Yesterday I listened to episode 74 of Reasonable Doubts Podcast. It was about Mindfulness as it relates to meditation and psychotherapy. Even though the podcast comes at things from a sceptical point of view, they generally try to present topics in a balanced, evidence-based way. They looked at a meta-study of meditation studies which found that basically, it's extremely difficult to prove that meditation and/or mindfulness have any benefit. To quote one of the presenters, meditation is "only slightly more effective than taking a nap." One of the main problems is that studies tend to be conducted by people who already believe in the benefits of meditation and just want to prove it. So often their methodology isn't that rigorous. (This is actually a problem in many fields. A recent episode of The Psych Files talked about a similar problem with studies done on the benefits of having pets.) Once all those studies are taken out, what's left doesn't hold up too well to scientific scrutiny. So the reputation of meditation/mindfulness relies on personal testimonials. One of the presenters had meditated regularly (both mindfulness meditation and other types), and was able to give a personal point of view on it. He said it had helped him see things more clearly and objectively, stay calmer in stressful situations, and feel generally more relaxed.
The other situation that was discussed in relation to mindfulness was as part of psychotherapy. It's the first step in cognitive behavioural therapy (being aware of and monitoring/observing thoughts and feelings), but it's also a therapy on its own. CBT not only employs mindfulness, but then the patient goes on to challenge and overcome unwanted thoughts and perceptions. CBT has been proven to be effective. The presenters compared mindfulness (as a standalone therapy) and CBT. They didn't say it outright, but I would have thought CBT would be superior to pure mindfulness during which the unwanted thoughts are not challenged, only monitored.
The presenters usually don't make a judgement or pronouncement on their topic (e.g. meditation is 'good' or 'bad'), they just present the facts and let the listener decide for themselves. I don't really have any conclusions myself and don't know why I decided to write about this today. I just thought it was interesting.
In Other News ...
Things are going along in a fairly standard way so far this week. I've managed to drink at least 1x 1 lt bottle of water each day; had a bit more trouble trying to increase it to x2 though. It takes me all day at work to get through 1 lt; if I drink too much at once, I feel too full and bloated. I thought about drinking another 1 lt after work when I get home, but I don't want to risk drinking too much water too close to bedtime, in case I have to get up in the middle of the night. It's a dilemma!
But anyway, these are First World Problems...
Really looking forward to my holiday, which is just over a week away now. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. I suppose at some point I should decide if I'm going to 'be good' during my holiday, or just 'let myself go' and not worry about what I eat. Surely there must be some happy medium? Boy has said a couple of times, "don't worry, we're going to be doing lots of walking!" But I wonder about that. Unlike all our previous holidays, we're hiring a car, and it might be too tempting to use it as much as possible and just drive everywhere. I guess we'll see!
