{"id":2718,"date":"2017-03-28T21:40:44","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T01:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.music.mcgill.ca\/mpbs\/?page_id=2718"},"modified":"2017-10-12T11:49:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T15:49:33","slug":"ommmm-meditation-why-how","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.music.mcgill.ca\/mpbs\/ommmm-meditation-why-how\/","title":{"rendered":"OMMMm. Meditation? Why?…How?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cHaving no expectations, I was astonished at the effects. My life immediately improved. I started eating more. I began to carry a water bottle around. My personal relationships improved, and I now have a new zest for life. Meditating everyday has led me to find old passions that have been forgotten\u2026my enjoyment of music has increased dramatically\u201d
\n<\/em>Matthew
\n______<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the regular practice of Ascension-Meditation, I have been able to stop taking antidepressants and sleep medication, and gain a balance in my life. But more important, I have become literally addicted to the peaceful state of mind…\u201d
\n<\/em>Simon<\/p>\n

These are statements of participants of a five-week meditation course, which I taught at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montreal, in February\/March 2017. The participants learned the techniques of Ascension Meditation.\u00a0What are these declarations based on? Beliefs? Wishful imagination? Facts? Could meditation have such a deep impact on a person\u2019s life after such a short time? If so, is there an explanation?
\nThe intention of this blog is to bring some light to these questions and link my personal experience as a musician, meditator and meditation teacher with scientific evidence and practical solutions.
\nAlexander Freund, Montreal, April 2017<\/p>\n

[toggle title=”Meditation and scientific research”]
\nAccording to Lin et al. (2007) more than 1500 publications have showed numerous\u00a0psychological and physiological effects of meditation.
\nKenny (2005) talks about more than 2000 studies that show the benefits of meditation, e.g. improving awareness and concentration and as coping strategy for anxiety and depression.
\n[\/toggle]
\nMeditation has become a very hot topic. Why?\u00a0One word:<\/p>\n

STRESS.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[toggle title=”What is stress?”]
\nAccording to the Centre for Studies on Human Stress (CSHS)<\/a>\u00a0we all secrete stress hormones when\u00a0faced with (or anticipating) a situation that is either novel, unpredictable, threatens our ego, or lowers our sense of control.<\/p>\n

N<\/i><\/b>OVELTY –\u00a0Something you have not experienced before<\/i>
\n<\/i><\/b>U<\/i><\/b>NPREDICTABILITY –\u00a0Something you had no way of knowing it would occur<\/i>
\n<\/i><\/b>T<\/i><\/b>HREAT TO THE EGO – Something that calls your competence as a person into question<\/i>
\n<\/i><\/b>S<\/i><\/b>ENSE OF CONTROL LOWERED – Something that makes you feel you had little or no control over the situation<\/i><\/p>\n

– That\u2019s why sometimes we just go N.U.T.S.<\/em><\/p>\n

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[2]<\/p>\n

[\/toggle]<\/p>\n

It is an issue, which so unpleasantly connects all of us. We live in the age of smartphones, tablets and social media; times with unbearable amounts of communication, 20-30 or more emails per day with the sender\u2019s expectation to be answered within 10 minutes. The virtue of the Western world is to produce \u201cwinners\u201d, \u201cdoers\u201d and \u201cachievers\u201d, every day\u2019s pace is fast, we rush through the increasing competition for skills, grades, academic titles and gathering of opportunities to build up a curriculum in order to be on top of the list for the merciless job hunt.
\nCareer, grants, success and reputation seem to be bigger priorities than wellbeing, health and happiness or simply being at peace.<\/p>\n

[infobox color=”#678250″ textcolor=”#ffffff”]<\/p>\n

The glorious motto for our overachieving society is \u201cWork hard!\u201d – What happened to \u201cEnjoy\u201d?
\nWhat happened to “Relax”?<\/p>\n

[\/infobox]<\/p>\n

Society is a reflection of the educational system as well as education is a reflection of society. As this blog is part of a university research project, let\u2019s have a look into our environment as students and professionals:<\/p>\n

The rates for anxiety-mood disorders among college students are higher than in the general population while psychological distress is associated with disability and lower academic achievement (Stallman<\/a>, 2010).
\nThe study of Kitzrow<\/a> (2009) states an increase in the severity of mental health problems among students. Eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, insomnia, depression, anxiety and even suicide attempts are increasing psychological and behavioral issues.<\/p>\n

The 2016 Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors Annual Survey <\/a>reported an increase in anxiety and depression between 2012 and 2016 (image).<\/p>\n

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[toggle title=”More Anxiety among musicians”]
\nA very recent study (Vaag, 2015<\/a>) compared the symptoms of anxiety, depression and psychological stress of 1,607 Norwegian musicians with those of 2,550 workers of the general Norwegian workforce. Psychological distress was reported in 18% of the musicians in comparison to 8% of the workforce, which indicates that anxiety and depression were significantly more prevalent among musicians.
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It seems obvious that more and more people become aware<\/em> of the necessity for a permanent and effective solution and coping strategy for stress and anxiety.<\/p>\n

Awareness – Mindfulness<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Awareness means to be conscious about\u00a0something.
\nMindfulness<\/strong> \u2013 a word, which increasingly pops up in publications. Mindfulness actually means awareness.
\n[tabs]<\/p>\n

[tab title=”MINDFULNESS”]<\/p>\n

The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al., 2006<\/a>) measures five factors of mindfulness:<\/p>\n

[\/tab]
\n[tab title=”OBSERVING<\/em>“]<\/p>\n

\u201cOBSERVING – defined in terms of noticing or attending to\u00a0internal and external experiences\u201d (Baer et al, 2006<\/a>)<\/p>\n

[\/tab]
\n[tab title=”DESCRIBING<\/em>“]<\/p>\n

“DESCRIBING \u2013 defined in\u00a0terms of labeling internal experiences with words\u201d (Baer et al., 2006<\/a>)<\/p>\n

[\/tab]
\n[tab title=”ACTING WITH AWARENESS<\/em>“]<\/p>\n

“ACTING WITH AWARENESS \u2013 defined in terms of attending to one\u2019s activities of the moment (opposite of acting on automatic pilot)\u201d (Baer et al., 2006<\/a>)<\/p>\n

[\/tab]
\n[tab title=”NON-JUDGING OF INNER EXPERIENCE<\/em>“]<\/p>\n

“NON-JUDGING OF INNER EXPERIENCE \u2013 <\/em>defined in terms of taking a no evaluative stance toward thoughts and feelings\u201d (Baer et al., 2006<\/a>)<\/p>\n

[\/tab]
\n[tab title=”NON-REACTIVITY TO INNER EXPERIENCE<\/em>“]<\/p>\n

“NON-REACTIVITY TO INNER EXPERIENCE \u2013 <\/em>defined in terms\u00a0of allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go, without getting caught up in or carried away by them\u201d (Baer et al., 2006<\/a>)<\/p>\n

[\/tab]
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