Positive Psychology and Its Link to Meditation Essay

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Meditation

Introduction

The positive psychology arena has undergone swift expansion in the last ten years, with studies explicitly highlighting the significance of examining processes, conditions, and factors improving wellbeing, facilitating psychological prosperity, and optimizing human functioning (Gable & Haidt, 2005; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Mindfulness is a factor that plays a part in psychological wellbeing and may be attained using meditation (Pepping, Donovan & Davis, 2013). The term 'meditation' is used to define a set of practices training awareness and focus, often aimed at promoting spiritual and mental growth and wellbeing. In meditation, the mind is trained, and mental processes brought under more conscious control, advantageously guiding them. Such control helps develop certain mental characteristics like calm, focus, and feelings like love, happiness, and empathy. Using increased awareness, an individual can get clearer insights into him/ herself as well as his/ her relationship with the world. Also, increased awareness is said to result in a more accurate, profound knowledge of reality and consciousness (Shapiro, Walsh, Britton & Britton, 2003).

Why is it that individuals meditate? This question appears to have the following two answers. Firstly, individuals engage in the practice of meditation for overcoming emotional or mental issues: i.e., meditation for self-regulation. Secondly, individuals engage in meditation for acquiring a better grasp of life, growing wiser, and enlarging their consciousness: i.e., meditation for positive changes in one's consciousness. Frequently, it is not possible to clearly separate the above two goals, and the majority of meditation practitioners perhaps pursue both of these goals to some extent. Up until now, the academic psychology of the West has concentrated on meditation in therapy. Despite the growing public interest and a rise in the number of research works on the subject of the effects of meditation, surprisingly, a shortage of empirical evidence summaries can be found, particularly when it comes to evidence arising out of research works outside of the therapeutic setting. A large number of research works have been completed in the quest for meditation-related impacts; nevertheless, one will find a much more astonishing absence of detailed, advanced psychological theories making robust predictions on what one must expect from meditation (Sedlmeier et al., 2012).

Considerable proofs affirm the advantages of dispositional mindfulness. More 'mindful' persons are shown to perform better in various psychosocial outcomes in comparison to less mindful persons. Mindfulness increases the awareness of a person regarding the present, facilitating behavioral and cognitive flexibility as well as allowing for more adaptable reactions to scenarios, as against reacting impulsively or customarily. Therefore, those with a more mindful disposition can better react to external and internal experiences adaptably and flexibly, thereby potentially promoting psychological wellbeing. The quality of mindfulness entails an approachable, friendly, and broadminded stance to a person's experiences, views, and feelings, which can help him/ her less disapproving, condemnatory, and harsh towards his/her self (Pepping et al., 2013).

Literature Review

Sedlmeier and coworkers (2012) provide an in-depth overview of meditation's impacts on psychological facets extractable from empirical research, focusing on the influence meditation has on nonclinical adult meditator groups. Outcomes proved strongest (i.e., large or medium) in case of changes in relationship and emotionality problems, not as strong (i.e., around medium) in case of measures of concentration, and weakest (i.e., medium or small) in case of measures that were more cognitive in nature.

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But specific findings differed across diverse meditation strategies (like, transcendental and mindfulness meditation). Remarkably, meditation experience covaried only partly with long-run effects on studied variables. Western as well as Indian theories underscore impacts on attentional procedures: Every meditative method entails attentional process detachment from our routine scanning, cognition, analysis, and reaction (Kristeller & Rikhye, 2008). Such attentional process alterations allow one to expect cognitive changes and, consequently, positive change in terms of emotional responses. When practiced longer, one can anticipate positive modifications in personality and behavior measures. As dependent measure predictions which have commonly been studied by researchers focusing on the subject of meditation up until now are still not precise, the ideal plan is, apparently, to undertake an exploratory consideration of the respective impacts, whilst bearing in mind the differences in modes of meditation.

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…calm down once again. I made sure my mind was emptied of all thoughts and I simply began to take pleasure in the music and the external sounds of nature. Thus, my very first meditation session did not go as anticipated and I realized that meditating is a kind of skill to be mastered and requires determination. This practice is central to healing one's body and mind.

I am improving on my meditation skills day by day and will certainly recommend the practice to other people. The practice has most certainly brought changes in me. It has helped reduce my anxiety, if not eliminated it. I perceive improvement in myself and feel peaceful inside. However, I advise others not to anticipate changes all of a sudden at the very beginning. Meditation-related would suggest others not to expect anything beforehand. You must not expect that meditation is going to change things for you in a single day. This takes time. It requires patience and determination. If you have both, then meditation is surely an activity for you to try.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, meditation represents a skill that one must gradually hone. Mindfulness cannot be attained overnight. Up until now, I have had an incredible experience practicing meditation. Also, as explained in this essay, studies have corroborated the positive influence meditation has on the emotional and psychological wellbeing of a person. The main reason for my choice of practice was helping alleviate my anxiety, which stems from an overactive mind. Such a mind starts overthinking and even making up nonexistent things. McGee's (2008) research revealed meditation's beneficial impacts on psychosomatic as well as psychological issues like anxiety, depression, violence, sleeplessness, addiction, suicidal tendency, hypertension, and chronic pain. Further, Pepping and coworkers (2013) discovered that mindfulness training directly and positively impacts self-worth, with meditation being a part of mindfulness training.

The findings above and my thoughts and experience are well-aligned. While it is a mere five weeks since I began meditating, I already perceive several positive changes within myself. Previously, I would always wake up restless in….....

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