Meditation on the NHS

In a few weeks I will be starting an 8 week stress reduction course at my hospital. The course is designed around Jon Kabot Zin's mindful meditation courses. I was quite surprised to receive the course material. I had assumed that when I was offered the course, it would be based on western medical approaches to stress, so I was pleasantly surprised to read Kabot Zin's material, that is based on the eastern traditions of mindful meditation.

I am pleased to see the NHS embrace such practices. The results from Kabot Zin's courses have been very successful. en.wikipedia.org...

Jon Kabat-Zinn (né Kabat) (born June 5, 1944) is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with those of Western science. He teaches mindfulness meditation as a technique to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain and illness. A stress reduction program created by Kabat-Zinn is offered at medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations.[1]

Interesting info woodwardjnr, I hope you'll keep this thread updated with what you make of it and how it goes for you.

Cool, I'm just trying to get in myself to mindfulness and meditation

you'll have to keep us updated

i hear for long term you see the most meditation benefits if once you're familiar you do some intensive stuff at a retreat and really get into it

meditation seems to be taken more seriously now adays, i know some famous atheists like Sam Harris are big meditators

reply to post by JAK


I intend to. I've already started a few of the breathing techniques, which am finding helpful. It's nice to see the normally stuck in its ways NHS try something new.

reply to post by GrandStrategy


I have always considered myself pretty skeptical of such things. Wouldn't go as far saying I'm an atheist, but a lot of mindful meditation is pretty common sense stuff really.. Just things we have lost touch with in our hectic modern lives. It's not easy trying to live in the present, with so many distractions. I just hope I have the discipline to keep with it. I'm a great one for starting things that I don't finish.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
reply to post by JAK

 

I intend to. I've already started a few of the breathing techniques, which am finding helpful. It's nice to see the normally stuck in its ways NHS try something new.

The NHS are pretty good for this sort of thing aren't they? I hear they do other alternative sort of things like acupuncture

It's getting to the stage now where meditation is being more seen as a science than as some religious nonsense. It wouldn't be a surprise to me if, for better or for worse, sometime in the future it lost its buddhist connection to a point in the same way as nobody today thinks about "islamic science"

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
reply to post by GrandStrategy

 

I have always considered myself pretty skeptical of such things. Wouldn't go as far saying I'm an atheist, but a lot of mindful meditation is pretty common sense stuff really.. Just things we have lost touch with in our hectic modern lives. It's not easy trying to live in the present, with so many distractions. I just hope I have the discipline to keep with it. I'm a great one for starting things that I don't finish.

yes, here's a semi related video i came across last week by the atheist i mentioned



it's a very good talk which i think anyone could appreciate it, around 30 minutes then questions(which are all crap)

Sam Harris, going to atheist conventions and discreetly turning people into buddhists since 2012