O le faʻamaoniga e faʻamalosia: o le mafaufau loloto e mafai ona faʻamalolo e le gata i le agaga, ae faʻapea foʻi ma o tatou tino. E fa'atagaina oe e tete'e fa'afoliga o le atuatuvale, fa'alavelave ma ona a'afiaga mo lo tatou soifua maloloina. Na alu le tele o tausaga mo lenei tala mai le US e salalau atu i le lalolagi atoa ma maua ai tagata lagolago i Siamani, Peleseuma, Peretania Tele, Farani ...
Meditation has been successfully used in some European medical institutions, although many experts are still wary of it, and in some countries – for example, in Russia – very little is known about its medical possibilities. “Healing” meditation showed its effectiveness thirty years ago, when biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn developed a series of exercises that included special breathing and concentration techniques with the goal of “mindfulness-based stress reduction.”
Today, experts in the field of cognitive therapy add to these exercises the work of becoming aware of the depressive state (persistent gloomy thoughts, a drop in self-esteem), as well as the gradual training of control over these mental processes: relaxation, nonjudgmental acceptance of one’s emotions and thoughts and watching how they “swim, like clouds in the sky.” About the possibilities that this technique can open, we talked with its author.
Jon Kabat-Zinn is a biologist and professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts (USA). In 1979, he was at the forefront of “spiritual medicine”, the first to propose the use of meditation for medicinal purposes.
Psychology: Na fa'apefea ona e maua le manatu e fa'aaoga metotia o mafaufauga o le lotu Puta e taulima ai le fa'alavelave?
E uiga i ai
- John Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, You’re Already There, Transpersonal Institute Press, 2000.
Ioane Kabat-Zinn: Perhaps this idea arose as an unconscious attempt to reconcile my own parents. My father was a famous biologist, and my mother was an enthusiastic but unrecognized artist. Their views of the world were radically different, and this often prevented them from finding a common language. Even as a child, I realized that the worldview of each of us is incomplete in its own way. All this subsequently forced me to ask questions about the nature of our consciousness, about how exactly we are aware of everything that exists around. This is where my interest in science began. In my student years, I was engaged in Zen Buddhist practices, yoga, martial arts. And my desire to connect these practices with science became stronger and stronger. When I completed my PhD in molecular biology, I decided to devote my life to my project: to incorporate Buddhist meditation – without its religious aspect – into medical practice. My dream was to create a treatment program that would be scientifically controlled and philosophically acceptable to everyone.
Ae na faapefea ona e faia?
Ina ua amata laʻu galuega faatino, sa ou Ph.D. i le biology, ma se PhD mai le Massachusetts Institute of Technology lauiloa, ma se galuega faamanuiaina i vailaau. Na lava lena e maua ai le moli lanumeamata. Ina ua iloa na aoga laʻu polokalame, sa ou mauaina le lagolagosua tele. O lea na fanau mai ai le polokalame XNUMX-vaiaso Meditation-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). E ofoina atu i sui ta'ito'atasi se vasega fa'alevaiaso ma le itula e tasi i le aso o fa'ata'ita'iga pu'e leo i le fale. Na faasolosolo malie, na amata ona matou faʻaogaina la matou polokalame i le togafitia o le popole, phobias, vaisu, atuatuvale ...
O le a le ituaiga o manatunatuga e te fa'aogaina i au polokalame?
We use different meditation practices – both traditional exercises according to a certain methodology, and more free techniques. But they are all based on the development of awareness of reality. This kind of attention is at the heart of Buddhist meditation. Briefly, I can characterize this state as a complete transfer of attention to the present moment – without any assessment of oneself or reality. This position creates fertile ground for peace of mind, peace of mind, for compassion and love. We hope that by teaching people how to meditate, we keep the spirit of the Buddhist path, dharma, but at the same time we speak in a secular language that everyone can understand. We offer program participants different exercises. With a mental scan of the body (body scan), a person, lying down, focuses on the sensations in each part of it. In sitting meditation, attention is directed to different objects: breath, sounds, thoughts, mental images. We also have the practice of objectless relaxed attention, also called “open presence” or “mental stillness.” It was first proposed by the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. At our trainings, you can learn to move consciously – walk and do yoga – and consciously eat. Freer practices help us learn to include an open and nonjudgmental perception of reality at any moment of everyday life: when we communicate with children and family, do shopping, clean up the house, play sports. If we don’t let our inner monologue distract us, we remain fully mindful of everything we do and experience. Ultimately, life itself becomes the practice of meditation. The main thing is not to miss a single minute of your existence, to constantly feel the present, that very “here and now”.
O a faʻamaʻi e mafai ona fesoasoani le mafaufau loloto?
O le lisi o ia faʻamaʻi o loʻo faʻatupulaia i taimi uma. Ae e taua foi le uiga tonu o le faamalologa. Pe ua faamaloloina ea i tatou pe a tatou toe faafoʻisia le tulaga tutusa o le tino e pei ona sa i ai a o leʻi maʻi ma manuʻa? Pe a tatou aoao e talia le tulaga e pei ona i ai, ma, e ui i faafitauli, ae ola ai ma le mafanafana sili? O le fa'amalologa i le tulaga muamua e le'o mafai i taimi uma e o'o lava i faiga fa'aonaponei fa'aonaponei. Ae e mafai ona tatou uia le ala lona lua i le faamalologa i soo se taimi a o tatou ola. O mea ia e a'oa'oina e tagata ma'i mai le poto masani pe a latou fa'ata'ita'i a tatou polokalame po'o isi metotia fa'afoma'i ma le mafaufau. O loʻo matou auai i le mea e taʻua o vailaʻau faʻamalosi, lea e faʻamalosia ai le tagata maʻi e amata tutoʻatasi le ala i le soifua manuia ma le soifua maloloina, faʻalagolago i le malosi o le tino e pulea e ia lava. O aʻoaʻoga mafaufau loloto o se faʻaopoopoga aoga i togafitiga faafomaʻi faʻaonapo nei.
Awareness Meditation in Russia
“The John Kabat-Zinn method is based on fundamental scientific research in the field of neurophysiology,” confirms Dmitry Shamenkov, PhD, head of the research project “Conscious Health Management”.
“In fact, these studies are based on the works of such outstanding Russian physiologists as Pavlov or Sechenov. They proved how important a person’s ability to influence the functioning of his nervous system can be in order to achieve health. The basic tool for this, according to Kabat-Zinn, is the so-called awareness – of our feelings, thoughts, actions – which allows a person to feel better and his body, helps the mechanisms of his self-regulation. If you master the skills of such work on managing your health, including through conscious stress reduction, recovery will go much faster. In those foreign clinics where they understand the importance of this approach, it is possible to achieve phenomenal results in the treatment of even complex diseases (neurological and cardiovascular, immunological disorders and metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus). Unfortunately, this approach is practically unfamiliar to Russian medicine: today I know of only one project to create such a stress reduction center in Moscow.”
Faʻamatalaga a Andrei Konchalovsky
Contemplation in my mind is the most important thing, because it is part of the path to a high spiritual level of a person. For meditation, the key concept is “concentration”, when you slowly turn off the outside world from yourself, enter this special state. But it is impossible to enter into it simply by sitting with closed eyes. So you can sit for an hour or two – and still think continuously: “What will I do later, tomorrow or in a year?” Krishnamurti spoke of a chatty mind. Our brain is chatting – it is so arranged, it creates some thoughts all the time. To exclude a thought, a colossal conscious effort of the will is needed. This is the pinnacle of self-control. And I envy those who can do it. Because I didn’t master it myself – I’m jumping off into the stupid chatter of the brain!
O le mea moni, e te tuʻuina atu se auala fou i le faʻamaʻi ma le maʻi?
Ioe, i togafitiga tatou te faʻamuamua manatu o le gauai ma le tausiga, lea e ogatasi atoatoa ma mataupu faavae a Hippocrates. O tulafono nei o amioga faʻafomaʻi na faʻavaeina ai le faʻavae mo vailaʻau faʻaonapo nei. Ae talu ai nei, e masani ona faʻagaloina i latou, aua e faʻamalosia fomaʻi e vaʻai i le tele o gasegase e mafai ai i le aso faigaluega.
Po ua e tofo totino ea i aogā o le manatunatu loloto?
Only those who do it themselves can teach others meditation and awareness. Meditation has changed my life. If I hadn’t started meditating at 22, I don’t know if I would be alive today. Meditation helped me come to harmony between different aspects of my life and personality, gave me the answer to the question: “What can I bring to the world?” I don’t know of anything better than meditation to help us be fully aware of ourselves in the present moment in our lives and relationships – no matter how difficult it can be sometimes. Awareness itself is simple, but it is difficult to achieve. It’s hard work, but what else are we meant for? Not to take up this task means to miss the deepest and most joyful in our life. It’s so easy to get lost in the constructions of your mind, get lost in the desire to be better or be in another place – and stop realizing the importance of the present moment.
E foliga mai o le mafaufau loloto o se auala o le olaga ma sili atu o se puipuiga nai lo se fofo ...
No, I did not accidentally say that the healing properties of meditation have been fully proven – it simply cannot be perceived as a treatment in the classical sense of the word. Of course, meditation has a preventive effect: by accustoming yourself to listen to your feelings, it is easier to feel that something is not right in the body. In addition, meditation strengthens the immune system and gives us the ability to fully experience every moment of our lives. The stronger our physical and mental health, the better we endure stress and resist disease processes and the faster we recover. When I talk about meditation, I mean improving health throughout life, and a person’s goals change at every stage of life…
E iai ni fa'alavelave mo le mafaufau loloto?
Personally, I would say no, but my colleagues advise against meditation in case of acute depression. They believe that it can reinforce one of the mechanisms of depression – “chewing” gloomy thoughts. In my opinion, the main problem is motivation. If it is weak, then mindfulness meditation is difficult to practice. After all, it requires a serious change in lifestyle: one must not only set aside time for meditation exercises, but also train awareness in everyday life.
Afai e fesoasoani tele le mafaufau loloto, aisea e le faʻaaogaina ai ile falemaʻi ma falemaʻi?
O le mafaufau loloto e faʻaaogaina, ma e matua lautele lava! E sili atu i le 250 falemaʻi ma falemaʻi i le salafa o le lalolagi e ofoina atu polokalame faʻaitiitia faʻafitauli e ala i le mafaufau loloto, ma o loʻo faʻatupulaia le numera i tausaga taʻitasi. O metotia faʻavae mafaufau loloto o loʻo faʻaaogaina ma sili atu i le tele o Europa. Sa fa'aaogaina i vaila'au mo le tele o tausaga, ma talu ai nei ua fiafia fo'i tagata su'esu'e o le mafaufau ia i latou. I aso nei, o le metotia o loʻo aʻoaʻoina i matagaluega faʻafomaʻi o iunivesite lauiloa e pei o Stanford ma Harvard. Ma ou te talitonu ua na o le amataga lenei.
* Na amata suʻesuʻega (talu mai le 1979) ma faʻaauau i aso nei e saienitisi i le Iunivesite o Massachusetts Stress Reduction Clinic i Amerika (i aso nei o le Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society): www.umassmed.edu