Why Meditation Is A Sport

July 31, 2008

I read an article recently that drew an analogy of the term ‘meditation’ to ’sports’, a word that describes a large class or family of varying forms of activity such as track, baseball basketball, etc. The general family of meditation was defined as ‘complex emotional and attentional regulatory strategies developed for various ends including cultivation of well-being and emotional balance’ (Lutz et al., 2008: Cell). (Various forms of meditation might include TM, mindfulness, yoga, Tai Chi, centering prayer, etc.).

This led me to ponder the reason I meditate. Why? To what ‘various end’?

Read the complete article by Susan Smalley at www.huffingtonpost.com…

"Direct your eyesight inward and you will find a thousand regions in your mind yet undiscovered" – Henry David Thoreau

Keywords: meditation, TM, mindfulness, yoga, tai chi, qigong, chi kung, centering prayer, religion, health, stress reduction, well-being, compassion

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A quiet symphony of color and light

July 30, 2008

Do you meditate? There is so much encouragement and discussion today about meditation, and the affects of its good calming energy obtained from a quiet mind and simply the overall health benefits of daily meditation.

I keep trying to meditate, and while I haven’t gotten the hang of it maybe, I have come closer.

One evening before sunset, I sat on the back porch and attempted to quiet my mind, focus on my breath – each one (I was actually grateful they just kept coming) – yet I couldn’t tune out traffic noises or distant motorcycles and even lawn mowers.
While we live in what we used to call "country," nowadays it’s really suburbia.
Nonetheless, I kept focusing on the breathing, closing my eyes and trying not to hear.

Do not listen, I said. Clear your mind.

I tried an "ahummm" mantra and quickly heard a mockingbird trying to mimic my sounds. I chuckled, trying to locate her and then tried the mind clearing again by focusing on each breath.

Mind clearing simply is not for everyone, I thought; heck, my mind is always busy, whether the rest of me follows or not.

Read the complete article by Jo Ann Holbrook, carmitimes.com…

Keywords: meditation

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Secret brews in China: Coke’s next big thing?

July 30, 2008

Company looks to herbal remedies for beverage boost

Coca-Cola, a company first famous for mixing South American coca leaves with African kola nuts, is trying to repeat history.

For months, the Atlanta-based drinks giant has been working quietly to perfect prototype beverages using Chinese herbal cures. Analysts and executives suggest the project could be as important to the company’s future as its original formula was to its past.

shrouded in secrecy. Executives have rarely mentioned the collaboration beyond a short press release issued when Coke and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences opened a research center in Beijing last October.

Read the complete article by CRAIG SIMONS of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution…

Keywords: Coke, Coca-Cola Research Center for Chinese Medicine, Zhang Huaying, Access Asia, Matthew Crabbe, Just-drinks.com, Chen Shuwei, Beijing Orient Agribusiness, Cao Hongxin, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, cocaine, kola nuts, caffeine, Traditional Chinese medicine, TCM, herb, herbal

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When hypochondriacs are sadly proved right

July 29, 2008

Hypochondria: a sane response to life or a psychiatric illness,? asks Muiris Houston

HYPOCHONDRIASIS IS one of the most challenging and sometimes trying illnesses to cross a doctor’s threshold.

Although the butt of many jokes through the ages, in its severest form an obsession with one’s own health is classified as a psychiatric illness.

Hypochondriasis has interesting Greek origins. The hypochondrium is an anatomical term used to describe the area just below the rib margins at the uppermost part of the abdomen (hypo – below; chondros – cartilage).

In ancient times, the spleen was looked upon as the seat of melancholy. With the spleen located in the hypochondrium, the term hypochondriac was applied to patients whose complaints did not seem to have a basis in disease.

Hypochondria is linked to the placebo effect’s evil alter ego: the nocebo effect. The nocebo effect makes people who worry about illness become ill.

Read the complete article by Muiris Houston at www.irishtimes.com…

Keywords: placebo, nocebo, anxiety, cyberchondria, hypochondria, Muiris Houston, Arthur Barsky, Paul Salvoskis, Maudsley Hospital

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Athletes still taking caffeine to boost performance

July 29, 2008

(Reuters Health) – Many competitive athletes believe that taking caffeine gives them an edge, despite doubts that it works — and the "placebo effect" might help explain why, according to new research.

Four years ago, ahead of the Athens Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed caffeine from its list of banned substances in sport. This was "presumably because WADA considered (caffeine’s) performance-enhancing effects to be insignificant," notes Mark Stuart in a commentary published in the journal BMJ Clinical Evidence.

Read the complete article by Amy Norton,  Reuters…

Keywords: caffeine, placebo, nocebo, Mark Stuart, BMJ Clinical Evidence journal, www.canada.com

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Federal Trade Commission Issues Report on Food Marketing to Kids

July 28, 2008

b>Statement of CSPI Nutrition Policy Director Margo G. Wootan/b>br/>The new FTC study shows that there is a lot of marketing aimed at children, and lets be perfectly clear it was not spent urging kids to eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The food industry spent a billion and a half dollars urging children to eat fast food, sugary cereals, soft drinks, and other unhealthy foods.

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California Terminates Artificial Trans Fat!

July 24, 2008

b>Statement of CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson/b>br/>That great big sucking sound you hear is the sound of partially hydrogenated oil leaving the American food supply.

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Mindfulness meditation slows progression of HIV

July 24, 2008

…researchers at UCLA report that the practice of mindfulness meditation stopped the decline of CD4 T cells in HIV-positive patients suffering from stress, slowing the progression of the disease. The study was just released in the online edition of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Mindfulness meditation is the practice of bringing an open and receptive awareness of the present moment to experiences, avoiding thinking of the past or worrying about the future. It is thought to reduce stress and improve health outcomes in a variety of patient populations.

"This study provides the first indication that mindfulness meditation stress-management training can have a direct impact on slowing HIV disease progression," said lead study author David Creswell, a research scientist at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA. "The mindfulness program is a group-based and low-cost treatment, and if this initial finding is replicated in larger samples, it’s possible that such training can be used as a powerful complementary treatment for HIV disease, alongside medications."

Read the complete article…

Keywords: David Creswell, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, UCLA, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, UCLA General Clinical Research Center, Hector F. Myers, Steven W. Cole, Michael R. Irwin, mindfulness, meditation, mindfulness-based stress-reduction, MBSR, CD4, T cell, immune

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Burning Incense Is Psychoactive

July 24, 2008

A New Class Of Antidepressants Might Be Right Under Our Noses

Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. An international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.

Read the complete article at ScienceDaily…

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (2008, May 20). Burning Incense Is Psychoactive: New Class Of Antidepressants Might Be Right Under Our Noses. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/05/080520110415.htm

Keywords: anxiety, depression, dysthymic disorder, psychoactive, neurobiology, incense, boswellia, frankincense, incensole acetate, TRPV3

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