Post by Admin on Jun 27, 2019 19:40:15 GMT -5
(Photo: Mindful Magazine)
The latest issue of the print version Mindful magazine (June 18, 2019) has an article titled “Training the Brains of Warriors: Neuroscientist Amishi Jha explores how the military is using mindfulness to tap into calm and focused attention under extreme stress.” this caught my eye as In the last couple years this topic of mindfulness training for military personnel has been the subject of serious criticism from various quarters, including Buddhist scholars and political thinkers who rebel against terms such as ‘Mindful Warrior’, considering this an oxymoron -- a contradiction of terms.
While the Mindful article referenced here is only in the print edition (as of June 27, 2019), it is not yet fully available online. Once the next Mindful issue is in print, the link can normally bring up the full article.
The expert discussed in this article is Prof. Amishi Jha, PhD, who heads up the Contemplative Neuroscience, Mindfulness Research & Practice Initiative, at the University of Miami. She has done research centering around mindfulness training with military personnel, most recently publishing the following journal articles:
Amishi Jha: Recent Peer-reviewed Publications:
Osman, A., Paczynski, M., & Jha, A. P. (2017). Affective expectations influence neural responses to stressful images in soldiers. Military Psychology, 29(1), 41-57.
Jha, A. P., *Morrison, A. B., *Dainer-Best, J., *Parker, S., *Rostrup, N., & Stanley, E. (2015). Minds “At Attention”: Mindfulness training curbs attentional lapses in military cohorts. PLoS ONE, 10(2), 1-19.
Osman, A., Paczynski, M., & Jha, A. P. (2017). Affective expectations influence neural responses to stressful images in soldiers. Military Psychology, 29(1), 41-57.
Jha, A. P., *Morrison, A. B., *Dainer-Best, J., *Parker, S., *Rostrup, N., & Stanley, E. (2015). Minds “At Attention”: Mindfulness training curbs attentional lapses in military cohorts. PLoS ONE, 10(2), 1-19.
All this reminded me of an excellent interview of Professor Jha in a podcast I had listened to last year on Ted Meissner's excellent podcast, Present Moment, so I thought it would fit here on MindfulVets.net, where our focus is on mindfulness as it relates to military veterans and active duty.
The opening paragraph below on Ted Meissner’s presentmomentmindfulness.com’s podcast page frames the subject and podcast perfectly:
Episode 106 :: Amishi Jha :: Mindfulness for the Military
February 17, 2018
Amishi Jha
Dr. Amishi Jha joins us to speak about mindfulness programs in the military.
Over the course of the past several years I’ve heard and seen some pretty damning opinions of teaching mindfulness to military personnel, active duty or otherwise. Often there’s a false dichotomy subtley posed with contrasting images of soldiers bristling with weapons in a combat scenario, and then an image of a stately monk sitting tranquily in meditation. Of course, you don’t see the soldiers sitting calmly when they’re practicing meditation, nor do you see the monk hitting a nun in full view of his community. Where I find such evidence free criticisms failing is that they completely ignore the body of military personnel, who are, to a soldier, still people. Some of these people may have found there way into service as the only way to get money for college, or to escape crushing poverty and build a life for their family. And veterans, those who may have suffered during their deployments more horribly than many of us can ever understand, aren’t they people too, also deserving of some chance for equanimity?
LISTEN TO PODCAST HERE
February 17, 2018
Amishi Jha
Dr. Amishi Jha joins us to speak about mindfulness programs in the military.
Over the course of the past several years I’ve heard and seen some pretty damning opinions of teaching mindfulness to military personnel, active duty or otherwise. Often there’s a false dichotomy subtley posed with contrasting images of soldiers bristling with weapons in a combat scenario, and then an image of a stately monk sitting tranquily in meditation. Of course, you don’t see the soldiers sitting calmly when they’re practicing meditation, nor do you see the monk hitting a nun in full view of his community. Where I find such evidence free criticisms failing is that they completely ignore the body of military personnel, who are, to a soldier, still people. Some of these people may have found there way into service as the only way to get money for college, or to escape crushing poverty and build a life for their family. And veterans, those who may have suffered during their deployments more horribly than many of us can ever understand, aren’t they people too, also deserving of some chance for equanimity?
LISTEN TO PODCAST HERE