From: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org (mad-mission-digest) To: mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Subject: mad-mission-digest V3 #167 Reply-To: mad-mission@smoe.org Sender: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk * If you ever wish to unsubscribe, send an email to * mad-mission-digest-request@smoe.org * with ONLY the word unsubscribe in the body of the email * . * For the latest information on Patty's tour dates, go to: * http://www.spectra.net/~ducksoup/pattyg/patttyg.htm * OR * go to http://www.amrecords.com * then click "tour" and fill in the blanks :) * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: mad-mission-digest V3 #xxx or the like gives readers no clue * as to what your message is about. mad-mission-digest Friday, June 4 1999 Volume 03 : Number 167 Today's Subjects: ----------------- MM: NPC: Tinnitus vs. Meditation [NuAgeThnkr@aol.com] MM: NPC: Tinnitus vs. Meditation [David Lewis ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 12:41:43 EDT From: NuAgeThnkr@aol.com Subject: MM: NPC: Tinnitus vs. Meditation I do not write this because I felt David's posting was an attack against meditation. His ideas clearly come from a view that meditation is a helpful though limited tool... but, meditation is a wonderful thing in so many ways that, as a practitioner, I feel obligated to share some of its benefits... First, obviously, is what the previous post mentioned in that meditation helps to alleviate stress and most medical conditions have stress attached. Probably even more helpful to a tinnitus sufferer would be one of the other beneficial elements of meditation. Meditation helps immensely with concentration. Even a "bad" meditation (even though there is no such thing) in which you find it difficult to ignore distracting thoughts is an exercise in concentration. As a result of meditation, I have found my ability to focus and concentrate to be much stronger. A tinnitus sufferer would find their ability to ignore the "buzz" or "ringing in the ears" greatly enhanced--much as any practitioner of meditation would find it easier to listen to a specific sound in a noisy, crowded room. Meditation, though perhaps not capable of literally removing pain, can certainly alter the way in which you react to the pain... For example, if you are told a joke while in a bad mood, you probably wouldn't laugh; but the same joke told to you while you were in a silly mood might elicit maniacal laughter. Did the joke change? No. Only your frame of mind was different. Whether it's conscious or not, you CHOOSE how you react to the joke. Does tinnitus affect a non-meditator more harshly than a meditator? No. Each chooses how to react to the tinnitus, but the meditator makes a conscious choice to minimize the reaction and the distraction. In fact, when I first began meditating years ago, I was amazed at how many sounds I could pick up from my body--my breath, my heartbeat, and yes, a small, constant buzz. Did they disappear when I wasn't meditating? No, but I no longer heard them because I was focusing on other things outside of my body. And of course there are other arguments that may depend on your belief system--a yogi or other enlightened being might suggest that you could heal yourself through proper meditation because body/mind/spirit are all connected. Louise Hay would go further and suggest that your ailment has a root in your life (as Ms. Hay suggests for any injury or illness), and that tinnitus probably results from choosing NOT TO LISTEN in everyday life. In fact, such statements as: >>Unfortunately, this is an extremely complex problem that the medical community knows next to nothing about and you cannot simply meditate it away.<< would strengthen such an argument. And, again, many other beliefs might suggest that you could, indeed, "simply meditate it away." But those kinds of miracles/ healings/etc. are rarely documented and such a feat probably would not happen overnight but only after years of consistent meditation. I write this not because I hold to all of the beliefs mentioned, but because, as a meditator, I felt that the previous posting might be misinterpreted. Meditation is a tool that has produced some moments that for me were truly life-altering and the heights that can be reached with meditation I would consider limited only by my own mind... And I whole-heartedly agree with the last statement... >>In other words... wear ear plugs if you go to gigs.<< - --Keith ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 19:38:56 -0300 From: David Lewis Subject: MM: NPC: Tinnitus vs. Meditation I was not trying to put down mediation at all and I am glad that you pointed that out :) I am actually very interested in meditation and on the positive effects it could have on my life and my ability to cope with t. I simply wanted to make sure that people realize that it's not a cure for tinnitus. For the most part, there is no cure for t. In my case, the tinnitus is accompanied by a feeling of fullness in the ear which has been with me, to varying degrees since January. So there is clearly something physically wrong with my ear... it's not simply a matter of hearing something that was always there but of which I was unaware before. If there was no fullness and I had no exposure to loud music and I could only hear a very slight ring at night, in a dead silent room (as most people can)... then that might be the case. But I *have* listened to loud music in the past, I *do* have a feeling of something being physically wrong with the ear (which no GP, Audiologist or ENT has been able to figure out... we simply do not have any instruments capable of looking at the inner ear) and I *can* hear it in most situations... a crowded shopping mall, my noisy 1987 Corolla at highway speeds... very few things cover it up completely. The point is, this is not a nerotic thing... there is something physically wrong. But, you're right to say that the degree to which I *suffer* from it is largely within my control...and to that end, I am already working on changing my lifestyle... i.e. better diet, exercise, positive self-talk and yes, relaxation exercises (and still listening to music... I just don't crank "Tony" anymore). It's slowly starting to help... but I think it will take time. The ringing itself is a constant... my reaction to it varies from day to day and even hour to hour. Still... I know this is a "battle" I can win. Some people have ringing as loud as a fire engine or a power tool... we are talking ear peircing... end yet even those people often find their peace eventually. The mind is an amazing thing. Look at Beck... not only does he have tinnitus... but he even continues to play and record! Barbara Streisand has had a whistle in her head almost all her life. William Shatner came *very* close to suicide from his reaction to loud, intrusive tinnitus... but now he's fine. So it can be overcome. But the best thing to do is not to get it in the first place! Most cases can be avoided simply by sticking some foam ear plugs in when you go to a disco, gig, cut the lawn, whatever. Peace, Dave My appologies once again for the off-topic thread. If there are any futher postings, I will keep them to email so you guys can focus on Patty!! :) - ---------------------------- David Lewis Digital & Print Media Design dlewis@hfx.andara.com - ---------------------------- ------------------------------ End of mad-mission-digest V3 #167 *********************************