There is a burgeoning body of research, as well, that shows that self-care of the spirit – meditation – can have a wide range of profound therapeutic effects. Meditation has nothing to do with religion, spiritual dogma, or otherworldly phenomena. Meditation is a set of skills for becoming intimate with your own consciousness, your own heart. You might as well, since it is with you 24/7!
Interested in in training in the art of meditation? I was a Buddhist monk for over 10 years in Burma, and I also have training in the Japanese Zen and Tibetan Vajrayana traditions, and am happy to share what I learned from that experience.
You will become good friends with walking meditation and activity meditation, as contemplative practice does not just mean sitting. You will learn the applied psychology of meditation, because understanding what you are doing and why you are doing it makes contemplative practice a joy and an exploration instead of a chore or spiritual obligation.
– Non-sectarian. Nothing taught should conflict with your religious affiliation
– Please dress reasonably – loose & comfortable, not revealing
– Bring your own meditation cushion, or a limited number may be available for use
Currently, I am leading two meditation groups. Please join these Meetup groups to keep abreast of our activities:
Bergen:
Tranquility/Insight Meditation of Bergen & Orange County
Orange:
Tranquility/Insight Meditation of Orange County
LAN Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine
New Windsor, NY
Depression Reduction, and Enhancement of SSRI Performance
Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of depression. Guangzhou First People’s Hospital (affiliated with Guangzhou Medical University) researchers compared SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor) monotherapy with SSRI plus electroacupuncture therapy. The data driven results determined that the combined therapy increases the rate of positive patient outcomes. The integrated therapy group received the identical SSRI medication (escitalopram) as the drugs only group. Subjective and objective data Read more...
read moreAcupuncture Outperforms Medication for the Treatment of Insomnia
Researchers find acupuncture more effective for the relief of insomnia than estazolam, a benzodiazepine pharmaceutical drug. Using Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scores as a basis of comparison, acupuncture outperformed estazolam for the improvement of “sleep quality, efficiency disturbance and daytime dysfunction.” The researchers note that the acupuncture protocol used to achieve the treatment results included a specialized order for inserting the acupuncture Read more...
read moreAcupuncture Helps Dementia Patient Memory and Cognition
Acupuncture alleviates dementia more effectively than conventional drug therapy according to researchers at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology. Published in the Journal of Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, their research demonstrates that acupuncture is both safe and effective for the treatment of vascular dementia. Acupuncture achieved a 90% total effective rate when using the Xing Nao Kai Qiao acupuncture protocol. Conventional acupuncture achieved an 80% total effective rate Read more...
read morePreventing Depression after Medication Cessation
Researchers find acupuncture effective in both the short and long-term for improving positive patient outcomes for patients ceasing antidepressant medication intake. The total effective rate, short-term withdrawal syndrome rate, and long-term relapse rates improve significantly with the implementation of acupuncture into patient management. Acupuncture alleviates depression and prevents relapses for patients withdrawing from antidepressant drug use. Research conducted at the Anhui University Read more...
read moreAcupuncture Treats Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Acupuncture alleviates chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Research published in the Guangxi Medical Journal finds acupuncture effective for the relief of fatigue, depression, and other symptoms of CFS. Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by severe fatigue that does not improve with rest. Additional signs and symptoms include memory loss, cognitive impairment, sore throat, lymph node swelling, musculoskeletal pain, and headaches. Etiologies may include viral infections, stress, and other factors. Read more...
read moreAcupuncture Plus Herbs Alleviate Depression
Acupuncture plus herbs alleviates depression. Funing County People’s Hospital researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of acupuncture plus herbs with medication therapy. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapy group receiving acupuncture plus herbal medicine had a 93.3% total effective rate. The pharmaceutical medication group achieved a 70% total effective rate. Sixty patients were randomly divided into a TCM group and a drug therapy group. The Read more...
read moreMindfulness Meditation Instructions – Basic Practice
The Basic Practice Try to keep your mind (but not your eyes) on the abdomen. You will thereby come to know the movements of rising and falling of it. If these movements are not clear to you in the beginning, then place both hands on the abdomen to feel these rising and falling movements. After a short time the upward movement of exhalation will become clear. Then make a mental note ofrising for the upward movement, falling for the downward movement. Your mental note of each movement must be Read more...
read moreIntro to Meditation
This is an introduction to the method of meditation I am teaching at the moment. I am using the traditional word 'yogi' for meditator, and have included a few vocabulary words in Pali, the ancient language in which these meditation instructions were originally taught. This will be a continuing series. This is a adapted from a lecture given by the late Mahasi Sayadaw, a famous meditation instructor from Burma. Basic Development of Insight The method of developing this Read more...
read moreMeditation Improves Decision Making
Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of meditation to improve cognitive performance, emotional balance, and well-being. As a consequence, research into the psychological effects and neural mechanisms of meditation has been accumulating. Whether and how meditation affects decision making is not yet clear. Here, we review evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies and summarize the effects of meditation on social and non-social economic decision making. Read more...
read moreMindfulness Treats Depression
Depression is not only the most common mental illness, it's also one of the most tenacious. Up to 80 percent of people who experience a major depressive episode may relapse. Drugs may lose their effectiveness over time, if they work at all. But a growing body of research is pointing to an intervention that appears to help prevent relapse by altering thought patterns without side effects: mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or MBCT. A new study on the approach to be published in a forthcoming Read more...
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