Podcasts about mind wandering

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Terry Sejnowski, Ph.D., professor of computational neurobiology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He is world-renowned for exploring how our brain processes and stores information and, with that understanding, for developing tools that enable us to markedly improve our ability to learn all types of information and skills. We discuss how to learn most effectively in order to truly master a subject or skill. Dr. Sejnowski explains how to use AI tools to forage for new information, generate ideas, predict the future, and assist in analyzing health data and making health-related decisions. We also explore non-AI strategies to enhance learning and creativity, including how specific types of exercise can improve mitochondrial function and cognitive performance. Listeners will gain insights into how computational methods and AI are transforming our understanding of brain function, learning, and memory, as well as the emerging roles of these tools in addressing personal health and treating brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Access the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com. Pre-order Andrew's new book, Protocols: protocolsbook.com Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Helix Sleep: https://helixsleep.com/huberman  David Protein: https://davidprotein.com/huberman  LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman  Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman  Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Terry Sejnowski   00:02:32 Sponsors: BetterHelp & Helix Sleep   00:05:19 Brain Structure & Function, Algorithmic Level   00:11:49 Basal Ganglia; Learning & Value Function   00:15:23 Value Function, Reward & Punishment   00:19:14 Cognitive vs. Procedural Learning, Active Learning, AI   00:25:56 Learning & Brain Storage   00:30:08 Traveling Waves, Sleep Spindles, Memory   00:32:08 Sponsors: AG1 & David   00:34:57 Tool: Increase Sleep Spindles; Memory, Ambien; Prescription Drugs   00:42:02 Psilocybin, Brain Connectivity   00:45:58 Tool: ‘Learning How to Learn' Course   00:49:36 Learning, Generational Differences, Technology, Social Media   00:58:37 Sponsors: LMNT & Joovv   01:01:06 Draining Experiences, AI & Social Media   01:06:52 Vigor & Aging, Continued Learning, Tool: Exercise & Mitochondrial Function   01:12:17 Tool: Cognitive Velocity; Quick Stressors, Mitochondria   01:16:58 AI, Imagined Futures, Possibilities   01:27:14 AI & Mapping Potential Options, Schizophrenia   01:30:56 Schizophrenia, Ketamine, Depression   01:36:15 AI, “Idea Pump,” Analyzing Research   01:42:11 AI, Medicine & Diagnostic Tool; Predicting Outcomes   01:50:04 Parkinson's Disease; Cognitive Velocity & Variables; Amphetamines   01:59:49 Free Will; Large Language Model (LLM), Personalities & Learning   02:12:40 Tool: Idea Generation, Mind Wandering, Learning   02:18:18 Dreams, Unconscious, Types of Dreams   02:22:56 Future Projects, Brain & Self-Attention   02:31:39 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter   Disclaimer & Disclosures

Es ist zum Verzweifeln: Du hast den Absatz im Buch nun schon fünfmal gelesen und noch immer keine Ahnung, was darin steht. Stattdessen bist du im Geist die Einkaufsliste durchgegangen und hast über den Streit von gestern nachgedacht. Warum nur bleiben die Gedanken nicht mal da, wo du sie gerade brauchst? Heute sprechen Leon und Atze darüber, wie wir lästiges Gedankenwandern eindämmen können - und warum es manchmal gar nicht so schlecht sein kann, ab und zu abschweifen. Fühlt euch gut betreut Leon & Atze Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leonwindscheid/ https://www.instagram.com/atzeschroeder_offiziell/ Der Instagram Account für Betreutes Fühlen: https://www.instagram.com/betreutesfuehlen/ Mehr zu unseren Werbepartnern findet ihr hier: https://linktr.ee/betreutesfuehlen Hier Tickets für die Show in Münster sichern: https://betreutesfuehlen.online-ticket.de/muenster-2024 Masterclass von Leon ab Herbst https://wemynd.de Ein Gehirn&Geist-Artikel über zwanghaftes Tagträumen: (kostenpflichtig) https://www.spektrum.de/magazin/wenn-exzessives-tagtraeumen-zum-problem-wird/1671446 Wie Tagträume das Leben verbessern, bei Kugelzwei: https://www1.wdr.de/kugelzwei/gluecksfunken/tagtraeume-100.html Über zwanghaftes Tagträumen, alltägliches Tagträumen und Mind Wandering, von Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-in-a-dream-world/ Redaktion: Stefanie Uhrig Produktion: Murmel Productions

The modern world is robbing people of their innate ability for deep focus. But it's also taking away an innate ability that enhances our clarity, connections and creativity - our ability to Mind Wander. That's what I explore a little today.   Show Notes: Get access to SHiFTS, the unique mental clarity tool here.    Get Inspired Every Monday Morning & Join The Community:  For free delivery of my weekly email join my mailing list at www.shanecradock.com My best-selling book The Inner CEO: The Inner CEO is available to buy in ebook, paperback, hardback and audio formats. All details are here: www.theinnerceo.com Connect With Me:  Have you been inspired from something you've heard on my podcast or do you have a question?  I'd love to hear from you.  Email me at support@shanecradock.com Follow:  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. 

In episode 413 of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer welcomes Dr. Melaina Vinski, the Behavioral Science Lead at IBM, for a deep dive into the practical applications of behavioral science in business and technology. Melaina, with her extensive background in cognitive neuroscience and human behavior, shares her journey from academia to leading behavioral science initiatives at major corporations like PwC Canada and IBM. She discusses the importance of mind wandering, mindfulness, and the integration of behavioral science into technology to create impactful solutions. Melaina elaborates on her fascinating research experiences, including studying the effects of daylight savings on cognition in Iceland and exploring mindfulness at the Max Planck Institute. She also touches on the significance of empathy, stress management, and cognitive capacity in designing user-centric solutions in the financial services and insurance industries. The episode is packed with insights on how to apply behavioral science principles to drive strategic decision-making, enhance user experience, and improve business outcomes. In this episode: Discover the impact of mind wandering and mindfulness on cognitive capacity and creativity. Learn about the integration of behavioral science into technology and its real-world applications. Understand the importance of empathy and stress management in user-centric design. Explore strategic decision-making frameworks that incorporate behavioral science principles. Gain insights into Melaina's journey from academia to leading behavioral science initiatives at IBM. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina introduces Dr. Melaina Vinski, highlighting her role as the Behavioral Science Lead at IBM and her extensive background in cognitive neuroscience and human behavior. 00:04:12 - Melaina's Background and Journey Melaina shares her journey from academia to the corporate world, discussing her experiences at PwC Canada and IBM, and the transition from theoretical research to practical applications. 00:09:45 - Research on Mind Wandering and Mindfulness Melaina discusses her PhD research on mind wandering and mindfulness, including her studies on the effects of daylight savings in Iceland and mindfulness practices at the Max Planck Institute. 00:15:32 - The Importance of Empathy and Stress Management The conversation shifts to the significance of empathy and stress management in user-centric design, particularly in the financial services and insurance industries. 00:21:18 - Integrating Behavioral Science into Technology Melaina explains how behavioral science principles are integrated into technology at IBM to create impactful solutions, emphasizing the importance of strategic decision-making frameworks. 00:27:54 - Practical Applications and Examples Melaina provides examples of practical applications of behavioral science in business, including a case study on improving customer experience in the insurance industry. 00:34:06 - The Role of Cognitive Capacity in Creativity The discussion highlights the role of cognitive capacity in creativity and problem-solving, and the benefits of mind wandering and taking breaks for better decision-making. 00:40:22 - Building a Holistic Approach to Behavioral Science Melaina shares her approach to building a holistic behavioral science strategy, integrating various frameworks and tools to drive business outcomes. 00:46:15 - Closing Thoughts and Future Directions Melina and Melaina discuss the future directions of behavioral science in business and technology, and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation. 00:50:30 - Conclusion What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Connect with Melaina: Melaina on LinkedIn Melaina on X  Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books.  Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Fun Habit, by Mike Rucker Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes The Myth of Normal, by Gabor Maté Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain, by Lisa Feldman Barrett Top Recommended Next Episode: Jay Maddock Interview (ep 203) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Mike Rucker Interview (ep 251) Cassie Holmes Interview (ep 257) Framing (ep 296) Yves Boudreau Interview (ep 375) Matthew Confer Interview (ep 412) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina's LinkedIn Newsletter The Behavioural Strategy Briefing

Hi friends, we're on a brief summer break at the moment. We'll have a new episode for you in August. In the meanwhile, enjoy this pick from our archives! _____ [originally aired May 17, 2023] You know the feeling. You're trying to read or write or think through a project, maybe even just respond to an email, when your attention starts to drift. You may not even notice it until you've already picked up your phone or jumped tabs, until your mind has already wandered way off-piste. This problem of distraction has become a bit of a modern-day obsession. We now fret about how to stay focused, how to avoid time-sucks, how to use our attention wisely. But it turns out this fixation of ours—contemporary as it may seem—is really not so new.  My guest today is Dr. Jamie Kreiner, Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Jamie is the author of a new book titled The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell us about Distraction. In the book, Jamie shows that Christian monks in late antiquity and the early middle ages were—like us—a bit obsessed with attention. And their understanding of attention fit within a broad and often remarkably detailed understanding of the mind. In this conversation, Jamie and I talk about why monks in this era cared so much about distraction. We discuss how they understood the relationship between mind and body; how they conceptualized memory, meditation, and mind-wandering. We discuss some of the mnemonic techniques they used, some of the graphical and textual devices that helped keep them focused, and some of the metaphors and visualization techniques they innovated. Along the way we also touch on fasting, sleep, demons and angels, the problem of discernment, the state of pure prayer, the Six Wings mnemonic device, metacognitive maneuvering, and much more.  I'll just say I really enjoyed The Wandering Mind. As Jamie and I chat about here, the book illuminates an earlier understanding of human psychology that feels deeply familiar in some ways, and delightfully strange in others. I think you definitely get a sense of that in this conversation. Alright friends, on to my chat with Dr. Jamie Kreiner. Enjoy!     A transcript of this episode is available here.   Notes and links 4:00 – A webpage devoted to the Ark of Hugh of Saint Victor.  6:30 – For a detailed (and positive) review essay about The Wandering Mind, see here.  11:30 ­– The Redwall books, by Brian Jacques, are well known for featuring elaborate feasts. An article about some of the best of these. 18:30 – For more on how the body was understood in the early Christian world, see The Burden of the Flesh. 26:30 – Text written continuously is known as scripta continua. 27:30 – Articles that celebrate medieval marginalia can be found here, here, and here.  40:00 – An article about the Six Wings mnemonic. For more on mnemonic techniques in the medieval world, see Mary Carruthers' book. 53:00 – On the idea of “pure prayer,” see the book, The Ladder of Prayer and the Ship of Stirrings. 57:30 – Dr. Kreiner's next book, which comes out in January 2024, is a translation of some of John Cassian's work on distraction.   Dr. Kreiner's book recommendations can be found in a recent article here.   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com.  For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.

La prima regola, è non giudicarti. La seconda, non applicare a te stesso i modelli degli altri, ed agli altri, i tuoi. La terza, capire quando lasciar andare libera la mente è qualcosa che ti fa bene, e quando, invece, è il momento di aiutarla a trovare la strada giusta. Ci sono tanti motivi, per cui i pensieri si muovono liberi nella mente. Per aiutarti a stare meglio, ad alleggerire la vita, a trovare la giusta ispirazione, o, semplicemente, perché non sanno dove andare. Poi, ci sono pensieri che sembrano vagare, ma non vagano per niente, insistono invece perché c'è qualcosa che devi chiarire dentro di te. E quelli che non sono tuoi, ma arrivano da altri. Il mind wandering è un'attività che ha un potenziale straordinario, che puoi attivare. Quando? Quando accompagna qualcosa di buono per te. Come? Iniziando ad avere fiducia nel più profondo valore della tua esistenza. “Cambia i tuoi pensieri e cambierai il tuo mondo” (V. Peale) - Puoi leggere la trascrizione dell'audio qui: https://annarosapacini.com/mind-wandering- E da questa pagina puoi iscriverti liberamente al mio podcast Comunicare per essere®: https://annarosapacini.com/podcast/ una filosofia di vita pratica e concreta, che permette di mettere da subito in atto il cambiamento- Comunicazione valoriale, Relazioni, Professione, Benessere. Scrittura evolutiva®, grafologia evolutiva®, soluzioni e percorsi sempre e solo su misura. Per informazioni sul progetto, sui contenuti, sugli strumenti e sui percorsi attivabili scrivi a info@annarosapacini.com- Rinforza la tua motivazione e la tua visione interiore: ogni giorno, per te, nuove prospettive che potrai applicare per trasformare la tua vita. Seguimi su Meta-Facebook e sul tuo social preferito, cerca “Annarosa Pacini”➡️ E non dimenticare di iscriverti al mio canale YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AnnarosaPacini

 Anne  Barrowclough is the creator of Wander120, an app to help us "mind wander". The purpose of this  app is to help us  refresh from our stressful lives. Through dealing with her parents mental health decline, the concept of mind wandering came about. Such has Anne's passion for the project been, she has turned it into an online business with clients all around the world.Ann's startup journey is long from over but in the follow up to her recent interview she shares in this episode the books that have inspired her on her journey so far!For more great content, go to:https://www.isintosuccess.comhttps://www.instagram.com/insightsintosuccess/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRkDL7gZSP98vnVyZ5445ghttps://www.tiktok.com/@insightsintosuccessEmail us at: paul.d@msofmarketing.comThanks for supporting us in our journey to find the secrets to success!

Anne  Barrowclough has held down a variety of employment roles over the years, but at the same time has often has a "side hustle" before it was a thing!Through dealing with her parents mental health decline, the concept of mind wandering came about. Such has Anne's passion for the project been, she has turned it into an online business with clients all around the world.Ann's startup journey is long from over as she shares with us her experiences so far and what the future holds for mind wandering and her business wander120.1:10 What is Wander 120 about?6:10 What was the inspiration for the business?7:40 How does mind wandering compare to meditation?10:30 What was Anne's background?12:00 What has been her motivation?15:00 What does the app do?19:08 If you were to start again, what would you do differently?25:20 How did you get your app out to customers?30:2!0 What have been some of your lessons?36:00 What are your greatest impediments to growth?38:10 What's your competition?41:20 Where to next with the business?42:48 What are the key qualities to succeed? For more great content, go to:https://www.isintosuccess.comhttps://www.instagram.com/insightsintosuccess/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRkDL7gZSP98vnVyZ5445ghttps://www.tiktok.com/@insightsintosuccessEmail us at: paul.d@msofmarketing.comThanks for supporting us in our journey to find the secrets to success!

The interplay between the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Task Positive Network (TPN) is crucial for our cognitive and emotional health. The DMN, active during restful states and wandering mind, facilitates introspection, memory recall, and creativity, serving as a foundational element in our mental processes. On the other hand, the TPN takes charge during focused, goal-oriented tasks, enabling attention, decision-making, and problem-solving. They operate in balance - when one is active, the other quiescent and this dynamic is essential for optimal mental functioning.However, imbalances in these networks can lead to mental health challenges. For instance, excessive DMN activity is linked to conditions like depression and anxiety, where rumination and negative self-referential thoughts prevail. In contrast, overreliance on the TPN without adequate rest can lead to burnout and stress.Mindfulness meditation offers a practical approach to equilibrating the DMN and TPN, promoting mental well-being by fostering a state of alert relaxation and enhancing self-awareness. Moreover, incorporating regular breaks into the workday, particularly those that allow for mental disengagement from task-focused activities, is vital for sustaining cognitive performance and preventing decision fatigue. Engaging in activities that stimulate the DMN, such as spending time in nature or practicing mindfulness, during these breaks can further enhance cognitive restoration and emotional balance.Awake and Aware | Our 2024 Live EventJoin us at Awake and Aware 2024, a transformative 3-day workshop from May 1st to 3rd in Bend, Oregon. Focusing on interactive experiences, this event offers a unique opportunity to reset, reflect, and connect with like-minded individuals. Limited slots.Website: Awakeandawarebend.comCME? Yes! This is a CME eventLove medicine, but the job itself leaves a lot to be desired?I work with many docs in your shoes. To learn more about 1-on-1 coaching, start here.4 free resources specifically designed to address pain points in emergency medicine practiceThe Driveway DebriefScripting your least favorite conversationsThe quick and dirty guide to calling consultsMy 4 favorite documentation templateFor full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast websiteWe DiscussWhat is the Default Mode Network?What is the Task Positive Network?Interplay of the TPN and DMNDefault Mode Network out of Balance | Mental IllnessThe Neurophysiology Behind How Taking a Small Step of Action Can Decrease Rumination and AnxietyThe Default Mode Network and InsomniaWhat Happens with the DMN in Meditation?The Task Positive Network's Role in MeditationWhy Your Task Positive Network is Begging You to Take a Break in the WorkdayHow to Take a Break That Effectively Recharges Your Task Positive NetworkMentioned in this episode:Our Live Event. May 1-3, 2024 | Bend, ORAwake and Aware An in-person live workshop...

Hey you Entrepreneurial Beauties!In this week's episode of the Get Confident podcast, we get a powerful concept. The art of "Mind-Wandering" and its incredible impact on productivity and creativity.How allowing ourselves to mind wander can enhance problem solving, increase creativity, restore mental energy, aid emotional processing, and improve focus and attention. I'll also be sharing personal experiences and insights from the enlightening book 'Stolen Focus'.So if you're looking to level up your career, financial freedom, and of course, start your own business; tune in to discover how incorporating mind wandering can elevate your professional and personal life. Don't miss out on this game-changing episode!Mentioned in the episode:Get Confident Ep.81 with my mentor Calvin Coyles"Stolen Focus"  bookLet's connect on Instagram and Facebook. Join the Get Confident Facebook Group here. 

We invite you to listen in on an enlightening conversation with Dr. Jonathan Schooler, shedding light on his groundbreaking research at The META Lab (Memory Emotion Thought Awareness) at UC Santa Barbara about Mind Wandering.Dr. Schooler is a Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the Acting Director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research on human cognition explores topics that intersect philosophy and psychology. For instance, he delves into how fluctuations in people's awareness of their experience mediate mind-wandering and how exposing individuals to philosophical positions alters their behavior.In this episode, we cover:What is Meta Lab's research on mind wandering?How meditation an effective technique for reducing mind wanderingThe Finding Focus AppWhat is Meta Awareness and how do we measure it?On drinking alcohol and its impact on awareness, creativity, inhibition, and the flow state.What is the difference between mind wandering and daydreaming?How are ideas forming?Exploring creative emergence in transitional statesThe importance of leisure and breaks to progress in creativity and productivity.Tip-of-the-tongue experiences aid in effective problem-solvingTips for finding focus and creativityHow to cultivate openness to experiencethe importance of cultivating curiosity and intellectual humility for personal and societal benefit.Helpful links:Jonathan Schooler - Read about the Inside and the Selection of IdeasFinding Focus AppKaplan CourseDRUNK: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization by Edward SlingerlandRobert StickgoldEpisode #63: The Science and Psychology of Sleep and Dreams with Tzivia GoverDavid GrossFind Rosebud Woman on Instagram as @rosebudwoman, Christine on Instagram as @the.rose.woman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

you're an ADHD girl, I'm an ADHD girl... and we both need better quality sleep. Here's some relaxation tips that I've been doing recently that have really helped me get a deeper sleep at night, even with a busy ADHD brain and mind. Poor sleep makes ADHD impairments and symptoms worse, so let's find ways to calm ADHD at bedtime, and sleep better so we can be Healthy and Happy ADHD Girls. :) Research suggests that women with ADHD may experience challenges related to sleep for several reasons: Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: ADHD symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsivity can lead to heightened arousal, making it more difficult for individuals to wind down and relax before bedtime. Executive Functioning Difficulties: ADHD is associated with executive function deficits, which can impact the ability to plan and organize daily activities, including maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. Mind Wandering and Racing Thoughts: ADHD is often characterized by a busy mind with constant thoughts and ideas. This can make it challenging for women with ADHD to quiet their minds when trying to fall asleep. Sensory Sensitivities: Some individuals with ADHD, including women, may have heightened sensitivities to stimuli, such as light, noise, or discomfort from clothing. These sensitivities can contribute to difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Co-occurring Conditions: Women with ADHD often have co-occurring conditions such as anxiety or depression, which can also impact sleep quality. Managing these conditions may contribute to improved sleep. Hormonal Changes: Hormonal fluctuations, such as those occurring during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, or menopause, can affect sleep patterns. Women with ADHD may be more susceptible to the impact of these hormonal changes on their sleep. It's important to note that each individual's experience with ADHD is unique, and not all women with ADHD will necessarily have sleep difficulties. However, understanding these potential challenges can help individuals and healthcare professionals develop targeted strategies to improve sleep hygiene and overall well-being. If sleep difficulties persist, consulting with a healthcare professional is advisable for personalized guidance and support. This podcast is no substitute for medical care, professional advice or clinical treatment. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/healthyhappyadhdgirls/message

Harnessing the Power of Mind Wandering: Mastering Your Default Mode Network for Positive Change - The Goal Smasher Podcast" In this episode, we explore the fascinating topic of "Mind Wandering" and how we can harness the potential of our Default Mode Network (DMN) for positive change. Join us as we delve into the science behind mind wandering and discover how understanding our minds can lead to redirecting it towards greater productivity and positivity. Are you curious about the impact of mind wandering on your thoughts and emotions? Together, we'll uncover how to navigate our default mode network and use it as a powerful tool for creativity and problem-solving. Don't miss this enlightening episode as we equip you with a transformative method from the book "Goal Smasher" to master your mind wandering and unleash its full potential. Subscribe now and experience the power of this dynamic show to embrace the art of mind wandering for personal growth and success! Tune in to the Goal Smasher Podcast and witness the transformative impact of harnessing your mind's innate brilliance. Join the Goal Smasher Nation, Read the book, follow on social, and subscribe to the newsletter for free resources at Audreylawrence.org. Keywords: Mind Wandering, Default Mode Network, Positive Change, Creativity, Problem-Solving, Goal Smasher, Audrey Lawrence, Transformative Techniques, Empowering, Dynamic Show, Personal Growth, Success, Productivity, Redirecting Thoughts, Art of Mind Wandering.

Join me as I delve into the fascinating world of feeling tones (or vedanas) and their impact on our lives. With guests Mark Williams and Dr. Danny Penman, we explore how feeling tones shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions, leaving us with a profound question: Are we truly in control of our own experiences? Tune in to find out, but be prepared to questioning everything you thought you knew. Welcoming Mark Williams and Dr. Danny Penman, the minds behind significant advancements in the field of mindfulness and cognitive therapy. As a professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford University, Mark has contributed immensely to developing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Accompanying him is his co-author, Dr. Danny Penman, a renowned meditation teacher and accomplished writer. Winner of the British Medical Association's Best Book Award in 2014, Danny has brought meditation and mindfulness into the limelight. Together, they're introducing their latest endeavor, 'Deeper Mindfulness,' a reflective, insightful guide aiming to help us navigate our complex emotions. In this episode, you will be able to: Discover the profound impact of mindfulness meditation on your mental health. Learn how to weave kindness and compassion into your daily mindfulness routine. Unearth methods for navigating trauma-centric mindfulness, setting a secure foothold for beginners in this practice. Delve into the fascinating transformation of meditation practices in Western society. Find out about the transformative eight-week program that will catapult your journey of cultivating mindfulness, as discussed in the book. Resources from this episode: Check out Mark Williams and Dr. Danny Penman's new book, Deeper Mindfulness, which explores feeling tones and provides practical exercises to deepen your mindfulness practice. Visit Komuso, a necklace that helps you reduce stress and increase focus. Use promo code Karagoodwin15 for a 15% discount. Explore the partners of the Meditation Conversation podcast on themeditationconversation.com for more resources and tools to support your spiritual revolution. Listen to episode 240 of The Meditation Conversation podcast where Kara Goodwin interviews Todd Steinberg, the founder of Komuso, for insights on calming the body and mind. Don't miss out on the practical insights and exercises in Mark Williams and Dr. Danny Penman's book, Deeper Mindfulness, to help you understand and navigate the feeling tones in your life. The key moments in this episode are: 00:00:13 - Introduction, 00:03:22 - The Significance of Feeling Tones, 00:07:57 - The Neuroscience of Feeling Tones, 00:12:20 - Dimensionality of Feeling Tones, 00:14:41 - Mindfulness Practices for Balancing Feeling Tones, 00:16:27 - Arguing and Bargaining with Pleasantness and Unpleasantness 00:17:48 - The Cultural Influence on Acceptance 00:18:57 - The Brain's Constant Action 00:20:31 - No Action Needed Right Now 00:24:37 - Living in an Accurate Simulation 00:32:45 - The Benefits of Downloads and Streamable Content, 00:33:56 - Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, 00:34:45 - Mind Wandering as a Gymnasium Equipment, 00:36:07 - Kindness and Compassion in Meditation, 00:37:24 - Program Options and Resources,

Thomas Metzinger is Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. He is the author of The Ego Tunnel and Being No One (MIT Press), the coeditor of Open MIND, and the editor of Neural Correlates of Consciousness (both MIT Press). His research focus lies in analytical philosophy of mind and cognitive science, as well as in connections between ethics, philosophy of mind and anthropology. He is the recipient of several awards and Fellowships, including a Fellowship by the Gutenberg Research College and a Research Professorship from the German Ministry of Science, Education and Culture. He was the Director of the Neuroethics Research Unit in Mainz and Director of the MIND Group at the FIAS. He is past president of the German Cognitive Science Society and of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. He was a key member of the EU's High-level Expert Group on artificial intelligence. A life-long meditator himself, Metzinger contributes widely to the scientific and philosophical understanding of contemplative practices. He is the founder and director of the MPE-project, a network of more serious researchers investigating the experience of pure awareness in meditation. EPISODE LINKS: - Thomas' Website: https://www.grc.uni-mainz.de/prof-thomas-metzinger/ - Thomas' Books: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Thomas-Metzinger/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AThomas+Metzinger - Thomas' Publications: https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=x_CsYPMAAAAJ&hl=en - Thomas' Forthcoming Book "The Elephant and the Blind": https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547109/the-elephant-and-the-blind/ CONNECT: - Website: https://tevinnaidu.com - Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu - Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu - Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) - Introduction (0:33) - What is Consciousness? (6:30) - What is the Self? (10:12) - The Mind-Body Problem (24:56) - Christof Koch & David Chalmers - "the infamous bet" (27:34) - New Approaches to Consciousness (Karl Friston, Computational Modeling etc.) (34:11) - Philosophy of Psychiatry & Philosophy's Implications on Mental Health (44:48) - Daniel Dennett & Illusionism (49:17) - Epistemic Agent Model, Introspection & Mind Wandering (1:04:36) - More on Illusionism (1:14:13) - Panpsychism & Existence Bias (1:24:52) - Bewusstseinskultur, Negative Egalitarianism & Practical Ethics (1:41:39) - "The Elephant and the Blind" (forthcoming book) (1:50:04) - Differences & Similarities to Mark Solms' "The Hidden Spring" (1:55:58) - Thomas' Philosophers/Scientists recommendations (2:00:06) - A better Culture of Consciousness (2:05:07) - Applied Ethics (2:11:50) - Religious World-views & the Naturalist Turn (2:14:35) - Conclusion

Did you know that mind-wandering can be intentional and unintentional? Did you know that mind-wandering can be beneficial or detrimental? Join Cindy and Alison for a discussion about mind-wandering and young children.

Whether it is in the classroom, in the office, or even at the dinner table, it's common for our minds to wander from the current setting. But why do we let our minds get away from the task at hand? In today's episode of That Neuroscience Guy, we discuss the neuroscience behind mind wandering. 

Embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and inner peace with our captivating inner peace music. Designed to help you find direction and balance in your life, this carefully crafted collection of melodies and harmonies will guide you on a path of self-reflection and harmony. Allow the gentle notes to wash over you, creating a serene and tranquil environment that invites introspection and clarity. As you listen to the soothing sounds, let go of any distractions and allow your mind to wander, exploring the depths of your thoughts and emotions. Our inner peace music serves as a powerful tool for introspection, helping you connect with your innermost self and gain a deeper understanding of your desires, values, and purpose. It provides a space for contemplation, allowing you to find clarity amidst the chaos of everyday life. Through the enchanting melodies and peaceful rhythms, you will discover a sense of calm and tranquility that transcends external circumstances. It is in this state of inner peace that you can find the strength and clarity to make decisions that align with your true self and create a balanced and fulfilling life. Whether you are seeking guidance, looking for answers, or simply yearning for a moment of stillness and tranquility, our inner peace music will accompany you on your journey. Let it be your companion as you navigate the complexities of life and find your true path. Inner Peace Music, Finding Direction, Balance, Self-discovery, Tranquil Environment, Self-reflection, Harmony, Serene Sounds, Introspection, Clarity, Distractions, Mind Wandering, Thoughts, Emotions, Powerful Tool, Contemplation, Connection, Understanding, Purpose, Calm, Tranquility, Chaos, Everyday Life, Enchanting Melodies, Peaceful Rhythms, Sense of Calm, Strength, Decision-making, True Self, Balanced Life, Guidance, Answers, Stillness, Companion, Navigating Life, True Path. Support our mission of spreading relaxation and wellness by rating and reviewing our podcast on your preferred platform. Your feedback helps us improve and enables others to discover the benefits of our soothing sounds. Enhance your listening experience by subscribing to our ad-free version, immersing yourself in uninterrupted tranquility.  Clicking Here  Join our community of relaxation seekers and embark on a journey of self-discovery. Subscribe, rate, and review Meditation Sounds today and unlock a world of serenity and rejuvenation.  Email List Support this podcast  https://www.meditationsoundspodcast.com Say goodbye to stubborn belly fat with our revolutionary product! Our formula is designed to target and dissolve unwanted fat, leaving you with a slimmer, more toned midsection. Try it now and experience the results for yourself. #dissolvebellyfat #slimandtoned http://bit.ly/3jV1Ip1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Comprehensive Guide To Mind-Wandering Do you often find yourself lost in your thoughts, utterly detached from the present moment? If so, you're not alone. This phenomenon is known as mind-wandering, a common occurrence for many people. Here's an article explaining everything you need to know about mind-wandering. Mind wandering is associated with many appellations, and you may recognise the term as daydreaming, off-task thinking, spontaneous stimulus-independent thought, or even a task-unrelated thought. It's when our thoughts drift away from the task and wander into unrelated issues. Despite its negative connotation, recent research suggests that mind-wandering can positively and negatively affect our well-being, cognitive abilities, social interactions, and creativity. While your mind travels into the future or back to the past, you start to ruminate on past regrets or failures. Deterrently, most of our musings are focused on the future rather than the past. Matt Killingsworth, then a doctoral student in 2010 at Harvard University, said our ancestors' ability to imagine and plan for upcoming dangers must have been adaptive. Today, it might help us plan for looming deadlines and sources of workplace conflict. His research showed that individuals' minds tended to wander 47 per cent of the time. Looking at everyday daily activities, including working, shopping and exercising, they found that individuals' minds had wandered the least during sex (10 per cent of the time) and the most during grooming activities (65 per cent of the time)—including taking a shower. The shower appears especially prone to mind wandering because it requires relatively little thought compared to a skilled activity like cooking.  He then states, "A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind." Equally intriguing to researchers was the effect of mind wandering on somebody's disposition: Overall, people were less happy when their minds wandered.  The Mechanisms of Mind-Wandering: What Happens in the Brain? The mechanisms of mind-wandering are complex and involve different areas of the brain. Scientists have found that when our minds wander, a default mode network (DMN) becomes active. This network consists of various regions in the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, medial temporal lobe, and others. Studies show that certain factors can affect activity level and coordination within DMN, leading to different types of mind-wandering experiences.  For instance, stress, anxiety or fatigue may prompt negative thoughts during mind wandering, whereas positive mood states may lead to more positive thoughts. Switching between focused attention tasks like solving a maths problem or creative activities like writing lyrics has also been shown to change how DMN is activated. To consolidate this information, the default mode network (DMN) is an active group of interconnected brain regions when you focus not on the outside world but on your inner thoughts, such as mind wandering and self-talk. When your brain is in its default mode, the DMN becomes more active, increasing self-referential thought processing and imagination. The default mode network is necessary for mental processing, including decision-making, self-reflection, and creativity. Studies have shown that the DMN is always active, even when individuals are engaged in tasks that require full attention and focus.  This constant activity suggests that the default mode network is the brain's default mode and cannot simply be switched off like your personal computer when it becomes inactive or idle. Rather, your brain is always engaged in some form of self-reflection, even when it is processing external stimuli. Nevertheless, overactivity in the DMN has been linked to anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders. Learn More

Episode: 2664 Mind-wandering and the search for happiness.  Today, wandering minds.

Does your mind wander while reading a book? Do you have to go back pages and re-read because you have no idea what happened in the plot for a few minutes? Have you given up or lost your joy of reading because the task was too daunting?Today, James gives his tried-and-true method of speed-reading books to maximize the knowledge you retain and reduce the amount of time spent reading to a minimum. He gives practical examples for optimal efficiency based on the time you have available and breaks down why other speed-reading methods are less effective over the long haul.We also learn when NOT to speed-read and what is lost to the reader in those circumstances.After listening today, you'll want to head straight to the bookstore or library and knock out a few of the books from your bucket list that seemed impossible to comprehend beforehand.-----------What to write and publish a book in 30 days? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/writing to join James' writing intensive!What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe  to “The James Altucher Show” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook

You know the feeling. You're trying to read or write or think through a project, maybe even just respond to an email, when your attention starts to drift. You may not even notice it until you've already picked up your phone or jumped tabs, until your mind has already wandered way off-piste. This problem of distraction has become a bit of a modern-day obsession. We now fret about how to stay focused, how to avoid time-sucks, how to use our attention wisely. But it turns out this fixation of ours—contemporary as it may seem—is really not so new.  My guest today is Dr. Jamie Kreiner, Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Jamie is the author of a new book titled The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell us about Distraction. In the book, Jamie shows that Christian monks in late antiquity and the early middle ages were—like us—a bit obsessed with attention. And their understanding of attention fit within a broad and often remarkably detailed understanding of the mind. In this conversation, Jamie and I talk about why monks in this era cared so much about distraction. We discuss how they understood the relationship between mind and body; how they conceptualized memory, meditation, and mind-wandering. We discuss some of the mnemonic techniques they used, some of the graphical and textual devices that helped keep them focused, and some of the metaphors and visualization techniques they innovated. Along the way we also touch on fasting, sleep, demons and angels, the problem of discernment, the state of pure prayer, the Six Wings mnemonic device, metacognitive maneuvering, and much more.  I'll just say I really enjoyed The Wandering Mind. As Jamie and I chat about here, the book illuminates an earlier understanding of human psychology that feels deeply familiar in some ways, and delightfully strange in others. I think you definitely get a sense of that in this conversation. Alright friends, on to my chat with Dr. Jamie Kreiner. Enjoy!     A transcript of this episode is available here.   Notes and links 4:00 – A webpage devoted to the Ark of Hugh of Saint Victor.  6:30 – For a detailed (and positive) review essay about The Wandering Mind, see here.  11:30 ­– The Redwall books, by Brian Jacques, are well known for featuring elaborate feasts. An article about some of the best of these. 18:30 – For more on how the body was understood in the early Christian world, see The Burden of the Flesh. 26:30 – Text written continuously is known as scripta continua. 27:30 – Articles that celebrate medieval marginalia can be found here, here, and here.  40:00 – An article about the Six Wings mnemonic. For more on mnemonic techniques in the medieval world, see Mary Carruthers' book. 53:00 – On the idea of “pure prayer,” see the book, The Ladder of Prayer and the Ship of Stirrings. 57:30 – Dr. Kreiner's next book, which comes out in January 2024, is a translation of some of John Cassian's work on distraction.   Dr. Kreiner's book recommendations can be found in a recent article here.   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com.  For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Zachary Irving, Assistant Professor in the Corcoran Department of Philosophy in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, talks about the philosophy of mind-wandering, which is unguided attention that occupies up to half of our waking hours. Listen in to learn about Irving's interdisciplinary research that points to how mind-wandering can be a tool that leads to creativity and exploration. By combining philosophy with other disciplines, Irving and his colleague are developing ways to measure the dynamic phenomena of mind-wandering and how it can influence the mind and outcomes in our personal and professional lives. Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here. www.rev.com/transcript-editor/s…loadFrom=SharedLink Irving's research focuses on the philosophy of cognitive science. He has proposed a new theory of mind-wandering as unguided attention. He also examines more general philosophical topics, such as mental action, conscious attention, and introspection, through the lens of mind-wandering.

In this episode, Rachel and Matt discuss the practice of 'mind-wandering', where we allow our minds to drift away from the task at hand to explore new possibilities and generate unique ideas. Tune in as they highlight the significance of mind wandering and provide examples of how to get unplugged from daily distractions. Watch or listen to Cap & Gown on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more: https://pharosresources.com/cap-gown-mission-first/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pharosresources/message

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.03.21.533634v1?rss=1 Authors: Martel, A., Bruno, N., Robertson, I. H., Dockree, P. M., Sitt, J. D., Valero-Cabre, A. Abstract: Mind-wandering is typically characterized by the common experience wherein attention veers off into thoughts unrelated to the task at hand. Recent research highlights the intentionality dimension of mind-wandering as a key predictor of adverse functional outcomes with intentional and unintentional task-unrelated thought (TUT) differentially linked to neural, behavioral, clinical, and functional correlates. We here aimed to elucidate the electrophysiological underpinnings of intentional and unintentional TUT by systematically examining the individual and collective discriminative power of a large set of EEG markers to distinguish between attentional states. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted on 54 predefined markers belonging to four conceptual families: ERP, spectral, information theory and connectivity measures, extracted from scalp EEG recordings prior to multidimensional reports of ongoing thought from participants performing a sustained attention task. We report here that on-task, intentional and unintentional TUT exhibit distinct electrophysiological signatures in the low frequency range. More specifically, increased features of the theta frequency range were found to be most discriminative between on-task and off-task states, while features within the alpha band were characteristic of intentional TUT when compared to unintentional TUT. This result is theoretically well aligned with contemporary accounts describing alpha activity as an index of internally oriented attention and a potential mechanism to shield internal processes from sensory input. Our study verifies the validity of the intentionality dimension of mind-wandering and represents a step forward towards real-time detection and mitigation of maladaptive mind-wandering. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info Podcast created by Paper Player, LLC

In Episode 87 The ADHD Adults expand on this week's theme of mind wandering and ADHD, answer questions from YOU, our listeners, and generally go on and on for ages about vaguely relevant stuff. Alex rants like a pathetic baby, Mrs ADHD has a third leg and James is ableist about Zebedee...Support the showWritten by Alex Conner and James BrownProduced by James Brown and Afatscientist Ltd.Social media contacts: @theadhdadultsMusic by Sessionz

In Episode 86, The ADHD Adults discuss the interesting (if you're dead bored) topic of ADHD and mind wandering.  As usual, the episode includes Alex the Psychoeducation Monkey's monotonous and dull 'evidence' on the topic, personal reflections from all three ADHD adults about their how mind wandering impacts their daily lives and some ludicrously titled 'top tips' on dealing with mind wandering.  'What has James lost, forgotten or mislaid this week?" returns with Alex actually in the lead for 2023 at 5-4, and Alex reads out the usual 'definitely real' correspondence.  Alex looks cool when he goes a g-drop phenome, Mrs ADHD does Dusty Bin and James loses his erection...Support the showWritten by Alex Conner and James BrownProduced by James Brown and Afatscientist Ltd.Social media contacts: @theadhdadultsMusic by Sessionz

Letting our minds wander is more widespread than many people imagine: research has found that we can spend anywhere from 15% to 50% of our waking hours in a state of mind-wandering. Differences may depend on what we're doing and difficulties with knowing when our minds are wandering: according to some reports, about half our mind-wandering episodes might slip past unnoticed! To find out more about mind-wandering, its impact and its benefits for creative thinking, we are joined by Professor Jonathan Schooler of UC Santa Barbara About our guest... Jonathan Schooler is a Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara. His research on human cognition explores topics that intersect philosophy and psychology, such as how fluctuations in people's awareness of their experience mediate mind-wandering and how exposing individuals to philosophical positions alters their behavior. Professor Schooler is also interested in the science of science (meta-science) including understanding why effects sizes often decline over time, and how greater transparency in scientific reporting might address this issue. A former holder of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, he is a fellow of a variety of scientific organizations, on the editorial board of a number of psychology journals and the recipient of major grants from both the United States and Canadian governments as well as several private foundations. His research and comments are frequently featured in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Nature Magazine. The website for the Meta Lab at UC Santa Barbara is as follows: https://labs.psych.ucsb.edu/schooler/jonathan/ The article referred to in the podcast can be accessed here: “When the Muses Strike: Creative Ideas of Physicists and Writers Routinely Occur During Mind Wandering” - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797618820626

Today we discuss the science behind a wandering mind, the ins and outs of songs composed by humpback whales, and how an innovative new robotic capsule might help our digestive systems absorb drugs that aren't as effective to take orally. A Wandering Mind   “The science of a wandering mind” By Tim Vernimmenhttps://knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2022/science-wandering-mind“How Self-Generated Thought Shapes Mood—The Relation between Mind-Wandering and Mood Depends on the Socio-Temporal Content of Thoughts” by Florence J. M. Ruby, Jonathan Smallwood, Haakon Engen, and Tania Singerhttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0077554Song of the Humpback“Humpback Whales Pass Their Songs Across Oceans” by Carl Zimmerhttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/science/humpback-whale-songs-cultural-evolution.html“Humpback Whales Almost 9,000 Miles Apart Have Been Caught Singing The Same Song” by Carly Casellahttps://www.sciencealert.com/humpback-whales-almost-9000-miles-apart-have-been-caught-singing-the-same-songRobocap“RoboCap – The Robotic Capsule Designed to Improve Drug Delivery in the Gut” by Sarah Whelanhttps://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/robocap-the-robotic-capsule-designed-to-improve-drug-delivery-in-the-gut-366073“RoboCap: Robotic mucus-clearing capsule for enhanced drug delivery in the gastrointestinal tract” by SHRIYA S. SRINIVASAN et al.https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.abp9066“Tiny robotic pill RoboCap delivers drugs to guts and could end injections like insulin” by Nergis Firtinahttps://interestingengineering.com/health/tiny-robotic-pill-robocap-drugs-guts“Human Insulin Injection” by MedLine Plushttps://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682611.htmlFollow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/a-wandering-mind-song-of-the-humpback-robocap

Daydreams can be delicious and fun. They can be harmless ways to soothe yourself when right here and now is not so pleasant or doesn't fully capture your attention. But as a frequent habit, drifting off away from the present reality is not so good.  Our imaginations are the source of great creativity. We can imagine something, and then decide to work toward it. But a downside of imagination is escapism, being mindless. Being mindless is the opposite of mindful awareness of the here and now. Being mindless is the path to missing your life while it is happening, of being so caught up in the past, or some imagined future that you miss. right. now. Don't give your life away to daydreams!

I thought it was time to revisit mind-wandering and daydreaming and their role in creativity. In this episode I delve into the default mode network, comprised of the parts of our brain that switch on when we enter daydreaming mode, how it works, and its relationship with creativity. I also tackle how biases work their way into scientific studies (e.g. our societal bias against mind-wandering and the default mode network's role in thinking) and why I think it's important we challenge the assumptions underlying such studies.Article in the MIT Press ReaderArticle in Knowable MagazineTranscriptWould You Like to Support My Work?Sign up for my newsletter!Buy me a coffee! You can give me a one-time donation using this link. Become a Patron of Stepping Off Now!  

Listen to the quesitons from our amazing students at Awakened Academy and hear what Michael and Arielle have to say about some of the most persistent questions in the spiritual community. Recorded with Love. Music by Life Illumined. ~~~ Do you feel called to connect with the Divine more deeply? Receive Free Spiritual Meditations and Books + Receive Invitations to Listen to the Podcast Live Receive a free course in Spiritual Meditation Become a Certified Spiritual Life Coach and/or Certified Meditation Coach ♥ Share the Love. Who would love to listen to this meditation?

Maladaptive dreaming (MD) is gaining scientific recognition, though it is not yet a psychiatric diagnosis. Nirit Soffer-Dudek, Ph.D., defines the condition and highlights similiarities to and differences from the mind-wandering seen with ADHD.

In this short episode, I share about 'Mind Wandering' - an alternative to meditation.  Some people struggle with meditation and find it hard to get the benefits from it. There are other ways to get the benefits that doesn't have to be so 'intense'. Try it out, see how you go, it might just be something that can help you relax your mind and connect in with yourself a little more. Enjoy. website: www.flowschool.com.auinstagram: @flow.schoolFacebook: Flow School email: info@flowschool.com.auWebsite: www.flowschool.com.auInsta: @flow.schoolFacebook: Flow SchoolEmail: info@flowschool.com.auI hope you have a beautiful sparkly day.

TODAY´S EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FLOW RESEARCH COLLECTIVE Are you an entrepreneur, a leader, or a knowledge worker, who wants to harness the power of flow so you can get more done in less time with greater ease and accomplish your boldest professional goals faster? If you´ve answered this question with “hell yes” then our peak-performance training Zero to Dangerous may be a good fit for you. If this sounds interesting to you all you need to do is go to getmoreflow.com right now, pop in your application and one of our team members will be in touch with you very soon.  ABOUT THE GUEST: Jared Weintraub, PhD is passionate about helping individuals, teams, and organizations to create, grow, and maintain purpose-driven, positive, and productive cultures. Jared has worked with start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and organizations across various industries, providing internal and external consulting, coaching, and managing marketing and sales teams. He is also an Adjunct Professor who has taught undergraduate and graduate Psychology courses. He earned his Master's degree from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology's D.C. campus and recently received his Ph.D. in Applied Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University, where he researched Flow Theory - how, when, and why individuals, teams, and organizations can get into "the Zone." His most recent publication explored how we can use technology-based solutions to "nudge" behavior change to develop critical competencies for flourishing at work.   ABOUT THE EPISODE:  In this episode, you will learn about: (*to be updated once edited) Why Flow Stood Out As A Topic (1:19) Flow State As A Musician (5:25) Mindfulness, Flow, & Mind Wandering (8:25) Mindfulness VS Flow (14:22) There's A Time For Flow & Mindfulness (20:35) Understanding Default States (24:59) Mindfulness for Finding Flow (26:27) Benefits of Mindfulness (31:23) Mindfulness & Spirituality (33:59) Nudging Flow (36:46) Mindful Multitasking (51:45) Goal-Oriented Flow (56:24) Joy of Being a Coach (58:25) Unanswered Question in Flow Research (1:01:55) Getting Others to Catch Flow (1:05:42) Flow in the Workplace (1:09:03) Flow is A Skill That Can Be Learned (1:14:07) How Long It Takes To Learn Mindfulness (1:16:34)   RESOURCES Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaredweintraub LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jweintraub89 Website: https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/team-members/dr-jared-weintraub Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smoothcat YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jaredweintraub ‍ STEVEN KOTLER is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and Founder and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. He is one of the world's leading experts on human performance. His books include The Art of Impossible, Stealing Fire, and The Rise of Superman. His work has been translated into over 40 languages and appeared in over 100 publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, The Harvard Business Review and Forbes.

The positive impacts of mindfulness are undeniable, but neuroscientist Moshe Bar has discovered that there's also a lot of benefits for its opposite.. Mind wandering. In this chat Moshe Bar explains how mind wandering has the power to improve your mood, boost creativity and help you solve problems.  Connect with Moshe: https://twitter.com/moshe1bar Buy his book here: booktopia.kh4ffx.net/mindwandering Connect with Cass: www.cassdunn.com instagram.com/cassdunn_xo facebook.com/cassdunn.xo Join the Crappy to Happy community: www.facebooks.com/groups/crappytohappycommunity See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SUMMARY Mind wandering might actually be useful after all.   TRANSCRIPT Welcome to episode 141 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore how mind wandering can help us at work. Mind wandering is usually viewed negatively. We typically view mind wandering as a failure to maintain focus, taking us away from something to which we should be paying attention. However, mind wandering may not be quite as bad as we thought. As I've shared before, it's often in those mind wandering states that we come up with out best ideas. We're not really designed to operate for long periods of time with extreme focus on one thing. Research by Wong, Willoughby and Machado published just this month helps to shed more light on how mind wandering tendencies might help us.  Researchers found those with higher spontaneous mind wandering could handle forced switching between tasks far more effectively, transferring their attention to the new tasks faster than others. We know human beings are pretty bad at multitasking on similar tasks. So while we can probably walk and chew gum, we are less effective at having a phone conversation while scrolling our Instagram feed. What our brain does instead is to switch between tasks, moving attention back and forth between the two activities. That takes time and energy. If we're constantly switching, there's going to be a drop in productivity.  As a result, we might try to focus on one thing at a time. But there are moments in every day that require us to shift our attention rapidly for reasons outside our control. For example, someone might come to us with an urgent query. Being able to shift rapidly from one task to another is called cognitive flexibility, and that's exactly what those with mind wandering tendencies appear to be better at.  Focus serves a purpose, and so does allowing our mind to wander. Perhaps we need to think about mind wandering as a skill that can be developed. Scheduling some down-time for your brain to wander across a range of spontaneous ideas could well help you to switch between tasks more effectively.   REFERENCE Yi-Sheng Wong, Adrian R. Willoughby, Liana Machado (2022) Spontaneous mind-wandering tendencies linked to cognitive flexibility in young adults, Consciousness and Cognition, Volume 102, July 2022.

When you think about meditation, does it involve complete quiet, laying still, and even lighting a candle?  For a lot of us, it does…but what if meditation could involve more inspired action?  Through diligent research, my awesome guest today has found that through inspired action, we can let our minds wander to help with creativity and to get more of those aha moments.   I'm excited for you to hear Jinny Uppal's story and for her to share how to better declutter our thoughts and get more breakthroughs. Guest Resourcesjinnyuppal.comAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Action-Rethinking-Path-Results/dp/1637309023/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jinnyuppal/https://www.instagram.com/jinnyuppal/  

My son and I tackle the Mind Wandering concept. FYI- we don't hate each other...just playing around. Enjoy. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/chris-levine/support

In this episode of Noble Mind, Anthony Zanesco discusses research on the effects on meditation and the experiences of mind wandering and spontaneous thought. He explains different aspects of mindfulness and shares insights about why most people find meditation to be a difficult task. Listen in to learn more about mysterious microstates that our brains cycle through all day long. Dr. Anthony Zanesco is a cognitive neuroscientist who studies attention and mind wandering, their brain dynamics and underlying neural signatures using EEG, and how meditation and mindfulness training affect one's ability to focus and regulate distraction. He completed his PhD at the University of California, Davis, in 2017. He is currently a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Dr. Amishi Jha in the Psychology Department at the University of Miami.  Join our new Noble Mind Facebook group! www.facebook.com/groups/noblemind

Learn why the US military bombed a volcano; where heavy elements in the universe come from; and why your mind wanders. Why the U.S. Government Bombed Mauna Loa in 1935 by Cameron Duke1935 Eruption of Mauna Loa - Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (U.S. National Park Service). (2016). Nps.gov. https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/mauna-loa-1935.htmMartín, L. (2021, October 27). La Palma volcano “should be bombed” to divert lava flow. AS.com; AS En. https://en.as.com/en/2021/10/27/latest_news/1635330566_122546.htmlRobin George Andrews. (2021, October 27). Science; National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-the-us-once-bombed-an-erupting-volcanoTurner, B. (2021, November). Politician suggests bombing erupting La Palma volcano to stop lava flow. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/la-palma-volcano-bomb-proposalVolcano Watch — Hilo had a close call from the 1881 Mauna Loa lava flow. (2019, November 21). Usgs.gov. https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/volcano-watch-hilo-had-a-close-call-1881-mauna-loa-lava-flowEvery element heavier than iron was made in a cosmic explosion by Briana BrownellNeutron star collisions are “goldmine” of heavy elements, study finds. (2021, October 25). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/932599‌Chen, H.-Y., Vitale, S., & Foucart, F. (2021). The Relative Contribution to Heavy Metals Production from Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Neutron Star–Black Hole Mergers. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 920(1), L3. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac26c6Stellar Death. (2021). Uoregon.edu. http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast122/lectures/lec18.html‌Nola Taylor Redd. (2018, February 24). Neutron Stars: Definition & Facts. Space.com; Space. https://www.space.com/22180-neutron-stars.htmlYour Mind Wanders Half the Time You're Awake by Ashley Hamer originally ran April 30, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/how-often-your-mind-wanders-smiling-at-dogs-and-riFollow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

‘A quick trip to Tahiti' is what it feels like when our mind wanders. No matter what we do, where we are, or how important or valuable the task in front of us is, our minds wander. Interestingly, the research shows that we are less happy when our mind wanders than when it doesn't and what we think about during our mind wandering state is a far stronger predictor of our happiness than tasks we are in the middle of performing. Yet, the mind highjacked by mind-wandering can stay oblivious to its short trips.On this episode, researcher, author, and distinguished professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara, Jonathan Schooler, Ph. D., discusses his work in human cognition; particularly mind-wandering, its disruptive nature, its hidden benefits, and its link to meta-awareness. As he explains, since the mind is only intermittently aware of engaging in mind wandering, enhancing meta-awareness can be an important process to heighten monitoring and improve executive function.About Jonathan Schooler, Ph.D.Jonathan Schooler Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara.  He earned his BA from Hamilton College in 1981 and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1987. His research on human cognition explores topics that intersect philosophy and psychology, such as how fluctuations in people's awareness of their experience mediate mind-wandering and how exposing individuals to philosophical positions alters their behavior.  He is also interested in the science of science (meta-science) including understanding why effects sizes often decline over time, and how greater transparency in scientific reporting might address this issue. A former holder of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, he is a fellow of a variety of scientific organizations, on the editorial board of a number of psychology journals and the recipient of major grants from both the United States and Canadian governments as well as several private foundations. His research and comments are frequently featured in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Nature Magazine.Website:https://labs.psych.ucsb.edu/schooler/jonathan/About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show (https://mailchi.mp/7c848462e96f/full-prefrontal-sign-up)

Smell is the most expendable sense according to millennials, but would you give it up? A world memory champion explains how he got to where he is. Letting your mind wander might take you to new, fantastical places in reality just as much as it does in imagination. Also, on today's show: a new initiative gets stories by and about Black families published; debate rages over the fate of American wild horses; TV is teaching tweens and teens some perhaps questionable values.

Mind-Wandering & Meta-Awareness is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jonathan Schooler, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This wide-ranging conversation examines how mind-wandering can serve as a window into the psychological world of meta-awareness. further topics include the nature of consciousness, mindfulness, creativity, free will, verbal overshadowing and more. Howard Burton is the founder of the Ideas Roadshow, Ideas on Film and host of the Ideas Roadshow Podcast. He can be reached at howard@ideasroadshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mind-Wandering & Meta-Awareness is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jonathan Schooler, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This wide-ranging conversation examines how mind-wandering can serve as a window into the psychological world of meta-awareness. further topics include the nature of consciousness, mindfulness, creativity, free will, verbal overshadowing and more. Howard Burton is the founder of the Ideas Roadshow, Ideas on Film and host of the Ideas Roadshow Podcast. He can be reached at howard@ideasroadshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/neuroscience

Mind-Wandering & Meta-Awareness is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jonathan Schooler, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This wide-ranging conversation examines how mind-wandering can serve as a window into the psychological world of meta-awareness. further topics include the nature of consciousness, mindfulness, creativity, free will, verbal overshadowing and more. Howard Burton is the founder of the Ideas Roadshow, Ideas on Film and host of the Ideas Roadshow Podcast. He can be reached at howard@ideasroadshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science

Mind-Wandering & Meta-Awareness is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jonathan Schooler, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This wide-ranging conversation examines how mind-wandering can serve as a window into the psychological world of meta-awareness. further topics include the nature of consciousness, mindfulness, creativity, free will, verbal overshadowing and more. Howard Burton is the founder of the Ideas Roadshow, Ideas on Film and host of the Ideas Roadshow Podcast. He can be reached at howard@ideasroadshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Mind-Wandering & Meta-Awareness is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jonathan Schooler, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This wide-ranging conversation examines how mind-wandering can serve as a window into the psychological world of meta-awareness. further topics include the nature of consciousness, mindfulness, creativity, free will, verbal overshadowing and more. Howard Burton is the founder of the Ideas Roadshow, Ideas on Film and host of the Ideas Roadshow Podcast. He can be reached at howard@ideasroadshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Mind-Wandering & Meta-Awareness is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jonathan Schooler, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This wide-ranging conversation examines how mind-wandering can serve as a window into the psychological world of meta-awareness. further topics include the nature of consciousness, mindfulness, creativity, free will, verbal overshadowing and more. Howard Burton is the founder of the Ideas Roadshow, Ideas on Film and host of the Ideas Roadshow Podcast. He can be reached at howard@ideasroadshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Dr. Amishi Jha is a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She's the Director and Co-Founder of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative. Dr. Jha leads research on the neural basis of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion, resilience, and performance, working with the military, educators, elite athletes, and children. We discuss the 3 main subsystems of attention, the evolutionary reason for mind wandering, and recommended practices to sharpen your attention. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.co 0:00 | Introduction to Amishi Jha, PhD 4:48 | The Attention Problem 6:30 | 3 Main Subsystems of Attention 11:06 | How Subsystems of Attention Work Together 13:20 | Meta Awareness and Meta Cognition 15:30 | Evolutionary Reason for Mind Wandering 18:58 | What Makes a Thought “Sticky” 24:18 | High Stress and Attention 31:33 | Can You Undo Benefits of Mindfulness? 36:28 | Different Definitions of Mindfulness 40:18 | Recommended Practices to Train Attention 43:58 | Rapid Fire Questions

何気ない日常の１分間に耳を傾けてみると、心の中の音楽が聴こえてくる。 「みゅーじっくはいく」は心の中の瞬間を切り取った１分間のストーリー。 あなたの心のメロディーは？ Listen to the music in your heart as you listen to it in a casual day. "Music Haiku" is a one-minute story that cuts out the moment in your heart. What is your heart's melody?

Do you find that you are challenged to maintain dominion over where your attention goes? A Course in Miracles tells us that "an untrained mind can accomplish nothing" and "You are far too tolerant of mind wandering." In this week's episode, Jennifer Hadley shares simple tips to help you remember to work the lessons of the workbook and apply them to more of your day-to-day experiences. Together we're truly living A Course in Miracles and allowing ourselves to live a miraculous life. To learn more about A Course in Miracles, please visit JenniferHadley.comOriginally aired 07/07/2015

Vaccine Passports; Black Farmers; Women's Sports Coverage; Memory Ed; TV Values Research; Mind Wandering

Hallo und herzlich willkommen im Mentalkraft Podcast. Mentalkraft, das sind Lukas Maher von @systemisichegesundheit und Paul Schlütter von @fundamentalkraft - Lukas ist Psychologe, psychologischer Psychotherapeut in Ausbildung (Systemische Therapie) und angehender Sportpsychologe. Paul ist bereits Sportpsychologe und außerdem als Coach im Bereich Kraftsport tätig. In der der 12. Folge diskutieren wir das Konzept von Self-compassion und Selbstmitgefühl als tiefere Form der Achtsamkeit, verbunden mit der Frage, welche Vorteile wir für den Alltag, den Sport aber auch die Klinik sehen. Außerdem sprechen wir über Mind-wandering, das häufig als negatives Tagträumen verschrien ist. Warum das Ganze auch mit kreativem Denken zusammenhängt und was Thomas Edison damit zu tun hat, erfahrt ihr in der Folge. Wenn euch die Folge gefallen hat, bewertet uns gerne auf einschlägigen Podcast-Seiten. Viel Spaß mit der Folge. Lasst uns gerne Feedback da unter: www.instagram.com/fundamentalkraft/ www.instagram.com/systemischegesundheit/

Mind-wandering or daydreaming is one of the most common activities that happen in a day. It is almost impossible to not eventually have your mind wander off into thoughts about the past or fantasies about the future. In this episode, I interview Dr Julia Kam on her research into mind-wandering and how we can study the major network involved, the default mode network. We talk about what the default mode network does, how we can study it and where the limits of the field are with such a newly studied network. This show is sponsored by NeuroCatch Inc., an objective quick measure of brain health available today. If you would like to know more about NeuroCatch Inc. please go to our website www.watercoolerneuroscience.co.uk.

In this episode I talk about the difference between mind wandering and daydreaming.

Welcome to The Self-Regulation Station: A podcast designed to explore and cultivate a lifestyle of optimal performance, health, and well-being.Creator + Host: Dr. Ford Dyke--I developed this episode to highlight the importance of Optimal Respiration. To set the stage, find a quiet space where you can relax and chill out...Join me for Episode 05 where I revisit The SIT in order to dive deeper into the practice.--Thank you for joining The Self-Regulation Station. Tap the Subscribe button on your preferred podcast platform(s) to access, download, and share the latest episodes.

Wir alle kennen das Gefühl: Wir sitzen in einem Workshop oder Brainstorming und die guten Ideen wollen einfach nicht kommen. Aufgeben? Keineswegs! Langweilen ist angesagt.Ferris Bühler erklärt in dieser Episode, wie uns Langeweile helfen kann, Kreativität und gute Ideen zu stimulieren und richtig gute Geschichten zu kreieren. Denn überraschenderweise ist unser Gehirn beim Nichtstun aktiver, als wir glauben. Unbedingt selber ausprobieren!Nützliche Informationen:Unser Blogbeitrag zu Mind Wandering: www.ferrisbuehler.com/news/4-tipps-um-mit-mind-wandering-sofort-kreativer-zu-seinBored and Brilliant - das Buch von Manoush Zomorodi: http://www.manoushz.com/bookKostenloser PR-Ratgeber von Ferris Bühler: www.ferrisbuehler.com/services/pr-ratgeberFragen oder Anregungen dürft ihr jederzeit an storyradar@ferrisbuehler.com senden.Hier findest du uns:Webseite Ferris Bühler CommunicationsFacebook Ferris Bühler CommunicationsLinkedIn Ferris Bühler CommunicationsInstagram Ferris Bühler CommunicationsWebseite StoryRadarInstagram StoryRadarWir freuen uns sehr über eine positive Bewertung auf Apple Podcasts.

In this conversation, we discuss: Why mind wandering is so importantOur top tips for unlocking imaginationWhat the science says about how brain function and epigenetics come into playThe one practice we can always rely on to help us release and free up more headspace OUR PRODUCT PICKS: 20% Off Any Sakara Products For New Customers :: Use Code XOVIRRAFind out more about working with us 1:1 at Virra CoachingConnect with Virra on social media for more life-changing perspectiveINSTAGRAM - @virralifeWEBSITE - www.virralife.comNEWSLETTER - subscribe here

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.10.23.351759v1?rss=1 Authors: Rodriguez-Larios, J., Alaerts, K. Abstract: Meditation practice entails moments of distraction dominated by self-generated thoughts (i.e. mind wandering). Initial studies assessing the neural correlates of mind wandering in the context of meditation practice have identified an important role of theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha (8-14 Hz) neural oscillations. In this study, we use a probe-caught experience sampling paradigm to assess spectral changes in the theta-alpha frequency range during mind wandering in the context of breath focus meditation. Electroencephalography (EEG) was measured in 25 novice meditation practitioners during a breath focus task in which they were repeatedly probed to report whether they were focusing on their breath or thinking about something else. Mind wandering episodes were associated with an increase in the amplitude and a decrease in the frequency of theta (4-8 Hz) oscillations. Conversely, alpha oscillations (8-14 Hz) were shown to decrease in amplitude and increase in frequency during mind wandering relative to breath focus. In addition, mind wandering episodes were shown to be accompanied by increased harmonicity and phase synchrony between alpha and theta rhythms. Because similar spectral changes in the theta-alpha frequency range have been reported during controlled cognitive processes involving memory and executive control, we speculate that mind wandering and controlled processes could share some neurocognitive mechanisms. From a translational perspective, this study indicates that oscillatory activity in the theta-alpha frequency range could form adequate parameters for developing EEGneurofeedback protocols aimed at facilitating the detection of mind wandering during meditation practice. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

Based upon her research Lalitha quotes the definition and benefits of Meditation. Then by sharing her experience and story of meditating, she encourages the listeners to bring Meditations in their lifestyle.

This week we will focus on mind wandering. When your attention drifts from the task at hand. Most of us feel this mild disassociation routinely. When you feel a million miles away. While it can be distracting daydreaming can lead to more creativity through decoupling and self reflection. We will hear six tracks that exhibit some of this dreamlike quality including Red Wine Riots, Aphilas, Dreza, Eva Schlegel, Azoora and Just Banks.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could stay attuned to the present moment? Wouldn't it be great if you could feel confident in expressing your thoughts and feelings? Are self-confidence and mindfulness linked? Many people find it challenging to staying present in conversations. Their mind wanders to their worries and can't stay connected. Staying present is not something that comes naturally to us. Staying in tune with the present is an ideal state of being and is not permanent. It comes and goes all the time. One determining factor about our absent mind is that it spends a lot of time in the future and the past. If you tend to feel low on confidence, your mind is wandering more than you think. The more your mind wanders, the more you are prone to revisiting memories from your past that connect with a lack of confidence. The lack of confidence also reflects when your mind travels to the future. You could be thinking that history will repeat itself and worry excessively about the future event going wrong. One thing that can help you with confidence is to practice staying present during conversations with people. Why should you want to be more present? Have you ever been in conversation, and your mind starts wandering, and then you realized that you don't have a clue about what the other person is talking about? We all have been there. I remember how it feels to be in this uncomfortable situation. You feel awkward, and then you have to figure out if you pretend that you are following the conversation or face the problem and tell the person you were not listening. Also, this situation will not help with confidence around people. Wouldn't it be better if you were able to stay present? A simple way of building more confidence is to train your mind to stay present. Become a better mindful listener, and you will increase your confidence. Good listeners are more successful, better employees, better parents, and more supportive partners and spouses. When you improve your listening skills, you will become more trustworthy and get better at problem-solving. Here are mindfulness practice for staying present in conversations: Remove distractions: Ensure that electronics, reminders, and phone alerts are turned off if you can put your phone out of your reach. Mindful posture: Face the person you re-talk to and align your body posture, so it's comfortable and open. Do not cross your arms, legs, or slouch. Keep your spine erect, and chest open and shoulders relaxed. Look at the person and keep eye contact. Mindful attention: Your mind will inevitably wander in any conversation. When you notice that this happens, take a pause and slow your breath. You can take three slow breaths and keep your attention on the person. Less talking and more listening: Do not give your opinion unless you ask you for it. Do your best to listen and stay attentive to only giving feedback that indicates that you are paying attention to the other person. Be comfortable with pauses and quiet when the other person is talking. I like to nod my head and stay silent. There is nothing wrong with a little silence and pausing in conversations. If you're enjoying this podcast, please subscribe and/or leave a review. If you'd like more information or want to connect with me, visit https://happymeditator.com/

Today I’m very excited to be sitting down with Bec Weeks, co-founder of the app Pique.  Her co-founders include Sendhil Mullainathan who has taught traditional and behavioral economics at MIT, Harvard, and The University of Chicago, and Michael Norton, another Harvard professor and part of the Harvard Behavioral Insights Group, he also previously taught at MIT and co-authored a book called Happy Money, The Science of Smarter Spending. Bec got her MBA in behavioral science, entrepreneurship, and social impact from Harvard University. The whole Pique crew is clearly amazing! I had such a lovely time chatting with Bec and could tell from our first conversation that we would be fast friends. She is doing such cool things (and as silly as it is, she has some stellar rose gold headphones that I totally want...long time listeners know I love rose gold!) Beyond that of course, I love the cool things she and the rest of the Pique team are doing to help people use habits in a smart way to improve their lives. How are they doing that exactly? Listen and read on my friend... Show Notes: [00:43] Today I’m very excited to be sitting down with Bec Weeks, co-founder of the app Pique.  [03:18] I love the cool things Bec and the rest of the Pique team are doing to help people use habits in a smart way to improve their lives. [04:18] Before that, a bit about her. Bec is from Australia. She started her career very briefly in law before she moved to management consulting and on to the Behavioral Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA).  [06:39] There is a really big behavioral community in Australia and it is growing every day.  [07:42] She shares about a project she was part of at BETA which focused on the problem of doctors overprescribing antibiotics. Another memorable project about reducing discrimination in hiring practices.  [09:51] The importance of testing was a key finding.  [11:05] Things are shifting all the time. A nudge applied ten years ago doesn’t necessarily work today.  [12:38] Experiments that fail to produce results still need to be public so they add to the evidence base of things that do and do not work.  [15:35] Pique is their attempt to take useful findings from psychology and present them to use and inspire an app. It lets others learn about the concept, experience the concept, and live the concept in their life in a small way.  [16:17] Pique’s main goal is to help people be more in touch with their thoughts (including self-awareness) as well as how they interact with others.  [17:05] Humans crave novelty so they wanted to make sure Pique incorporated variety and different things to do. This keeps people coming back to try something new.  [19:13] The habit is exercising the curiosity, experimentation, and exploration muscles.  [20:26] The simplest change can make it so you are innovative and creative for the rest of the day.  [22:08] The best time to Pique differs from person to person and often even moment to moment.  [24:11] They have built-in reminders in the app to complete the daily exercises and also the opportunity to schedule a comeback reminder.  [25:02] There is a lot of humor sprinkled within the app. They want it to be helpful and enjoyable.  [27:14] You will do each of these little moments and hopefully get something small out of each of them, but when you keep doing them they build on one another and you see bigger results.  [29:21] If you can provide a personalized experience for someone then they are more likely to get the benefit and come back. You want people to use it and get great value.  [31:47] Once you complete the few beginning questions you land at a page with a selection of packs sorted for you.  [33:02] Some packs currently in the app are Conversations, Time, Mind Wandering, Fan the Flame (connecting with your partner), and Rituals.  [35:44] A lot of us have things we are not quite aware of that have ritualistic power. Some of these have been lost whilst at home and some of them we have been able to keep during the pandemic--why that matters.  [37:14] Other current/upcoming packs include Decision Making, Connecting with Friends, and Boosting the Bond. They are always adding new content.  [39:10] The idea of moments is to help you do those things and see what works and resonates with you.  [41:58] Some of the things we have lost are obvious and some not as obvious. Taking time to think about what things have been lost and thinking about how we can add them back--even if it is in a different way--is very important.  [43:19] The opposite of distraction is traction (via Nir Eyal, episode link below).  [45:13] When thinking about habits, many of us think about changing them but it is also important to think about how you can use the power of habits to help people introduce change. [45:45] Pique is perfectly packaged into bite sized pieces that can help your brain to feel good and give you a mental boost. Consider this your poque to download Pique! (once you do, let us know on social media using the links below) Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Connect with Pique: Pique Pique on Instagram Pique on Twitter Pique on Facebook Pique on LinkedIn More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending Habits Questions or Answers Scarcity Anchoring and Adjustment Expect Error Understanding Mapping Structuring Complex Choices The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Biases Toward Novelty and Stories How To Set Up Your Own Experiments How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Focusing Illusion Interview With Author Nir Eyal Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions Behavioural Science Club

Mind wandering

Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church

Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church

In this episode, Wendy speaks with cognitive and contemplative neuroscientist Amishi Jha about using mindfulness to train attention, and its usefulness particularly in high-stress situations. They cover many topics, including:her own experience of high stress and how that brought her to contemplative practice;her research on how mindfulness can train attention and working memory;the relationship between attention and stress;bringing mindfulness to military populations;the pros and cons of a wandering mind;mindfulness during COVID;the state of contemplative science, and current issues around gender and racial diversity.Full show notes and resources

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.06.05.136374v1?rss=1 Authors: Wienke, C., Bartsch, M. V., Vogelgesang, L., Reichert, C., Hinrichs, H., Heinze, H.-J., Duerschmid, S. Abstract: Mind wandering (MW) is a subjective, cognitive phenomenon, in which thoughts move away from the task towards an internal train of thoughts, possibly during phases of neuronal sleep-like activity (local sleep, LS). MW decreases cortical processing of external stimuli and is assumed to decouple attention from the external world. Here, we directly tested how indicators of LS, cortical processing and attentional selection change in a pop-out visual search task during phases of MW. Participants brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography, MW was assessed via self-report using randomly interspersed probes. As expected, MW worsened performance being accompanied by a decrease in high frequency activity (HFA, 80-150Hz) and an increase in slow wave activity (SWA, 1-6Hz), consistent with the occurrence of LS. In contrast, visual attentional selection as indexed by the N2pc component was enhanced during MW with the N2pc amplitude being directly linked to participants performance. This observation clearly contradicts accounts of attentional decoupling predicting a decrease in attention-related responses to external stimuli during MW. Together our results suggest that MW occurs during phases of LS with processes of attentional target selection being upregulated, potentially to compensate for the mental distraction during MW. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

In dieser Episode (auf Englisch) erwartet dich ein Interview mit Dr. Liila Taruffi. Als Musikpsychologin lehrt und forscht sie interdisziplinär an der Durham University in England und verbindet dabei die Bereiche Psychologie, Neurowissenschaften und Ästhetik. Aktuell ist ihr großes Thema Mind-Wandering, auch als Tagträumen bekannt. Dementsprechend teilt sie: • was Mind-Wandering bedeutet • wie man Gedanken messen kann • welchen Einfluss Musik auf Mind-Wandering hat • ob es die Lebensqualität beeinflussen kann • wie wir Mind-Wandering in empowernder Weise nutzen können • warum es auch für die Musiktherapie hilfreich sein kann • welches Potential Liila in der Musikpsychologie für die Zukunft in unserer Gesellschaft sieht Genieße die Episode! Alles Liebe Deine Katja *** Guest interview with Dr. Liila Taruffi: She is an interdisciplinary music researcher and lecturer at Durham University, working at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and aesthetics. She investigates music’s capability to evoke emotions and moods and to influence a specific type of thoughts and visual mental images (“mind-wandering” or “daydreaming”). Accordingly, she shares: • what mind-wandering means • how to measure thoughts • what influence music has on mind wandering • whether mind-wandering can affect the quality of life and how it can empower people • why it can be helpful for use in music therapy • the potential she sees in music psychology for the future in our society Enjoy the episode! All the best, Katja *** Links zu Liila’s Profilen: Website: liilataruffi.com Durham University: dur.ac.uk/music/staff/?id=17864 Liila’s Song des Tages: Leonard Cohen - Take this Longing Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=P99GsFzhFY4 Spotify: open.spotify.com/track/5jrWQbZUFFI0KRAMW4teLx

¿A alguno de vosotros no se os ha ido la cabeza pensando en algo, desconectando de lo que os rodea y volando con la mente a cualquier tema que os ilusiona o preocupa? A algunos se les pone cara de tonto y a otros de interesante, pero en esos segundos o minutos claramente vuestra mirada está en otro sitio y vuestra cabeza también. A este fenómeno psicológico se le llama soñar despierto, daydreaming o mind wandering, que sería algo así como la “mente que vaga”.Aquí tenéis la investigación de 2012 de la Universidad de Wisconsin y el Instituto Max Planck. Investigación sobre el llamado “Mind Wandering” del Instituto Tecnológico de Georgia.Estudio sobre la relación entre distracciones y generación de nuevas soluciones. Maurizio Corbetta en uno de sus artículos sobre la red neuronal por defecto.Dejadme vuestros comentarios y sugerencias en mis redes sociales (facebook, twitter, linkedin e instagram) o en mi correo. Más acerca de mí en la web. Si queréis ayudarme a que este podcast llegue a más personas, dejadme una valoración en iTunes.

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.04.27.064360v1?rss=1 Authors: Hung, S.-M., Hsieh, P.-J. Abstract: Mind wandering contains rich phenomenology as we experience moment by moment, however, such linkage between our subjective experiences and the underlying neural mechanism has been missing in the literature. Here we report that the sensory contents of mind wandering recruit corresponding sensory cortices, serving as the neural bases of the sensory contents in mind wandering. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

Wie oft passiert es dir, dass deine Gedanken beim Lernen abschweifen? Ich wette: oft. Wahrscheinlich ist es dir schon so häufig passiert, dass du gar nicht mehr mitzählen kannst (sofern es dir wie 98 Prozent aller anderen Menschen geht). Gerade warst du noch bei Folie 21 deiner Vorlesung, doch plötzlich denkst du darüber nach, wie es wäre, die Geschicke der Bundesrepublik oder die deines Lieblingssportvereins zu leiten.

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, we get into the pros and cons of mind-wandering—why it’s good for you, when it’s too much, and how to use it to your advantage.My guest is Jonathan Schooler Ph.D., a professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He has studied mind-wandering extensively, and his research includes mindfulness, cognitive psychology, memory, and consciousness. “The idea is that when people are mind-wandering, it's basically sort of stirring the pot and allowing unconscious associations to reorganize and consolidate, and allowing new things to come to mind,” Dr. Schooler says.He explores topics that intersect philosophy and psychology, such as how fluctuations in people’s awareness of their experience mediate mind-wandering and how exposing individuals to philosophical positions alters their behavior.Our conversation goes deep into mind-wandering, why we often have a deficit of it, and why it’s vital to human performance.Listen on to find out:How to identify four types of mind-wandering;How meta-awareness helps you realize when you’re mind-wandering instead of paying attention;Why mind-wandering is important to the creative process; andWhy the most effective techniques for helping with mind-wandering and focus are mindfulness and meditation. Stick with this episode all the way through because I’ve added a special feature and a bonus topic. Enjoy the show!

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, we get into the pros and cons of mind-wandering—why it’s good for you, when it’s too much, and how to use it to your advantage.My guest is Jonathan Schooler Ph.D., a professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He has studied mind-wandering extensively, and his research includes mindfulness, cognitive psychology, memory, and consciousness. “The idea is that when people are mind-wandering, it's basically sort of stirring the pot and allowing unconscious associations to reorganize and consolidate, and allowing new things to come to mind,” Dr. Schooler says.He explores topics that intersect philosophy and psychology, such as how fluctuations in people’s awareness of their experience mediate mind-wandering and how exposing individuals to philosophical positions alters their behavior.Our conversation goes deep into mind-wandering, why we often have a deficit of it, and why it’s vital to human performance.Listen on to find out:How to identify four types of mind-wandering;How meta-awareness helps you realize when you’re mind-wandering instead of paying attention;Why mind-wandering is important to the creative process; andWhy the most effective techniques for helping with mind-wandering and focus are mindfulness and meditation. Stick with this episode all the way through because I’ve added a special feature and a bonus topic. Enjoy the show!

Curieux Rivard #2 - Pierre-Bruno Rivard reçoit Catherine Raymond, Doctorante en neurosciences et chercheuse au Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal ''L’objectif de mon projet de doctorat vise à déterminer quels sont les processus cognitifs subtils (tels que les biais attentionnels vers des informations négatives ou encore le ‘Mind Wandering’ : pensées qui sont indépendantes de notre tâche en cours d’exécution) qui vont nous rendre plus ou moins susceptibles de présenter une réaction physiologique de stress.''### www.lecarredesable.com Youtube: https://bit.ly/2N0sNCSSpotify: https://spoti.fi/2GgAm7GItunes: https://goo.gl/9rQP19Podbean: https://goo.gl/S6dpgNGooglePlay: https://goo.gl/HD9OeyRZO: http://rzoweb.com/#/show/le-carre-de-...BaladoQuebec: https://baladoquebec.ca/#!/le-carre-d... PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lecarredesable PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.me/lecarredesable ### Dates de tournée ''Ma thérapeute est morte'':www.pbrivard.com ### PB Rivard à 22 minutes avec (captation vidéo)https://ici.tou.tv/22-minutes-avec ### Catherine Raymond: Page web: http://www.iusmm.ca/hors-navigation/profils-des-etudiants/raymond-catherine.html Centre d'études sur le stress humain : https://stresshumain.ca/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Paul, Zac, and I discuss the philosophy of emergence, the neuroscience and philosophy of mind wandering and spontaneous thought, and how both of these may fit in the realm of artificial intelligence and consciousness. Plus, we talk about the role of philosophy in neuroscience and AI, and more.

Don’t worry about your mind wandering. This article talks about why our minds wander and the benefits of meditation. Remember to do daily things to relieve stress and to help you reset. Stay safe.

Tune in to the Management Insights podcast on Mindful Leadership with today’s guest, Angelo Kinicki. Mindful leadership can promote positive outcomes for individuals, groups, and organizations. Learn how to develop mindful leadership.

Natural remedies can help quiet your stressed mind.Our minds tend to wander at least half of the time. A wandering mind is thinking about other things, not the task at hand. Most of those wandering thoughts are spend on negative things. Herbal pharmacist David Foreman classifies negative mind wandering as stress. Digestive disorders, headaches, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, immune issues and heart disease can be impacted by stress. Prescription medication is designed to treat these symptoms, but those medications do not address the source. It’s hard to stay focused when you’re overwhelmed with worry. Practicing gratitude, mindfulness and prayer can aid with the stress.Supplements for Relaxation Zembrin - 25mg dose taken in the morning works within two hours and helps you stay calm and relaxed without drowsiness Rhodiola - helps the body adapt to physical and emotional stressors, supports your overall mood Passion Flower - aids with insomnia and very anxious moments, causes drowsiness Listen as David joins Dr. Bond to share tips on dealing with stress naturally and avoiding unnecessary medication.

Natural remedies can help quiet your stressed mind.Our minds tend to wander at least half of the time. A wandering mind is thinking about other things, not the task at hand. Most of those wandering thoughts are spend on negative things. Herbal pharmacist David Foreman classifies negative mind wandering as stress. Digestive disorders, headaches, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, immune issues and heart disease can be impacted by stress. Prescription medication is designed to treat these symptoms, but those medications do not address the source. It’s hard to stay focused when you’re overwhelmed with worry. Practicing gratitude, mindfulness and prayer can aid with the stress. Supplements for Relaxation Zembrin - 25mg dose taken in the morning works within two hours and helps you stay calm and relaxed without drowsiness Rhodiola - helps the body adapt to physical and emotional stressors, supports your overall mood Passion Flower - aids with insomnia and very anxious moments, causes drowsiness Listen as David joins Dr. Bond to share tips on dealing with stress naturally and avoiding unnecessary medication.

My guest today is James Garrett, the founder and CEO of Brain by Design - a US-based organisation that teaches strategies for getting more from your mind. He’s a psychologist, a former academic, co-founder of a highly successful social venture - Think Unlimited, which taught innovation and creativity to young people in the Middle East - and he’s chatting to me today about using your brain to enhance your productivity and creativity and live your best life.This is an exciting and illuminating conversation and James and I have a ball discussing the science behind:Why your focus and attention is like a battery that requires recharging. How to get more done by working lessHow to use your mind to start on difficult or unpleasant tasksThe importance of taking breaks for your productivity and creativity and why your brain doesn't know how to do thisWhy the standard '8 hours at your desk' is a disaster for your effectiveness, innovation, happiness and wellbeing.James's Brain in Mind Program and the science of productivity and wellbeing, andHow he reads one book per week!Listen in to discover James's tips and strategies.

Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories to help you learn something new in just a few minutes: Your Mind Wanders Half the Time You're Awake Your Dog Really Loves It When You Smile Richard Branson's Secret to Productivity and Success Is Simple: Work Out Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day withCody Gough andAshley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 4 we meet Yvette Graveline of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Thought Laboratory at the University of British Columbia. We talk dreams, imagination, and mind wandering, and how they are all intertwined. What is mind wandering and how often do we do it? Is your imagination different from mine? Should we be analyzing our dreams?

MEDITATION: IT’S NOT ALL HIPPIES AND PATCHOULI – Why It Matters To Both Your Health AND Bottom Line Links: 7 Types of Meditation (there are many more) https://visualmeditation.co/7-types-of-meditation/ 23 Types of Meditation (there are many more) http://liveanddare.com/types-of-meditation/ Summary of Meditation Types and Practices http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/03/24/types-of-meditation-extensive-list-of-techniques/ Summary of Meditation Effects on Brain: https://psychcentral.com/news/2014/05/19/how-different-types-of-meditation-affect-the-brain/70052.html More on the practice and science of meditation http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2016/09/how-to-meditate/ Resources: Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill. Matthieu Ricard. Little, Brown, 2006. Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence. Antoine Lutz et al. in Journal of Neuroscience. Vol. 29, No. 42, pages 13,418–13,427; October 21, 2009. Mind Wandering and Attention during Focused Meditation: A Fine-Grained Temporal Analysis of Fluctuating Cognitive States. Wendy Hasenkamp et al. in NeuroImage, Vol. 59, No. 1, pages 750–760; January 2, 2012. FROM OUR ARCHIVES The Physiology of Meditation. Robert Keith Wallace and Herbert Benson; February 1972. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN ONLINE Watch talks by Davidson and Ricard at http://ScientificAmerican.com/nov2014/meditation Intro: Broad categories or types of meditation Specific practices Science of meditation How to choose and why Example Creative meditation techniques enable us to consciously cultivate and strengthen specific qualities of mind. Patience, appreciation, sympathetic joy, gratitude, love, compassion, fearlessness, humility, tenderness, and other qualities associated with aspects of nature, Divinity, or the natural world are among the attributes that are most commonly cultivated. Creative meditations invite us to actively nurture these strengths of character by thinking, speaking, and acting "as though" these qualities are more fully alive within us. Types of Meditation: 3 Primary Methods To decide what type of meditation you like best, I recommend doing some experimentation. You may want to try one particular type for 10 days, and if you don’t really like it, try another type. The only way to find the type that you enjoy the most is by testing the waters with some different techniques and observing how you respond. The most popular types of meditation include: Vipassana (Mindfulness) and TM (Transcendental), but there are infinitely more meditations than these two. Nearly all types of meditations fit into a category of: concentration, open monitoring, or effortless awareness. 1. Focused Attention (Concentration) Example: Vipassana All types of meditation that involve enhancing concentration can be classified as “focused attention” technique. These practices involve focusing attention on one specific thing for the entire time with the goal of cultivating laser-like focus. Any concentration meditation will involve consistent mental effort to build up the ability to focus without succumbing to distraction. Certain practices may involve focusing on an external object (e.g. a pen), while others will involve focusing on the breath. In any regard, the goal is to direct 100% focus on one thing for the entire session. When the mind wanders, the focus is calmly brought back to the object. Over time, the mind wanders less and the ability to focus your attention improves for longer durations. 2. Mindfulness (Open Monitoring) Example: Mindfulness With this type of meditation, you aren’t focusing your attention on one specific object. In this case, you are letting your attention flow freely without judgment or attachment. In other words, you are simply observing all perceptions, thoughts, memories, and senses that you experience during your practice. Developing the quality of “open monitoring” is synonymous with mindfulness – you are “mindful” of your experience. Being mindful of your perception allows you to observe your experience almost from a third-person perspective rather than first-person attachment. You notice all sensations that you’re feeling, but merely observe them rather than judge them or react positively or negatively. In Vipassana, qualities of concentration along with mindfulness are generally developed together. 3. Effortless Transcending Example: Transcendental Meditation (TM) This type of meditation is classified as “effortless” because it requires no mental effort or concentration. Some have called this subtype of meditation “pure being” or “transcendental” because it involves emptiness, introversion, and calmness. The goal with this specific type is to essentially help the meditator recognize their pure essence (e.g. “Pure Self”) or the true nature of the self by eliminating all thought. The mind becomes a blank slate with consistent practice. Some have compared effortless transcending to giving the brain a massage or bath. The transcendental process helps the individual silence their mind and become aware of deep (arguably “purer”) states of consciousness. A person who has been practicing this specific type may experience a state of emptiness or nothingness and find that it feels great. They Each do different things! And science is now discovering that they have different effects on the brain. …in one fMRI study, appropriately titled “Putting Feelings into Words” participants viewed pictures of people with emotional facial expressions. Predictably, each participant’s amygdala activated to the emotions in the picture. But when they were asked to name the emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact. How Different Types of Meditation Affect the Brain By Rick Nauert PhD~ 2 min read   Be it mindfulness, zen, acem, meditation drumming, chakra, Buddhist, or transcendental meditation, there are countless ways to meditate. Researchers are now parsing how the brain works during different kinds of meditation. “No one knows how the brain works when you meditate. That is why I’d like to study it,” says Jian Xu, M.D., a physician at St. Olavs Hospital and a researcher at the Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Along with colleagues at the University of Oslo and the University of Sydney, Xu’s research was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Different meditation techniques can actually be divided into two main groups. One type is concentrative meditation, where the meditating person focuses attention on his or her breathing or on specific thoughts, and in doing so, suppresses other thoughts. The other type may be called nondirective meditation, where the person who is meditating effortlessly focuses on his or her breathing or on a meditation sound, but beyond that the mind is allowed to wander as it pleases. Some modern meditation methods are of this nondirective kind. Fourteen people who had extensive experience with the Norwegian technique of Acem meditation were tested in an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. In addition to simple resting, they undertook two different mental meditation activities, nondirective meditation and a more concentrative meditation task. The research team wanted to test people who were used to meditation because it meant fewer misunderstandings about what the subjects should actually be doing while they lay in the MRI machine. Nondirective meditation led to higher activity than during rest in the part of the brain dedicated to processing self-related thoughts and feelings. When test subjects performed concentrative meditation, the activity in this part of the brain was almost the same as when they were just resting. “I was surprised that the activity of the brain was greatest when the person’s thoughts wandered freely on their own, rather than when the brain worked to be more strongly focused,” said Xu. “When the subjects stopped doing a specific task and were not really doing anything special, there was an increase in activity in the area of the brain where we process thoughts and feelings. It is described as a kind of resting network. And it was this area that was most active during nondirective meditation,” he said. “The study indicates that nondirective meditation allows for more room to process memories and emotions than during concentrated meditation,” said Svend Davanger, M.D., Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the University of Oslo, and co-author of the study. “This area of the brain has its highest activity when we rest. It represents a kind of basic operating system, a resting network that takes over when external tasks do not require our attention. It is remarkable that a mental task like nondirective meditation results in even higher activity in this network than regular rest,” said Davanger. Acem meditation is a technique that falls under the category of nondirective meditation. Davanger believes that good research depends on having a team that can combine personal experience with meditation with a critical attitude towards results. “Meditation is an activity that is practiced by millions of people. It is important that we find out how this really works,” said Davanger. Source: Norwegian University of Science and Technology   Which meditation should you practice? It totally depends on why you want to meditate in the first place. If your goal is to become more relaxed, you have plenty of great options. If your goal is to become more focused, you’d want to use a concentrative type of meditation. Various other types like Vajrayana actually increase arousal rather than decrease it, so be careful with the type you choose. Whether you believe in the spiritual aspect of each (e.g. kundalini) is a personal thing and highly subjective. Assuming you want to meditate, pick a practice that appeals to you and give it a shot. However, keep in mind that the science behind meditation is relatively new in terms of long-term neural and physiological changes. We do know that different types of meditation produce specific neural and physiological adaptations. Therefore choosing one type may literally transform your brain in an entirely different way than another. Many people assume that the benefits of every type of meditation can be lumped into a collective pile, but clearly they cannot. Assuming you practice meditation for a long-term, be sure to choose a practice that you enjoy and that helps you achieve your particular goal. Personal thoughts on meditation… Science clearly supports the idea that certain types of meditation can be beneficial for mental performance and physical health. That said, there are some dangers to be aware of such as: extensive meditation leading to social isolation, meditation worsening depression or anxiety, too much inward focus (not balanced with the external), and falsely thinking that all the answers are found by looking inwards. Humans didn’t evolve to meditate, they evolved to seek out external things in their environment. While meditation has its place to help with spiritual endeavors, relaxation, and mental performance, too much meditation may lead to adverse experiences – especially for a novice. Also avoid trapping yourself in any new age “cult” thinking that meditation and the idea of enlightenment will solve all your problems; newsflash: it won’t. If you’re just getting started, I recommend using the app called “Headspace” which is a form of Mindfulness meditation. The science supports mindfulness for reducing anxiety, depression, and other measures. The nice thing about this app is there is no religious, subjective, “spiritual” hocus pocus, mumbo jumbo, witchcraft, non-scientific voodoo. It simply guides you through the meditation process at a slow, safe pace. SPECIFIC TYPES OF MEDITATION – AN OVERVIEW OF 23 MEDITATION TECHNIQUES By Giovanni 276 Commentsmeditation, mindfulness Ok, so you know that meditation has dozens of benefits, and everybody is doing it. You look for information online or on a bookstore, and see that there are a LOT of different ways of doing meditation, dozens of meditation techniques, and some conflicting information. You wonder which way is best for you. This article will help you navigate the sea of different practices of seated meditation, briefly explaining each of them, and pointing to further resources. There are literally hundreds – if not thousands – of types of meditation, so here I will explore only the most popular ones. You can also check my walking meditation guide, for more dynamic meditation techniques. Or, if you already have some experience with meditation, you might enjoy reading about the meditation experiments I was doing while writing this post.   At the bottom of this page you will find a button to download a FREE PDF copy of this post, for easy reference. The advice regarding the posture of meditation is very similar among the different styles of seated practice, so I will go in to more detail about it only once, when talking about the first technique (Zen meditation). I have strived to include a “Is it for me?” section, with general observations about each practice. Keep in mind these are tentative; they are there to give some direction, and potentially any person could feel attracted to any of these modalities. This article does NOT tell you which is “the best” type of meditation – because there is no such thing, and I’m not here to create controversy. Also, I have here focused more on meditative practices; I may write another article on other similar practices, that are more about relaxation or contemplation. If you are a beginner, you may also enjoy the post on meditation tips and meditation for beginners – how to build the habit. The “best” meditation is the meditation that works for you, at this stage in you life.3 GENERAL TYPES Scientists usually classify meditation based on the way they focus attention, into two categories: Focused Attention and Open Monitoring. I’d like to propose a third: Effortless Presence.  Focused attention meditation Focusing the attention on a single object during the whole meditation session. This object may be the breath, a mantra, visualization, part of the body, external object, etc. As the practitioner advances, his ability to keep the flow of attention in the chosen object gets stronger, and distractions become less common and short-lived. Both the depth and steadiness of his attention are developed. Examples of these are: Samatha (Buddhist meditation), some forms of Zazen, Loving Kindness Meditation, Chakra Meditation, Kundalini Meditation, Sound Meditation, Mantra Meditation, Pranayama, some forms of Qigong, and many others.  Open monitoring meditation2 Instead of focusing the attention on any one object, we keep it open, monitoring all aspects of our experience, without judgment or attachment. All perceptions, be them internal (thoughts, feelings, memory, etc.) or external (sound, smell, etc.), are recognized and seen for what they are. It is the process of non-reactive monitoring of the content of experience from moment to moment, without going into them. Examples are: Mindfulness meditation, Vipassana, as well as some types of Taoist Meditation. Effortless Presence It’s the state where the attention is not focused on anything in particular, but reposes on itself – quiet, empty, steady, and introverted. We can also call it “Choiceless Awareness” or “Pure Being”. Most of the meditation quotes you find speak of this state. This is actually the true purpose behind all kinds of meditation, and not a meditation type in itself. All traditional techniques of meditation recognize that the object of focus, and even the process of monitoring, is just a means to train the mind, so that effortless inner silence and deeper states of consciousness can be discovered. Eventually both the object of focus and the process itself is left behind, and there is only left the true self of the practitioner, as “pure presence”. In some techniques, this is the only focus, from the beginning. Examples are: the Self-Enquiry (“I am” meditation) of Ramana Maharishi; Dzogchen; Mahamudra; some forms of Taoist Meditation; and some advanced forms of Raja Yoga. In my point of view, this type of meditation always requires previous training to be effective, even though this is  sometimes not expressly said (only implied). 1) BUDDHIST MEDITATION Zen Meditation (Zazen) Origin & Meaning Zazen (坐禅) means “seated Zen”, or “seated meditation”, in Japanese. It has its roots in the Chinese Zen Buddhism (Ch’an) tradition, tracing back to Indian monk Bodhidharma (6th century CE). In the West, its most popular forms comes from Dogen Zenji (1200~1253), the founder of Soto Zen movement in Japan. Similar modalities are practiced in the Rinzai school of Zen, in Japan and Korea. Focusing on breath — focus all your attention on the movement of the breath going in and out through the nose. This may be aided by counting the breath in your mind. Each time you inhale you count one number, starting with 10, and then moving backward to 9, 8, 7, etc. When you arrive in 1, you resume from 10 again. If you get distracted and lose your count, gently bring back the attention to 10 and resume from there. Shikantaza (“just sitting”) — in this form the practitioner does not use any specific object of meditation; rather, practitioners remain as much as possible in the present moment, aware of and observing what passes through their minds and around them, without dwelling on anything in particular. It’s a type of Effortless Presence meditation Learn more: Zen Mountain Monastery Open Way (PDF) Visit a Zen Buddhist center near to you. Most of them teach zazen for free. Is it for me? Zazen is a very sober meditation style, and you can easily find a lot of strong communities practicing it, as well as plenty of information on the internet. There is a lot of emphasis in keeping the right posture, as an aid for concentration. It is usually practiced in Zen Buddhist centers (Sangha), with strong community support. In many of them you will find it coupled with other elements of Buddhist practice: prostrations, a bit of ritualism, chanting, and group readings of the Buddha teachings. Some people will like this, others won’t. Personally, I practiced zazen in a Buddhist group for 3 years, and I found that those elements and a bit of formality can also help create a structure for the practice, and in themselves they are also meditative. Vipassana Meditation Origin & Meaning “Vipassana” is a Pali “insight” or “clear seeing”. It is a traditional Buddhist practice, dating back to 6th century BC. Vipassana-meditation, as taught in the last few decades, comes from the Theravada Buddhist tradition, and was popularized by  S. N. Goenka and the Vipassana movement. Due to the popularity of Vipassanā-meditation, the “mindfulness of breathing” has gained further popularity in the West as “mindfulness”. How to do it [There is some conflicting information on how to practice Vipassana. In general, however, most teachers emphasize  starting with mindfulness of breath in the first stages, to stabilize the mind and achieve “access concentration.” This is more like focused attention meditation. Then the practice moves on to developing “clear insight” on the bodily sensations and mental phenomena, observing them moment by moment and not clinging to any. Here goes an introduction, aimed for beginners. To know more I’d suggest following up the links provided or learning from a teacher (perhaps in a Vipassana retreat).] Ideally, one is to sit on a cushion on the floor, cross-legged, with your spine erect; alternatively, a chair may be used, but the back should not be supported. The first aspect is to develop concentration, through samatha practice. This is typically done through breathing awareness. Focus all your attention, from moment to moment, on the movement of your breath. Notice the subtle sensations of the movement of the abdomen rising and falling. Alternatively, one can focus on the sensation of the air passing through the nostrils and touching the upper lips skin – though this requires a bit more practice, and is more advanced. As you focus on the breath, you will notice that other perceptions and sensations continue to appear: sounds, feelings in the body, emotions, etc. Simply notice these phenomena as they emerge in the field of awareness, and then return to the sensation of breathing. The attention is kept in the object of concentration (the breathing), while these other thoughts or sensations are there simply as “background noise”. The object that is the focus of the practice (for instance, the movement of the abdomen) is called the “primary object”. And a “secondary object” is anything else that arises in your field of perception – either through your five senses (sound, smell, itchiness in the body, etc.) or through the mind (thought, memory, feeling, etc.). If a secondary object hooks your attention and pulls it away, or if it causes desire or aversion to appear, you should focus on the secondary object for a moment or two, labeling it with a mental note, like “thinking”,  “memory”, “hearing”, “desiring”. This practice is often called “noting”. A mental note identifies an object in general but not in detail. When you’re aware of a sound, for example, label it “hearing” instead of “motorcycle,” “voices” or “barking dog.” If an unpleasant sensation arises, note “pain” or “feeling” instead of “knee pain” or “my back pain.” Then return your attention to the primary meditation object. When aware of a fragrance, say the mental note “smelling” for a moment or two. You don’t have to identify the scent. When one has thus gained “access concentration”, the attention is then turned to the object of practice, which is normally thought or bodily sensations. One observes the objects of awareness without attachment, letting thoughts and sensations arise and pass away of their own accord. Mental labeling (explained above) is often use as a way to prevent you from being carried away by thoughts, and keep you in more objectively noticing them. As a result one develops the clear seeing that the observed phenomena is pervaded by the three “marks of existence”: impermanence (annica), insatisfactoriness (dukkha) and emptiness of self (annata). As a result, equanimity, peace and inner freedom is developed in relation to these inputs. Learn more: Types of Vipassana (read the answer from Anh-Minh Do) Vipassana Dhura (very in-depth article) Vipassana for beginners (Goenka style) Mindfulness in Plain English (free eBook) Visit a Vipassana center near you Is it for me? Vipassana is an excellent meditation to help you ground yourself in your body, and understand how the processes of your mind work. It is a very popular style of meditation. You can find plenty of teachers, websites, and books about it, as well as 3~10 days retreats (donation based). The teaching of it is always free. There are no formalities or rituals attached to the practice. If you are completely new to meditation, Vipassana or Mindfulness are probably good ways for you to start. Mindfulness Meditation   Origin & Meaning Mindfulness Meditation is an adaptation from traditional Buddhist meditation practices, especially Vipassana, but also having strong influence from other lineages (such as the Vietnamese Zen Buddhism from Thich Nhat Hanh). “Mindfulness” is the common western translation for the Buddhist term sati. Anapanasati, “mindfulness of breathing”, is part of the Buddhist practice of Vipassana or insight meditation, and other Buddhist meditational practices, such as zazen (source: Wikipedia). One of the main influencers for Mindfulness in the West is John Kabat-Zinn. His Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR) – which he developed in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School – has been used in several hospitals and health clinic on the past decades. How to do it Mindfulness meditation is the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment, accepting and no3n-judgmentally paying attention to the sensations, thoughts, and emotions that arise. For the “formal practice” time, sit on a cushion on the floor, or on a chair, with straight and unsupported back. Pay close attention to the movement of your breath. When you breath in, be aware that you are breathing in, and how it feels. When you breath out, be aware you are breathing out. Do like this for the length of your meditation practice, constantly redirecting the attention to the breath. Or you can move on to be paying attention to the sensations, thoughts and feelings that arise. The effort is to not intentionally add anything to our present moment experience, but to be aware of what is going on, without losing ourselves in anything that arises. Your mind will get distracted into going along with sounds, sensations, and thoughts. Whenever that happens, gently recognize that you have been distracted, and bring the attention back to the breathing, or to the objective noticing of that thought or sensation. There is a big different between being inside the thought/sensation, and simply being aware of it’s presence. Learn to enjoy your practice. Once you are done, appreciate how different the body and mind feel. There is also the practice of mindfulness during our daily activities: while eating, walking, and talking. For “daily life” meditation, the practice is to pay attention to what is going on in the present moment, to be aware of what is happening – and not living in “automatic mode”. If you are speaking, that means paying attention to the words you speak, how you speak them, and to listen with presence and attention. If you are walking, that means being more aware of your body movements, your feet touching the ground, the sounds you are hearing, etc. Your effort in seated practice supports your daily life practice, and vice-versa. They are both equally important.  Learn more: Psychology Today (more details on how to practice) Palouse Mindfulness (MBSR free online course) Mindfulness exercises Mindful Schools Is it for me? For the general public, this is perhaps the most advisable way to get started with meditation. It is the type of meditation that is most taught at schools and hospitals, as far as I am aware. The “mindfulness movement” as practiced nowadays in society at large, is not Buddhism, but an adaptation of Buddhist practices due to their benefits in good physical and mental health and general wellbeing. For most people, Mindfulness Meditation may be the only type of meditation they will like, especially if their focus is only the physical and mental benefits of meditation, as it is usually taught dissociated from several of the eastern concepts and philosophies that traditionally accompanied the practice. And for that it is great – it will bring many good things to your life. If your focus is a deeper transformation and spiritual development, however, then mindfulness meditation may be just an initial step for you. From here you can then move into Vipassana, Zazen, or other types of meditation. Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta Meditation) Origin & Meaning Metta is a Pali word that means kindness, benevolence, and good will. This practice comes from the Buddhist traditions, especially the Theravada and Tibetan lineages. “Compassion meditation” is a contemporary scientific field that demonstrates the efficacy of mettaand related meditative practices. Demonstrated benefits include: boosting one’s ability to empathize with others; development of positive emotions through compassion, including a more loving attitude towards oneself; increased self-acceptance; greater feeling of competence about one’s life; and increased feeling of purpose in life (read more in our other post). How to do it One sits down in a meditation position, with closed eyes, and generates in his mind and heart feelings of kindness and benevolence. Start by developing loving-kindness towards yourself, then progressively towards others and all beings. Usually this progression is advised: oneself a good friend a “neutral” person a difficult person all four of the above equally and then gradually the entire universe The feeling to be developed is that of wishing happiness and well-being for all. This practice may be aided by reciting specific words or sentences that evoke the “boundless warm-hearted feeling”, visualizing the suffering of others and sending love; or by imagining the state of another being, and wishing him happiness and peace. The more you practice this meditation, the more joy you will experience. That is the secret of Mathieu Richard’s happiness. “For one who attends properly to the liberation of the heart by benevolence, unarisen ill will does not arise and arisen ill will is abandoned.” – The Buddha9 In this article, Emma Seppälä, Ph.D explores the 18 scientifically proven benefits of Loving-Kindness meditation. Learn more: Wikipedia on Metta Meditation Metta Institute (Buddha’s word on metta) Huffington Post article on the benefits of metta Is it for me? Are you sometimes too hard on yourself or on others? Or feel like you need to improve your relationships? Loving-kindness meditation will help you. It is beneficial both for selfless and self-centered people, and it will help increase your general level of happiness. You cannot feel loving-kindness and depression (or any other negative feeling) at the same time. It is also often recommended, by Buddhist teachers, as an antidote to insomnia, nightmares, or anger issues. 2) HINDU MEDITATION (Vedic & Yogic) Mantra Meditation (OM Meditation)   A mantra is a syllable or word, usually without any particular meaning, that is repeated for the purpose of focusing your mind. It is not an affirmation used to convince yourself of something. Some meditation teachers insist that both the choice of word, and its correct pronunciation, is very important, due to the “vibration” associated to the sound and meaning, and that for this reason an initiation into it is essential. Others say that the mantra itself is only a tool to focus the mind, and the chosen word is completely irrelevant. Mantras are used in Hindu traditions, Buddhist traditions (especially Tibetan and “Pure Land” Buddhism), as well as in Jainism, Sikhism and Daoism (Taoism). Some people call mantra meditation “om meditation”, but that is just one of the mantras that can be used. A more devotion oriented practice of mantras is called japa, and consists of repeating sacred sounds (name of God) with love. How to do it As most type of meditations, it is usually practiced sitting with spine erect, and eyes closed. The practitioner then repeats the mantra in his mind, silently, over and over again during the whole session. Sometimes this practice is coupled with being aware of the breathing or coordinating with it. In other exercises, the mantra is actually whispered very lightly and softly, as an aid to concentration. As you repeat the mantra, it creates a mental vibration that allows the mind to experience deeper levels of awareness. As you meditate, the mantra becomes increasingly abstract and indistinct, until you’re finally led into the field of pure consciousness from which the vibration arose.Repetition of the mantra helps you disconnect from the thoughts filling your mind so that perhaps you may slip into the gap between thoughts. The mantra is a tool to support your meditation practice. Mantras can be viewed as ancient power words with subtle intentions that help us connect to spirit, the source of everything in the universe. (Deepak Chopra) Here are some of the most well-known mantras from the Hindu & Buddhist traditions: om so-ham om namah shivaya om mani padme hum rama yam ham You may practice for a certain period of time, or for a set number of “repetitions” – traditionally 108 or 1008. In the latter case, beads are typically used for keeping count. As the practice deepens, you may find that the mantra continues “by itself” like the humming of the mind. Or the mantra may even disappear, and you are left in a state of deep inner peace.  Learn more: Wikipedia article on Mantra Seven Ways to Meditate with OM Mantra Yoga and Primal Sound (book) Mantras: Words of Power (book) Is it for me? People usually find that it is easier to focus with a mantra than with the breathing. Because a mantra is a word, and thoughts are usually perceived as words, it can be easier to keep the focus on a mantra rather than on the breathing. It is useful especially when the mind is racing with many thoughts, since it mantra meditation demands constant attention. Meditating with a mantra can also make it simpler to  integrate your meditative state into your daily life. In whatever activity you find yourself into, it can be as simple as repeating the mantra in your mind.  Transcendental Meditation (TM)   Origin & Meaning Transcendental Meditation is a specific form of Mantra Meditation introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1955 in India and the West. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Maharishi achieved fame as the guru to the Beatles, The Beach Boys and other celebrities. It is a widely practiced form of meditation, with over 5 million practitioners worldwide, and there is a lot of scientific research, many sponsored by the organization, demonstrating the benefits of the practice. There are over 600 scientific papers, many of them peer-reviewed, and I have used part of their research when composing my benefits of meditation page. However, there are also critics of the Maharishi and his organization, and some accusation of cultish behavior and doubtful research practices.[Image from NurseTalkSite.com] How to do it Transcendental meditation is not taught freely. The only way of learning it is to pay to learn from one of their licensed instructors. The support given seems to be good, though. In general, however, it is known that TM involves the use of a mantra and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day while sitting with one’s eyes closed. The mantra is not unique, and is given to the practitioner based on his gender and age. They are also not “meaningless sounds” – rather, they are Tantric names of Hindu deities. This probably is irrelevant for most people. This is the official site of the movement: TM site. There is another similar technique, called Natural Stress Relief, which was created in 2003 by a former TM Teacher, and is much cheaper to learn (47 USD instead of 960 USD), and has stripped out some mystical elements of the practice of TM, such as the initiation (puja) and yogic flying (part of TM-Siddhi). You can learn more about NSR in comparison to TM here and here. Is it for me? Personally I don’t feel comfortable advising anyone to try Transcendental Meditation anymore, especially if you are looking to go deep into meditation. To know more, check out this answer I wrote in Quora. If you wish to try something similar, for a fraction of the cost or for free, have a look at NSR (above), or Mantra Meditation.  Yoga Meditations Origin & Meaning There is not one type of meditation which is “Yogic Meditation”, so here it is meant the several meditation types taught in the yoga tradition. Yoga means “union”. Tradition goes as far as 1700 B.C, and has as its highest goal spiritual purification and Self-Knowledge. Classical Yoga divides the practice into rules of conduct (yamas and niyamas), physical postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), and contemplative practices of meditation (pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi). The Yoga tradition is the oldest meditation tradition on earth, and also the one with the widest variety of practices. How to do it Here are some types of meditation practiced in Yoga. The most common and universal Yoga meditation one is the “third eye meditation”. Other popular ones involve concentrating on a chakra, repeating a mantra, visualization of light, or gazing meditations.  Third Eye Meditation — focusing the attention on the “spot between the eyebrows” (called by some “the third eye” or “ajna chakra”). The attention is constantly redirected to this point, as a means to silence the mind. By time the “silent gaps” between thoughts get wider and deeper. Sometimes this is accompanied by physically “looking”, with eyes closed, towards that spot. Chakra Meditation — the practitioner focuses on one of the seven chakras of the body (“centers of energy”), typically doing some visualizations and chanting a specific mantra for each chakra (lam, vam, ram, yam, ham, om). Most commonly it is done on the heart chackra, third eye, and crown chackra. Gazing Meditation (Trataka) — fixing the gaze on an external object, typically a candle, image or a symbol (yantras). It is done with eyes open, and then with eyes closed, to train both the concentration and visualization powers of the mind. After closing the eyes, you should still keep the image of the object in your “mind’s eye”. This meditation is so important and powerful, that I wrote this post on the subject. Kundalini Meditation — this is a very complex system of practice. The goal is the awakening of the “kundalini energy” which lies dormant on the base of the spine, the development of several psychic centers in the body, and, finally, enlightenment. There are several dangers associated with this practice, and it should not be attempted without the guidance of a qualified yogi. Kriya Yoga — is a set of energization, breathing, and meditation exercises taught by Paramahamsa Yogananda. This is more suited for those who have a devotional temperament, and are seeking the spiritual aspects of meditation. To learn it, you can apply to receive the Self-Realization lessons, free of charge. Sound Meditation (Nada Yoga) — focusing on sound. Starts with meditation on “external sounds”, such as calming ambient music (like Native American flute music), whereby the student focuses all his attention on just hearing, as a help to quieten and collect the mind. By time the practice evolves to hearing the “internal sounds” of the body and mind. The ultimate goal is to hear the “Ultimate Sound” (para nada), which is a sound without vibration, and that manifests as “OM”. Tantra — unlike the popular view in the West, most Tantra practices have nothing to do with ritualized sex (this was practiced by a minority of lineages. Tantra is a very rich tradition, with dozens of different contemplative practices. The text Vijnanabhairava Tantra, for instance, lists 108 “meditations”, most of them more advanced (already requiring a certain degree of stillness and mind control). Here are some examples from that text: Merge the mind and the senses in the interior space in the spiritual heart. When one object is perceived, all other objects become empty. Concentrate on that emptiness. Concentrate on the space which occurs between two thoughts. Fix attention on the inside of the skull. Close eyes. Meditate on the occasion of any great delight. Meditate on the feeling of pain. Dwell on the reality which exists between pain and pleasure. Meditate on the void in one’s body extending in all directions simultaneously. Concentrate on a bottomless well or as standing in a very high place. Listen to the Anahata [heart chakra] sound. Listen to the sound of a musical instrument as it dies away. Contemplate on the universe or one’s own body as being filled with bliss. Concentrate intensely on the idea that the universe is completely void. Contemplate that the same consciousness exists in all bodies. Pranayama — breathing regulation. It is not exactly meditation, but an excellent practice to calm the mind and prepare it for meditation. There are several different types of Pranayama, but the simplest and most commonly taught one is the 4-4-4-4. This means breathing in counting up to 4, holding for 4 seconds, breathing out for 4 seconds, and holding empty for 4 seconds. Breathe through your nose, and let the abdomen (and not the chest) be the one that moves. Go through a few cycles like this. This regulation of breathing balances the moods and pacifies the body, and can be done anywhere. Yoga is a very rich tradition, with different lineages, so there are many other techniques. But the ones above are the most well-known; the others are more specific or complex. For a start, this video is an excellent resource on how to do Yoga style meditation, and it combines breathing, body awareness, mantra, and chakra meditation. Learn more: Meditations from the Tantras (book) Chakras: Seven Chakras, Mind Body Green, Wikipedia article, Chakra Meditation Trataka (LiveAndDare post) Meditation and Mantras (book) Raja Yoga (book) Kriya Yoga (Self-Realization Fellowship) Nada Yoga: Spirit Sound, The Practice of Nada Yoga (book), Wikipedia,  Bindu Magazine (compreenshive article) The Science of Pranayama (book) Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy (book) List of meditation objects in Yoga (George Feuerstein) Is it for me? With all these types of meditation in Yoga, you are likely to find one that you like. If you are a musician, perhaps nada yoga is something that will attract you. If you are a devotional person, kriya yoga is a good option. Kundalini and Chakra meditation should only be attempted with a teacher. Probably the simplest one to try is the “third eye meditation”, which is simple and yields results fairly quickly. For the other types you would probably need more instruction, either of a teacher or a good book (see references above). Besides, Pranayama is definitely something anyone can benefit from.  Self-Enquiry and “I Am” Meditation   Origin & Meaning Self-Enquiry is the English translation for the Sanskrit term atma vichara. It means to “investigate” our true nature, to find the answer to the “Who am I?” question, which culminates with the intimate knowledge of our true Self, our true being. We see references to this meditation in very old Indian texts; however, it was greatly popularized and expanded upon by the 20th-century Indian sage Ramana Maharshi (1879~1950). The modern non-duality movement (or neo-advaita), which is greatly inspired in his teachings – as well as those of Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897~1981) and Papaji – strongly uses this technique and variations. Many contemporary teachers to employ this technique, the most famous ones being Mooji  (whom I’ve personally been with and recommend), Adyashanti, and Eckhart Tolle. How to do it This practice is very simple, but also very subtle. When explaining it, however, it may sound very abstract. Your sense of “I” (or “ego”) is the center of your universe. It is there, in some form or another, behind all your thoughts, emotions, memories, and perceptions. Yet we are not clear about what this “I” is – about who we truly are, in essence – and confuse it with our body, our mind, our roles, our labels. It’s the biggest mystery in our lives. With Self-Enquiry, the question “Who I am?” is asked within yourself. You must reject any verbal answers that may come, and use this question simply as a tool to fix your attention in the subjective feeling of “I” or “I am”. Become one with it, go deep into it. This will then reveal your true “I”, your real self as pure consciousness, beyond all limitation. It is not an intellectual pursuit, but a question to bring the attention to the core element of your perception and experience: the “I”. This is not your personality, but a pure, subjective, feeling of existing – without any images or concepts attached to it.Whenever thoughts/feelings arise, you ask yourself, “To whom does this arise?” or “Who is aware of _____ (anger, fear, pain, or whatever)?” The answer will be “It’s me!”. From then you ask “Who am I?”, to bring the attention back to the subjective feeling of self, of presence. It is pure existence, objectless and choice-less awareness. Another way of explaining this practice is to just focus the mind on your feeling of being, the non-verbal “I am” that shines inside of you. Keep it pure, without association with anything you perceive. On all other types of meditation, the “I” (yourself) is focusing on some object, internal or external, physical or mental. In self-enquiry, the “I” is focusing on itself, the subject. It is the attention turned towards its source.There is no special position to practice, although the general suggestions about posture and environment are helpful for beginners. Learn more: Guided “I am” Meditations with Mooji: Teachings of Ramana Maharishi: Happiness of Being, David Godman’s blog, Sri Ramanasram official site Nisargadatta Maharaj: Enlightened-Spirituality Quotes apps (iOS) Be As You Are (book or Ramana’s teachings) I Am That (book of Nisargadatta Maharaj, a modern spiritual classic) Is it for me? This meditation is very powerful in bringing inner freedom and peace; yet, if you don’t have previous experience with meditation, you may find it very hard to follow through. As an initial aid to give you a feeling for it, I would advise following some guided meditations from Mooji, in YouTube. 3) CHINESE MEDITATION Taoist Meditations Origin & Meaning Daoism is a Chinese philosophy and religion, dating back to Lao Tzu (or Laozi). It emphasizes living in harmony with Nature, or Tao, and it’s main text is the Tao Te Ching, dating back to 6th century B.C. Later on some lineages of Taoism were also influenced by Buddhist meditation practices brought from India, especially on the 8th century C.E.. The chief characteristic of this type of meditation is the generation, transformation, and circulation of inner energy. The purpose is to quieten the body and mind, unify body and spirit, find inner peace, and harmonize with the Tao. Some styles of Taoist Meditation are specifically focused on improving health and giving longevity. Image from InternalArtsInternational.com   How to do it There are several different types of Taoist meditation, and they are sometimes classified in three: “insight”, “concentrative”, and “visualization”. Here is a brief overview: Emptiness meditation — to sit quietly and empty oneself of all mental images (thoughts, feelings, and so on), to “forget about everything”, in order to experience inner quiet and emptiness. In this state, vital force and “spirit” is collected and replenished. This is similar to the Confucius discipline of “heart-mind fasting”, and it is regarded as “the natural way”. One simply allows all thoughts and sensations arise and fall by themselves, without engaging with or “following” any of them. If this is found to be too hard and “uninteresting”, the student is instructed with other types of meditation, such as visualization and Qigong Breathing meditation (Zhuanqi) — to focus on the breath, or “unite mind and qi”. The instruction is “focus your vital breath until it is supremely soft”. Sometimes this is done by simply quietly observing the breath (similar to Mindfulness Meditation in Buddhism); in other traditions it is by following certain patterns of exhalation and inhalation, so that one becomes directly aware of the “dynamisms of Heaven and Earth” through ascending and descending breath (a type of Qigong, similar to Pranayama in Yoga). Neiguan (“inner observation; inner vision”) — visualizing inside one’s body and mind, including the organs, “inner deities”, qi (vital force) movements, and thought processes. It’s a process of acquainting oneself with the wisdom of nature in your body. There are particular instructions for following this practice, and a good book or a teacher is required. These meditations are done seated cross-legged on the floor, with spine erect. The eyes are kept half-closed and fixed on the point of the nose.Master Liu Sichuan emphasises that, although not easy, ideally one should practice by “joining the breath and the mind together”; for those that find this too hard, he would recommend focusing on the lower abdomen (dantian). Learn more: 1stHolistic.com (detailed practical information) Wikipedia article (Overview of historical development of different Taoist meditation practices) Is it for me? People that are more connected with the body and nature may like to try Taoist meditation, and enjoy learning a bit about the philosophy behind it. Or if you are into martial arts or Tai Chi, this might be of your interest. However, Taoist centers and teachers are not as easy to find as Buddhist and Yoga ones, so it might be a challenge to follow through. Qigong (Chi kung) Origin & Meaning Qigong (also spelled chi kung, or chi gung) is a Chinese word that means “life energy cultivation”, and is a body-mind exercise for health, meditation, and martial arts training. It typically involves slow body movement, inner focus, and regulated breathing. Traditionally it was practiced and taught in secrecy in the Chinese Buddhist, Taoist and Confucianist traditions. In the 20th century, Qigong movement has incorporated and popularized Daoist meditation, and “mainly employs concentrative exercises but also favors the circulation of energy in an inner-alchemical mode” (Kohn 2008a:120). For a deep study on Qigong history, theory, and philosophy, I recommend The Root of Chinese Qigong. Daoist practices may also employ Qigong, but since Qigong is also applied in other Chinese philosophies, I decided to treat it as a separate subject. How to do it There are thousands of different Qigong exercises cataloged, involving over 80 different types of breathing. Some are specific to martial arts (to energize and strengthen the body); others are for health (to nourish body functions or cure diseases); and others for meditation and spiritual cultivation. Qigong can be practiced in a static position (seated or standing), or through a dynamic set of movements – which is what you typically see in YouTube videos and on DVDs. The exercises that are done as a meditation, however, are normally done sitting down, and without movement. To understand more about Qigong and learn how to do it, I’d recommend getting a book or DVD set from Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, such as this one. But here goes an introductory overview of the practice of seated Qigong meditation: Sit in a comfortable position. Make sure your body is balanced and centered. Relax your whole body – muscles, nerves, and internal organs Regulate your breathing, making it deep, long, and soft. Calm your mind Place all your attention in the “lower dantien”, which is the center of gravity of the body, two inches below the navel. This will help accumulate and root the qi (vital energy). Where your mind and intention is, there will be your qi. So, by focusing on the dantien, you are gathering energy in this natural reservoir. Feel the qi circulating freely through your body. Other famous Qigong exercises are: Small Circulation (also called “microcosmic circulation”) Embryonic Breathing Eight Pieces of Brocade (see this book excerpt  & Wikipedia article) Muscle Tendon Changing (or “Yi Jin Jing”, taught by Bodhidharma) The first two are seated meditation, while the latter two are dynamic Qigong, integrating body stretches. Learn more: Wikipedia article Yang Jwing Ming DVDs (YouTube) The Qigong Institute Qigong Forum Is it for me? Qigong meditation may be more attractive to people that like to integrate a more active body and energy work into the practice. If seated meditation is unbearable for you, and you prefer something a bit more active, try some of the more dynamic forms of Qigong. Again, there are several styles of Qigong out there, and you may need to try with different teachers or DVDs to find the one that suits you.Some people have a taste of dynamic Qigong through the practice of Tai Chi. 4) CHRISTIAN MEDITATION In Eastern traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Daoism) meditation is usually practiced with the purpose of transcending the mind and attaining enlightenment. On the other hand, in the Christian tradition the goal of contemplative practices is, one may say, moral purification and deeper understanding of the Bible; or a closer intimacy with God/Christ, for the more mystic stream of the tradition. Here are some forms of Christian contemplative practice: contemplative prayer — which usually involves the silent repetition of sacred words or sentences, with focus and devotion contemplative reading — or simply “contemplation”, which involves thinking deeply about the teachings and events in the Bible. “sitting with God” — a silent meditation, usually preceded by contemplation or reading, in which we focus all our mind, heart and soul on the presence of God To read more about this, check out our post on Contemplative Prayer and Christian Meditation. 5) GUIDED MEDITATIONS   Origin & Meaning Guided Meditation is, in great part, a modern phenomenon. It is an easier way to start, and you will find guided meditations ba sed on several of the above traditions. The practice of meditation requires some dose of determination and will-power. In the past, people that were into meditation were more committed to it, and also had strong ideals fuelling their motivation. Their life was more simple, with less distractions. We live in very different times now. Our life is busier. Will power is a less common personal asset. Distractions are everywhere, and meditation is often sought as a means to develop better health, enhance performance, or improve oneself. For these reasons, guided meditation can indeed be a good way to introduce you to the practice. Once you get the hang of it, and wish to take your practice to the next level, I would urge you to try meditation unassisted by audio. It is up to you to decide when you feel like taking this step. Guided Meditation is like cooking with a recipe. It’s a good way to start, and you can eat the food you make like this. But once you understand the main principles and flavors, you can cook your own dish. It will have a different, unique taste; it will be tailored for you, and more powerful. And then you will not want to use the recipe anymore – unless if you are trying a dish of another cuisine.  [Image from BinauralBeatsMeditation.com] How to do it Guided meditation usually comes in the form of audio (file, podcast, CD), and sometimes audio and video. You will find that any guided meditation will fall in one of below categories (with some overlap, obviously). Traditional Meditations — With these types of audios, the voice of the teacher is simply there to “illustrate” or “guide” the way for your attention, in order to be in a meditative state; there is more silence than voice in it, and often no music. Examples are the ones offered by Thich Nhat Hanh and Tara Brach, which are rooted in authentic Buddhist practices. The purpose is to develop and deepen the practice itself, with all the benefits that come with it. Guided Imagery — Makes use of the imagination and visualization powers of the brain, guiding you to imagine an object, entity, scenery or journey. The purpose is usually healing or relaxation. Relaxation & Body Scans — Helps you achieve a deep relaxation in your whole body. It’s usually accompanied by soothing instrumental music or nature sounds. In Yoga these are called yoga nidra. The purpose is relaxation and calmness. Affirmations — Usually coupled with relaxation and guided imagery, the purpose of these meditations is to imprint a message in your mind. Binaural Beats — Binaural beats were originally discovered in 1839 by physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. He discovered when signals of two different frequencies are presented separately, one to each ear, your brain detects the phase variation between the frequencies and tries to reconcile that difference. This is used to generate alpha waves (10 Hz), which is the brain wave associated with initial levels of meditation. There is scientific research into why and how binaural beats work. While they all have their merits, it is the first type that most naturally evolves into individual unguided practice. Learn more: UCLA Free Guided Meditations Head In The Clouds (big collection of free guided meditations) Free Binaural Beats Yoga Nidra (YouTube) Headspace app (Guided meditations on your phone!) Is it for me? If you feel traditional meditation is a bit too hard, or you are unsure where to start, then guided meditations can be the way for you to begin. Or if you are seeking some very specific experience or benefit – like improving self-esteem, working through a trauma, or just letting go of some tension in your body – you can also find some guided meditation that suits you.

How many times a day does your mind start to wander? Now, be honest; it probably happens a lot. Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, studies what actually goes on when this occurs. "There are three general categories of things we’ve looked at, in terms of mind wandering. The first is its costs. How does mind wandering interfere with peoples’ abilities in various different situations? And we find that it’s quite costly. That if people have mind wandering while reading, that it substantially interferes with their ability to process and remember what they’ve read." If that’s the case, why do people do it so much? Schooler says one reason is it’s helpful for creativity. "We’ve been looking at creative scientists and creative writers and looking to see when they have their creative ideas about a third of their ideas happened while they’re mind wandering." So, if your mind wandered during this episode, hopefully it’s because you just had an ‘ah-ha!’ moment!

Sam McMullen is going to expand on Key to happiness,Does Mind-Wandering Make You Unhappy? and we are happy? When we stay in the moment.The most important time is NOW. The present is the only time over which we have power.The most important person is whoever you are with.The most important thing is to do good to the person you are with.inspired by Matt Killingsworth ted talkLearn More at Organicfit Blog

Is it brain fatigue? Or do we go into autopilot? Sam Mahaffey asked Dr Steve Fleming from the Wellcome Trust centre for Neuroimaging at UCL why this happens. And if there is anything we can do to stop it. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Do you find that you are challenged to maintain dominion over where your attention goes? A Course in Miracles tells us that “an untrained mind can accomplish nothing” and “You are far too tolerant of mind wandering.” In this week’s episode, Jennifer Hadley shares simple tips to help you remember to work the lessons of the workbook and apply them to more of your day-to-day experiences. Together we’re truly living A Course in Miracles and allowing ourselves to live a miraculous life. To learn more about A Course in Miracles, please visit JenniferHadley.com. For the transcript of this episode and more, please visit LivingaCourseinMiracles.com.  

How much do we think about thinking? How aware usually are we of our awareness, and about what is happening around us? Jonathan Schooler, professor of psychology at the University of California (Santa Barbara), whose research focuses on consciousness, memory, meta-awareness, mind-wandering, and mindfulness, describes meta awareness as our ability to take explicit note of the current contents of consciousness. He notes that when we are not focusing on what is happening around us, we generate imaginative thoughts that are unrelated to external circumstances. It is common to experience such imaginative thoughts and experience moments when our minds have wandered away from the situation at hand. Schooler suggests that mind wandering is indicative of different kinds of attentional fluctuations. In this podcast Schooler describes mind-wandering as a phenomenon when a person’s attention is less directed towards external environment and it shifts more towards an internal train of thought. But is mind-wandering an attribute of attention or is this an attribute of consciousness? Jonathan Schooler shares his views on this. In this podcast, we also touch upon: Mind-wandering: day dreaming vs planning for future and goal setting Measuring frequency of mind-wandering: is there a scale to estimate the level of mind wandering an individual is involved in? What level and frequency of mind-wandering should be considered as a problem and not a tool to plan and imagine our future? Is there any evidence that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with increased frequency of mind wandering? Can we say that mindfulness is a state when no mind wandering is going on? In their publications, Jonathan and his colleagues suggest that mindfulness training might hold potential for reducing mind wandering. So a question is that what kind of mindfulness training can assist us in reducing mind-wandering?

A new study has found a strong correlation between how much your mind wanders and your working memory capacity. Christie Nicholson reports

We speak with Doris Snyder about daydreaming which is what thoughts and images float through out minds when we are otherwise occupied with simple tasks so our mind is free to wander. Doris quotes studies that suggest that we daydream as much at 40% of the time that we are awake and that this is a time that is rich in creativity and can reveal insights about our concerns much as dreaming does. Doris suggests that we keep a daydreaming journal just like we would keep a night dreaming journal to keep track of what thoughts are bubbling up during our moment of down time. She also suggests that we set up times when we can devote our attention to daydreaming such as going for a walk or taking a bath. Doris also talks about some ways to incubate daydreams. She lists a number of possible topics on which we could daydream including "what if I won the lottery" or "what would the perfect vacation look like." We then take two calls. The first is from previous Dream Journal guest Katie Mason who talks about how she works with her clients day dreams the same way that she works with their nighttime dreams knowing that they come from the same intuitive emotional place. We also take a call from Gilda who shares that she uses dreams as a way to create poetry. She encourages us to accept the daydreams and not try to judge or analyze them. BIO: Doris Snyder is a professional dream coach and author of Numbers in Dreams. Her holistic and creative approach to dreams has led clients and conference attendees to greater understanding of their dreams. She is a member of the IASD, the International Association for the Study of Dreams and is a workshop presenter at their annual conferences. Her new book is called, "Daydreaming: The Beauty and Power of a Wandering Mind." You can listen to our conversation last year about numbers in dreams here: https://ksqd.org/day-dreams-and-numbers-in-dreams-with-doris-snyder/ You can reach Doris at her webpage DorisSnyder.com We play clips from the following two guest-selected songs: The Monkees, Daydream Believer and The Lovin' Spoonful, Daydream. Ambient music created by Rick Kleffel new every week. Show aired on October 23, 2021. The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or at onair@ksqd.org. If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact katherine@ksqd.org, or find out more about her at ExperientialDreamwork.com. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here. You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends. Apple Podcasts Google Play Stitcher  Spotify