Meditate on Your Health
From:
Natural Solutions
104 days 12 hours 15 minutes ago
According to Dr. Joan Borysenko, meditation can be broadly defined as any activity that keeps the attention pleasantly anchored in the present moment. In this state, the mind is calm and focused, not reacting to memories from the past nor preoccupied with future concerns, two major sources of chronic stress that can negatively impact health.
There are numerous approaches to meditation, most of which fall into two categories, concentrative meditation and mindfulness meditation. Concentrative meditation focuses the attention on the breath, an image, or a sound (mantra) in order to still the mind and allow a greater awareness and clarity to emerge. The simplest form of concentrative meditation is to sit quietly and focus the attention on the breath. When a person is anxious, frightened, agitated, or distracted, the breath will tend to be shallow, rapid, and uneven. But when the mind is calm and focused, the breath tends to be slow, deep, and regular. As the mind becomes absorbed in the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation, breathing becomes deeper and the mind becomes more tranquil and aware.
Mindfulness meditation, according to Dr. Borysenko, “involves opening the attention to become aware of the continuously passing parade of sensations, feelings, images, thoughts, sounds,
smells, and so forth without becoming involved in thinking about them.” The meditator sits quietly and simply witnesses whatever passes through the mind, not reacting or becoming involved in thoughts, memories, worries, or images. This helps produce a calm, clear, and non-reactive state of mind.
The psychophysiological health effects of meditation have been studied in the West since the 1960s. As a result of the large body of research attesting to its many benefits, growing numbers of physicians, psychotherapists, and other health-care professionals are recommending meditation to their patients. Studies have shown that meditation can bring about a healthy state of relaxation by causing a generalized reduction in multiple physiological and biochemical markers, such as decreased heart rate, decreased respiration rate, decreased cortisol (a major stress hormone), and an increase in brain waves associated with relaxation. Research shows that meditation has benefits for addiction, allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, emphysema, endometriosis, hepatitis, hypertension, indigestion, insomnia, memory loss, menopause, obsessive-compulsive disorder, osteoporosis, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), psoriasis and other skin disorders, recovery from surgery, sexual dysfunction, stroke, and ulcers, reports Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., author of Meditation as Medicine.
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Information presented is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes only. Statements about products and health conditions have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Products and information presented herein are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional.
