The Meditation Blog has received several questions regarding the relationship between the so-called Default Mode Network of the brain and meditation.
The discovery of the brain’s Default Mode Network by Raichle et al. (2001) opened new perspectives on the functioning of the brain when we are at rest. Several areas of the cortex, mostly in the […]
Reconciliation is an important area to work in for all meditators, no matter what phase of life we are in – when we are young as well as when we get older. It is existentially important to achieve some degree of reconciliation with the way life happens to be. This also applies to the way […]
What makes a life worth living?
Most of us pursue happiness. The American constitution even considers it an unalienable right. But what is happiness? A feeling of joy running through your body? A life filled with happy moments? Recognition, stable relationships or the absence of suffering? Paradoxically, the pursuit of happiness can lead us away […]
Elsa Roussel, 29, an immunologist-in-training based in Zurich, joined an Acem Meditation course in 2017 and has since been exploring various levels of self-awareness in her personal relationships and interactions.
“I have learned how to set boundaries, be more balanced between what I feel and how to […]
In their first study from 2018, the authors showed that Acem Meditation improves stress management in a number of ways: better sleep, less anxiety, less mental distress, less pain. In a recent study, which was published in Frontiers in Psychology in January, they showed that meditators with a higher level of defensive functioning at the […]
By Turid Suzanne Berg-Nielsen
Existential contentment is neither complacency nor bliss. It does not entail the absence of adversity in life nor negative emotions and thoughts. It is not an emotion at all, more of an attitude – a sense of meaning and purpose, an anchoring when waters are rough. Contentment also allows for […]
By Pär Westlund
Taking a beginner’s course in Acem Meditation involves not only learning the basic instruction in the technique. Participants also receive advice on what conditions are favorable for developing a good meditation practice, both in regular life and at meditation retreats.
When we meditate, the basic principle is that we open our awareness towards what […]
George Northoff shared his views in Acem Forum in Oslo
The Acem Centre in Oslo was filled to the brim, and the audience was full of expectations. The world-renowned philosopher and neuroscientist Georg Northoff of the University of Ottawa was visiting and was about […]
In this article Halvor Eifring discusses the important of mind wandering in meditation. Everyone who has learned Acem Meditation knows that meditation is not about emptying the mind, as many others tend to believe. The challenge is to become friends with everything that spontaneously emerges in consciousness. Restlessness, tension, and ruminating thoughts may be experienced as garbage in the body and mind, but often hide a sparkling diamond. This kind of experience is supported by old meditative traditions.
Nondirective meditation in science and philosophy
In the fifteen chapters of this new book, experts in neuroscience, medicine, psychology, philosophy, and the humanities share groundbreaking perspectives on how nondirective meditation interacts with brain and body, mind and culture.
Many schools of meditation […]
