Study: Prayer Improves Self-Control

reply to post by LittleByLittle


That version is deep I believe Tibetan monks?, I have some variations of the mantra, the version of the mantra I love the most was by a Chinese women using acoustic string instruments very fluid and soft, Chinese music.

reply to post by benrl


Yes I agree, some people swear by prayers, others by meditation, I have more success with guided meditation because it targets specific needs.

reply to post by Stormdancer777
Then Copsnever did a prayer in their life...

Yeah things like praying and meditation have had some psychological and medical benefits. Meditation can reduce stress, anxiety, blood pressure, and among other things.

It's good for your mind to stop and rest for a little while and gather your thoughts.


It's just like whenever your about to go into a frantic rage of anger, and you decide to stop, close your eyes, and take some deep breathes. Whenever you are angry for example, people don't really think before they act. They act on impulse. That's why when people are angry they usually yell out some pretty hurtful things, and commonly say "I don't know what came over me." I usually do that whenever I get very angry, and it ends up helping. Although I don't pray or meditate to some sort of deity.

It's just a way your body prevents psychological turmoil. It's good to free your mind for a while if your in a stressful situation. Since stress can have negative side effects to your health.

reply to post by Stormdancer777


Nice thread to hit upon just before bedtime, thanks for sharing!

Think I'll do my nightly prayer now. Seriously, that may have seemed sarcastic but I do pray regularly.

Ergo, off to pray before bedtime. ..

bashar explains it very good why this works..at 1 minute. Prayer is a frequency modulating act which lets us "Let go" of our resistance. Its a permission slip as everything. You can have the same effect with hearing music, making sports etc etc

marg6043
reply to post by Stormdancer777

 

Meditation and reciting mantras does the same thing, is all in the mind and what people think that works for them.

To me it seems to be more of a mind trick because of this:

Additionally, the study found that those who prayed tried just as hard to control their emotions while watching the videos, but did not deplete their capacity for self-control.

The "capacity for self-control" was measured, but the "efforts" were just as hard.

The notion of this isn't surprising really… prayer focuses or brings to the forefront of your mind your conscious intent/will and as such it would make sense with your conscious will/intent in focus your self control would improve.

Prayer and meditation walk together.
Meditation naturally starts where a prayer ends. One stops talking and starts to listen. Both can be influenced with our imperfections. Practicing both is beneficial. When we pray to Supreme we can feel it's an audience and we have to behave ourselves. That's when Holy Spirit is cultivating our whole being. In meditation we offer our heart's flower to God the gardener.
Also with a prayer foregoing meditation it won't just open us to anything.

Few words from a lifelong prayer and meditator Sri Chinmoy:

The prayer "Let Thy Will be done" is infinitely more beautiful, infinitely more illumining and infinitely more fulfilling than a prayer of praise and beseeching. When we say, "Let Thy Will be done," it means we have become fully aware of our measureless limitations, incapacities and ignorance, and aware of God's measureless compassion, concern and love for us. Because of our fathomless ignorance, we admit that we do not know what is good for us. We realize we may ask for the wrong thing, which instead of helping or satisfying us will only make us miserable. So we ask our divine Father, who loves us infinitely more than we love ourselves, to take control of our lives and make the decisions for us.

Seeking for God-compatible meditation and meditation music? Start here

In existence where your life breath comes from / depends on primal source which is living personal God ; in such existence one can't be truly living without prayer to Him and self-offering meditation in Him.

Great thread and one that really crosses the science/religion divide nicely.
Makes sense that prayer/meditation actually gives 'reflection time' that otherwise would be eaten up by other things.

I've been saying a nightly prayer before sleep since I was very, very young. It just became a ritual.

I don't feel right if I don't unless I'm very ill.

It puts me in the right frame of mind to quiet my restless thoughts and drift off to sleep at night. It lets me close out my day, put things in God's hands for the night and bleed off my worries. So, this doesn't surprise me at all.

As an athlete, I also used it to help focus before a race. I never used to pray for God to help me win. I didn't ask for Him to play favorites, but I did ask Him to help me find my own inner strength to compete with the best of my ability and to help me come through a race safely (I hurdled). I figured that was something it was fair to ask Him to do.

Something came to me while reading all this. It reminded me of how certain things center the mind. For example, if you're getting heated or know you're about to go into a heated situation, you sometimes remind yourself who you're and what's expected of you from others. You might be a respected leader with a history of speaking well and mending wounds between different parties of people. You might be a friendly person. Either way, you remind yourself of who're you're and maybe even what you want to be - to know what's important. This I think helps you to control yourself later on when the anger or the frustration starts to build.

My name is X. I am X. I want to be X. I want to be calm and collected.

It's about focusing on what's important and not losing sight of it. This means you have to remind yourself every so often, sort of like a ritual.

Nothing is perfect and we all slip sometimes, but we have some choice.