You dont have to be super spiritual or live somewhere in the mountains to meditate. A lot of people still think that the practice is just not for them, but it very well could be. Meditation is generally considered to be beneficial for everyone, and really, its easier than it looks.With our busy lives and schedules, it can be difficult to learn how to shut down your brain for a few minutes every day. Downloading some apps that guide you through meditatingcan be helpful when youre first dipping your toes in the practice.

There are many different kinds of meditation.However, it doesnt matter which type you choosemeditation is good for you any way you do it. Its best known for reducing stress, but it can also help you sleep better, relieve some chronic pain, keep your energy up throughout the day, and improve your focus at work. Basically, meditation is like giving your brain a much-needed nap.

We rounded up some meditation apps to get you started.

Headspace is a good place to start for beginners, but theres also tons of features for the meditation guru. Their basic package is free and will help you through 10-minute meditation routines and track your progress. Once you start craving meditation, there are other packages that you can choose for a more tailored experience, like if you want something for before bedtime or to get your through high anxiety moments.

This one costs $2.99 for the Android version and $4.99 for iPhone, but its totally worth it. You can choose guided meditation tracks that last just a few minutes, if you need to calm down quickly after rush hour, or for half of an hour, if you want to chill out at home. You can track your progress and tell the app exactly what youre doing in real time so you get the kind of meditation you need.

The Calm app will help you meditate or fall asleep using their free or paid tracks, depending on how serious you want to get. If you dont want to use their Daily Calm track or feel like you dont need a voice to walk you through it, you can also choose the Timed Meditation track and quiet your mind your own way.

Smiling Mind is a free app that introduces you to meditation with free exercises. Even cooler? There are specific sessions for people of all ages, as young as seven years old. Whether you have a kid at home and want them to take a time out now and again (or join you in some quiet awareness) or teach at a school and want to introduce a meditation practice, this is your new best friend. Studies show that when meditation replaces punishment like detentions, children of all ages respond better.

Aura is a top-rated app in both the Apple and Android app stores for a reason. The free app lets you choose from 3-minute mediation sessions, so you can stop and get calm AF whenever you want and you wont even be late for your next meeting (and if you are, youll be blissfully mindful and aware of it).

Whether you want to relax or just be kinder to yourself and others, Stop, Breathe & Think has meditation sessions to help you get there. You just have to check in and tell the app how youre doing, stop and do some breathing exercises, track your progress and moodsso you can start be mindful of how and when you feel whatever you feeland get back to life feeling refreshed.

Insight Timer not only has free guided and timed meditation sessions, but there are also discussion groups where you can talk to other people, share your experiences, and maybe get some meditation tips. Did we mention its totally free?

Once you find an app you love and dedicate some time to mindfulness every day, youll start noticing the difference. Life doesnt get easier, and youll likely still lose your patience and get frustrated, but you might be able to get through it just a little calmer.

More here:

7 meditation apps that will take your stress from a ten to zen - Yahoo Lifestyle

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Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market Industry Analysis and Drive Growth By 2027 - Markets Gazette 24

It takes just 20 minutes of calmly staying in the present moment to change the brain and boost a persons response to mistakes, one of the biggest studies of meditation so far has found.

But its not focusing on the breath the kind of mindfulness practice most people are familiar with but a different type of meditation that really made a difference.

Meditative practice like this is probably a persons best bet to improve cognitive performance, co-author Jason Moser, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, told TODAY.

It could possibly boost peoples attention and help them minimize mistakes down the road, added lead author Jeff Lin, an MSU psychology doctoral candidate.

The chance of us making a similar mistake in the future is largely predicated on our ability to recognize our errors in the present, Lin said.

Its not unreasonable to think that maybe with prolonged meditation practice, it would actually help us be less error-prone in daily life.

As people go on about their daily lives, their brains are constantly keeping track of their actions so that they can get through the day without making mistakes, hurting themselves and ultimately dying, Moser said.

Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY.

This system is monitoring basic things like: Did you grab the right keys? Are you walking in the right direction? Did you make the right turn at the traffic lights? The brain is trying to make sure our actions are giving us the results we want.

When people make a mistake, theres a surge of electrical activity in middle front part of brain about half a second afterwards. Its basically the mind recognizing, Hey, I have made a mistake.

That brain wave is really indexing how conscious you are of your mistake how much youre really making sense of it and using that information going forward, Moser said.

It turned out 20 minutes of meditation boosted this signal, indicating people were registering their mistakes more deeply, paying more attention to them and recognizing what they were, he noted.

The study, recently published in Brain Sciences, involved open monitoring meditation described as taking notice of present-moment feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations in an open, nonjudgmental manner.

Rather than focusing on the breath, participants were encouraged to be completely open and aware of any sensations and experiences they were having at that moment.

To understand how this practice would impact a persons ability to respond to mistakes, 206 women all meditation novices who hadnt done the practice before were randomly assigned to one of two groups:

Afterwards, both groups performed a simple computerized test designed to measure their ability to pay attention and deal with distractions. When people do this 500 times, they're bound to make mistakes, Lin said.

As they took the distraction test, all of the participants wore caps that measured the electrical activity in their brains.

The results showed women who went through the meditation had a stronger error detection signal in their brains than the other participants. It was remarkable to see a measurable effect on brain processing after only a one 20-minute session of meditation, Moser said. The results would likely apply to men, too, he added.

The researchers dont know how long the effect lasts, but said a consistent practice perhaps every day is probably a good idea.

Being "mindful" can be an abstract concept for people, so a guided practice may be a better way to go, Moser said.

Try out a free meditation app, or follow this link for the exact same open monitoring meditation session the study participants listened to.

Give it a shot, Moser said. You can at least feel good that the immediate impact of it will be positive your brain will be processing and paying more attention to things.

A. Pawlowski is a TODAY contributing editor focusing on health news and features. Previously, she was a writer, producer and editor at CNN.

Read more from the original source:

Meditation benefits: This practice may help you respond better to mistakes - TODAY

On days when you feel spacey, forgetful or tired at work, taking a 20-minute break to meditate could help you pay closer attention to tasks and ultimately make fewer mistakes, according to a new study out of Michigan State University.

Lots of successful people, from billionaire Ray Dalio to Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, swear by daily meditation. But in this new study, researchers found that listening to a guided meditation for just 20 minutes is enough to make an impact even if you've never meditated before.

For the experiment, 212 undergraduate college students with no meditation experience followed along with a guided meditation recorded by Steven Hickman, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founding director of the University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness. The meditation instructed participants to notice the feelings, thoughts and physical sensations that arose in the moment and take note of them without judgement.

After meditating, participants completed a quiz on a computer that was intended to distract them and test their concentration. Throughout the experiment, participants were wearing electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, so researchers could measure their brain waves.

Researchers were looking for a specific neural signal that fires a half-second after you make a mistake, called "error positivity." They found that the strength of the "mistake" signal was stronger in people who had meditated, meaning they were able to recognize and correct their slip-ups.

"It makes us feel more confident in what mindfulness meditation might really be capable of for performance and daily functioning right there in the moment," Jason Moser, co-study author said in a press release.

The specific meditation that the participants listened to is also unique. Unlike other meditation styles, such as mindfulness meditation, which have you pay attention to your breath, this type coaches you to pay close attention to everything going on in your body and mind, including your thoughts, Jeff Lin, co-author explained in a press release. "The goal is to sit quietly and pay close attention to where the mind travels without getting too caught up in the scenery," he said.

Listen to the meditation below and see if you feel sharper:

Continue reading here:

Science says listening to this meditation can help you make fewer mistakes - CNBC

To deal with chronic pain, Pamela Bobb's morning routine now includes stretching and meditation at home in Fairfield Glade, Tenn. Bobb says this mind-body awareness intervention has greatly reduced the amount of painkiller she needs. Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

To deal with chronic pain, Pamela Bobb's morning routine now includes stretching and meditation at home in Fairfield Glade, Tenn. Bobb says this mind-body awareness intervention has greatly reduced the amount of painkiller she needs.

There's new evidence that mind-body interventions can help reduce pain in people who have been taking prescription opioids and lead to reductions in the drug's dose.

In a study published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers reviewed evidence from 60 studies that included about 6,400 participants. They evaluated a range of strategies, including meditation, guided imagery, hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy.

"Mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy and clinical hypnosis appear to be the most useful for reducing pain," says study author Eric Garland, a professor at the University of Utah. The reductions in dose were modest overall, he says, but the study is a signal that this approach is beneficial.

And Pamela Bobb, who lives in Fairfield Glade, Tenn., can attest to the benefits. She's 56 and has endured decades of pain. "Oh, I had been suffering terribly for years," Bobb tells us.

Bobb was born with a malformation in her pelvis that led to pain. Over the span of two decades, she underwent more than a dozen major surgeries, yet none offered relief. "When you get to that point, you can't see beyond the pain," Bobb says. "You're just surviving." Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

Bobb was born with a malformation in her pelvis that led to pain. Over the span of two decades, she underwent more than a dozen major surgeries, yet none offered relief. "When you get to that point, you can't see beyond the pain," Bobb says. "You're just surviving."

She was born with a malformation in her pelvis that led to pain. Over the span of two decades, she underwent more than a dozen major surgeries, yet none of them gave her relief; each procedure left more scar tissue and nerve damage.

"I felt desperate, " Bobb says. "I didn't feel like I had any control."

She couldn't do basic things such as cook or take care of her family.

"I was completely debilitated," Bobb says. "And when you get to that point, you can't see beyond the pain you're just surviving."

She was put on high doses of opioids to ease the constant pain, but then a few years ago she thought, "There just has to be a better way." Ultimately, she found help at a clinic that specializes in complementary and alternative medicine.

"We offer a variety of things, explains Wayne Jonas, a physician who treated Bobb at the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital Pain Clinic in Fairfax County, Va.

"We offer physical therapy, behavioral medicine, acupuncture, yoga and mind body practices," Jonas says. None of these is a cure-all, he adds, but the idea is that there are lots of tools in the toolkit for people to try.

Jonas is a longtime proponent of an integrated, mind-body approach to treating pain and the author of How Healing Works, a book that describes the science behind these approaches.

He says that when someone is in severe pain, their body's normal defenses are down.

Pamela Bobb harvests some mint from her indoor herb and lemon garden at her home in Fairfield Glade, Tenn. Changes in her diet lots more greens, fruits, vegetables and herbs and spices that reduce inflammation are also part of her pain-reduction routine. Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

Pamela Bobb harvests some mint from her indoor herb and lemon garden at her home in Fairfield Glade, Tenn. Changes in her diet lots more greens, fruits, vegetables and herbs and spices that reduce inflammation are also part of her pain-reduction routine.

"It bumps up a variety of dysfunctions," Jonas says. Pain increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increases inflammatory processes in the body, too. "This starts a continual negative feedback loop that produces more pain," Jonas explains.

It's not a surprise, he says, that techniques such as meditation or yoga can be helpful. "If you engage in a deep mindfulness and relaxation it will counter those stress responses," Jonas says.

Think of meditation as a form of mental exercise.

"It's almost like weightlifting for your brain," says Garland. Just as curling a dumbbell strengthens the bicep, he says, "meditation is almost a way of, sort of curling the dumbbell of the mind to strengthen the mind's self control."

And this can change the way the brain perceives the input from the body. "If you can change the way the brain perceives signals from the body you can actually change the experience of pain," Garland says.

But there's a trick here: Learning to meditate takes time, effort and some training. It's more complicated than swallowing a pill. Pamela Bobb has stuck with it. She has tried a bunch of these alternative mind-body strategies, including acupuncture and biofeedback, and now starts every morning with a meditation practice.

"It's 4:45 in the morning and I've just awakened," she says in a recording she made of her practice, so I could listen in. She sounds centered, and calm. "I'm allowing my body to feel as relaxed as it possibly can."

After several surgeries were unable to alleviate her pain, Bobb couldn't do basic things such as cook or take care of her family, she says. "I was completely debilitated." Incorporating mind-body techniques have completely changed that, she says. Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

After several surgeries were unable to alleviate her pain, Bobb couldn't do basic things such as cook or take care of her family, she says. "I was completely debilitated." Incorporating mind-body techniques have completely changed that, she says.

Bobb has also overhauled her diet, now eating a lot more greens, fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices with anti-inflammatory properties. On the day we talk, she's making a spinach saute with ginger, mint and rosemary.

"I swear you can smell each of those spices. They smell so good!" she says.

Bobb is so at ease now that, just hanging out with her, you'd never guess all that she has endured. And she feels so much better, she says.

"It's empowering to [have] come all this way," Bobb says. She says she's made a fundamental transition in her mind: Instead of waiting for doctors to heal her with surgeries or injections, she now realizes that many of these alternative therapies have empowered her to help herself.

Pamela Bobb still takes medicine to help manage her pain and other health issues, but she cites meditation as key to helping her reduce the opioid dose to 25% of the amount she once took. Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

Pamela Bobb still takes medicine to help manage her pain and other health issues, but she cites meditation as key to helping her reduce the opioid dose to 25% of the amount she once took.

"So much of it does lie within me," she says.

Bobb accepts that she may never be completely pain-free, but now feels she has control over the discomfort.

She has reduced her opioid dose by 75%. She says she still benefits from a small maintenance dose of the medication. And her doctors say that for her, the benefits of the medicine outweigh potential harms.

In the midst of an opioid epidemic, Bobb's story may seem unlikely. But many people who have taken opioids for a prolonged period have similar stories. And last month, the Department of Health and Human Services released new guidelines urging doctors to take a deliberate approach to lowering doses of opioids for chronic pain patients.

The guidelines point to the potential harms of forcing patients off the medications.

"The goal is not necessarily to get off of all opioids but to reduce it to a dose [that is] safe," Adm. Brett P. Giroir, a physician and assistant secretary for health at HHS, told NPR. We asked him about Bobb's case. He is not her doctor, but after hearing her story he said, "The fact that she's been able to reduce her opioids substantially is a success story."

Giroir says this kind of comprehensive approach that includes alternative therapies "could be a model for what we want to do nationwide." He points out that earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed covering acupuncture for Medicare patients who have chronic lower back pain.

Bobb massages her feet with sweet-smelling lavender oil another part of her morning routine. Successfully mitigating long-term pain, she finds, takes all of the tools in the toolkit. Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

Bobb massages her feet with sweet-smelling lavender oil another part of her morning routine. Successfully mitigating long-term pain, she finds, takes all of the tools in the toolkit.

As the evidence accumulates, Giroir says, there will be more attention placed on covering alternative therapies.

A 2017 Gallup Poll found that 78% of people would prefer to try other ways to address their physical pain before they take pain medication.

And doctors groups such as the American College of Physicians recommend that doctors offer more nonpharmacological treatments to pain patients, such as those who have chronic lower back pain.

Yet, a paper published last year finds that most insurers have not adopted policies that are consistent with these guidelines, and many don't pay for coverage of these services. An accompanying editorial argues that it's time for that to change.

It's clear that when it comes to tackling pain, it takes all of the tools in the toolkit. And when it comes to opioids, the approach needn't be all or nothing. Bobb says she has learned that, for her, the combination of medicine plus mind-body therapies works best.

Originally posted here:

Chronic Pain Eased With Meditation And Lower Doses Of Opioids : Shots - Health News - NPR

In todays stressful world, mindfulnessa type of popular spirituality that strives to focus on the present momentpromises to soothe away the anxiety and stress of modern life. The internet is full of popular cure-all mindfulness apps targeting everyone from busy urban professionals to dieters, those suffering from insomnia, and even children.

We are scholars of Buddhism who specialize in social media research. In August of 2019, we searched on Apples App Store and Google Play and found over 500 apps associated with Buddhism. The majority of the apps centered on the practice of mindfulness.

Do these apps truly promote Buddhist ideals or are they a product of a lucrative consumer industry?

As it is practiced in the U.S. today, mindfulness meditation focuses on being intensely aware, without any sort of judgment, of what one is sensing and feeling in the given moment. Mindfulness practice has been shown to counter the tendency in many of us to spend too much time planning and problem solving, which can be stressful.

Mindfulness practices, as pursued by the Buddhist apps, involve guided meditation, breathing exercises and other forms of relaxation. Clinical tests show that mindfulness relieves stress, anxiety, pain, depression, insomnia, and hypertension. However, there have been few studies of mindfulness apps.

The current popular understanding of mindfulness is derived from the Buddhist concept of sati, which describes being aware of ones body, feelings, and other mental states.

In early Buddhist texts mindfulness meant not only paying attention but also remembering what the Buddha taught, so that one could discern between skillful and unskillful thoughts, feelings, and actions. This would ultimately lead to liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

For example, the Buddhist text Satipatthana Sutta describes not only being mindful of breath and body, but also comparing ones body to a corpse in a cemetery to appreciate the arising and ceasing of the body.

One is mindful that the body exists, just to the extent necessary for knowledge and awareness. And one remains detached, grasping at nothing in the world, the sutra reads.

Here mindfulness enables one to appreciate impermanence, not become attached to material things, and strive to attain greater awareness so that one can ultimately become enlightened.

Early Buddhist mindfulness practitioners were those who criticized mainstream societal values and cultural norms such as bodily beauty, family ties, and material wealth.

Mindfulness apps, on the other hand, encourage people to cope with and accommodate to society. They overlook the surrounding causes and conditions of suffering and stress, which may be political, social or economic.

Mindfulness apps are part of a massive and lucrative industry valued at roughly $130 million.

Two apps, Calm and Headspace, claim nearly 70% of the overall market share. These apps cater to a wide audience, which includes religious consumers as well as the growing number of Americans who consider themselves spiritual but not religious.

Americans spend over five hours each day glued to their mobile devices. Nearly 80% of Americans check their smartphones within 15 minutes of waking up. The apps provide a way to do meditation while on the go.

The fact that Buddhist apps exist is not surprising, as Buddhism has always been skillful at using new media technologies to spread its message. The oldest known printed book, for example, is a Chinese copy of The Diamond Sutra, a Sanskrit Buddhist text that dates to the ninth century.

Are these apps merely repackaging of ancient Buddhism in new digital wrappers?

There is no doubt that Buddhist apps are a reflection of real social distress. But, in our assessment, mindfulness, when stripped of all its religious elements, may distort understandings of Buddhism.

A core aspect of Buddhism is the concept of no-self: the belief that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul, or other essence. In promoting an individualistic approach to religion, then, Buddhist apps may well rub against the very grain of Buddhist practice.

Indeed, our findings show that Buddhist meditation apps are not a cure that relieves suffering in the world, but more like an opiate that hides the real symptoms of the precarious and stressful state in which many people find themselves today.

In that case, Buddhist apps, rather than curing the anxiety created by our smartphones, just make us more addicted to them and, in the end, even more stressed.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Excerpt from:

Meditation apps miss the point of Buddhist mindfulness - Quartzy

What meditation is may differ from what has been sold to you. The more you may try various methods, the more difficulty you may have meditating at all. You may have given up, have gotten frustrated, or may now cage yourself in jail of belief that you cannot meditate at all. If this is you, keep reading.

Meditation is not about clearing your mind, and they cannot be guided. Meditation is not a trance though people may use trance states to do it. Otherworldly Imrama or Echtrae are not meditations either.

Meditation is the act of just being while turning your mind toward itself. Its turning the mind toward itself with which people have the most trouble.

Meditation is a breakage of the cycle of doing to provide a moment of non-doing and just being.

Out of the parts of the self, the interaction between the mind and body seem most interesting to meditation and right-living. The body is flat seeming structural because it has one fickle will that goes to and fro. When we feel fear, for instance, we group the flat phenomena of a certain set of physiology into a hierarchy of feelings and emotions.

The best way to meditate is to simply close your eyes and watch your internal phenomenon without trying to do anything. Close your eyes, breathe, watch your breath. Listen to the sounds, feel the pain in your feet or back. Give attention to each new phenomenon or thing that happens to you. Thats it. As simple as it sounds, it isnt easy.

The self will defend its normal existence, it doesnt want to quiet down. Itll introduce thoughts, pain, itches, make you fall asleep. The important thing is to not let the will of the body win. If you fall asleep, meditate again upon waking. If you itch, scratch it until gone and start again. Youre trying to beat your horse-mind into submission. The real trick is accepting the difficult path of winning. I have severe adult ADHD and I won against my horse-mind.

People try to play whack-a-mole with their thoughts to get them under control, but you cannot relax or focus the racing mind as required in magic and druid practice by doing more racing.

If you get caught up in your thoughts, return to watching and listening. The more of these returns you make, the more successful youll become.

The breath is the key. It sits at the crossroads between watching and doing. It is something you do, but at the same time, it is something that happens to you. Here is a seam in the self from which to start rooting deeper awareness.

When you deeply meditate, and your focus and awareness become greater and greater while doing it, your breath will control itself. There is no need to control it when youre not going after trance states. In fact, let it run out and let your body fill your lungs, do not voluntarily inhale, let it occur to you.

The breath and watching the five senses in introspection is the road to Segais.

Link:

Three Secrets About Meditation that No One Told You - Patheos

Kiley Jon Clark rings the Tibetan bell and the Buddhist meditation practice begins.

Sitting cross-legged on red cushions placed on the floor of Ayres House, a residential facility for youth leaving the correctional system, seven young men seem a tad skeptical. For them, Buddhist meditation is probably about as normal and comfortable as trying to breathe air on Mars.

But Clark is low-key, funny even. This is simply about calming your mind and being in the present, he tells them.

Meditation changed me, he said. My mind used to always race. I had anxiety and depression. Now Im able to sit back and watch things unfold, without having to react out of fear and worry.

For the next hour, Clark and fellow members of Woke-House, a San Antonio Buddhist meditation group, take the young men through various Buddhist chants.

Then they focus on their breathing for eight minutes. They walk slowly around the main room of Ayres House, being mindful of each step. They dialogue about the practice of meditation. At the center of the circle is a vase with dried flowers, electric candles, a figure of the Buddha, a stick of incense.

Clark makes it clear theres no such thing as a dumb question.

So, is this like what those people who shave their heads and wear robes do? one young man asks at the beginning.

Yes, those are monks and nuns, Clark replies. We dont have to do that, were just practitioners. I just shaved my head because Im going bald.

Clark, a Tibetan Buddhist, first brought meditation to San Antonios homeless population in 2007, through a street program. Now a peer support specialist at the San Antonio Clubhouse, a place for adults with serious mental illness, he realized in March that a second-floor room, unused on the weekends, would make a great meditation space.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Clubhouse helps members cope

In early March, he and others opened Woke-House, where they hold meditation practice on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Its open to people of all faiths, or no faith. Clark quips its for the Buddhish.

A native of Floresville not exactly a hotbed of Buddhism Clark, 47, came to the practice after he was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Hes also in recovery from alcoholism through the 12 Steps, he said.

Patty Garza, community and family relations coordinator at Ayres House, heard him speak at Celebration Circle, a spiritual group she belongs to. Then she visited Woke-House and realized it would be beneficial for the residents of Ayres House.

On ExpressNews.com: Celebrating in a circle

Our kids have all been through tons of trauma, she said. Theyve been away from their families for a long time. Theyre in pain, theyre angry, theyre sad. A majority of our youth have a hard time managing their emotions.

The home provides housing and services for males ages 10 to 19 most are around 16 or 17 whove done time in high-restriction facilities for various crimes, such as drug possession, burglary, robbery and other felony offenses.

They need a place to transition before returning to the community, where they will be on juvenile parole, Garza said. Some residents are foster kids, who may end up getting stuck at the halfway house until the state can find an approved home. Some may stay at Ayres House until they age out of the foster care system.

While at Ayres, they do community service, continue their education, earn GEDs, take vocational courses. Some have jobs. They also receive trauma-informed therapy and group therapy, and learn independent living skills. Some receive drug and alcohol treatment or sexual behavior treatment.

The facility houses up to 24 youth, who typically stay about a month.

On Sunday afternoon, a football game on the widescreen TV in a spacious main room was switched off so everyone could plop down on the red cushions.

This was the second time members of Woke-House had visited Ayres. As before, the young residents seemed a bit tentative at first, smiling shyly when Clark rang the bell three times and asked them to bow to the Buddha figure which, Clark told them, was purchased at Ross Dress for Less.

We dont worship the Buddha, he said. Hes just a dude who woke up.

After the session was over, a few of the young men seemed surprised by how much they got out of it.

I was kind of stressed out sitting there, but then I kind of opened up, and the stress went away, an 18-year-old said. Im gonna add this to my social skills.

Another young man, 17, said the meditation made him feel calm as well.

I realized I dont need to do drugs to handle my issues, he said. I can just put my mind to it.

At the start of the session, one young man sat on the opposite side of the room, warily watching the proceedings.

By the end, when it was time to talk about the experience, hed wandered over and sat down on a cushion.

To learn more about Woke-House, visit http://www.woke-house.org

Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, cultural trends and interesting people and goings-on around San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as all across South Texas. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje

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Bringing meditation and calm to youth leaving the correctional system - San Antonio Express-News

If you are forgetful or you tend to make mistakes when in a hurry, this new study from Michigan State Universitythe largest of its kind to datefound that meditation could help you to become less error-prone.

The research, published in Brain Sciences, tested how open monitoring meditation or, meditation that focuses awareness on feelings, thoughts or sensations as they unfold in ones mind and body altered brain activity in a way that suggests increased error recognition.

Peoples interest in meditation and mindfulness is outpacing what science can prove in terms of effects and benefits, said Jeff Lin, MSU psychology doctoral candidate and study co-author. But its amazing to me that we were able to see how one session of a guided meditation can produce changes to brain activity in non-meditators.

The findings suggest that different forms of meditation can have different neurocognitive effects and Lin explained that there is little research about how open monitoring meditation impacts error recognition.

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Some forms of meditation have you focus on a single object, commonly your breath, but open monitoring meditation is a bit different, Lin said. It has you tune inward and pay attention to everything going on in your mind and body. The goal is to sit quietly and pay close attention to where the mind travels without getting too caught up in the scenery.

Lin and his MSU co-authors recruited more than 200 participants to test how open monitoring meditation affected how people detected and responded to errors.

The participants, who had never meditated before, were taken through a 20-minute open monitoring meditation exercise while the researchers measured brain activity through electroencephalography, or EEG. Then, they completed a computerized distraction test.

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The EEG can measure brain activity at the millisecond level, so we got precise measures of neural activity right after mistakes compared to correct responses, Lin said. A certain neural signal occurs about half a second after an error called the error positivity, which is linked to conscious error recognition. We found that the strength of this signal is increased in the meditators relative to controls.

While the meditators didnt have immediate improvements to actual task performance, the researchers findings offer a promising window into the potential of sustained meditation.

These findings are a strong demonstration of what just 20 minutes of meditation can do to enhance the brains ability to detect and pay attention to mistakes, said study co-author Jason Moser said. It makes us feel more confident in what mindfulness meditation might really be capable of for performance and daily functioning right there in the moment.

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While meditation and mindfulness have gained mainstream interest in recent years, Lin is among a relatively small group of researchers that take a neuroscientific approach to assessing their psychological and performance effects.

Looking ahead, Lin said that the next phase of research will be to include a broader group of participants, test different forms of meditation and determine whether changes in brain activity can translate to behavioral changes with more long-term practice.

Its great to see the publics enthusiasm for mindfulness, but theres still plenty of work from a scientific perspective to be done to understand the benefits it can have, and equally importantly, how it actually works, Lin said. Its time we start looking at it through a more rigorous lens.

Reprinted from Michigan State University

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How Meditation Can Help You Make Fewer Mistakes, According to Largest Study of Its Kind - Good News Network

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There's no place like om.

Meditation retreats are becoming more popular as our world becomes increasingly hectic and busy. These days many travelers are looking to incorporate wellness in their vacations to maintain optimal health and emotional well-being. These retreats can offer you the guidance and inspiration you may be looking for in order to unplug, decompress, and find peace and harmony. Some of these programs occur in one day while others span a week or more and may even incorporate a training program. Each of these meditation destinations offer something unique to help you achieve a state of om.

Ontario Vipassana Centre

Vipassana, first taught 2,500 years ago, is one of Indias oldest forms of meditation. Ontario Vipassana Center offers practical methods of self-awareness and teaches you how to find life balance in its ten-day meditation retreat. This program includes nine days of silence where you also refrain from any actions that are considered harmful to yourself or anyone else. You will observe your breath and calm your mind while practicing Anapana meditation and then move into Vipassana, which is the meditation of mental purification by insight. The retreat is located about an hour from Toronto in Egbert, Ontario.

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Wat Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage

If a trip to Thailand is on your radar, Wat Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage offers a ten-day silent meditation retreat on the first of each month. All talks and instructions are given in English, and registration is in person only. If this schedule doesnt work for you, its possible to visit the main monastery at Suan Mokkh between retreats and do your own practice. People attend from all over the world to experience various aspects of the Buddhas teaching. The retreat offers simple living conditions in close proximity with nature.

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Bali Eco Stay

Over the years Bali has become a favorite destination for travelers looking to unwind and surround themselves in paradise off the beaten path. Bali Eco Stay is a green sanctuary located in the heart of Bali where you can truly connect with nature. There are stunning open-air overwater bungalows with views of rice paddies, mountains and stunning forests. If you are already part of a retreat group this is the ideal location to book, and they can be reserved for exclusive use for up to 25 people.

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Kripalu

If you love yoga then Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in the Berkshires may be your dream come true. It is situated on 100 peaceful acres in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the middle of the stunning Yokun Ridge. You can sign up for a course or presenter-lead program including Spiritual Practice and Meditation. The center offers day passes so you can arrive super early and stay until dusk, or sign up for their accommodations that are simple and comfortable in keeping with the tradition of retreat-style housing.

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Shamballah Yoga Retreats

If you have always wanted to combine meditation with surfing you need to visit Shamballah Yoga Retreat in Sintra, Portugal. The Surf, Yoga and Meditation Retreat includes surf lessons, yoga classes, guided meditations and delicious healthy meals.Their meditation sessions are aimed at anyone who is seeking balance, peace, clarity and happiness. Accommodations are included and located just a short walk from the exquisite coastline in Sintras National Park. Guided walks, forest therapy, sound journeys and Pilates are also available. The closest airport to Shamballah is in Lisbon, some 25 miles away.

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Lama Zopa blesses dogs at Tushita Meditation Centre.

India is of course a natural fit for meditation and Tushita Meditation Center is perfect for the study and practice of Buddhism.The philosophies originate from the Tibetan Mahayana tradition. If you want to learn the teachings of the Buddha and put them into practice, courses here aim to set you on this path. The center also offers group retreats and drop-in sessions. Tushita Meditation Centre is located on a mountain slope surrounded by forest and the Dhauladhar range near the town of McLeod Ganj. Their meditations are based on the tradition of Lama Tsong Khapa of Tibet.

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Vipassana Hawaii

The Buddha teachings at Vipassana Hawaii stem from the Pali Canon of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The aim is total happiness and peace through mindful presence as it relates to your life. The retreat is located on 30 acres in the district ofbeautiful North Kohala, which is at thenorthern tip ofthe island. They offer several programs in accordance with Buddhist Theravadic teachings including Sunday meditation sittings in North Kohala where all are welcome, just bring a cushion.

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The Best Meditation Retreats In The World - Forbes