Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014
Midterm Questions
1.
Define “stress”, and discuss its causes and effects, and how it might be managed. What use are you making of this information?
Stress can be defined many different ways depending on whom you ask and where their stress level is. In one of our class readings, Kimberly Post Rowe defines stress as “the body’s automatic physiologic reaction to circumstances that require behavioral adjustments.” In other words, stress is a reaction to change in life. Stress is different for everyone whether they are simply busy and frustrated in school, in work, or at home stress can be different in strength and intensity. Signs and symptoms of stress include cognitive symptoms (memory problems, poor judgment, constant worrying, and racing thoughts), emotional symptoms (moodiness, depression, feeling overwhelmed, and inability to relax), physical symptoms (aches and pains, nausea, dizziness, and frequent cold), and behavioral symptoms (easting more or less, sleeping too much or too little, isolating yourself from others and using alcohol, tobacco, or drugs to relax) (“Stress
Symptoms, Signs, and Causes."). One must wonder how we can put so much hurt and pain onto ourselves just by being stressed.
One of the triggers that is used when one is stressed is called the “fight or flight” response where adrenaline revs the body up to survive a threat. We as humans have evolved to almost always be in that “fight or flight” stage. We can see this response not only in humans but in other animals also. In the case of pets, when they are under stress the veterinarian will urge that the owner help relax the living environment of the pet or else they could die. Die? We, as humans, are under a tremendous amount of stress and if a small portion or stress can kill our pet

Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014 what does that mean for us as animals also? We are literally stressing ourselves to death in the end.
In our class, we have to teach our bodies to relax and take time in our stressful lives to de-stress our bodies and our minds so we might be able to live the rest of the day without feeling hurt the rest of the day. If this I done on a daily basis imagine what it can do for your life and your body. Stress is something that affects our health and by relaxing at least once in the day, we can decrease the chances of getting the effects of stress. Some of the effects of stress include pain of any kind, heart disease, digestive problems, sleep problems, depression, weight problems, autoimmune diseases, and skin conditions like eczema (“Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes.").
We can cause so much harm to our bodies just by being stressed by everyday events.
As someone with depression, I can understand the full effects of stress. Stress is one of the major causes for my depression. I have S.A.D. or Seasonal Affective Disorder which causes me to become very unhappy between the months of August to late April. There are times when my body breaks down and I burst our crying even if I am not sad. My body produces hormones as a side effect to stress that cause me to feel sad from fall until spring. Since I have been meditating I have slowly been able to cut down on my medicine intake and still be happy.

Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014
2.
Define and discuss “mindfulness” and “meditation” as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh. How are you approaching these practices in your life?
Mindfulness and meditation are two very similar topics in the world of Buddhism.
Mindfulness can be defined as maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment (“Mindfulness Definition.").
Meditation is defined as such: to spend time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation
(“Meditate."). In order to meditate completely and without hesitations, one must have mindfulness. For the modern humans, some might find it extremely hard to find the slightest mindfulness even if they tried.
Thich Nhat Hanh says in his book Peace is Every Step :
“Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves in everything we do and see.
The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don’t have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don’t have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.”
If someone that does not believe in a stress free world read that, they would say it is impossible to find peace in a world like wheat we live in now; full of war and poverty and starvation but we must try to see the good in our lives. We have to focus on the good things no matter how small or seemingly unimportant they are. If someone does not read the above paragraph and have their eyes opened to seeing the world as something bright and hopeful then they will most likely live their life without mindfulness and peace.

Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014
Last week in class we discussed the presence of yin and yang. Every good had an evil and every action has a reaction or opposite of sorts. As we have looked deeper each week into mindfulness and meditation, we can see that not all opposites are a bad thing and that without them then we would not be living in a peaceful world. For example imagine if we only had the moon and not the sun, we would have a dark world and many people would get sick from the lack of vitamin c that our body needs to survive. As the opposite, if we only had the sun and not the moon we would surely be burned along with everything else like the plants. There is an equal balance in the world. There needs to be a balance. As the sun comes up we are grateful for the day and as it sets and the moon appears we are grateful for all the sun has given us and we are grateful for the moon’s beauty and light to protect us from the darkness.
Meditation helps us become mindful of our wonderful environment around us. The small things around us that we would never notice suddenly become apparent and we can celebrate them. That is the main focus of meditation and mindfulness is to celebrate our world and become one with our earth that has graciously given us life. We are still discovering earth’s mysteries but as we find new things we must also appreciate the things it has already given to us. Life should be about appreciation and celebration for everything we have; that is what it means, to me, to be mindful.

Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014
3.
Choose one of the books, films, or class activities that you found particularly meaningful or helpful; discuss and explain why.
The most meaningful part of the class so far has to be the movie about the prisoners who found meditation and essentially saved themselves. I realized that even the people that had done bad could be saved and forgive themselves. Growing up, I had always thought of prisoners to be extremely hateful people. In church they taught me that people that committed crimes were horrible people that would pay for their sins in hell; that or face judgment and more than likely have to beg for forgiveness. In the movie, these prisoners found that they didn’t have to worry about what the church had told them.
The prisoners were not convinced (and neither was I) that they could go through the ten days and actually retain some sort of valuable information from that but as they proceeded to continue with the days, they began to feel changes in themselves. For me, being completely silent, mindful and still for ten days would be extremely challenging. I feel like it would be a great experience and after watching the movie about the prisoners I believe that I could succeed.
I wonder what would come from meditating in ten days. I have a problem shutting out the small voice in my head telling me daydreams and wishes and plans for the future.
The hardest part of the movie for me was the part when one of the inmate’s daughters had been murdered and out of his strength, he forgave the person who had killed her. I cannot even imagine the amount of strength someone has to have in order to forgive a murderer. For us in the modern world, it is hard to even think of forgiving people that talk about us behind our backs let alone forgive the person that murdered a relative. This part of the movie really hit home for me

Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014 and I have to imagine that it was difficult for the wardens and some of the other prisoners to witness the man who had been charged with murder to forgive another murderer.
This movie spoke a lot about meditation and what it could do for even the angriest people. Meditation is almost like a cleansing of the brain and body. The brain becomes empty from thoughts and then the body can relax and welcome the peace the world has to offer. When we meditate every week in class, I can almost feel the energy amongst our group radiate and become stronger. Last we I began to feel the presence of the earth below me even though I was on the table. The good feelings seep into the body as long as the body is willing to accept them and release any unneeded thoughts and worries. I can only imagine this is what the prisoners were feeling in their ten day meditation journey.
There are so many people in the world that take for granted everything in the world to evolve like technology and electronics but once you take them away from said people they are lost. These prisoners don’t have much left in their lives. They don’t have the technology and electronics so with an open mind they could accept meditation where people on the outside might not be able to. We are blinded by the growing society and thus we are blinded to everything that meant the most when we were born into the world.

Elise Coolbeth
Dr. Blondel
Mindful Meditation
Midterm Paper
6 October 2014
Bibliography
“Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes."
Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes: The Effects of Stress
Overload and What You Can Do About It . Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
“Mindfulness Definition."
Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life . Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
“Meditate." Merriam-Webster . Merriam-Webster. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.