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June2012

UpBeatCaf

Contemplative
Lf Lifestyle

The

Happiness comes from within, and it cannot be found by making the world conform to your desiresstriving to obtain goods and goals in the external world cannot bring you more than momentary happiness. You must work on your internal world.
- Jonathan Haidt, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia
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by Dr. John Edwards

Contemplation Lf Meditation
Happiness
fFor centuries, people have
prac2ced medita2on. Their reasons for doing this vary. Some do it to gain wisdom, some to become more compassionate, others are in search of a spiritual experience, and some simply want to manage stress and anxiety. But they all do it because they believe it will somehow lead to a be?er life. But is this true?

fAlthough reports of this research


oPen treat medita2on as though there were only one technique, there are actually many dierent medita2on techniques. What all forms of medita2on have in common is that they involve manipula2on of ones a?en2on in one way or another. They vary in terms of two dimensions: 1) the extent to which they involve focused versus defocused a?en2on (is the goal to focus on just one thing, or to broaden a?en2on to a?end to many things?)

fIn recent years, much of the


research on medita2on has focused on a par2cular type of medita2on called mindfulness medita2on. Mindfulness medita2on involves paying a?en2on to what is going on in the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. This is harder than it appears, because peoples minds are constantly wandering and being distracted by stray thoughts, memories, worries, plans, and so on. But mindfulness medita2on isnt the only type that has been studied others, such as loving- kindness medita2on, Chris2an contempla2ve techniques, and yoga, have also been researched. The pa'ern of results from these sorts of studies indicates that regular medita5on prac5ce has numerous benecial eects. For instance, it is associated with increases in happiness, decreases in symptoms of depression, and increases in life sa5sfac5on.

Psychologists, neuroscien2sts, and medical researchers have studied medita2on for many years, with the rst published paper in a western journal on this topic coming in 1963. In the early days, it was very much a 2) the object of a?en2on (that is, to fringe topic. Recent years have seen a what are you paying a?en2on?). drama2c change in the landscape, with medita2on becoming an extraordinarily hot research focus. Last year alone saw over 400 academic papers published on medita2on. All of this research has given us a great deal of knowledge about the eects of medita2on.
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fSustained

Happiness

fSo

Whats the Catch?

Indeed, medita5on is perhaps the only interven5on that psychologists have found that overcomes the hedonic treadmill, which is the tendency for people to habituate to things that make them happy. (Try watching the same comedy every day for two weeks. The rst day it will make you laugh. The tenth day? Not so much.) Medita5on, so long as it is done regularly, leads to sustained increases in happiness. Medita5on has other psychological eects as well. It leads to increases in op5mism and feelings that one can accomplish things. It also leads to increased ability to focus ones a'en5on. Meditators also report having be'er rela5onships.

There appear to be few nega5ve eects associated with medita5on, but there are a few things to bear in mind. One of them is simply the commitment involved. Although posi5ve eects have been observed among novice meditators in even very brief sessions, the best eects are associated with a sustained, regular prac5ce. Research on the rela5onships between medita5on and happiness indicates that people who stop a regular medita5on prac5ce may slowly see their happiness levels revert to the old levels. Much like an exercise rou5ne, if you stop doing it, you slowly get out of shape.

seek out help from mental health experts for serious problems, or to discon5nue treatment for such problems without consul5ng their doctor (ironically, because medita5on makes them feel be'er).

There are also some ini5al indica5ons in the research literature Medita5on also has physiological (as well as from anecdotes) that eects. It is associated with people dier with regards to which reduc5ons in physiological medita5on technique will oer markers of stress, in part them the most benet. For because people are instance, a person who be'er able to manage already has high concern for their emo5ons and others, or who has a thoughts in response to tendency to feel guilty about www.UpBeatCafe.org nega5ve events. This their interac5ons with others, leads to a reduc5on in may not benet from nega5ve health outcomes related to compassion medita5ons. This is stress, including things as diverse as especially true for medita5on when psoriasis and migraines. Not it is used as a treatment for mental surprisingly, this has led medita5on illness. Some medita5on types to be used as a treatment for certain simply dont work for some forms of kinds of mental and physical health mental illness (and indeed may make problems. It has been used as a way things worse). A related issue is that to help people manage chronic pain, the allure of medita5on as a simple, binge ea5ng, panic disorder, and side-eect free way to deal with lifes depression, among others. problems may lead people to fail to

That being said, a great deal of research has shown that a medita5on prac5ce can be an important component of a happier, healthier life. Its something that virtually anyone can do. So nd a medita5on teacher, and get started!
For more on Happiness:
www.pathstohappiness.org

Dr. John Edwards


Dr. John Edwards is Chair of the Oregon State University Psychology Department. He is a social psychologist specializing in social cogniAon and individual dierences. He has received grants from the NaAonal Science FoundaAon and the Department of Defense, among others. His recent research has focused on uncertainty, best pracAces for communicaAng risk and probability informaAon to people, and the intersecAon of Buddhist philosophy and social cogniAon. Along with Dr. Winston McCullough, he teaches a course on the Psychology of MeditaAon.

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