Meditation: The New Psychotherapy

The patient sat with his eyes closed, submerged in the rhythm of his own breathing, and after a while noticed that he was thinking about his troubled relationship with his father.

"I was able to be there, present for the pain," he said, when the meditation session ended. "To just let it be what it was, without thinking it through."

The therapist nodded.

"Acceptance is what it was," he continued. "Just letting it be. Not trying to change anything."

"That's it," the therapist said. "That's it, and that's big."

This exercise in focused awareness and mental catch-and-release of emotions has become perhaps the most popular new psychotherapy technique of the past decade. Mindfulness meditation, as it is called, is rooted in the teachings of a fifth-century B.C. Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. It is catching the attention of talk therapists of all stripes, including academic researchers, Freudian analysts in private practice and skeptics who see all the hallmarks of another fad.

For years, psychotherapists have worked to relieve suffering by reframing the content of patients' thoughts, directly altering behavior or helping people gain insight into the subconscious sources of their despair and anxiety. The promise of mindfulness meditation is that it can help patients endure flash floods of emotion during the therapeutic process -- and ultimately alter reactions to daily experience at a level that words cannot reach. "The interest in this has just taken off," said Zindel Segal, a psychologist at the Center of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, where the above group therapy session was taped. "And I think a big part of it is that more and more therapists are practicing some form of contemplation themselves and want to bring that into therapy."

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Comments

[joekonn]

Oh, Lord Moon, please tell us how things are, as we certainly can't have any direct experience without your confirmation. Guruji please advise me!

[Jonahson]

Pt.3
Warning! It is important to understand the foundation of Buddhism before practicing. For example the Eight Fold Noble Path if taken, prevents fresh formation of unwholesome mental impression. In cases of soldiers with extreme stress or guilt. They must be well prepared before facing their karma. During the release of extreme emotion they may experience stress, here they must have patient and not get involved with recyling the emotion. They have to let karma take effect(release of stored emotion) and must understand that they are not to be blamed. Regret to learn but learn not to regret :- Learn from your mistake and do whatever is possible e.g. apologise etc. to appease the person you have hurt but don't carry this blame for the rest of your life. Whatever you have done, it is through ignorance. During the release of extreme emotion they may experience stress, here they must have patient and not get involved with recylcling the emotions. It is better to have a meditation master to guide you .
May you all be successful in overcoming your sufferings. May you all find peace and happiness.

[Jonahson]

Pt.2
All things are impermanent, the pain wll ease, when it does, move closer to the source of pain and stay with the pain. You can actually see or know the cause of your pain if you open up your mind window once in contact with the pain but I do not encourage this practice for the beginners.
Be patient. Stay with the pain as long as you need. It will ease. It is important not to involve the mind in duality when in contact with pain or any phenomena.
Warning! In case you need to break off your practice half way please do practice loving kindness before geting out of that state. In fact it is good to practice loving kindness before you close your practice.
You need to practice every time the pain occurs. The pain will wear out eventually. The idea is to let the trapped energy run its course.

[Jonahson]

Pt. 1
I hope the following infomation will be useful to you:- There are many causes of migraine. It cold be trigger by allergy, stress, aneurysm, hypertension and even growth. I shall describe a treatment that I practice and proven useful for stress related migraine.
Causes of stress:- Strong emotions and stored emotions.
Strong emotions are what we create when we react to internal and external phenomenon. Stored emotions, commonly called memory, is the result of captured enegy due to our strong emotional reactions( as to the 2nd part of the dependent origination karmic violation).
Method:- What we put in must come out eventually 'every action equals a similar reaction".
In case of trapped energy, the energy need to be dissipated, that is, let nature take its course. Energy cannot be destroyed but it can be converted .
When migraine occurs find a quiet place free from disturbances. Free your mind from all activies including fear and thoughts. Put your mind into equanimity. Relax and focus on a point, you may focus on your breathing in and out from a point .
Once you have focus move the focus to the point of pain gradually. The idea is to move to the most painful part and not fight or run away from the pain.
Do it gradually, if the pain is very intense do not go into it directly but stay at the vinicity of the pain. Stay with the pain without reacting to it.

[mergina]

Meditation is marvelous, when you do not suffer from it.

[LordMoon]

For years psychotherapists have tried to find a way to sell something that's free.

Meditation, cannot be sold unless it's call something else.

So you will find meditation being called many different names. Some are meditation, some are not, and some are attempts at Franchising something, turning it in to McMind.

Mindfulness cannot ever be meditation, because meditation exists only when the mind does not.

[dgscol]

Practice and early guidance is useful. Meditation can help one's internal state, but it does not solve one's problems. It can be a viable alternative to medication, though. Also- Buddhism has nothing to do with the mindfulness. It is practicable simply as a mental exercise.