How,Meditation,Techniques,Comp health How Meditation Techniques Compare -- Zen, Mindfulness, Trans

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by Jeanne BallMeditation shopping? Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Yetmillions of Americans are seeking tools to turn within. As a nation we've triedto fix our problems with everything from psychotherapy and Prozac to positivethinking and politics. Now people everywhere are ready to close their eyes andtake a dive -- not to escape, but to more fully be. Having lectured on meditation for 25 years, I find thataudiences no longer need to be convinced of meditation's practical benefits.But people do often ask, "Aren't all meditation techniques basically thesame?" Experts in the venerated traditions of meditation havealways marveled at the mind's subtlety, appreciating its keen responsivenessand sensitivity to different mental procedures. Great master teachers ofmeditation have recognized that the various techniques engage the mind indifferent ways and naturally produce different results. With advancements inneurophysiology, scientists are now identifying distinctions among varieties ofmeditation practices. The Myth of the Relaxation Response The old "scientific" myth that meditationpractices all induce the same, general state of physiological rest -- calledthe "relaxation response" -- has been overturned. Though manypractices provide relaxation, decades of research show that not all techniquesproduce the same physiological, psychological or behavioral effects.1 Recently a doctor came to me for meditation instruction. Hehad learned a "relaxation response" technique in a class onintegrative medicine during his training at Harvard. He was attracted tomeditation by the promise of deeper insight into consciousness -- access to themind's hidden, transcendent potentialities. He enjoyed the relaxation techniquebut yearned for deeper experience and understanding. Reviewing the science journals, the doctor arrived at thesame conclusion reached by leading meditation researchers: the"relaxation" model was based on inconclusive evidence and had neverbeen substantiated. Hundreds of published studies on meditation techniques showvarying effects from different practices -- ranging from measures of rest muchdeeper than the "relaxation response" to physiological states nodifferent from sliding back into your easy chair. The emerging paradigm: three major categories of meditation Meditation labs have sprung up at universities across thecountry--places such as Yale, UCLA, University of Oregon, UW Madison andMaharishi University of Management. Their contributions have helped researchersidentify three major categories of techniques, classified according to EEGmeasurements and the type of cognitive processing or mental activity involved:     *Controlled focus: Classic examples of concentration or controlled focus arefound in the revered traditions of Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Qiqong, Yoga andVedanta, though many methods involve attempts to control or direct the mind.Attention is focused on an object of meditation--such as one's breath, an ideaor image, or an emotion. Brain waves recorded during these practices aretypically in the gamma frequency (20-50 Hz), seen whenever you concentrate orduring "active" cognitive processing.2    *Open monitoring: These mindfulness type practices, common in Vipassana andZazen, involve watching or actively paying attention to experiences--withoutjudging, reacting or holding on. Open monitoring gives rise to frontal theta(4-8 Hz), an EEG pattern commonly seen during memory tasks or reflection onmental concepts.3    *Automatic self-transcending: This category describes practices designed to gobeyond their own mental activity--enabling the mind to spontaneously transcendthe process of meditation itself. Whereas concentration and open monitoringrequire degrees of effort or directed focus to sustain the activity ofmeditation, this approach is effortless because there is no attempt to directattention--no controlled cognitive processing. An example is the TranscendentalMeditation technique. The EEG pattern of this category is frontal alphacoherence, associated with a distinct state of relaxed inner wakefulness.4 Some techniques may fall under more than one category:Guided meditation is controlled focus if the instruction is, "Hold attentionon your breath." But if the instructor says, "Now just watch yourthoughts, letting them come and go," then you're probably doing openmonitoring--and your EEG would say for sure. Different practices, different results Without the scientific research (or until we have a cellphone app for measuring our EEG and biochemistry), meditative states and theireffects remain subjective. Brain research, along with findings on psychologicaland behavioral effects, gives a more objective framework for health professionalsor anyone to determine which meditation technique might be most beneficial fora given purpose. For example, research suggests that concentration techniquesmay improve focusing ability. A study on advanced Buddhist monks--some of whomhad logged more 10,000 hours of meditation -- found that concentrating on"loving kindness and compassion" increased those feelings andproduced synchronous gamma activity in the left prefrontal cortex -- indicatingmore powerful focus. The effect of open monitoring or non-judgmental observationis said to increase even-mindedness in daily life; studies on mindfulness-typepractices indicate better pain management and reduction of "negativerumination." For relief from stress, research suggests that an automaticself-transcending technique might serve you better than a practice that keepsthe mind engaged in continuous mental effort. Because of the natural mind/bodyrelationship, the more deeply settled the mind, the more deeply rested is thebody. Studies show that the deep rest of "transcending" calms thesympathetic nervous system and restores physiological balance -- lowering highblood pressure, alleviating chronic anxiety and reducing stress hormones suchas cortisol. More research is needed to verify benefits of controlledfocus, but there are numerous studies on mindfulness practices and automaticself-transcending, with over 600 studies on the Transcendental Meditationtechnique alone. As meditation becomes a new frontier of scientific research,more and more people are becoming aware of the mind's enormous potential forimpacting health and wellbeing. I find that most meditators are no longerconcerned that a technique might come from the East or have roots in aspiritual tradition--their main concern is that the practice works, and sciencecan help remove the guesswork. Americans are opting for meditation to counterbalance a lifethat's been plugged in, outer directed and over stimulated, and we're turningto something as simple as our own inner silence. Whether you're an athlete aiming for the "zone,"an executive striving for peak performance or a harried mother needing someserenity, a reliable meditation practice can be your best friend. 1. Orme-Johnson, Walton, 1998. American Journal of HealthPromotion 2(5), 297-299.2. Lutz, Greischar, Rawlings, Ricard, Davidson, 2004. ProcNatl Acad Sci U S A 101,16369-73.3. Cahn, Delorme, & Polich, 2010. Cognitive Processing2010 11(1):39-56.4. Travis et al, 2010. Cognitive Processing 11(1), 21-30.