What meditation is (and isn’t) and the benefits of its practice Claire Villarreal, phd ecvilla17@gmail.com

Strengthening your “attention muscles” Credit: Ballint Foldesi via Flickr

Definitions Lots of techniques from around the world can be called “meditation” One working definition: Meditation is the intentional cultivation of positive states of mind Corollary: Meditation also involves intentionally weakening negative states of mind Our meditation today develops attention: focusing on the breath and recognizing when the mind has wandered This is a secular practice to help us recognize and cultivate our basic capacity for attention

Four simple steps Set your posture Set your intention: attention to breathing Relax Let go of thoughts and return to your practice

Meditation as an ongoing practice Seated sessions help develop the “mindfulness muscles” of your brain Ongoing practice (20+ minutes per day) builds on those gains Scientists can detect physical changes within a few weeks, but practitioners see changes that deepen over a lifetime

Power of meditation Stress reduction and health benefits http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/meditation-heals-body-and-mind Impacts on daily life http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/19/meditation-benefits_n_5842870.html National Institute of Health info page https://nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education research portal http://ccare.stanford.edu/

Mindfulness as a way of life