Neuropsychology of Mindfulness Flashcards
It is important to clear your mind when meditating. Is this statement true or false? If false, why?
You should not clear your mind when meditating. It is nearly impossible to that. When meditating you should just close your eyes and let your thoughts go by, but NOT react to them.
What is the purpose of mindfulness meditation?
The ultimate goal of mindfulness meditation is to focus on attention training. The whole idea is to try to train yourself to focus on the present moment and avoid mind wandering. Mindfulness meditation involves sensing your judgement, seeing your thoughts, but not reacting to them. You just let them go through your mind.
List some pros of mind wandering
- improve immune system
- accelerates rates of healing
- improves overall sense of well-being
What are some ways we can enhance the positive outcome of mindfulness meditation?
By grouping psychotherapy treatment along with mindfulness meditation enhances the positive outcome
Why do people say it is important to breathe when meditating?
Breathing can serve as an anchor and allows you to focus your attention on breathing as your thoughts go by.
What are four things that mindfulness awareness focuses on?
Non-reactivity to inner experience, observing, automatic pilot, and non-judging of experiences
Automatic pilot
rushing through things without paying attention
Is mind wandering good or bad?
Mind wandering can be both good and bad. It is when we mind wander we are able to come up with our creative thoughts. But too much mind wandering is associated with low happiness.
Why is it difficult for people to pay attention?
Paying attention often appears as a difficult task because our resting state involves mind wandering (i.e, mind wandering is default). Mindfulness meditation alters the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFCs). Our default in resting state involves mind wandering, which is why it is so difficult to pay attention and focus.
What part of the brain is responsible for mind wandering?
- cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Function of cingulate cortex
directly responsible for mind wandering
Function of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
has an impact on the cingulate cortex
What do brain scans reveal about individuals who meditate?
The experiment involved individuals who normally do not meditate, and those that normally do. All these individuals were asked to meditate. The brain scans revealed that individuals who did not meditate before, just showed activity in the cingulate gyrus and areas of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. But those who did meditate before, not only showed activity, but also revealed connections between the cingulate gyrus and areas of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Who is Andy Puddicombe?
Andy Puddicombe is a monk-turned-entrepreneur, who was the creator of the meditation app, Headspace. He is an expert in meditation practices.
What did Dr. David Cox believe meditation was for?
He believed that meditation served as an exercise for attention.
