By Greg Smith Columnist
Are you one of those people who thinks that meditation is the key to making you less stressed, less depressed, more in tune with the world around you and with your inner self? Do you practice some kind of meditation a few minutes, a half hour or more a day? Several times per week? According to some in the popular and scientific media, meditation (also sometimes known by its other moniker, mindfulness), is a wonder technique that cures what ails us. Many people see meditation as a therapy that can cure sadness, relieve pain and sharpen our concentration and focus. Is it true?
According to Merriam-Webster, mindfulness is the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis. Its first known use was way back in 1530. It’s a chic concept now, but it is certainly not a new one. According to an April 6, 2018, article in Psychology Today, What Do We Really Know About Mindfulness?, the evidence on meditation is flawed. Researchers really don’t know how it affects the mind and the brain. A recent review of the body of data in hundreds of studies, published in the journal Perspectives in Psychological Science, took a look at what we know. They found two major flaws: There is no consistent definition for mindfulness, and researchers don’t have a consistent way to measure the results of mindfulness. As you know, any time you study something looking for answers, you need to know exactly what you are studying, what to call it, how to accurately describe it, and you must be able to adequately and accurately measure any beneficial gains or negative effects of the procedure or practice to know if t helps or harms.
According to Psychology Today, the most thorough, up-to-date meta-analysis that measured mindfulness’s effects on health problems was commissioned by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. That review looked at studies that compared mindfulness-based interventions like specific types of meditation and compared them to other treatments. They found that mindfulness was moderately effective in decreasing symptoms of anxiety, depression and pain. It also perhaps reduced stress and improved overall quality of life. That is all well and good. The problem is that there can also be side effects from meditation such as increased anxiety and panic, psychosis and memory problems, to name a few.
The bottom line here? Mindfulness techniques like meditation that are practiced regularly can help alleviate mild depression, anxiety and pain, but more compelling data is needed to make other sweeping claims about its effectiveness. Furthermore, what about the application of these techniques in other areas besides healthcare? What about business?
Another article updated on May 8, 2018, in the Harvard Business Review, was titled Mindfulness as a Management Technique Goes Back to at Least the 1970s. It stated that mindfulness is now seen as a crucial skill in business. The study of mindfulness, the article stated, often defined as paying attention, nonjudgmentally and on purpose, is a regular part of the creativity and wellness culture at firms around the world.
Pierre Wack, head of Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell in the 1970s, studied meditation extensively with both teachers in Asia and Europe. He created what is known as scenario planning. He had a lifelong preoccupation with the art of what he called “seeing”. He tried his best to “see through” elements of his environment with full consciousness. He felt that good planning required “training the mind”. According to this article, he also did something else that we would all be wise to do, in that he got ideas from a huge range of sources. He did not talk only to people involved in the oil related industry. He felt that “quieting the mind” made it possible to open oneself to new and unexpected sources of information. In doing this, he honed his intuition, looked at diverse information and patterns, and then could “see” alternative futures that he could think about and act on.
In my field of healthcare and mental health services, we are often caught up in our old frames of training or thinking, and it is very hard for us to see what is really happening around us to the point that we can interact with our environment in meaningful and forward-looking ways. The Business Review says that what scenario training is all about is creating insightful stories about the future using good data and analyses, identifying new patterns and then looking at strategic options to deal with the changes that are coming towards us. This can work in business, healthcare and even in our own individual personal lives. One way that I saw this play out just the past week was having more immediate and direct access to my own medical records after a visit to the doctor for an acute problem. Healthcare is going to be more patient and client driven as we go forward. More transparency, more access to portals that give us access to our stories and more real time interaction between us and our providers is coming quickly.
In any area that it is employed in, whether personal meditation, healthcare or business, the practice of mindfulness does not come easily and quickly. Sustained, regular practice is what makes for improvement, according to Michael Chaskalson, a mindfulness expert. As we look at mindfulness in our own lives, we should see it as much more than simply a fitness tool. It can help all of us, from healthcare providers to business leaders to managers to individuals, perceive the world around us in a new light, decrease our stress and negative responses to the changes we see coming, and utilize new skills to craft a brighter future with more control over our strategies and planning.
Are you one of those people who thinks that meditation is the key to making you less stressed, less depressed, more in tune with the world around you and with your inner self? Do you practice some kind of meditation a few minutes, a half hour or more a day? Several times per week? According to some in the popular and scientific media, meditation (also sometimes known by its other moniker, mindfulness), is a wonder technique that cures what ails us. Many people see meditation as a therapy that can cure sadness, relieve pain and sharpen our concentration and focus. Is it true?
According to Merriam-Webster, mindfulness is the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis. Its first known use was way back in 1530. It’s a chic concept now, but it is certainly not a new one. According to an April 6, 2018, article in Psychology Today, What Do We Really Know About Mindfulness?, the evidence on meditation is flawed. Researchers really don’t know how it affects the mind and the brain. A recent review of the body of data in hundreds of studies, published in the journal Perspectives in Psychological Science, took a look at what we know. They found two major flaws: There is no consistent definition for mindfulness, and researchers don’t have a consistent way to measure the results of mindfulness. As you know, any time you study something looking for answers, you need to know exactly what you are studying, what to call it, how to accurately describe it, and you must be able to adequately and accurately measure any beneficial gains or negative effects of the procedure or practice to know if t helps or harms.
According to Psychology Today, the most thorough, up-to-date meta-analysis that measured mindfulness’s effects on health problems was commissioned by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. That review looked at studies that compared mindfulness-based interventions like specific types of meditation and compared them to other treatments. They found that mindfulness was moderately effective in decreasing symptoms of anxiety, depression and pain. It also perhaps reduced stress and improved overall quality of life. That is all well and good. The problem is that there can also be side effects from meditation such as increased anxiety and panic, psychosis and memory problems, to name a few.
The bottom line here? Mindfulness techniques like meditation that are practiced regularly can help alleviate mild depression, anxiety and pain, but more compelling data is needed to make other sweeping claims about its effectiveness. Furthermore, what about the application of these techniques in other areas besides healthcare? What about business?
Another article updated on May 8, 2018, in the Harvard Business Review, was titled Mindfulness as a Management Technique Goes Back to at Least the 1970s. It stated that mindfulness is now seen as a crucial skill in business. The study of mindfulness, the article stated, often defined as paying attention, nonjudgmentally and on purpose, is a regular part of the creativity and wellness culture at firms around the world.
Pierre Wack, head of Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell in the 1970s, studied meditation extensively with both teachers in Asia and Europe. He created what is known as scenario planning. He had a lifelong preoccupation with the art of what he called “seeing”. He tried his best to “see through” elements of his environment with full consciousness. He felt that good planning required “training the mind”. According to this article, he also did something else that we would all be wise to do, in that he got ideas from a huge range of sources. He did not talk only to people involved in the oil related industry. He felt that “quieting the mind” made it possible to open oneself to new and unexpected sources of information. In doing this, he honed his intuition, looked at diverse information and patterns, and then could “see” alternative futures that he could think about and act on.
In my field of healthcare and mental health services, we are often caught up in our old frames of training or thinking, and it is very hard for us to see what is really happening around us to the point that we can interact with our environment in meaningful and forward-looking ways. The Business Review says that what scenario training is all about is creating insightful stories about the future using good data and analyses, identifying new patterns and then looking at strategic options to deal with the changes that are coming towards us. This can work in business, healthcare and even in our own individual personal lives. One way that I saw this play out just the past week was having more immediate and direct access to my own medical records after a visit to the doctor for an acute problem. Healthcare is going to be more patient and client driven as we go forward. More transparency, more access to portals that give us access to our stories and more real time interaction between us and our providers is coming quickly.
In any area that it is employed in, whether personal meditation, healthcare or business, the practice of mindfulness does not come easily and quickly. Sustained, regular practice is what makes for improvement, according to Michael Chaskalson, a mindfulness expert. As we look at mindfulness in our own lives, we should see it as much more than simply a fitness tool. It can help all of us, from healthcare providers to business leaders to managers to individuals, perceive the world around us in a new light, decrease our stress and negative responses to the changes we see coming, and utilize new skills to craft a brighter future with more control over our strategies and planning.
Published in: https://www.aikenstandard.com/lifestyle/
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