Meditation has numerous benefits for our mind, one of which is to help us manage anxiety and stress. The use of meditation can develop skills that promote self-care while reducing overall nervousness, depression, and tension. Since 2023, Mason Korea has held meditation sessions with Joshua Lindenbaum, a professor at Mason Korea, for faculty, staff, and students to enhance their stress management skills and mental health.
“It is okay if your mind wanders. Meditation is practicing being in the moment,” Lindenbaum says. He explains that meditation is not the process of removing our thoughts. “Meditation is not about turning off the mind. It is more about watching it.”
Meditation can effectively increase dopamine levels, a neuromodulatory molecule associated with reward and pleasure in the brain. Additionally, meditation promotes detoxification by reducing stress and enhancing relaxation. With the rapid growth of social media and its excessive usage, especially among short-form video platforms including TikTok and Instagram, the reward systems in the brain experience less motivation. When watching short-form videos, there is little to no effort other than scrolling, breaking the balance between effort and rewards. This system leads to decreased concentration, memory and emotional regulation, and motivation. Meditation can combat these issues and normalize brain functionality.
Meditation helps us focus on the present rather than the past or future. “The past makes us regretful, and the future makes us worried, but the present allows us to get to know ourselves deeper. Meditation is a scan of the mind,” Lindenbaum expresses. “As we need a manual when buying a new computer, we need meditation which acts as a manual for our sophisticated brains.”
Mason Korea plans on holding two meditation sessions next semester in hopes of helping students, faculty, and staff unwind. “If you meditate every day for a long time, you’ll notice how you feel different. Then, you don’t meditate for 2 days, you’ll notice you’re a little bit more angry or less patient.” Meditation can help with the adjustments that ease emotional and mental tensions that arise with experiences we encounter everyday.
Written by Dongju Lee | Staff Writer
Revised by Madison Sailakkham | Managing Editor
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