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Have you heard of "mindfulness meditation?"
Meditation, or deep breathing and quiet thinking,used to be found only at spiritual places and yogacenters.
But these days mindfulness meditation can be found almost everywhere in the United States –from offices to schools, from prisons to the military.
New Age People
People who meditate, practice yoga and similar exercises are sometimes called "New Age." Theyare usually healthy eaters. Many New Age people do not eat meat. They may follow Easternreligions such as Taoism or Buddhism.
A New Age person may talk about being "in the moment." And that is at the heart of theMindfulness Meditation Movement – thinking about the present, not the past and not thefuture.
The mindfulness movement has been around for many years. But now it is being called arevolution. Supporters say this revolution may reduce tensions, stress and improve thebody, mind and spirit.
For example, think about what can be a sometimes stressful situation – a visit to the doctor,especially the dentist.
Sitting in a dentist's chair can make a person feel worried and tense. You might be surprised tohear that the dentist can feel this way too.
Alona Bauer is a dentist in Washington, D.C. She describes how her working environment canbe tense.
"So, there is definitely stress. You work in a small environment and it's very exact. It's veryprecise. Plus you're managing the patient as a comfort. So, there's great stress right there."
Ms. Bauer practices mindfulness meditation at a yoga center in Washington, D.C. to help toreduce her nervous tension or stress.
Hugh Byrne has been teaching mindfulness meditation since 2000. He says being mindful is allabout thinking about the present.
"So as you sit here or lie here, see if you can open to whatever you're experiencing right now..."
Mr. Byrne says that some forms of meditation are about clearing the mind of all thoughts.Mindfulness meditation, he says, is not. It is about being aware of the here-and-now.
Unplugging Plays An Important Role
Americans work more and have less vacation time than people in most other developedcountries. Daily travel to work and school can be long and difficult.
The pressures of emails, texts and social media make it harder and harder to unplug or shutoff. But shutting off is part of the "Mindful Revolution."
Critics, however, say "mindful meditation" is temporary popular interest, what we call a "fad."They say it ignores the moral substance of the ancient Buddhist tradition of meditation.
Mr. Byrne does not agree. He says mindfulness meditation is a way for anyone to reducepressure, tension and stress. He calls it a broad doorway.
" ... a broad doorway for people to come in ... people who might say, ‘I'm not really interestedin Buddhism or Eastern spirituality. But I do want less stress. I do want less anxiety.'"
Studies show that young Americans increasingly consider themselves "spiritual but notreligious." Mr. Byrne says mindfulness is for them as it is for Ms. Bauer who grew up in theformer Soviet Union. She says religion was not part of her childhood. But now she says she isthinking of trying Buddhism.
And how is the stressed out dentist after half an hour of mindfulness meditation? Ms. Bauersays the exercise helped stop the noise, or as she puts it, "chatter," in her head.
"It was just chatter, you know, chatter, chatter. Energy, very jittery energy, inside my body(and) tension and now I feel like almost I'm speaking slower, my body's more relaxed, myheartbeat is slower. |
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发表于 2016-7-28 21:08:50