13 min
Is Meditation Dead? Navigating Nourishment Podcast
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- Nutrition
It struck us as funny that day that one of our colleagues came in with an experience she had at a restaurant meal with friends recently. When she was talking about wellness with her friends and mentioning meditation practices, the woman declared that “meditation is dead,” meaning passe or not in style anymore. And though we laughed about the ridiculousness of it, it stuck with us.
Meditation dead?
Is this how some people view meditation or any other nourishing wellness practice–as something that comes in as a trend and then goes away? Of course, there are trends that come and go, usually because they are of the ilk of quick fixes. Meditation, however, is here to stay.
The practice of it is older than history itself. Research indicates that it has served as a spiritual endeavor for humans since the dawn of our existence. In 2007, psychologist Matt J. Rossano suggested that rituals and meditation practices around campfires between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago played a crucial role in the evolution of human working memory. He posited that the act of "fire-gazing" not only rewired our brains but also enabled the emergence of symbolism and language, fundamentally shaping our humanity.
So, in a way, meditation is in our DNA from ancestors past.
In our latest podcast, we talk about our own practices of meditation and how it doesn’t really need to look or be a particular way. It takes many forms and that’s what makes it completely doable for everyone. We also mention The Wellness Hub and their weekly Wednesday meditation group open to everyone at our space in Red Bank.
*Note: In the podcast Debbie makes an error in attributing a song lyric to Nirvana when it is the song "Machinehead" by Bush
Here’s the transcript:
Wendy 00:33
It's spring, and it's glorious out right now. And everything is popping. The flowers are just kind of making me high a little bit.
Debbie 00:40
Yeah, for sure. For spring does that it's so motivating. It's so, it's so cheerful, and it gets you wanting to do a whole bunch of stuff.
Wendy 00:50
Just the whole idea of renewal and birth is just really beautiful. If we pay attention, or it can feel like complete chaos.
Debbie 01:00
Yes, I mean, every transition of season feels a little chaotic. But I think that the spring one is especially chaotic, because I think we all feel like we need to be productive and get a bunch of things done.
Wendy 01:11
Oh my gosh, yeah. And in the winter, we're a little bit more quiet. And just the darkness leads to a little bit more quiet. But the lighter nights, it's really like I'm still supposed to be doing something, right. So true. It's harder to wind down when it's laid out.
Debbie 01:31
It is That's very true. And the thing about spring, too, is I think, including me, it's a time where you want to take on new things and take on new habits and say, Okay, this is a good time to start this.
Wendy 01:44
And it is it is.
Debbie 01:45
That's a great time to start. Yeah.
Wendy 01:48
And we have one number one thing we wanted to talk about today as a habit to start, right. And it stems from a conversation we recently had with someone who claimed that meditation is dead. It's so passe, it's gone. It's over the trend is a trend gone. The trend of meditation is gone. Yeah. And we disagree completely.
Debbie 02:12
Completely! It's funny, because, yeah, there are so many health trends; there's so many things that come, don't necessarily go, but they become popular for a little while. And then everybody tries it. And then it, you know, it doesn't get it, it kind of goes away from the scope of a lot of people. But there's a core of people that continue it. Yeah. And perhaps that's what's happened with meditation is that it got really popular again. And then that popularity is kind of, you know, it's not being marketed as much by the wellness people. The fix it people aren't really marketing it anymore.
It struck us as funny that day that one of our colleagues came in with an experience she had at a restaurant meal with friends recently. When she was talking about wellness with her friends and mentioning meditation practices, the woman declared that “meditation is dead,” meaning passe or not in style anymore. And though we laughed about the ridiculousness of it, it stuck with us.
Meditation dead?
Is this how some people view meditation or any other nourishing wellness practice–as something that comes in as a trend and then goes away? Of course, there are trends that come and go, usually because they are of the ilk of quick fixes. Meditation, however, is here to stay.
The practice of it is older than history itself. Research indicates that it has served as a spiritual endeavor for humans since the dawn of our existence. In 2007, psychologist Matt J. Rossano suggested that rituals and meditation practices around campfires between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago played a crucial role in the evolution of human working memory. He posited that the act of "fire-gazing" not only rewired our brains but also enabled the emergence of symbolism and language, fundamentally shaping our humanity.
So, in a way, meditation is in our DNA from ancestors past.
In our latest podcast, we talk about our own practices of meditation and how it doesn’t really need to look or be a particular way. It takes many forms and that’s what makes it completely doable for everyone. We also mention The Wellness Hub and their weekly Wednesday meditation group open to everyone at our space in Red Bank.
*Note: In the podcast Debbie makes an error in attributing a song lyric to Nirvana when it is the song "Machinehead" by Bush
Here’s the transcript:
Wendy 00:33
It's spring, and it's glorious out right now. And everything is popping. The flowers are just kind of making me high a little bit.
Debbie 00:40
Yeah, for sure. For spring does that it's so motivating. It's so, it's so cheerful, and it gets you wanting to do a whole bunch of stuff.
Wendy 00:50
Just the whole idea of renewal and birth is just really beautiful. If we pay attention, or it can feel like complete chaos.
Debbie 01:00
Yes, I mean, every transition of season feels a little chaotic. But I think that the spring one is especially chaotic, because I think we all feel like we need to be productive and get a bunch of things done.
Wendy 01:11
Oh my gosh, yeah. And in the winter, we're a little bit more quiet. And just the darkness leads to a little bit more quiet. But the lighter nights, it's really like I'm still supposed to be doing something, right. So true. It's harder to wind down when it's laid out.
Debbie 01:31
It is That's very true. And the thing about spring, too, is I think, including me, it's a time where you want to take on new things and take on new habits and say, Okay, this is a good time to start this.
Wendy 01:44
And it is it is.
Debbie 01:45
That's a great time to start. Yeah.
Wendy 01:48
And we have one number one thing we wanted to talk about today as a habit to start, right. And it stems from a conversation we recently had with someone who claimed that meditation is dead. It's so passe, it's gone. It's over the trend is a trend gone. The trend of meditation is gone. Yeah. And we disagree completely.
Debbie 02:12
Completely! It's funny, because, yeah, there are so many health trends; there's so many things that come, don't necessarily go, but they become popular for a little while. And then everybody tries it. And then it, you know, it doesn't get it, it kind of goes away from the scope of a lot of people. But there's a core of people that continue it. Yeah. And perhaps that's what's happened with meditation is that it got really popular again. And then that popularity is kind of, you know, it's not being marketed as much by the wellness people. The fix it people aren't really marketing it anymore.
13 min