Dhyana
(Meditation)
“Dhyana
is the continuous flow of cognition toward that object.”
Yoga Sutras, 3:2
Meditation
is, ultimately, probably the most powerful yogic tool for
studying the mind.
Limitations
in climbing are often to do with the mind and not the body.
By
dedicating time every day to a meditation practice, the mind
can be trained to have more positive emotions , to be less
anxious and in the moment. Being aware of the mind (thoughts,
emotions, desires, actions, intentions, perceptions, expectations)
will significantly benefit your climbing.
Meditation has been found, in many scientific
research studies, to reduce anxiety
and increase positive emotions.
Research
has shown that the left side of the frontal part of the brain
becomes activated when a person feels positive emotions. Meditation
also produces the same affect, increasing activity in this
area of the brain which is asociated with a positive emotional
state and reduced anxiety.
Meditation and Emotions
The Dalai Lama has long advocated that neuroscientists investigate
the effect of spiritual traditions, such as meditation, on
the brain. In 1991, the exiled Tibetan leader asked University
of Wisconsin professor Richard Davidson whether he would like
to study the effect meditation had on the brain. The neuroscientist’s
assent led to the groundbreaking discovery that activities
like meditation can in fact “train” the mind to
react to situations with positive emotions. Last May, Time
magazine named Davidson one of the most 100 influential people
“who shape our world.” The director of UW’s
Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior was labeled
a “pioneer in the exciting frontier of mind-body medicine.”
Davidson told the university’s Badger Herald that meditation
“changes circulations in the brain that are critical
for the development of emotion. [Thus,] characteristics like
happiness and compassion are skills that can be trained.”
Building on his research on the connection between meditation
and mental health, Davidson said he is now studying how meditation
and other spiritual practices relate to physical health. “We’ve
shown that those circuits [that can be affected by meditation]
are also related to parts of the body that are important for
physical health,” Davidson said. http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/meditationresearch.php
The University of Wisconsin's Dr Richard
Davidson has tested the brainwaves of meditating Buddhist
monks, with extraordinary results. Testing the abbott of a
Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India with an electroencephalograph,
Davidson discovered more activity in the area of the brain
associated with positive emotions - the left prefrontal lobes
- than his laboratory had ever measured. And that wasn't only
while his subject was meditating. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/24/1058853174422.html
For each group, in addition to asking
the participants to assess how they felt, the research team
measured electrical activity in the frontal part of the brain,
an area specialized for certain kinds of emotion. Earlier
research has shown that, in people who are generally positive
and optimistic and during times of positive emotion, the left
side of this frontal area becomes more active than the right
side does. The
findings confirmed the researchers' hypothesis: the meditation
group showed an increase of activation in the left-side part
of the frontal region. This suggests that the meditation itself
produced more activity in this region of the brain.
This activity is associated with lower
anxiety and a more positive emotional state.
Brain
and Emotions Research - http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/emotion/8238.html
Mindfulness
Meditation
Mindfulness
is the quality of noticing, of being aware of what's happening
in the moment......
Dharana
(Focus) and Meditation
In
2001 Chris Sharma climbed the hardest sport climb on earth,
Realization, a 5.15a overhang in France. It took him thirty
attempts before he succeeded. He describes the climb as a
mental, not physical, challenge.
"To see the whole thing, I had to be in the moment. Meditation
is important for balance. You need to rely on yourself to
quiet the mind. I know having more of a mental calm has helped
me when I try something that’s very difficult. It makes
you realize that you’re not always going to be at your
best, because when you meditate, you’re paying close
attention to your body and how it feels. As a result, you’re
at ease when things don’t work out. You learn to appreciate
the lows, just let them happen, learn from them, and go back
and try again."
Chris Sharma
Chris
Sharma climbing Realization..........
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-200477265572892748
BRAIN
AND EMOTIONS RESEARCH
University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/emotion/8238.html
The
Dalai Lama has been interested in science for many years and
has enjoyed an ongoing dialogue with many scientists for more
than 15 years, including long friendships with the late renowned
philosopher of science Sir Karl Popper, and with physicists
Carl von Weizsäcker and the late David Bohm. He founded
the Mind and Life Institute http://www.mindandlife.org/
The vision of this centre is,
"To establish mutually respectful working collaboration
and research partnerships between modern science and Buddhism
— two of the world's most fruitful traditions for understanding
the nature of reality and promoting human well-being."
Mind and Life Institute
http://www.paulekman.com/downloadablearticles.html
