Meditation Archives - Page 8 of 29 - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Meditation

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Posted on July 1, 2025
in Daily Reflections 2025, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
6 Comments

Though this post feels like it is meant only for seniors (Mindful Creators Group at Ashby Ponds), go ahead and read it anyway. I feel it would be beneficial for younger, middle-age generation (Mindful Writers Groups) as well, albeit in future. Different phases in life bring different transitions. It just so happens that we all are in the final stage of our lives. Some of us living here at Ashby Ponds are comfortable and at peace. But some others with a major health issue or death of a spouse may feel thwarted or terribly lonely. Some may experience sadness/relief after years of caregiving to a spouse with dementia who passes away. Yet some others may dislike being dependent as they are no longer physically fit and thus unable to live on...

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Tuesday, June 24,2025

Posted on June 23, 2025
in Flourishing, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Sharper Brain after Retirement
6 Comments

Today's inspiration is geared more toward Ashby Ponds' Mindful Creators than Mindful Writers because, if I remember correctly, the age range of MWs is younger. But it never hurts to know things in advance to prepare for future health benefit. So here it goes: By the age 85 and older, about a third of people have dementia. Prevention is the most powerful antidote to this illness. You can’t prevent something you cannot see and dementia is one such illness. It increases exponentially after age 65. The mental decline is linked to lifestyle: physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, social isolation, poor sleep, lack of mentally stimulating activities and misuse of alcohol. All opposites of the eight good habits we’ve been reading about and hopefully practicing.  Prevention should start early. Our Ashby Ponds community may...

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Tuesday, June 4, 2025

Posted on June 3, 2025
in Flourishing, Meditation, Originality, Spirituality, Well Being
4 Comments

Most of us in today’s world prefer our meditation practice easy and brief. Because of this we leave behind a lot from the world’s rich contemplative traditions. We morph the practice to user-friendly forms. To gain self-awareness, insights into the subtleties of consciousness and achieve lasting positive traits require lifelong dedication. In addition, ethical attitude and moral guidelines are crucial. What we abandon is ignored or forgotten. A strong motivation to practice for the benefit of All requires complete trust and deep reverence for the practice, dedication to the books and principles that make the practice possible, a good teacher, supportive circle of friends on the path who are themselves dedicated to practice. Finally, a supportive culture that recognizes the people who devote themselves to embody virtues of attention, self-awareness, patience,...

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Thursday, May 29, 2025

Posted on May 28, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
8 Comments

“In the beginning nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the ending nothing goes,” wrote the Tibet’s eminent twelfth-century poet, yogi and sage, Milarepa. What does it mean, we wonder. Matthieu Ricard, the American yogi who lives in Tibet unpacks this puzzle in this way:At the start of meditation practice, little or nothing seems to change in us. After continued practice, we notice some changes in the way of our being, but they come and go. Finally as practice stabilizes, the changes are constant and enduring, with no fluctuation. Instead of being temporary states they become altered traits of the practitioner. The beginners impact begins from under 100 total hours of practice. Long term meditators range from 1,000-10,000 hours. Yogis tested at Richie’s lab averaged three times more than long term...

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Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Posted on May 26, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
2 Comments

Once the Dalai Lama urged the neuroscientist, Dr. Richard Davidson to test meditation rigorously and extract its value for the benefit of the world. For such a task, Davidson needed the help of advanced yogis in Tibet. Though kind and cordial, they flatly declined the invitation to get tested in a faraway land. However, one American monk they respected and trusted was Matthieu Ricard. He had abandoned his promising career in biology and become an advanced yogi in Tibet. At his recommendation they agreed to participate in the mapping of their brains.  In 2002, the first Tibetan yogi tested in the lab was Mingyur Rinpoche. The number of his lifetime meditation practice hours were 62,000. His qualities of endless patience and gentle kindness truly impressed the researchers and were useful during...

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Thursday, May 22, 2025

Posted on May 21, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation
2 Comments

By now you know that there are variety of meditations. Different meditations train different kinds of mental habits. We practice loving kindness meditation; full body scan; and guided meditations. I strongly suggest that at home you either practice Analytical Meditation (as we discussed in the Mindful Creators Class) or Focus on the Breath Meditation to monitor thoughts without getting swept away by them. Whatever you practice, will improve.  Mindfulness as you know is awareness or attention, becoming conscious of our consciousness. When we pay attention to the in-flow and the out-flow of our breathing, it connects us to the present moment. Mindfulness unfolds. The brain’s executive center, prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead, gives us ability to anticipate the future, and recall the past. Neither past nor future events have power...

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Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Posted on May 19, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation, Well Being
1 Comment

Here’s some food for the mind: An EEG (Electroencephalogram) waves represent the synchronous firing of neurons, primarily in the cerebral cortex and are detected through electrodes placed on the scalp. There are five main types of EEG waves: delta occur during deep sleep; theta during drowsiness; alpha when we relax or are awake with eyes closed; beta when we are alert, actively thinking or concentrating. Finally, gamma, the fastest brain waves occur during the moments when differing brain regions fire in harmony, such as moments of insight.  Gamma waves occur when the elements of mental puzzle click together. To get some sense of how it feels, try this: What one word can change each of these into compound words: sauce, pine, crab?OR imagine biting into a ripe juicy sweet peach. Suddenly your senses of sight, smell, taste, feel and sound mesh into a single...

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Thursday, May 8, 2025

Posted on May 7, 2025
in Meditation, Spirituality
4 Comments

Practicing meditation frequently can produce pleasant states but real payoffs are lasting traits that result from practicing it diligently. Altered traits shape how we behave in our daily lives. The most compelling impact of meditation is not better health but a development of better nature. With years of practice it cultivates selflessness, equanimity, a loving presence, and compassion.  In 1987 the Dalai Lama organized meetings of leading scientists at Mind and Life Institute he has established in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India where he now lives. Its mission “to alleviate suffering and promote flourishing or utter wellness by integrating science with contemplative practices.” To debate, discuss and engage in serious research on meditation, he brought together a community of like-minded scholars and scientists from around the world who share this quest. The graduates...

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Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Posted on May 5, 2025
in Meditation, Spirituality
4 Comments

This month we’ll focus on Mindfulness and Neuroscientific research related with meditation. Mindfulness is part of an ancient tradition with countless benefits. It teaches how to calm down and pause, instead of reacting with your anger or irritability, you act without getting stressed or anxious. But originally the practice was not intended for such purposes. These are simply its side-effects. Easy and brief meditations are its spinoffs that have been adopted only recently. The original aim of meditation, still embraced in some cultures and circles, focusses on deep exploration of the mind to get insights into human consciousness.  A woman undergoing electroencephalography. Using fMRI and EEG (explained below) and a battery of cutting-edge data analysis for the last thirty years or so neuroscientists have been studying minds of Tibetan monks by...

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Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Posted on April 21, 2025
in Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
4 Comments

Not too far back I read about a monastery. It said, in 1957 an entire monastery in Thailand was being relocated by a group of monks. One day while moving a giant clay Buddha, one of the monks noticed a large crack. On closer investigation, he saw golden reflection emanating from inside. The monk used a hammer and a chisel to chip away the clay exterior until an image made of solid gold was revealed. Art historians believe that centuries earlier, monks covered an image of the Buddha made in solid gold with clay to protect it from attack by the Burmese army. The news fascinated me because here was a perfect metaphor about life hidden in the discovery. Our Authentic Self (Consciousness, Presence, True Self) is the golden Buddha shining...

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