You are playing such an intense video game and are focused so intently on getting to the next level that you don’t know what is going on around you. You have no sense of time passing. You feel great. You are “in the zone.” You are experiencing flow. You are running a marathon and you …
breath in deeply: bring your mind home to your body
Breath is the gift of life - one we are used to and do not see it as such. It’s become an automatic experience on our part which, in many ways, it is. Have you ever thought about it? Do you breathe, or does the breathing happen without your conscious involvement? When you are focussed …
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seven facts about the brain that incline the mind to joy
The mind and the brain are mainly (and perhaps entirely) a single unified system Almost every – and perhaps every – subjective state is correlated with an objective, material brain state. Other than a transcendental factor – call it God, Spirit, Energy, or by whatever name – by definition, what else could be going on …
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vagal pathways: portals to compassion
Contemplative practices are conceptualized as methods that function as neural exercises enhancing vagal regulation of the autonomic nervous system. The model presented proposes that specific voluntary behaviors (e.g., breath, vocalizations, and posture), which characterize ancient rituals and form the core of contemplative practices, can trigger a physiological state mediated by vagal pathways that fosters health …
is meditation the reason this monk’s brain is eight years younger than his body?
While there's no fountain of youth, a Tibetian Buddhist monk may have tapped into the next best thing, according to an analysis showing that his 41-year-old brain actually resembles that of a 33-year-old. The monk, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (YMR), a renowned meditation practitioner and teacher, began meditating at age 9. The "extraordinary number of hours" …
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what is the nondual view and why is it important in meditation?
Typically, humans flit between dual and nondual forms of consciousness without ever knowing or detecting the difference. In this brief introduction, the critical thing to bear in mind is that we all have access to dual and nondual consciousness; both are integral to the human experience. However, it is highly problematic to recognise and then …
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what stress does to your brain
Spoiler Alert : Stress can literally cause your brain to shrink in size. We all carry an anecdote to share about how stress is affecting our sleep patterns, making us feel irritable, moody or even neglected at times. But, apart from all these oddities we face day in and day out, do you know how stress …
