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It doesn’t take a situation as intense as Iraq to trap people in unhealthy stress cycles. Everyday life has the potential to weaken the immune system and diminish psychological resilience, especially in the age of e-mail, text messaging, and nonstop multitasking. Davis, who remains on active duty in Quantico, continues to meditate every day. “I can’t think of any aspect of my life that this hasn’t helped me in — academically, as a dad,” he says. He compared mindfulness to a physical workout like running: At first it seems impossible to fit in your schedule, but after a while it becomes normal. What’s the minimum to get results? Scientists aren’t certain, but none of the Marines in the Emotion study actually stuck to the full 30-minutes-daily regimen — the high-practice group saw benefits with an average meditation time of just 15 minutes a day. What’s important, notes Stanley, is to be consistent on a day-to-day basis.
Stanley has founded a nonprofit, the Mind Fitness Training Institute, to work with people in high-stress jobs: firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and disaster-response teams. Meanwhile, Stanley is participating in follow-up research lead by University of Miami neuroscientist Amishi Jha that will study Army soldiers to learn more about how their mind pays attention. The results will add to the exploding field of mindfulness-centered research. Hard neuroscience data on meditation has raised the topic’s profile in the scientific community, and it may soon become more socially mainstream as well. Americans haven’t always gone to the gym, but today no one questions the importance of regular workouts for physical health.
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How You Can Benefit From Marine-Style Mindfulness
Meditation improves concentration, zaps stress, increases memory, and promotes restful sleep. Here are a few exercises to get you started.
Boost concentration (5 minutes)
While sitting, use your hands to find tension in your brow, jaw, neck, and shoulders. Spend half a minute or so trying to release it by rubbing the tension with your hands and relaxing the tightness with your mind. Then focus on the contact points between your body and the chair. Focus on the point where the pressure is greatest. Whenever your attention wanders, refocus it on that contact point, thinking about nothing else.
Relieve stress (10 minutes)
Again, start by focusing on a contact point between your body and the chair. Then switch your attention to a single sound. It could be the traffic outside or even something quiet like the hum of a computer. Alternate between the contact point and sound at a slow, steady pace. This will free your mind from stress. End the exercise by returning to the contact point, and then slowly widen your focus outward to the rest of your body.
Induce sleep (15 minutes)
This exercise should be done right before bedtime, either in a chair or lying down. Wiggle and flex your toes. Focus on the sensations in your feet. Pause and continue to observe any feeling in your feet. Continue this pattern of flexing and resting sequentially throughout your body: ankles, knees, hips, fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, jaw, and eye sockets. Soldiers found this exercise to greatly improve sleep.
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This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.
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November 11th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Yoga and the Military? You bet! Thanks Men’s Health for this important and possibly life-saving article. Marines and other war veterans who want to try yoga for free should visit http://www.yogaforvets.org to find a participating yoga studio near them.
Paul Zipes
Founder/Director
Yoga For Vets
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November 11th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
ooRAH!!! This is outstanding!! There is no difference between the Zen of a Martial Artist & a Yogi!! Integrate both! Semper Fi!!
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November 22nd, 2010 at 3:38 pm
The Samuri used meditation to make themselves super fighters. The Ninja who fought against them used it even more. The old movie “Tribes” Showed a marine boot who taught his fellow marines Kriya Yoga..and everyone excelled as a result, but this Marine was kickd out of the corps for doing this. Looks like the Military, especially the Marines, are comming around to it’s many benefits for warriors under the stress of combat. As a Meditatior and Meditation instructor, and a Vietnam Era Veteran..I whole heartedly support the Marines in this addition to their training.
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December 2nd, 2010 at 1:53 pm
I originally read this article with great interest because my son, who is a U.S. Army infantryman, just returned from a deployment near Mosul in northern Iraq.
I thought it seemed like a good idea, but when I brought it up he was less than impressed with the results. He told me that his unit was trained in this program of meditation in the months leading up to his deployment.
To put it politely, he thought the time spent learning and meditating could have been put to better use learning and practicing what to actually do when put under the stress of actual combat situations. So when the soldiers got into those situations, the actions would have been second nature, not something relatively new.
Though I appreciate what the researchers are doing to try to help our troops, maybe they should research more of what the soldiers who are knee deep in middle east mud are looking for.
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Tony Mott Reply:
May 14th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Soldiers (and even Marines) don’t always know what they are looking for…I know; I am one who could have benefited – maybe. Today I use these ideas in my work to overcome PTSD. Looking back at it now, I might well have thought it a waste of time if presented with it prior to leaving for Iraq.
Much of this type of stuff only makes sense when we are ready for it. A closed mind is just that – closed. It’s not a judgment, just reality – we all like to thing we have everything under control. Also: Nobody wants to admit they need help – soldiers are first in the “self-sufficient” line. I wonder if warriors can ever hear/understand something like this before they go to war. Sometimes only suffering makes us aware of the things that we need – especially the things that are not readily apparent.
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December 3rd, 2010 at 2:14 am
Reminds me of the recent Ewan MacGregor / George Clooney / Jeff Bridges movie about the US government training “Psychic Soldiers”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SreufFevUSw
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February 12th, 2011 at 9:30 am
After reading this article I now understand what the TAI-CHI instructor was trying to tell me about how to do the forms; slow and mindful.
Mark R Rivet
USMC 1974-1978
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March 6th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Its a matter of a better quality of life.. Breathing proper reinforces our natural energy path and unblocks the road. If mastered it will make us the men we are meant to be. Semper Fi
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April 13th, 2012 at 1:07 am
Kudos to Men’s Journal for posting this article online.
As a former US serviceman, I’ve found meditation to provide great benefits, especially in helping me to not overreact in situations because my mind is calmer and can more quickly focus.
Glad the Marines are trying this “mental technology”!
Michael
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