Self-development tools: Eastern approaches
The brain is a truly wonderful organ. It is one of the most complex structures that exist on Earth and scientists are slowly understanding how it works. Given this premise, this post will focus on practices which aim to improve life quality through exercising the brain. Where possible, I will add scientific evidence to corroborate my claims and advice.
Empirical evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in developing a sense of well being exists [1] in structured scientific studies. However, this approach does have its critics amongst the scientific community. Qualitative research on mindfulness meditation practiced in isolation of other techniques shows that it may increase the awareness of difficult feelings and exacerbate psychological problems in a portion of individuals [2], at least in the short term. Hence, meditation, used as a sole treatment or tool, is not recommended for people suffering from a clinical mental health condition. My opinion of meditation is that it can safely be used as a long-term development tool for improving life quality, not as an acute clinical intervention tool. In addition, mindfulness meditation alone is insufficient to bring profound transformative change [3]. On the contrary, Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs) have been found to be effective treatments for a variety of psychopathologies including mood-spectrum disorders, substance-use disorders, and schizophrenia [4]. Hence, while meditation alone seems to be an insufficient condition for healing and well-being to arise in clinical conditions, BDIs are a very promising approach to treating clinical mental health problems [5].
Having discussed the merits and drawbacks of meditation practices and established that it is safe for most of the general population to engage in meditation practice, let's explore a simple, non-spiritual meditation practice, namely loving kindness meditation.
In this practice, the focus is on nurturing feelings of love, generosity, kindness and compassion towards the self and others. The practice is similar to the one described above.
Sit in a comfortable and quiet place, preferably in the same posture as above.
Establish a connection with your body by feeling present in different parts of your body in turn.
Close your eyes and spend the first section focusing on you. Imagine yourself as happy and healthy as you can be, with desirable events occuring to you.
When you feel the warm fuzzy feeling in your chest, turn your attention to others in your life. Start with people close to you. Wish them to be well, happy and free from suffering.
Finally, conclude the practice by extending these feelings and wishes to all beings.
Optional: Focus on people with whom you associate difficult feelings. Try to wish them well, imaging them as happy as they can possibly be. Accept that this part of the practice is a challenge for most of us and it may take some time to develop genuine positive feelings towards these people.
Loving kindness meditation helps us to develop more wholesome feelings. In conjunction to developing wholesome feelings, we can also increase our levels of mindfulness and concentration by adopting a Buddhist meditation practice, called Samatha meditation, by following these steps.
Sit in the position shown in the picture, preferably on a meditation cushion.
Close your eyes.
Relax the muscles of your body, keeping your back straight.
Focus your mind on the sensation of the breath.
Count from 1 to 9 in your head on the in-breath and 9 down to 1 on the outbreath. Explore counting up and down to 6, 3 and 1, making the breaths shorter. If you are able to keep your mind still on the numbers, you can transition to the next meditation step, just following the breath. You can experiment with the 4 possible breath durations from the counting exercise.
Whenever the mind wanders, notice if it was distracted by thinking or feeling and gently bring it back to the awareness of the breath flowing in and out or counting of the numbers.
Repeat this task for as long as you have set aside to do it. Any duration of time is beneficial with longer sessions becoming possible with practice.
Further stages of mindfulness exist, yet this is a good starting point.
Photo by Le Minh Phuong on Unsplash
Over time, both of these practices will help you to have a clearer, more focused and calm mind. For the full range of benefits appear, I suggest complementing meditation with Buddhist spiritual practice or alternatively a Western form of psychotherapy, like counselling or life-coaching [5]. I believe that anyone can improve their emotional well-being through enhanced self-understanding and emotional growth, resulting in increased life satisfaction. The individual's starting point is unimportant, as we can all embark on our own journeys.
Why do I recommend people consider taking inspiration from Buddhist principles? Buddhism is the religion which comes closest to being a self-development manual. It is now widely identified and accepted as a philosophy, which is powerful whether or not you believe in its deity. A recent research study [6] found that people's experiences of Buddhism consisted of:
Finding meaning: “All experiences have got so much value now”;
Buddhism as a daily ‘tool’: “I use it all the time”;
Agency: “I’m in control of my destiny”.
These collectively realisations give insight into the value that the participants draw from Buddhist philosophy and practice. So whether you are interested in learning about philosophy or therapy, I encourage you to explore your own path of self-development. In a following article, I will outline Western alternatives to the approaches discussed here.
References
[1] Wiseman, John, and Kathleen Brasher. ‘Community Wellbeing in an Unwell World: Trends, Challenges, and Possibilities’. Journal of Public Health Policy 29, no. 3 (1 September 2008): 353–66. https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2008.16.
[2] Baer, Ruth A., Gregory T. Smith, Jaclyn Hopkins, Jennifer Krietemeyer, and Leslie Toney. ‘Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness’. Assessment 13, no. 1 (March 2006): 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191105283504.
[3] Lomas, Tim, Tina Cartwright, Trudi Edginton, and Damien Ridge. ‘A Qualitative Analysis of Experiential Challenges Associated with Meditation Practice’. Mindfulness 6, no. 4 (1 August 2015): 848–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0329-8.
[4] Shonin, Edo, William Van Gordon, and Mark D. Griffiths. ‘The Emerging Role of Buddhism in Clinical Psychology: Toward Effective Integration’. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 6, no. 2 (2014): 123–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035859.
[5] Chan, Agnes S., Mei-chun Cheung, Wilson J. Tsui, Sophia L. Sze, and Dejian Shi. ‘Dejian Mind-Body Intervention on Depressive Mood of Community-Dwelling Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial’. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011, no. 1 (2011): 473961. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nep043.
[6] ‘Five Reasons Anyone Can Benefit From Psychotherapy | Psychology Today United Kingdom’. Accessed 21 October 2024. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/full-catastrophe-parenting/202406/five-reasons-anyone-can-benefit-from-psychotherapy.
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