That said....it would be wonderful if mindfulness does prove to be the accessible solution for mental health needed so much by all those who suffer in modern societies.
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It's never going to outrun the velocity of societal change. Maybe if it compliments certain other trajectories, but by itself?
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Yeah, I have skeptical-hippo eyes 👀, but I’m happy that people can benefit where possible.
It’s out there, for next to free for people inclined to the contemplative, which is unprecedented.
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Yeah, the ease of access thing is very much true. I learned everything I knew about meditation (pre-practice) through the internet.
And later, qualified teachers etc. were also to be found here. It's a great resource.
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But from what I can tell, the ratio of insight casualties and other weirdness to beneficial contemplative practices doesn't always favor the latter.
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So true. Double-edged swords all around.
Wonder what you both think of the post this one comes from: Consistent mindfulness practice doesn’t replace the need for support groups, counseling, or other mental health interventions. bit.ly/2iqphTv
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Snuck this in during a break at work, so sorry if it's a bit unfocused, but (short thread):
I like the exercise metaphor. I tend to call it weight lifting for the mind, but that's a much looser metaphor.
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I think what needs to be talked about more is that a lot of people in our culture are deeply fucked up yet have no clue about it.
Mindfulness or other meditation can take the lid off the box where we stow away the madness, so I think teachers need to be REALLY clear about that.
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That said it's difficult to strike a balance between sufficient, appropriate honesty and scaring people away.
Not everyone really believes "you might have unresolved issues." so they parse that as "this will fuck you up."
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I suppose it's something that should be approached individually for each student by a competent teacher.
I do feel like a lot of teachers (and so-called teachers of the "BUY MY ONLINE COURSE!"-variety) don't give it enough attention, or are simply ignorant of it.
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At the same time, in a deeply scientistic society like ours I you do need to heavily emphasize the reproducible effects that can be shown in a lab setting.
Otherwise, no traction.
However, most people are aware that you can also injure yourself while exercising.
I think emphasizing that link without completely overdoing it might be the most responsible approach.
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I think you have caught the balance here really well, particularly given the scene you'll be dealing with over at LinkedIn.
I tend to go a lot more into the difficult stuff, but I only have a tiny audience of already-fairly-hardcore practitioners to relate it to.
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