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“What is my body trying to tell me with that tight stomach, sunken heart, clenched shoulders?” I have been reading Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach and this is

“What is my body trying to tell me with that tight stomach, sunken heart, clenched shoulders?” I have been reading Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach and this is one of the themes that keeps repeating in that book and in general in meditation. To understand one's mind and the root cause of an emotion one need to focus the attention on how one's body feels and what it's trying to say. While meditation is now widely accepted as beneficial, I have generally been less accepting or even dismissive of the surrounding teachings and method. I think it's time to revisit my views and be more open to it.

LeonW 8y ago
Yes, I'm a big fan of Tara Brach's work too! My experience has been that many of us live in such a cognitively focused world that the sensations and feelings of our bodies take a huge back-seat.
tcmb 8y ago
On Amazon, I'm seeing 'Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame' from 2003 and 'Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha' from 2004. Is the newer edition much different, apart from a presumably more fashionable subtitle?
radicaldreamer 8y ago
I’ve had a similar experience. I think the reason is that there’s a lot of noise in the field. A ton of low quality thought and half baked ideas or pure nonsense. But that really should not close one off to reputable sources like Tara Brach (highly recommend people start with her guided sessions which are available free on her site) who have a well of experience honed over the years. One time in India, some family members took me to an astrologer. I was extremely skeptical but this person was famous in town and well known regionally as well. And when I voiced my concerns that the whole field was all hocus pocus, one of my relatives said that may well be true for many individual practitioners in the field, but if you think about it as a person communicating to you using their own finely tuned heuristic for outcomes, it’s a different story. Maybe the more reputable sources in these fields should be thought of in that way, where you shouldn’t expect perfect accuracy but you should use their thoughts and knowledge as a rough guide to a kind of knowledge we have very few tools to directly explore rather than pure truths.
- balfirevic 8y ago
  I'm not familiar with Tara Brach, but I don't think your comparison is doing her much good.
- keepmesmall 8y ago
  Pure truths one of the most important tools in developing self-knowledge. IMO going to an astrologer is akin to using a prostitute blindfolded. You want to understand yourself, spirituality or even the universe? Study the laws of nature, the 112 names of Shiva, the 72 names of God, 613 Mitzvot of the Torah, the 4 worlds and 125 degrees of Kabbalah etc. etc. etc. Heck, study the alphabet and how to write and pronounce it. Ladders abound. Just pick one that seems like a challenge, and then pick a fun method of studying it. I like to mix calligraphy and pronunciation practice in.
cbnotfromthere 8y ago
"While meditation is now widely accepted as beneficial" No offense but your claim is absurd. Other than placebo effect, there are no accepted benefits of "meditation" (whatever that means) within the scientific community. However in the new age, gluten-free communities...
- 8ytecoder 8y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation#Research_on_unspecified_or_multiple_types_of_meditation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation#Researc...
  - SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
    I’m sure medication is very helpful for some people, maybe it’s great for everyone. But posting a Wikipedia link that anyone could edit, not exactly hard hitting science. Maybe find one of the referenced papers and read it to see if it makes your point?
  - 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
    Based on the descriptions there, it doesn't seem to me like the mentioned studies actually show meditation causing a clear benefit. That's not surprising to me, since most studies on meditation (like most lifestyle studies) fall into one of: 1) only describe observational correlations, not causation (such studies are useful for guiding further research, but are a poor basis for recommending lifestyle changes) 2) describe an intervention leading to a statistically significant change, but one whose practical significance is negligible, unsubstantiated, or an unclear mixture of benefits and drawbacks 3) quality too poor to draw any firm conclusion at all (too small, no control group, neglect of known likely confounders, blatant p-hacking, etc.)
- thisisweirdok 8y ago
  You seem pretty defensive for someone that can be proven wrong by a 30 second Google.

LeonW 8y ago

Yes, I'm a big fan of Tara Brach's work too! My experience has been that many of us live in such a cognitively focused world that the sensations and feelings of our bodies take a huge back-seat.

tcmb 8y ago

On Amazon, I'm seeing 'Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame' from 2003 and 'Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha' from 2004. Is the newer edition much different, apart from a presumably more fashionable subtitle?

radicaldreamer 8y ago

I’ve had a similar experience. I think the reason is that there’s a lot of noise in the field. A ton of low quality thought and half baked ideas or pure nonsense. But that really should not close one off to reputable sources like Tara Brach (highly recommend people start with her guided sessions which are available free on her site) who have a well of experience honed over the years. One time in India, some family members took me to an astrologer. I was extremely skeptical but this person was famous in town and well known regionally as well. And when I voiced my concerns that the whole field was all hocus pocus, one of my relatives said that may well be true for many individual practitioners in the field, but if you think about it as a person communicating to you using their own finely tuned heuristic for outcomes, it’s a different story. Maybe the more reputable sources in these fields should be thought of in that way, where you shouldn’t expect perfect accuracy but you should use their thoughts and knowledge as a rough guide to a kind of knowledge we have very few tools to directly explore rather than pure truths.

balfirevic 8y ago
I'm not familiar with Tara Brach, but I don't think your comparison is doing her much good.
keepmesmall 8y ago
Pure truths one of the most important tools in developing self-knowledge. IMO going to an astrologer is akin to using a prostitute blindfolded. You want to understand yourself, spirituality or even the universe? Study the laws of nature, the 112 names of Shiva, the 72 names of God, 613 Mitzvot of the Torah, the 4 worlds and 125 degrees of Kabbalah etc. etc. etc. Heck, study the alphabet and how to write and pronounce it. Ladders abound. Just pick one that seems like a challenge, and then pick a fun method of studying it. I like to mix calligraphy and pronunciation practice in.

cbnotfromthere 8y ago

"While meditation is now widely accepted as beneficial" No offense but your claim is absurd. Other than placebo effect, there are no accepted benefits of "meditation" (whatever that means) within the scientific community. However in the new age, gluten-free communities...

8ytecoder 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation#Research_on_unspecified_or_multiple_types_of_meditation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation#Researc...
- SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
  I’m sure medication is very helpful for some people, maybe it’s great for everyone. But posting a Wikipedia link that anyone could edit, not exactly hard hitting science. Maybe find one of the referenced papers and read it to see if it makes your point?
- 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
  Based on the descriptions there, it doesn't seem to me like the mentioned studies actually show meditation causing a clear benefit. That's not surprising to me, since most studies on meditation (like most lifestyle studies) fall into one of: 1) only describe observational correlations, not causation (such studies are useful for guiding further research, but are a poor basis for recommending lifestyle changes) 2) describe an intervention leading to a statistically significant change, but one whose practical significance is negligible, unsubstantiated, or an unclear mixture of benefits and drawbacks 3) quality too poor to draw any firm conclusion at all (too small, no control group, neglect of known likely confounders, blatant p-hacking, etc.)
thisisweirdok 8y ago
You seem pretty defensive for someone that can be proven wrong by a 30 second Google.