# RESOURCE: The importance of meditation



## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Hi guys

Will try to keep this short ( ops ).

Within our brains and bodies we have three major 'feelings' systems - PLEASURE, PAIN AND RELAXATION. The third one is actually different from the first because Pleasure and pain are both forms of arousal whereas relaxation is not. If you like, relaxation is the opposite of PAIN (or threat) and depression is a result of a depressed 'pleasure' system. For the tech heads out there, this is due to neuron depressing *GABA * (which is why Phenibut calms you - it can depress the threat system and so relax you) and neuron exciting *Glutamate* working on these systems in response to emotional inputs.

In depression and SA it tends to be the threat and pleasure systems at work. In childhood we may not have learned to self soothe or to calm ourselves and as such, HAVE NOT DEVELOPED A POWERFUL RELAXATION SYSTEM. So we swing between pleasure and pain, one moment feeling anxious and the next running to seek pleasure - smoking, alcohol, computer games, SAS .... But we are always working with arousal. Its easy to confuse pleasure as the opposite of threat, but in fact this is not accurate. Pleasure is dopamine based - relaxation is opiate and oxytocin based.

So the point? As you may know, the persistent use of neurons in the brain strengthens them and makes them form new connections in the guise of higher "neurochemical potentials" - a bit like having a bigger battery on your MP3 player  As you have never learned how to relax, your own body's natural ability to do this in the moment is very weak - you have a little battery in your relaxation system! This is why anxiety is SO TIRING - you are always running on full throttle between pleasure and threat - until you collapse!

MEDITATION begins to train these systems. The brain begins to strengthen the relaxation pathways in the brain and then these are stronger later when you need them. You are able to unplug more and to veer less between pleasure and pain. Watch out for any behaviors you have which seem ADDICITVE - ie you find it hard to stop doing them. If you do, this is a very good sign that you need to bolster your relaxation system. So - MEDITATE!! Every day! :squeeze

A wiki quote:


> ...the monks, who had meditated on compassion for more than 10,000 hours in order to attain the rank of adept, did not experience a decrease to normal in the gamma wave production after they stopped meditating. The synchronized gamma wave area of the monks' brains during meditation on love and compassion was found to be larger than that corresponding activation of the volunteers' brains..


Heres a link to a site full of meditations and the whys and wherefores of the practice - FREE!! http://www.audiodharma.org/talks-gil.html

There that's as short as I could make it  Well done me.

Ross


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## AlekParker (Oct 31, 2006)

Meditation and self-awareness stuff is awesome... i'm starting to get into this stuff


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## sad-de (Apr 11, 2008)

Thanks for the links but where do I start? There are so many!


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

I find the beginning is often a fine place to start


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