Abstract: Research identifies a unique class of meditative practices that search to make use of and regulate the state of stress a person experiences, somewhat than scale back it, to attain a extra heightened state of focus and a focus.
Supply: NUS
Mindfulness research have lengthy dominated our understanding of the neurobiology of meditation, with practitioners of mindfulness-related meditation taught to be vigilant of the content material of their ideas in order to expertise leisure and stress discount to enhance consideration and focus.
A current research led by Affiliate Professor Maria Kozhevnikov from the Division of Psychology on the Nationwide College of Singapore (NUS) School of Arts and Social Sciences, has found a unique class of meditative practices that seeks to make use of and regulate the state of stress that a person experiences—somewhat than to scale back it—to attain an much more heightened state of focus and a focus.
The research is the primary to suggest a scientific taxonomy of meditative practices that accommodates not solely mindfulness-based meditations but in addition this new class of meditative practices that produces a heightened sense of alertness by stimulating the mind, which is referred to by practitioners as “arousal-based” meditations.
It reveals that the latter truly covers a big class of meditative strategies, similar to these employed inside Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism), by Sufis of the Islamic custom (“whirling dervishes”), and by many different traditions, together with Hindu Tantra and East Asian martial arts. Previous to the research, the mechanisms of those strategies had been unknown.
Assoc Prof Kozhevnikov mentioned that the outcomes of this research additionally exhibit, for the primary time, that it’s doable to stimulate the mind, somewhat than loosen up it, to attain a degree of voluntary management over our stress or “battle or flight” response to maximise bodily and cognitive efficiency.
She defined, “These practices push practitioners to their limits, to allow them to keep targeted on the duty, being free from any distracting ideas, even in probably the most threatening conditions. The findings open up a variety of potential medical and behavioral interventions that not solely permit meditation practitioners to manage stress but in addition enhance bodily and attentional capacities upon demand, and even entry latent mind sources to stop cognitive decline.”
The findings have simply been printed in Present Analysis in Neurobiology.
The research targeted on 16 nuns and monks who’re extremely skilled practitioners of Vajrayana from long-term retreat facilities in Jap Bhutan. Of those, ten are consultants in a legendary and mysterious Tummo (“internal warmth”) apply recognized for its alleged capability to generate vital physique warmth within the frigid chilly of the Himalayas.
The researchers collected and in contrast electrocardiographic and electroencephalographic knowledge of the practitioners as they carried out a meditative apply often known as non-Tantric Mahamudra (Mahamudra carried out after relaxation) and one other often known as Tantric Mahamudra (Mahamudra carried out after self-visualization as a deity). Ten of them additionally carried out Tummo.
They discovered that just like mindfulness-related practices, non-Tantric Mahamudra led to leisure, alertness and monitoring of ideas. Nonetheless, the apply of self-visualization as a deity and Tummo which used emotionally charged focus and visualization accompanied by particular respiration strategies, allowed practitioners to attain the state of mind stimulation that led to vital enhancement of their attentional sources.
It demonstrated that these meditative practices may be seen as strategies for transcending the traditional limitations of the human situation, particularly attaining greater ranges of efficiency and cognitive capacities than are ordinarily out there.
Furthermore, Tummo apply led to a sure degree of voluntary management over their sympathetic nervous system (a community of nerves within the physique which prompts its stress/”fight-or-flight” response)—one thing beforehand thought-about to be unattainable by medical science. This management of the sympathetic nervous system allowed the practitioners not solely to govern the extent of their attentional sources, but in addition to attain the state of psychological salience (mind-emptiness) in the course of the closing apply of Tantric Mahamudra.
Assoc Prof Kozhevnikov steered that such management of the sympathetic nervous system is prone to clarify a legendary capability of Tummo practitioners to generate physique warmth and lift their core physique temperature to feverish ranges.
Sharing an instance as an instance the advantages of those meditative practices, Assoc Prof Kozhevnikov mentioned, “This type of meditation can be helpful for people in conditions that don’t permit for mindfulness-related meditation for stress discount, similar to a pilot flying a airplane in a battlefield. He would wish to manage his stress and keep targeted, and as such, this type of meditation will permit him to remain tremendous alert and to execute his mission effectively in a state of excessive stress.”
She added, “For a wide range of causes, these superior Vajrayana practices are presently on the verge of disappearing. I hope this research will assist entice scientific consideration to those practices by uncovering their potential to boost human cognition on the one hand and contribute to preserving their intangible heritage on the opposite.”
Transferring ahead, Assoc Prof Kozhevnikov and her workforce hope to construct on the findings to know the methods through which the physique reacts to completely different meditation practices for medical and behavioral interventions functions.
This contains utilizing meditation to attain a state of heightened alertness within the prevention of assorted cognitive impairments and age-related cognitive decline, related to the lack of consideration and reminiscence capabilities (e.g., Alzheimer’s illness, a number of sclerosis and dementia) on the one hand, and coaching members of inventive professions (arts, sciences and music) to attain undented ranges of creativity of their fields however by instructing them to entry the state of mind arousal and enhance bodily and attentional sources upon demand.
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“Past mindfulness: Arousal-driven modulation of attentional management throughout arousal-based practices” by Maria Kozhevnikov et al. Present Analysis in Neurobiology
Summary
Past mindfulness: Arousal-driven modulation of attentional management throughout arousal-based practices
Right here we report meditative strategies, which modulate attentional management by arousal-driven influences and never by monitoring steady thought processes as throughout mindfulness-related practices.
We give attention to Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism) practices, throughout which a sequence of technology (self-visualization as a deity – Yidam) or completion with signal (internal warmth -Tummo) phases essentially precedes non-dual consciousness (NDA) Tantric Mahamudra.
We in contrast the electrocardiographic and electroencephalographic correlates of Mahamudra carried out after relaxation (non-Tantric Mahamudra) with Mahamudra carried out after Yidam (Tantric Mahamudra) in 16 extremely skilled Vajrayana practitioners, 10 of whom additionally carried out Tummo.
Each Yidam and Tummo developed the state of PNS withdrawal (arousal) and phasic alertness, as mirrored by HF HRV decreases and Alpha2 energy will increase, later neurophysiologically employed in Tantric Mahamudra.
The latter led to the distinctive state of excessive cortical excitability, “non-selective” targeted consideration, and considerably decreased attentional management, quantified by energy reductions in all frequency bands, besides Theta.
In distinction, just like mindfulness-related practices, non-Tantric Mahamudra was carried out in a state of PNS dominance (leisure), tonic alertness, and energetic monitoring, as steered by Alpha1 energy will increase and fewer pronounced decreases in different frequency bands. A neurobiological mannequin of meditation is proposed, differentiating arousal-based and mindfulness-related practices.
