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Cogito, ergo sum is a Latin philosophical proposition by René Descartes usually translated into English as “I think, therefore I am”. The phrase originally appeared in French as je pense, donc je suis in his Discourse on the Method, so as to reach a wider audience than Latin would have allowed. It appeared in Latin in his later Principles of Philosophy.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito,_ergo_sum-
Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit) literally, “special-seeing”, “special (Vi), seeing (Passanā)”, is a Buddhist term that is often translated as “insight”. The Pali Canon describes it one of two qualities of mind which is developed (bhāvanā) in Buddhist meditation, the other being samatha (mind calming). It is often defined as a form of meditation that seeks “insight into the true nature of reality”, defined as anicca “impermanence”, dukkha “suffering, unsatisfactoriness”, anattā “non-self”, the three marks of existence in the Theravada tradition, and as śūnyatā “emptiness” and Buddha-nature in the Mahayana traditions.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassan%C4%81-
Samatha (Pāli) or śamatha (Sanskrit: शमथ; Chinese: 止 zhǐ) is a Buddhist term that is often translated as the “tranquility of the mind”, or “mind-calmness”. The Pali Canon describes it as one of two qualities of mind which is developed (bhāvanā) in Buddhist meditation, the other being vipassana (insight). Samatha is said to be achieved by practicing single-pointed meditation. This includes a variety of mind-calming techniques. Samatha is common to many Buddhist traditions.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samatha-
FEBRUARY 11, 2020
by University College London
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-linked-depression-adolescents.html
Too much time sitting still—sedentary behaviour—is linked to an increased risk of depressive symptoms in adolescents, finds a new UCL-led study.
The Lancet Psychiatry study found that an additional 60 minutes of light activity (such as walking or doing chores) daily at age 12 was associated with a 10% reduction in depressive symptoms at age 18.
“Our findings show that young people who are inactive for large proportions of the day throughout adolescence face a greater risk of depression by age 18. We found that it’s not just more intense forms of activity that are good for our mental health, but any degree of physical activity that can reduce the time we spend sitting down is likely to be beneficial,” said the study’s lead author, Ph.D. student Aaron Kandola (UCL Psychiatry).
“We should be encouraging people of all ages to move more, and to sit less, as it’s good for both our physical and mental health.”
The research team used data from 4,257 adolescents, who have been participating in longitudinal research from birth as part of the University of Bristol’s Children of the 90s cohort study. The children wore accelerometers to track their movement for at least 10 hours over at least three days, at ages 12, 14 and 16.
The accelerometers reported whether the child was engaging in light activity (which could include walking or hobbies such as playing an instrument or painting), engaging in moderate-to-physical activity (such as running or cycling), or if they were sedentary. The use of accelerometers provided more reliable data than previous studies which have relied on people self-reporting their activity, which have yielded inconsistent results.
Depressive symptoms, such as low mood, loss of pleasure and poor concentration, were measured with a clinical questionnaire. The questionnaire measures depressive symptoms and their severity on a spectrum, rather than providing a clinical diagnosis.
Between the ages of 12 and 16, total physical activity declined across the cohort, which was mainly due to a decrease in light activity (from an average of five hours, 26 minutes to four hours, five minutes) and an increase in sedentary behaviour (from an average of seven hours and 10 minutes to eight hours and 43 minutes).
he researchers found that every additional 60 minutes of sedentary behaviour per day at age 12, 14 and 16 was associated with an increase in depression score of 11.1%, 8% or 10.5%, respectively, by age 18. Those with consistently high amounts of time spent sedentary at all three ages had 28.2% higher depression scores by age 18.
Every additional hour of light physical activity per day at age 12, 14 and 16 was associated with depression scores at age 18 that were 9.6%, 7.8% and 11.1% lower, respectively.
The researchers found some associations between moderate-to-vigorous activity at earlier ages and reduced depressive symptoms, although they caution that their data was weaker due to low levels of activity of such intensity in the cohort (averaging around 20 minutes per day), so the findings do not clarify whether moderate-to-vigorous activity is any less beneficial than light activity.
While the researchers cannot confirm that the activity levels caused changes to depressive symptoms, the researchers accounted for potentially confounding factors such as socioeconomic status, parental history of mental health, and length of time wearing the accelerometer, and avoided the possibility of reverse causation by adjusting their analysis to account for people with depressive symptoms at the study outset.
“Worryingly, the amount of time that young people spend inactive has been steadily rising for years, but there has been a surprising lack of high quality research into how this could affect mental health. The number of young people with depression also appears to be growing and our study suggests that these two trends may be linked,” Kandola added.
The study’s senior author, Dr. Joseph Hayes (UCL Psychiatry and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust), said: “A lot of initiatives promote exercise in young people, but our findings suggest that light activity should be given more attention as well.”
“Light activity could be particularly useful because it doesn’t require much effort and it’s easy to fit into the daily routines of most young people. Schools could integrate light activity into their pupils’ days, such as with standing or active lessons. Small changes to our environments could make it easier for all of us to be a little bit less sedentary,” he added.
More information: The Lancet Psychiatry (2020). DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30034-1
Journal information: The Lancet Psychiatry
Tāṇḍavam (also known as Tāṇḍava natyam) is a divine dance performed by the Hindu god Shiva. Shiva’s Tandava is described as a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself, the Ananda Tandava depicts him as joyful. In Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, Shiva as Nataraja (lit. “Lord of dance”) is considered the supreme lord of dance.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandava-
The word Rāvaṇa (Sanskrit: रावण) means roaring opposite of Vaiśravaṇa meaning “hear distinctly” (passive).
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravana#Etymology-
Ravana is depicted and described as having ten heads, although sometimes he is shown with only nine heads because he has sacrificed a head to convince Shiva. He is described as a devout follower of Shiva, a great scholar, a capable ruler and a maestro of the Veena (pronounced veh-nah; a chordophone instrument).
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravana#Iconography-
In my opinion it’s better to watch and listen one’s inner television and radio instead of the external ones when one is keeping one’s body still.
But I also think that the Indian type of aggressive stretching is also much better preparation for the sensory withdrawal.
Sorry for my broken English.
HOWDY
Controlled natural languages (CNLs) are subsets of natural languages that are obtained by restricting the grammar and vocabulary in order to reduce or eliminate ambiguity and complexity. Traditionally, controlled languages fall into two major types: those that improve readability for human readers (e.g. non-native speakers), and those that enable reliable automatic semantic analysis of the language.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_natural_language-
Samkhya or Sankhya (Sanskrit: सांख्य, IAST: sāṃkhya) is one of the six āstika schools of Hindu philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, and it was influential on other schools of Indian philosophy. Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy whose epistemology accepts three of six pramanas (proofs) as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge. These include pratyakṣa (perception), anumāṇa (inference) and śabda (āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources). Sometimes described as one of the rationalist schools of Indian philosophy, this ancient school’s reliance on reason was exclusive but strong
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya-
Neijia is a term in Chinese martial arts, grouping those styles that practice neijing, usually translated as internal martial arts, occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an “external” approach focused on physiological aspects. The distinction dates to the 17th century, but its modern application is due to publications by Sun Lutang, dating to the period of 1915 to 1928. Neijing is developed by using neigong, or “internal exercises,” as opposed to “external exercises” (wàigōng 外功).
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neijia-
…the Indian type of aggressive stretching…
Any of these Chinese internal martial arts are very difficult to master and it would seem that there are hardly anybody who has done this in these conditions.
It’s much better to avoid hostile confrontations and look for freedom in the yogic sense.
HOWDY
Sorry, but these kind of ideas are simply sentimental diletantism.
HOWDY
Exploring why mindfulness meditation has positive mental health outcomes
FEBRUARY 17, 2020
by Ingrid Fadelli , Medical Xpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-exploring-mindfulness-meditation-positive-mental.html
Over the past few decades, mindfulness meditation has become increasingly popular, particularly as a tool to reduce stress or anxiety and gain a greater sense of wellbeing. While many empirical studies have confirmed that regular meditation, especially mindfulness meditation, can have beneficial effects on people’s mental health, so far very little is known about the mechanisms underpinning these effects.
Researchers at Pontifical University of Salamanca in Spain have recently carried out a study aimed at uncovering some of the reasons why mindfulness meditation can improve people’s psychological health and wellbeing. Their paper, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, identifies three main factors that could be associated with the observed mental health benefits of mindfulness practices.
“Our study arises from the need to identify why meditation can produce positive psychological effects,” José Ramon Yela, the lead researcher for the study, told MedicalXpress. “After reviewing some of the contributions of previous research on this subject, we proposed that three variables could play an important role: the capacity for self-compassion; experiencing that life has meaning—that is, that there are valuable and important things in life and valuable objectives to pursue; and finally, reducing the extent to which a person avoids thoughts, emotions or experiences that may be unpleasant but are part of his/her life.”
The work of Yela and his colleagues builds on previous studies investigating the mechanisms behind mindfulness meditation, including their own past investigations and a study conducted a few years ago by a research team at the University of New Mexico. It also draws inspiration from the work of psychologists Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer, which focuses on a program called Mindful Self-Compassion.
In addition to identifying three factors that could underlie the positive effects of mindfulness meditation, Yela and his colleagues hypothesize the presence of a specific sequential mechanism that unfolds over time. More specifically, they propose that practicing mindfulness meditation on a regular basis can increase levels of self-compassion, which in turn makes life feel more meaningful, finally motivating the person meditating to become more involved in life, thus reducing their avoidance of both pleasant and challenging experiences.
“Being self-compassionate is especially important when a person goes through a difficult period in life,” Yela explained. “In this sense, it is important to clarify the meaning of self-compassion, which includes three components.”
In their paper, Yela and his colleagues define self-compassion as one’s ability to be kind towards oneself rather than harsh or self-critical, while also recognizing that suffering, pain and difficulties are common to our shared human nature rather than feeling alienated or weird. The third important component entails the ability to be mindfully aware of potentially aversive inner experiences, such as disturbing thoughts, negative emotions or upsetting sensations, instead of over-identifying with these experiences.
In their work, Yela and his colleagues combined a few different research methods. First, they asked participants to answer surveys designed to measure the three variables that their study focused on. Subsequently, they tried to uncover the relationships between these variables and integrated them into an empirically testable model.
“This type of research is very interesting because we can collect data from very large samples and analyze the role that multiple variables may play concerning mental health and psychological wellbeing,” Yela said. “However, it has some limitations, such as the fact that it is complicated to make causal attributions concerning the relationships among variables. For this reason, we are also carrying out longitudinal research.”
To test their hypotheses, the researchers asked 414 meditators and 414 nonmeditators to answer questionnaires designed to measure their levels of mental health, self-compassion and experiential avoidance, as well as how much they felt life had meaning. They then analyzed the data they collected, comparing the responses of meditators with those of nonmeditators.
“We focused on people who have received mindfulness or mindfulness and self-compassion trainings and analyze how different psychological parameters (e.g., mental health, anxiety, depression, etc.) and potentially explanatory mechanisms (e.g., increased capacity for self-compassion, experience of meaning, reduction of experiential avoidance) change across time as a result of such training,” Yela explained.
The analyses carried out by the researchers yielded a number of interesting results. Firstly, Yela and his colleagues found that self-compassion, presence of meaning in life and a reduced experiential avoidance may all be associated with the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation.
More specifically, their observations suggest that consistently practicing mindfulness meditation encourages self-compassion, helping people to find greater meaning in their life, but also reducing the tendency to avoid or escape from unpleasant thoughts or emotions that cause pain, suffering or discomfort. Combined, these three factors could lead to improvements in wellbeing and mental health.
“In sum, we highlight the relevance of being kind to oneself, treating oneself compassionately, recognizing what is valuable in life and moving forward even though life is not always as one would like it to be,” Yela said. “Another important result of the study concerns the commitment with the practice of meditation.”
In addition to shedding light on some of the reasons why mindfulness meditation can be so beneficial, the findings gathered by this team of researchers highlight the benefits of meditating regularly. Yela and his colleagues found that for meditation to be associated with positive effects it must be practiced regularly over time, which is aligned with previous empirical results. When meditation is only practiced on an occasional basis, on the other hand, its effects can be negligible, or the practice can even become a form of experience avoidance in itself.
The researchers are now conducting further research aimed at unveiling other mechanisms that could mediate the relationship between mindfulness and psychological wellbeing. Moreover, they are evaluating the effectiveness of some therapeutic approaches and protocols designed to foster mindfulness and self-compassion, including Mindfulness Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs.
“We are also planning research on the effects of self-compassion practices on a number of psychological, health and biological parameters, the latter being connected with cellular ageing (i.e., telomere length),” Yela said. “In this project, we will follow up for three years people who are starting to practice self-compassion and compare them with long-term meditators.”
More information: José Ramón Yela et al. Self‐compassion, meaning in life, and experiential avoidance explain the relationship between meditation and positive mental health outcomes, Journal of Clinical Psychology (2020). DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22932
David B. Brown et al. Five Facets of Mindfulness and Psychological Health: Evaluating a Psychological Model of the Mechanisms of Mindfulness, Mindfulness (2014). DOI: 10.1007/s12671-014-0349-4
The contribution of meaningfulness and mindfulness to psychological well‐being and mental health: A structural equation model. Journal of Happiness Studies, DOI: 10.1007/s10902‐019‐00201‐y. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-019-00201-y
José Ramón Yela et al. Effects of the Mindful Self‐Compassion programme on clinical and health psychology trainees’ well‐being: A pilot study, Clinical Psychologist (2019). DOI: 10.1111/cp.12204
Germer, C., & Neff, K. (2019). Teaching the mindful self‐compassion program: A guide for professionals. New York: Guilford Press. www.upsa.es/investigacion-y-do … es.php?idEquipo=8796
Journal information: Mindfulness , Journal of Happiness Studies
MARCH 12, 2020
Protective brain-cell housekeeping mechanism may also regulate sleep
by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-brain-cell-housekeeping-mechanism.html
An important biological mechanism that is thought to protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s may also be involved in regulating sleep, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The researchers found that a signaling pathway that helps prevent the buildup of abnormal protein aggregates in brain cells is also required for sleep in both fruit flies and zebrafish. The fact that this mechanism is present in two evolutionarily distant species suggests that it may also be present in humans.
There have long been puzzling hints that sleep loss and sleep disorders are connected to neurodegenerative diseases, and the findings, published online today in Current Biology, reveal one possible explanation for the link. If the results were extended to humans, they would point the way to new strategies against both sleep disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Sleep fragmentation, which is characterized by repetitive short sleep interruptions, is one of the most common triggers of excessive daytime tiredness, especially in older people,” said principal investigator Nirinjini Naidoo, Ph.D., a research associate professor of Sleep and Chronobiology. “Now that we know a major pathway that is involved in sleep regulation, we can target it to potentially improve fragmented sleep.”
Studies in recent years have suggested that chronic sleep loss increases the risk of Alzheimer’s, while people with Alzheimer’s have an elevated risk of sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances are also common features of Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
How the processes underlying neurodegenerative disease might be connected to sleep disturbances has never been clear. But one hint comes from findings in lab animals that the brain during sleep dials up “proteostasis” processes that clear away abnormal and potentially harmful protein aggregates, such as those that clutter the brain in neurodegenerative disorders.
In the new study, Naidoo and her colleagues scrutinized an important proteostasis process called the PERK signaling pathway, which, in response to a buildup of unwanted protein aggregates, causes cells temporarily to stop their assembly of most proteins. The scientists found that when they suppressed PERK signaling in Drosophila fruit flies or in evolutionarily distant zebrafish, using small-molecule compounds that block a key component of the pathway, both sets of animals slept much less than normal. Blocking PERK with genetic techniques in Drosophila brought similar results, while doing the reverse—forcing the overproduction of PERK—made the flies sleep more.
Ph.D. candidate Sarah Ly examined tiny groups of neurons that produce a key wakefulness-promoting hormone in Drosophila, and found that knocking down PERK at night, just in these neurons, was enough to make the flies sleep less, whereas overproducing PERK made them sleep more. In one subset of these neurons the researchers were able to verify that boosting or reducing PERK had the effect of suppressing or unleashing production of the wakefulness hormone. “This raises possibility that PERK regulation of sleep occurs within multiple brain circuits,” Ly said.
This discovery marks the first time that scientists have identified a specific and bidirectional biological mechanism tying sleep to proteostasis. The findings also point to the possibility that wakefulness tends to increase protein-aggregate accumulation in brain cells, leading to more PERK signaling. This ultimately helps reverse the brain-cell stress by enforcing sleep and allowing effective protein housekeeping to take place.
“Our findings suggest that one of the conserved functions of sleep may be to mitigate cellular stress caused by wakefulness,” said Naidoo.
The authors believe that further research into this nexus between sleep and proteostasis has the potential to uncover important new therapeutic strategies for improving sleep quality, reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, and effectively slowing the aging of the brain.
More information: Sarah Ly et al, Evolutionarily Conserved Regulation of Sleep by the Protein Translational Regulator PERK, Current Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.02.030
Journal information: Current Biology
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