Meditation is like 'Bicep Curls' for your Brain
Your mind is a muscle. Your patience is a muscle. Your creativity is a muscle. Your muscles are muscles. Just like muscles all these other skills and organs can be trained to become better at what they do. Let's have a look at exactly how this works for your brain and how you can train it with meditation to become more resilient, just like your biceps get from all those curls you finish every workout with.
This is how your brain works
Trying to get enlightened real fast!
(Photo by Sgt. Elizabeth White)
When you are born, your brain is like the untainted wilderness. As you grow and learn things paths are developed in your brain to those facts and actions just like footpaths are in the woods. Over time those paths become entrenched so that they are unconscious.
When was the last time you gave your full attention to tying your shoes? It's probably been a long time, that's because simple actions like lacing up your boots get moved into your unconscious memory. You don't need to think about doing it. This is a way that our brains work to save space and processing power.
This is great for things like getting dressed or signing your signature, but it becomes a problem when your habits are less desirable, like smoking or not thinking before you speak when your OIC is around.
Being able to break these bad habits and actively control what we remember is one of the benefits of meditation known as neuroplasticity.
That phrase: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." comes from old people being stuck in their ways, refusing to change, obviously. That's the opposite of neuroplasticity. Meditation teaches your brain to stay young and flexible.
Literally, the same thing that happens to your body when you train happens to your brain when you meditate. It makes you more resilient to change and adversity. Whether that adversity is an alligator that needs a beat down- physical training #happygilmore, or a newly updated browser that makes it impossible to figure out how to delete your less than desirable search history #firstworldproblems- meditation.
What meditation can do in the most extreme cases
Don't forget the gym just because you are training your brain like these guys.
(Photo by Iván Tejero on Unsplash)
Of the pilot studies on military members with PTSD, they all have been able to show significant results from meditation. In one study over 83% of the participants had a positive effect after just one month, some of which were even able to get off the medication they were taking to help manage their symptoms.
The practices these groups were doing did more than just manage symptoms. It allowed the service members to come to terms with what they experienced. This takes neuroplasticity to the next level.
What happens many times in those with PTSD is that their mind gets stuck on loop reliving a terrible or gruesome experience. The brain digs a path so deep that it's like you're stuck in the Grand Canyon of your mind with no climbing tools to get up the wall and out of that undesirable place.
The meditation practices in these studies gave the participants the tools they needed to start climbing up and making their way out to forge a new less traumatic path.
Again, this is exactly the same as if you were actually stuck at the bottom of The Grand Canyon. You need the physical strength to start making your way up, if you've never done a pull-up that climb is going to be impossible. You need to train and acquire the physical tools to accomplish such a feat.
How you can implement a practice
You don't need to be sitting crossed legged to be doing it "right".
(Photo by Amy Velazquez on Unsplash)
Just like in the gym you can't expect to reap the benefits of meditation after a 10-minute session. How long did it take you to finally bench 225? How are those abs coming?
Shit takes time.
You need to start somewhere though. Here are two methods to go from zero to hero on the brain training front.
Learn to be in silence: Most of us are constantly surrounded by ear clutter. And even when we finally get a chance for some silence, like in the shower, we decide to crank the Spotify Throwback Workout playlist. Many people can't even fall asleep without some noise in the background. Start slow on your path to meditation by just picking some dedicated time where you will intentionally listen to nothing and no one. Put some earplugs in if you're in the barracks and just learn to embrace the silence.
Use an app: What happens when you go to the gym completely unprepared with no idea what to do? Chances are you end up doing a few sets of biceps curls and waste 30 minutes on a treadmill. The equivalent can happen when meditating. Start slowly with an app like headspace or Sam Harris' new app Waking Up. They will take you through a beginners course on meditating and help you start building that neuroplasticity toolbox.
Top 10 funniest war movie characters
Well, here it is, the ten funniest war movie characters of all time. Oddballs. Gallows humor. Hard asses. In exact order. Presented as fact. With absolutely no room for improvement. Don't think so? Take it up with the complaint department below, because now that we think of it, everything is subjective and you probably have a very good idea that was missed by this perfect list.
1. Brad Pitt in "Inglorious Bastards"
Hearing an undercover soldier from the deep south try to say "Gorlami" in an Italian accent is absolute comedic bliss. Watching him scalp some Nazis is bliss of another kind. Brad Pitt anchors this list off with this classy badass in the instant classic from the mind of Tarantino.
2. Cuba Gooding Jr. in "The Way of War"
Okay, so this one isn't technically a comedy. But in the same way that a tomato isn't "technically" a vegetable. If you haven't seen heard of this movie-- you are not alone. In fact, you are very, very crowded. I don't think JK Simmons has heard of this movie, and he is in it. Watch it if you want to see Cuba Gooding: kill a guy with a shower curtain, call himself "the wolf" for no discernible reason, and threaten to murder the entire family of an innocent shopkeeper who SAVED HIS LIFE. It has a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is generous.
3. Damon Wayans in "Major Payne"
The idea of getting a wounded Marine's mind off a shoulder wound by breaking his pinky is something only Major Payne could make funny. That and comforting a child with a hell-torn Fallujah version of "The Little Engine that Could." This movie is silly. This movie is stupid. But so are you if you don't laugh at it.
4. Alan Alda in "M*A*S*H"
Uh oh, this one's not even a movie--don't care-- there's no way a list about the funniest war characters was going to leave out M*A*S*H. While there are probably 3-4 characters from M*A*S*H that could make the list (I'll give you a hint, one wears a dress, and it's not Margaret Houlihan). However, Alan Alda is so effortlessly sarcastic in this, that he left an impression on all dads in the US born between 1950-1969 with a TV.
5. Donald Sutherland in "Kelly's Heroes"
I don't think my father would continue to claim me as his own if I didn't include Kelly's Heroes on here. Donald Sutherland as "Oddball" is an offbeat performance which really captures the existentialism of conflict. Some men are fighting, some men are repairing a downed vehicle--Oddball is just "drinking wine and eating cheese and catching some rays, ya know?"
6. Sam Elliot in "We Were Soldiers"
"Good morning Sgt. Major." ... "How do you know what kind of God damn day it is?" Sam Elliot (a.k.a the voice in those "Coors Banquet Beer" commercials) keeps this entire movie on its feet by his rugged portrayal of the hilariously pissed off Sgt. Major Plumley. Plus his voice sounds like beef jerky tastes.
7. Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder"
"I know who I am. I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude." This line alone about sums up Robert Downey Jr.'s "Tropic Thunder" performance. One of only three other Oscar-nominated performances on this list (almost, Cuba), Robert Downey's ballsy meta performance is as controversial as it is hilarious.
8. Robin Williams in "Good Morning Vietnam"
This one is just a requirement. Like it feels like if it wasn't on here, there would (rightfully) be an uproar. Not to say that Robin Williams isn't hysterical in this--he is. In fact, he's so good that it's an unexciting pick. It's like, duh, Good Morning Vietnam is amazing, and Robin Williams is unbelievably funny. And he improvised a lot of it. It should be higher, but this list is subjective, and nothing matters.
9. Bill Murray in "Stripes"
This role spawned (or popularized, rather) an entire archetype in comedies--the slack off reluctantly leading a rebellion of misfits. Bill Murray's portrayal of John Winger is played seemingly with a wink to the audience throughout the whole movie. The character was even adapted by Dan Harmon as the lead in the popular series "Community" and named "Jeff Winger."
10. Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers, and Peter Sellers in "Dr. Strangelove"
Everything is up for debate except for this spot. Peter Sellers plays three completely unique and separate characters, and they all have made me spackle my laptop screen with Doritos bits with laughter. The scene where Peter Sellers plays "Dr.Strangelove" an obvious Nazi scientist who is eternally fighting against one arm that is permanently possessed with exaltation for the Third Reich. It is physical comedy at its purest form. Legend has it that this scene is the only thing that has ever made Stanley Kubrick laugh on set--and apparently to tears. Even in the final cut, you can see some background actors bite their lips to stop smiling, and hear stifled laughter.
Dr. Strangelove (8/8) Movie CLIP - Living Underground (1964) HD www.youtube.com
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