifying cognitive appraisal of the symptoms, ameliorating negative mood states and/or reducing physiological arousal (sympathetic activation) associated with stress. They include: breathing exercises, relaxation, cognitive behavioural therapy and biofeedback. Meditation may also appropriately be included in this category.
Dr Ramesh Manocha
In a 2001 US study Meisenhelder surveyed a sample of 1,400 Presbyterian pastors and found that they had considerably better health in comparison to US normative values. After controlling for age and other demographic variables, a small correlation was found between frequency of prayer and certain important health dimensions, particularly mental health (r = 0.117, [...]
One of the central themes of my thesis is that the failure of the proponents of meditation in the West to produce conclusive data on its specific efficacy in the health sphere has been due to understandings having been largely confined to Westernised versions of the practice. Such understandings have meant that the original ideas [...]
The yogic idea that one’s state of mind, if not one’s level of consciousness, is a major determinant of one’s general health conveniently combines a number of fashionable notions from popular psychology, alternative medicine and New Age spirituality. Thus it is not surprising that many relatively well educated and discerning Western consumers are attracted by [...]
Pharmacological treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while at the moment more effective than any other treatment option, is still considerably limited in its usefulness. For instance, although stimulants act for only a limited period, symptoms are continuous. Thus stimulants must be given several times per day (or at least daily in the case of [...]
It seems obvious that the non-specific effect of any intervention is closely related to its credibility and plausibility as a therapeutic intervention i.e. its “face validity”. Now, some of the effects associated with meditation must be non-specific, i.e. comprising a mixture of placebo, therapeutic contact, spontaneous improvement, and so on, whereas some, hopefully, are specific [...]
The emphasis on personal development of consciousness and experience in Eastern religiosity creates a paradigm in which the achievement of health (in all its dimensions), is one stage on a more fundamental continuum of “consciousness development”. The starting point of this continuum is mundane, everyday life and the endpoint is variously described as enlightenment, sahaja [...]