Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR)
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense issued clinical practice guidelines that recommend EDMR for the treatment of PTSD. Perhaps, the rapid eye movement allows the patient less opportunity to consciously react to the distress that they are reviewing. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. Positive controlled outcome studies demonstrate that >80% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress after only three 90-minute sessions. Reportedly, Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims no longer suffer with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. EMDR Institute, Inc. reported that 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions.
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR) 20/20 Report
. Francine Shapiro is the originator and developer of EMDR.
In 1987, she made the chance observation that moving her eyes from side to side appeared to reduce the disturbance of negative thoughts and memories. This experience led her to examine this phenomenon more systematically. Working with approximately 70 volunteers, she developed standardized procedures to maximize therapeutic outcomes, conducted additional research and a published randomized controlled study with trauma victims. After further research and elaboration of the methodology, she published a textbook in 1995 detailing the eight phases of this form of psychotherapy. EMDR is now recommended as an effective treatment for trauma in numerous international practice guidelines, including those of the American Psychiatric Association and the Department of Defense.
Dr. Shapiro is a Senior Research Fellow Emeritus at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, Executive Director of the EMDR Institute in Watsonville, CA, and founder and President Emeritus of the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs, a non-profit organization that coordinates disaster response and low fee training worldwide. see also: https://www.emdr.com/
So, I want to recall the most important contribution that I think I found about the truth. Meditation promotes well-being by reducing stress, depression, anxiety, blood pressure, addiction, by boosting immune systems and by improving our memory.
Forty years ago,Matthieu Ricard, a French genetic scientist left an intellectual life, moved to India and took up a study of Buddhism. He is now a western scholar of religion and he was recently claimed by brain research scientists to be the happiest man on the planet.
His daily routine of meditation made possible amazing brain scans demonstrate that if he is meditating on compassion, Ricard’s brain produces a level of gamma waves never before reported within neuroscience literature.
While his is the pinnacle of measures, you to may change your brain. You have the capacity to heal including all of your emotional confusions. If you set out to accomplish this, you can gradually increase your awareness and your inner peace by mindfulness. You can transform your brain, create new neural circuits and change the way your brain neurons more efficiently will communicate with each other.
Program Description
If happiness is an inner state, influenced by external conditions but not dependent on them, how can we achieve it? Matthieu Ricard presents factors that generally may increase or decrease well-being, happiness, authenticity, compassion, peace, and joy.
Happiness and joy may stimulate compassion and compassion may stimulate happiness and joy. This is ideal. This may then be noticed to be increasing positive energy, empathy, pro-social behavior, and the change within may serve as the kernel of an evolving moral-ethical framework.
Matthieu Ricard is a scientist turned Buddhist monk and a best selling author, translator, and photographer. He has lived and studied in the Himalayas for more than 35 years.
This recording is from Google Tech Talks in March of 2007
60 minutes Youtube watch?v=L_30JzRGDHI
A wellness approach in learning: act as though we don’t yet know anything more important — eliminate the inner ego voice from learning.
I pray to be released from any responsibility for making judgments and to learn as though this is all new to me. Later, I’ll review the important lesson again. Always when material is important in my life, I review the material many times.
Starting off into a new day, there is something to learn and something to share — what that is comes to me with my morning meditation — I don’t really even think about it until it comes — I remind myself, “This is my wonderful journey of self discovery. Love envelopes me and the gentle waves of peaceful waters and the light shine from my mind into the world around me.” As I face myself in honesty, open to guiding spirit, I turn my life over to God and I ask Him to allow me to do whatever I may to do His will — Thy Will, not mine be done.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama says “in today’s secular world, religion alone is no longer adequate as a basis for ethics… any religion-based answer to the problem of our neglect of inner values can never be universal, and so will be inadequate.” My religion practice is rooted in utmost fondness and enthusiasm in me. I love Jesus and being Christian. I also love all others as best I am able and this is certainly a growing condition in me, prompted by my love of Jesus’s words that make clear that we are to love God with all of our being and also love others as we would be loved. I realize that my world around me is a secular world where my religion is separate from societal norms and therefore that I must involve myself with others in ways that make me attractive; not by promoting my religion. I am to be a channel for love.
I hope that this lesson is helpful for you in your life of spiritual enlightenment — awakening the skill to foster well-being and for freedom, mastery of living in moments of serenity, inner peacefulness, joyfulness, and of course for sharing happiness.
Bloggers, readers, meditation and mindful practice is AMAZING! Astounding!
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According to Ricard …
“In the Western world, meditation means sitting under a mango tree in a blissed out state. The prevailing idea is that you have to sit down and empty your mind. It’s not that at all. You have to clean up a bit. We have so many wandering and intrusive thoughts. So you have to be in control of your own mind. Meditation means inner freedom. Inner freedom doesn’t mean following every chain of thought. It’s like a sailor who takes the helm and decides where to sail instead of drifting with the current. If you want to generate particular state of mind, you do what it takes.”
“There was a lot of activity in his left prefrontal cortex which indicates a huge capacity for happiness; this man is very unlikely to be making negative choices about his experiences,” says Neuroscientist Richard Davidson
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“Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree but it completely changes your brain.”
The French genetic scientist left an intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now a western scholar of religion.
His daily routine of meditation made possible amazing brain scans that demonstrate that if he is meditating on compassion, Ricard’s brain produces a level of gamma waves never before reported within neuroscience literature.
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NOW, here begins the really amazing part Gamma brain wave production is associated with consciousness, attention, learning and memory. We want to train our brains to increase peace and serenity and this changes the brain — It’s like we come into unifying Loving Light… after time… the brain changes (maintenance required).
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FINDINGSHis skull was wired up with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin and its all been recorded — he’s got a happy and joyous mind — no doubt. Scans found excess activity in his brain’s left prefrontal cortex compared to its right counterpart, giving Ricard an abnormally large capacity for happiness.
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FINDINGSA larger volume of a specific brain structure generally increases the abilities to carry out specific functions associated with that structure. This is widely accepted based on the assumption that greater numbers of neurons will produce larger outputs and therefore may be more influential than smaller numbers of neurons.
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FINDINGS Researchers in neuroscience demonstrate that the prefrontal cortex plays a responsible role in forming of expectations based on actions and social control, predicting of outcomes, future consequences of activities, working toward goals, development of abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, abilities to determine same and different and better and best. Abilities to suppress urges that may lead to socially unacceptable outcomes are developed by this area of the brain. Meditation boosts learning ability, improves brain functioning, and reduces stress!
Even people meditating for the first time will register a decrease in beta waves, a sign that the cortex is not processing information as actively as usual. After 20 minutes there is a huge decrease in beta activity — these brains are learning to be highly focused.
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Matthieu Ricard: “Compassion is not just some high-minded flaky concept that Buddhist monks and New Age hippies bandy about, it’s a very practical way to operate in a world that is incredibly stressful for just about everyone.”
FINDINGSMindfulness meditation, one type of meditation technique, has been shown to enhance emotional awareness and psychological flexibility as well as induce well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to examine how meditation may influence brain functions. This talk will examine the effect of mindfulness meditation practice on the brain systems in which psychological functions such as attention, emotional re-activity, emotion regulation, and self-view are instantiated. We will also discuss how different forms of meditation practices are being studied using neuroscientific technologies and are being integrated into clinical practice to address symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress..
Share this one around… its time to change this world, one brain at a time… each to their own.
Let’s rid the world of social anxiety:
NOTE: Social anxiety is linked to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, psychosis (not otherwise specified), drug use, alcohol use, spontaneous violence, outbursts, character flaws, behavior problems, anger and rage; to name just a few dis-eases.
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Let’s work on it together… mindfulness is a tool for awakening mental health.
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FINDINGS Related to anxiety… this is empirical evidence… about Meditation benefits. These are FACTS: .
Personally, I am sure that practicing mindfulness meditation with some expert therapeutic guidance can speed healing of PTSD and possibly DID; maybe even NPD, BPD, and possibly even schizophrenia.
Meditation can speed recovery from grief.
It will probably heal some Anxiety NOS and episodic Depression.
Mindfulness can greatly decrease panic episodes… maybe cure it.
It can reduce Bipolar and Uni-polar disorder symptoms.
An old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a middle school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful after-school enthusiasm, came down his street. They began beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the old man decided it was time to take some action.
The next afternoon, out he marched to meet the noisy percussionists as they were banging their way down the street.
Stopping them, he said, “You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. In fact, I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I’ll give you each a dollar if you’ll promise to come around every day and do your thing.”
The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trashcans.
After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face. “This recession’s really putting a big dent in my income,” he told them. “From now on, I’ll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans.”
The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they accepted his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus. A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street.
“Look,” he said, “I haven’t received my Social Security check yet, so I’m not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?”
“A quarter?” the drum leader exclaimed. “If you think we’re going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you’re nuts! No way, dude. We quit!” And the old man enjoyed peace and serenity for the rest of his days.
Bloggers for Peace is a group of hundreds of individuals from around the world who have committed to publishing at least one (1) post per month promoting peace or the idea of peace. These posts might be creative stories, articles, photographs, videos, poems, memes, art or interpretive medium.
Bloggers for Peace is a community effort. I display the image (below) on some of my posts and on my sidebar in support of their efforts and in support of people and communities and of governments working towards peaceful and civil solutions to problems including policing and defending rights and territories and so on.
What makes maintaining peace extraordinary?
Well, lots of problems crop up and one is quickness to settle for Peace or Freedom. Both peace and freedom require that parties come to mutual agreement to include peace and freedom in their solutions. In other words, one man’s peace is another man’s chaos and thus, someone is out for defending or attacking another party to preserve freedoms.
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don’t ever count on having both at once.
Robert A. Heinlein,
American Science Fiction Writer
I like to think that there are few exceptions to it that peace is an absolute need that trumps war — and that I’m not by myself the expert on what everyone needs to live in peace and to maintain freedom — and that it really requires making do sometimes or developing dialog and so forth. Living with others is always work. I hope that you’ll consider making a simple commitment to post one article each month to promote peace. Positive promotes positive — we need positive dialog to emerge in troubled places. Peace can increase if people can make just a little more time to promote positive dialog and news about issues and process.
Two videos today… you’ll open the page to get this story. Please comment if you have time.
1st video… economic collapse — the military consumes the riches — the people can’t get their needs met — the economy collapses — its really that simple. Atomic weapons are like bullets… remember that statement — it will be reality again soon, I think.
Do we need a strong Peace Department?
2nd video… we want a good life — the Information Age exploded upon us in the recent decades and it is unstoppable — ideas are independent of controls — We access information on just about anything — for free — control of data and analysis of data lag behind important decisions that get made — the data contribute to peace or war.
Here is Dr. Michio Kaku with views on the science of democracy in a Worlds Apart interview video:
Major decisions about the future of our countries are being made in offices by a few leaders — we get “snapshots” to keep us up to date on their decisions. Is there a better way?
Program Description
Presented by Richard J. Davidson
In this talk, Richard J. Davidson explores scientific research on the neuroscience of positive human qualities and how they can be cultivated through contemplative practice. Distinctions among different forms of contemplative practices will be introduced and they will be shown to have different neural and behavioral consequences, as well as important consequences for physical health in both long-term and novice practitioners. New research also shows that meditation-based interventions delivered online can produce behavioral and neural changes. Collectively, this body of research indicates that we can cultivate adaptive neural changes and strengthen positive human qualities through systematic mental practice.
If happiness is an inner state, influenced by external conditions but not dependent on them, how can we achieve it? Matthieu Ricard presents factors that generally may increase or decrease well-being, happiness, authenticity, compassion, peace, and joy.
Happiness and joy may stimulate compassion and compassion may stimulate happiness and joy. This is ideal. This may then be noticed to be increasing positive energy, empathy, pro-social behavior, and the change within may serve as the kernel of an evolving moral-ethical framework.
Matthieu Ricard is a scientist turned Buddhist monk and a best selling author, translator, and photographer. He has lived and studied in the Himalayas for more than 35 years.
A wellness approach in learning: act as though we don’t yet know anything more important — eliminate the inner ego voice from learning.
I pray to be released from any responsibility for making judgments and to learn as though this is all new to me. Later, I’ll review the important lesson again. Always when material is important in my life, I review the material many times.
Starting off into a new day, there is something to learn and something to share — what that is comes to me with my morning meditation — I don’t really even think about it until it comes — I remind myself, “This is my wonderful journey of self discovery. Love envelopes me and the gentle waves of peaceful waters and the light shine from my mind into the world around me.” As I face myself in honesty, open to guiding spirit, I turn my life over to God and I ask Him to allow me to do whatever I may to do His will — Thy Will, not mine be done.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama says “in today’s secular world, religion alone is no longer adequate as a basis for ethics… any religion-based answer to the problem of our neglect of inner values can never be universal, and so will be inadequate.” My religion practice is rooted in utmost fondness and enthusiasm in me. I love Jesus and being Christian. I also love all others as best I am able and this is certainly a growing condition in me, prompted by my love of Jesus’s words that make clear that we are to love God with all of our being and also love others as we would be loved. I realize that my world around me is a secular world where my religion is separate from societal norms and therefore that I must involve myself with others in ways that make me attractive; not by promoting my religion. I am to be a channel for love.
I hope that this lesson is helpful for you in your life of spiritual enlightenment — awakening the skill to foster well-being and for freedom, mastery of living in moments of serenity, inner peacefulness, joyfulness, and of course for sharing happiness.
Do you remember the Beatles?
This is my all time favorite Beatles song.
I love the song because it reminds me that everything is as it is intended to be. My lesson is to accept what is. My tasks are to be honest, open and willing for God’s direction. My job is to give help. When I find myself in times of trouble, I remember let it be.
Eric
___ Let It Be was the 12th and final studio album
released by the English rock band the Beatles.
Oh yes, I’m back on happiness and changing your DNA and your brain chemistry too; and so I’m taking a closer look with my new friend Matthieu Ricard from his Google Tech Talks in 2007 at how to re-program brains. His lecture is stored in the Youtube video library (its so nice to browse Youtube occasionally–well, actually, I do daily).
A healthy mind should act like a mirror – faces can be reflected in a glass but none of them stick. Use the same technique with thoughts – let them pass through your mind but don’t dwell.
It’s impossible to stop thoughts from coming but focusing on a particular sound or the breath going in and out calms the mind, giving greater clarity. Controlling the mind is not about reducing your freedom, it’s about not being a slave to your thoughts. Think of it as directing your mind like a boat rather than drifting.
Be mindful – pay attention to the sensations of your breath going in and out. If you notice your mind wandering simply bring it back to focusing on your breath. This is known as mindfulness. You can apply it to other sensations to bring you into the ‘now’ rather than dwelling on the past or future. You could focus instead on heat, cold and sounds that you hear.
Once you’ve achieved some skill in this you can use that to cultivate qualities such as kindness, or dealing with disturbing emotions. He says everyone has felt all-consuming love but usually it lasts for about 15 seconds, but you can hold on and nurture this vivid feeling by focusing on it in meditation. If you feel it becoming vague you can consciously revive it.
Like when playing the piano, practicing the feeling for 20minutes has a far greater impact over time than a few seconds. Regular practice is also needed like watering a plant.
You can then use meditation to gain some space from negative emotions. Ricard says: ‘You can look at your experience like a fire that burns. If you are aware of anger you are not angry you are aware. Being aware of anxiety is not being anxious it is being aware.’ By being aware of these emotions you are no longer adding fuel to their fire and they will burn down.
You will see benefits in stress levels and general wellbeing as well as brain changes with regular practice in a month. Those who say they don’t have enough time to meditate should look at the benefits: ‘If it gives you the resources to deal with everything else during the other 23 hours and 30minutes, it seems a worthy way of spending 20 minutes,’ Ricard says.
A friend wants to know if I’m still Christian. YES, I am. Everything that I’m referring to from science and new age and Buddhist teachers is complimentary with Jesus’s teachings. I posted a couple of the most important Christian practices–in my opinion, 1 John (NIV) and the Our Father prayer are essential in Christian belief.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Soninto the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
In the Western world, meditation means sitting under a mango tree in a blissed out state. The prevailing idea is that you have to sit down and empty you mind. It’s not that at all. You have to clean up a bit. We have so many wandering and intrusive thoughts. So you have to be in control of your own mind. Inner freedom doesn’t mean following every chain of thought. It’s like a sailor who takes the helm and decides where to sail instead of drifting with the current. If you want to generate particular state of mind, you do what it takes.
“Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree but it completely changes your brain.” The French genetic scientist left an intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. His daily routine of meditation made possible amazing brain scans that demonstrate that if he’s meditating on compassion, Ricard’s brain produces a level of gamma waves never before ever reported within neuroscience literature. NOTE: gamma brain wave production is associated with consciousness, attention, learning and memory.
His skull was wired up with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin and its all been recorded — he’s got a happy and joyous mind — no doubt. Scans found excess activity in his brain’s left prefrontal cortex compared to its right counterpart, giving Ricard an abnormally large capacity for happiness.
.
.
A larger volume of a specific brain structure generally increases the abilities to carry out specific functions associated with that structure. This is widely accepted based on the assumption that greater numbers of neurons will produce larger outputs and therefore may be more influential than smaller numbers of neurons.
Researchers in neuroscience demonstrate that the prefrontal cortex plays a responsible role in forming of expectations based on actions and social control, predicting of outcomes, future consequences of activities, working toward goals, development of abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, abilities to determine same and different and better and best. Abilities to suppress urges that may lead to socially unacceptable outcomes are developed by this area of the brain.
Many experts say that meditation early in the morning, before starting your day is best. This method is going to place positive energy into your mind and once it’s a habit it is positive energy that will normally last throughout the entire day.
1. Upon waking or after basic bathroom duties, place positive thoughts into your mind. Keep it simple, especially at first. Here are some examples:
I am a peaceful and relaxed person and I choose to be.
A top priority today is to develop a positive outlook and a peaceful mind.
I plan to radiate peace outwards from my heart for every person that I come into contact with.
Begin with one and then another and the last meditation phrase. Add others, that is fine. The objective is simple enough. You want to make sure that in ten or fifteen minutes from when you get started that you feel relaxed and in touch with a lasting positive and peaceful inner feeling.
Consider a good book on positive meditations. Pick up a simple book like this one:
I heard sound without sound.
2. Seek the experience of the stillness of mind and of being with a peaceful heart. If other thoughts emerge do not judge or focus on them, but do repeat:
I __your name__ seek peaceful relaxation. I am a peaceful soul… I am peaceful… I enjoy peaceful energy.
My mind is filling with peace… I can radiate peace into the world… I am a source of peace and happiness.
I feel gentle waves of peace flowing throughout my mind… I enjoy bringing peace and comfort into my day.
I felt my soul upon my reflection.
3. Feel stillness and silence envelope your mind. Imagine that you are now covered in a warm light as if from the sun. It is comforting and you may repeat:
I am the peaceful soul… I am a peaceful, loving soul.
My mind feels light and free of worry… I realize my nature is peace.
Peace of mind is my true nature.
A gentle kiss I placed upon the deep.
4. Peaceful thoughts flow through your mind just as a small branch’s single leaf kisses the still water. You feel the still waters gently move as you repeat:
I am a spirit of light and peace and I move gently on the peaceful waters of my mind. I feel gentle and peaceful.
I radiate peace and light to the world like a warm and gentle star… I radiate peace into the world as my mind fills with love and light.
The light and love envelopes me and the gentle waves of peaceful waters and the light shine from my mind into the world around me.
A gentle breeze my heart did make.
5. A gentle breeze is blowing and you feel the warmth of the sun and the stars now and as you begin to feel light and gentle you repeat:
I see on the screen of my mind a radiant light and this light feels gentle and soothing.
I am at peace with myself; this stillness of mind enables me to feel content and complete.
This is my wonderful journey of self discovery.
Peace of mind through meditation is a process. Radiant peace involves time and patience. Gentleness (as a reward) comes along in time with practice of peacefulness meditations. The outcome for you is that your energy increases as radiant peacefulness day by day increases in you. The benefit extends to others and comes back around to you again as others look upon what you radiate as attractive and appealing.
I certainly enjoy being attractive, empathetic and compassionate. It sometimes comes back around in just subtle ways. In certain circumstances, it calls me by voice of others to step forward. Humility too became genuine and attractive in me.
Let me know how this practice works out for you.
Thanks for reading (spiritual topics in a secular world),
Eric
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Meditation Increases Empathy(Christopher Rivas: lifestyledezine.com) research summary: Richard Davidson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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the Hunt for Truth 
