Ep 14: Meditation I: Why can't we prove that it works??

Meditation is practiced by billions across the globe. Each person with their own personal relationship to their practice. There are countless stories of meditation’s positive effect on people’s lives. From tales of rapture, to people who have come back from the brink through meditation to those that just feel that meditation makes them 10% happier. Great! Meditation works then. Cool! No need for a podcast about it [resumes online shopping for bulk-buy Golden Gaytimes] Wait. You’re saying there’s NO DEFINITIVE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT MEDITATION WORKS? How is that possibly true? Well in this episode, Justin and Justin creep through the sticky weeds of why the effectiveness of meditation is decidedly hard to tease out. Or maybe…. just maybe… it might not be as amazing as we think! We also talk about retired search engines, poop transplants and we announce an interview with Dylan Baskind (CEO Qwilr Industries). Note that the interview will be released as a separate episode to follow shortly! REFERENCES Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011) Some reflections on the origins of MBSR, skillful means, and the trouble with maps, Contemporary Buddhism, 12:01, 281-306, DOI: 10.1080/14639947.2011.564844 Van Dam, N. (2018). Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2018 Jan;13(1):36-61. doi: 10.1177/1745691617709589. Epub 2017 Oct 10.