Instagram

Post:

molly_taylor: When you have to research in coffee shops so you don’t resort to watching
The Office and napping :/ #caffineaddict #Fillmore #thatnewspaperisntmine
#Ilovetheoffice #goodbyetoby #stillinlovewithjim #motivation #why #college
Source #1:
Citation (APA style): [Cartia Mallan]. (2016, June 1). WHY MEDITATE. [Video File]. Retrived
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6zvnirAzo .

Summary: Provide a thorough summary of your source. Type the author’s main claim(s) and
identify the supporting evidence. Your summary should also include the author’s objective—to
inform, to persuade, evaluate, etc.

This YouTube video is a self-testimony of two different meditators, of how it impacted

them. The authors are Cartia Mallan and Rochelle Fox. Their main claim is that meditation
impacts your mental health positively. That mediation helps with mental clarity, to boost
production for you day, and that meditation can help with self-image and working against
pressures of societal norms. They use their own experience as evidence for their claims. The
objective seems to be to inform the audience of the benefits of mediation, as well as the ease of
it.

Evaluation: Determine both how convincing and how useful the source is for your research on
the issue. Your evaluation should explain how you have decided to use the author’s main claims
[in your paper].

I would say that the source was definitely convincing, peoples own testimony can often
be really inspiring. The only issue with this source is that there is not a lot =of factual evidence to
back their claims, and none referenced. I’ll be using this source as an evidence of people’s first-
hand experience with meditation, but I’ll have to back it up with outside evidence.

Reflection: Explain what you learned (specifically) about your topic after you completed your
research.
I have learned that meditation is a process that takes more than just a couple times to reap
the benefits, like with most things you have to try and try again. I also found it interesting that
they call mediation a “building block” for so many other positive things in your life.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6zvnirAzo
Source #2:
Citation (APA style): Dr. Mark Hyman [markhymanmd]. (2017, September 13). Picture of
health benefits of meditation. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.instagram.com/p/BY_5uw_gatq/?tagged=whyimeditate

Summary: Provide a thorough summary of your source. Type the author’s main claim(s) and
identify the supporting evidence. Your summary should also include the author’s objective—to
inform, to persuade, evaluate, etc.

My source is from the Instagram account of Dr. Mark Hyman. In the post he puts a photo
that has a short list of some of the health benefits of meditation. They are 1) increase stem cell
production 2) change your hormones 3) reduce inflammation. In his caption he goes on to say
that meditation is medicine, and talks about brain health. He backs up his claims with a reference
to a link on his Instagram page that goes into more depth on the subject. His objective seems to
be to persuade as well as inform on the benefits of meditation.

Evaluation: Determine both how convincing and how useful the source is for your research on
the issue. Your evaluation should explain how you have decided to use the author’s main claims
[in your paper].

I believe that the source is very convincing as he is a doctor, and the facts he presents are little
known so it will strike the reader. I will use the authors Instagram post as a good visual as well,
as it gets the main points across quickly. The link the author also gave can be used as another
source.

Reflection: Explain what you learned (specifically) about your topic after you completed your
research.

I learned that there is impact of meditation on stem cell production, hormones, and inflammation.
These are all things I did not know before. The comment section of the post is also pretty
reflective of peoples attitudes towards mediation. Most of them say something along the lines of
“I don’t know where to begin”. Which is good for me to know when writing my paper, to know
what people don’t know.
Image:
Source #3:
Citation (APA style): Arias, A.J, & Steinberg K., & Banga A., & Trestman R.L. (2006).
Systematic Review of the Efficacy of Meditation Techniques as Treatments for Medical Illness.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 12.

Link:
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2006.12.817

Summary: Provide a thorough summary of your source. Type the author’s main claim(s) and
identify the supporting evidence. Your summary should also include the author’s objective—to
inform, to persuade, evaluate, etc.

The source I chose is a research article authored by Albert J. Arias, Karen Steinberg,
Alok Banga, and Robert L. Trestman. The article investigates the effectiveness of meditation in
terms of illness. The article intends to inform as opposed to persuade. The articles main claims
are that meditation is a effective practice in treating certain illness’s, seen best in anxiety
disorders.

Evaluation: Determine both how convincing and how useful the source is for your research on
the issue. Your evaluation should explain how you have decided to use the author’s main claims
[in your paper].

This source is very useful in my research because the previous texts are testimonies from people
about their experiences or opinions on meditation, this article gives me evidence from a research
study that was done. This will give my paper more credibility.

Reflection: Explain what you learned (specifically) about your topic after you completed your
research.

I learned that there are a lot of other illnesses that are attempted to be treated by meditation.
Although mental illnesses, such as meditation, are the ones presenting the most results, immune
systems, etc.. are also being tested a possibility.
Source #4:
Citation (APA style): Toscano, Keaton. (2016, January 25). Mediation: Your Health, Emotion,
and Tea.

Summary: Provide a thorough summary of your source. Type the author’s main claim(s) and
identify the supporting evidence. Your summary should also include the author’s objective—to
inform, to persuade, evaluate, etc.

My source is an image from a blog post from the ODYSSEY. It is an image showing a basic
“how-to” on mediation. It is a woman demonstrating her meditation pose. It analyzes correct
breathing, hand and feet placement, emotions, eyes, and timing of mediation. The authors
objective is to inform, there is no pursuasive elements to the picture.

Evaluation: Determine both how convincing and how useful the source is for your research on
the issue. Your evaluation should explain how you have decided to use the author’s main claims
[in your paper].

The image would really add to my paper because a lot of people learn more visually than
verbally. This image is for them and can make my paper convincing and relatable. I would
summarize the main points of this picture in my paper and also attach the image.

Reflection: Explain what you learned (specifically) about your topic after you completed your
research.

One thing I learned is that you can mediate with your eyes open and that it all depends on the
intention of your meditation. If you want a body based mediation keep them closed, and if you
want a mediation anchored to your location, keep them open.
Image:
Field Research:
Citation (APA style): March 10, 2018. 9:12 pm.

For my field research I decided to test out meditation for myself, and see If it made an impact.
From my research so far I have found that they suggest to meditate either early in the morning,
or late at night (both if possible). I choose late at night because I’m far too grump. The location I
chose was my balcony, late at night. I choose this because it is quiet out there, as well as
conferrable so I could focus. I choose to leave my phone inside, to not get distracted. All I had
out on my balcony with me was myself and a chair. This location was pretty good for meditating.
I could only manage to do it for about 7 minutes, before my mind started floating around. I feel
that is pretty good because they recommend starting with around 5 minutes. My experience so
far is that I am not mind blown, but the mediation did help me relax before I went to bed, and I
seemed to fall asleep a little easier than normal.

Image: