お坊さん、かつ精神科医の方のどこでもできる瞑想。どこにいても、今行っていることに意識を集中する。座禅を組む必要はなく、外側からの過剰な情報を遮断し、座っていても立っていても、深い呼吸をして呼吸に意識を向けて、心を鎮める。
足を持ち上げ、進め、かかとから着地するという動きの一つ一つに集中してゆっくり行う、歩き瞑想。
その他、ながら食いはやめて、食べることに集中する。おやつ瞑想。くるみを口に入れて、10秒間、噛まずになめながら、外側の触感を味わう。こんな複雑な形をしていたのか！とか、ちょっと苦いな、のか、いろいろな発見をしながら。その後、噛んでゆっくり食べる。すると、「やっと食べられた！」と新鮮な喜びに包まれる。まさに至福の時間。そして味わって食べることができる。今、ここ、に集中することができれば、おやつを食べている時間でも、つり革を持っている間でも、キャベツを千切りしている間でも、瞑想はできる。駅のホームに降り立って、足早に改札に向かう人々を見送り、一人プラットフォームでリラックスする。空の色は。風の強さは。香りは。自分だけがいるプラットフォームはまさに別世界で、とてもリフレッシュできるそう。
スマホから無限に流れてくる情報は、感情を揺さぶってくる。心ここにあらずの状態になってしまう。今ここに、平和に、衣・食・住満ち足りて、いきなり空爆されるような危険に晒されることもなく、生きられていることを、あらためて思い起こす。
心の悲鳴は体に現れる。頭では「自分は大丈夫だ」と思っていても、身体は正直に、「もう限界だ」とメッセージを発している。体の声を聞ければ、心が壊れる前に「このままでは危ないぞ」と分かり、休むことができる。
「あまりお腹が空いてこない」のは初期症状の一つ。
「するどい頭痛」も。ストレスが溜まってくると脳血管が広がり、頭に鋭い痛みが生じるそう。
身体を整えれば心も整う、というのは、まさにその通り。マッサージでも、カウンセリングでも、森林浴でも、精神科医でも、マインドフルネスでも、ヨガでも、何でも使えるものは使って、回復してあげよう。瞑想もその一つ。
日々の忙しさの中で、瞑想する時間を特別に確保するのは簡単ではない。続けられず、余計にストレスになる。だから、「ずぼら瞑想」。（ずぼら、というか、「ちょこ瞑想」？ 今流行りの某トレーニングジム風に） 日常生活のなかで行うことを、意識的に、集中して、一挙手一投足に意識を向けて、深呼吸しながら行う。掃除や皿洗いなど単純作業って、頭がおヒマになるので、嫌なことを考えやすいと思っていたけれど、瞑想する時間にすれば良いのか、なるほど。何かの言語情報が欲しくて、YouTube聴きながら皿洗い、などしていたけど。それが楽しいなら良いけれど、疲れるなら、一つずつ、丁寧に、丹念に、心を込めて、してみてもいいのかもしれない。
髪を乾かすときには目を閉じて無心になったり、寺でぼーーーーっとする時間を取ったりしているけど、あれは瞑想だったのか……！(◡ ω ◡)
現代では、
善か悪か、敵か味方か、良いのか悪いのか、
という両極端で議論することが多い。価値判断を付けて。樺沢先生の言う、0・100思考。
そして、その、良いのか悪いのか、には、「〜すべき」「〜でなければならない」という思考も隠れている。
「ほどほど」の考え方を受け入れられない人が多い。
仏教では、分別をやめ、物事をありのままに見ることを説いている。「無分別智」という。
これも、樺沢紫苑先生の、ネガティブでもポジティブでもない、中立的な視点を持つ、ということに通じる。「コップに水が半分もある」でも、「半分しかない」でもなく、「コップに水が半分入っている。」と捉えること。
「感情は、自分から取り出して外側に置いて、眺めている。」と、哲学の読書会で以前知り合った人が言っていた。
みんな、多分、同じことを言っている。
認知行動療法には、書くという治療法があって、自分の思い込みを外してくれる。
1 まずストレスを感じた時の気持ちについて、パーセンテージで表す。怒り50%、 情けなさ80%、悲しみ 40% など。
2 自動思考（思い込み）の内容と、根拠を書く。「自分がボウリングが下手なのを知っているのに誘われた。自分をバカにするための口実づくりなんだ。」
根拠は、
「ボウリングで失敗したら、皆にバカにされると思った」
「下手なのに誘われたから。」
3 根拠に対して、一つ一つ反証を書く。
「もし、自分がポジティブな人間だとしたら、こんな時どう考えるだろう？」
「仲間と思って、好意で誘ってくれたのかもしれない。」
「もしかしたら人が足りなかったのかもしれない。」
「自分だけじゃなく、全員誘われたのかもしれない。」
こうすると、自分の中の決めつけとは全く違った見方があることに気がつく。
瞑想にも、同じ効果がある。瞑想は、反証が思いつかないときでも有効で、自動思考が生じていることに気づきながら、瞑想し、そのような考え方をする自分がいることすらも優しく受け入れていく。のだそうだ。深い。
自動思考が生じている、ことに思い至るのが肝。今の考えは、本当に、中立的？ 根拠がある？ 友達がそう言っていたら賛成する？ と、自問するのがよさそうだ…。
A meditation that can be done anywhere, proposed by the author, who is a Buddhist monk and psychiatrist. Wherever you are, focus your senses on what you are doing. You do not have to be doing zazen, but simply block out excessive information from the outside, and whether you are sitting or standing, take deep breaths and calm your mind by focusing on your breath.
There is also walking meditation, which is done slowly, concentrating on each movement of lifting the feet, advancing, and landing on the heels.
Other methods to meditate includes, to avoid eating while doing something else and concentrate on eating. Snack meditation. Put a walnut in your mouth and feel it without chewing it for 10 seconds, savoring the tactile sensation of its outer surface. You may be surprised it has such a complex shape, or it is a little bitter tasting, and make various discoveries. Then I chew it and eat it slowly. You will be filled with fresh joy, "I finally got to eat it!" It will truly be a time of bliss.
That way, you can actually taste the food. If you can concentrate on the here and now, you can meditate while eating a snack, while holding a strap on the train, or while slicing cabbage into strips. Another innovative idea - get off at the station platform, watch the people scuttle off to the ticket gates, and relax on the platform by yourself. Gaze the color of the sky. Feel the strength of the wind. Is there any scent? The platform where you are alone is truly a different world, and it is very refreshing.
The endless stream of information from the phone shakes your emotions. It puts you in a state of mindlessness. And it's easy to forget that you exist here and now, in peace, with enough food, clothing, and shelter, and without the danger of being suddenly bombed or something.
As a psychiatrist, the author warns that the screams of the heart appear in the body. Even if you think in your head that you are fine, your body is honestly telling you that it is at its limit. If you listen to your body, you will know before your mind breaks down that it is not safe to continue, and you can take a rest.
Not feeling very hungry is one of the early symptoms.
A severe headache is another. When stress builds up, the blood vessels in the brain widen, causing a sharp headache.
It is true what they say, "If you fix your body, you fix your mind." Massage, counseling, walking in the woods, psychiatrists, mindfulness, yoga, or whatever is available to help you recover, so use them. Meditation is one of them.
In the busyness of our daily lives, it is not easy to set aside special time to meditate. It is hard to keep up, and being unable to stick to a set habit becomes an extra source of stress. That's why the author call it "lazy meditation". Consciously do the things you do in your daily life, concentrating on them, being aware of your every move, and taking deep breaths, that's meditation. I used to think that simple tasks such as cleaning or washing dishes would free up my mind and make it easier to think about unpleasant things, but I see why I should use the time to meditate. I used to wash dishes while listening to YouTube because I wanted to get some verbal entertainment to occupy my mind. If it's enjoyable, it's good, but if it's tiring, maybe I should try to do one thing at a time, carefully and mindfully.
I realize that I was meditating, unknowingly, because when I dry my hair, I close my eyes and let my brain take a break, and I take some time to be absentminded at a temple. It feels good ...... (◡ ω ◡)
In modern times, we often argue at the extremes of value judgments. -- "Black or white, friend or foe, good or bad?" As another psychiastrist, Dr. Kabasawa, says, "0-100 thinking.
And hidden in the "good or bad" is the thought of "should be" or "must be"-thinking. Many people cannot seem to accept the idea of "moderation."
Buddhism teaches us to give up judgement and see things as they are. This is called "no-discrimination wisdom".
This is also in line with Dr. Kabasawa's idea of having a neutral viewpoint that is neither negative nor positive. It is neither "as much as half a glass of water" nor "only half a glass of water," but "a glass of water that is half full."
"Take out emotions outside of you, put it right beside you, and look at it as if you look at your neighbor." A person I acquainted with in a philosophy reading group once said.
They are probably all saying the same thing.
Seeing things as they are.
It is difficult when it comes to things about myself.
Say when you I made a small mistake at work, it is so easy to go to the extreme and think: "I'm a failure.", "I don't deserve to exist." This is especially reinforced by black-and-white thinking and 0-100 thinking.
In Dr. Kabasawa's words, "Whether you get a 50 or an 80 points, if it is not 100, it is the same as zero."
That's a leap too far.
It's easy for other people to say "It's a leap too far", but if the person is obsessed with that thought, it is hard to get rid of it. It is called "cognitive distortion". We all have this kind of belief, to a greater or lesser degree, but if this belief becomes too strong, we can become trapped in it, and our mental health can suffer.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a part of treatment in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. Writing therapy is a part of it, and it can help remove your beliefs from your mind.
You can do this yourself, too.
1 First, describe how you feel when you are stressed, expressed as a percentage. Anger 50%, shame 80%, sadness 40%, etc.
2 Write down the content of your automatic thoughts (assumptions) and the basis for them.
"I know I am not good at bowling."
"I was invited to go bowling with my colleagues. They know I'm not good at it, so they are just making up an excuse to make a fool out of me."
And the reasons you believe so:
"I thought if I failed at bowling, everyone would make fun of me."
"I'm not good at bowling, but they invited me."
3 Write a rebuttal to each rationale:
"If I were a positive person, what would I think in such a situation?"
"Maybe he thought I was one of his friends and invited me as a favor."
"Maybe they didn't have enough people."
"Maybe I'm not the only one, maybe we were all invited."
This way, you realize that there is a completely different way of looking at things than your own assumptions.
Meditation has the same effect.
Meditation is useful even when you can't come up with a counter-argument. Meditate while being aware that automatic thoughts are arising, meditate more and gently accept even the fact that you are thinking in such a way.
It is very deep......
It is vital to come to the realization that automatic thinking is occurring. And ask, iss the current thought real, and logical? Is it well-founded? If one of your friends said that, would you agree? They are good questions to ask yourself.
Because we are, often, able to easily forgive other people's failures, but we tend to be very harsh on our own failures...
So you can tell yourself that you don't have to be so extreme and judge yourself so harshly. You can be angry, you can make a mistake. You have automatic thoughts. It's all natural and normal. Then it will be easier to breathe.
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