Wed 10 Jun 2009
For centuries meditation has been a widespread practice in many cultures throughout the world, and originated in the East. The word meditation can describe any number of methods and practices, including transcendental meditation, mindful meditation, or guided meditation. Many different techniques are used, whether it’s following the breath, or focusing the attention on a particular word or object. Sometimes people use a special posture while meditating, but not always.
Meditation can be simple to learn, does not require special equipment, and can be done in almost any location. After only one session a person can experience stress reduction. It has been found by most researchers that only 20 minutes a day will produce long-term health benefits. The effects can be felt even with the practice of meditation for only 10 minutes a few days a week.
Meditation, if practiced regularly, can improve psychological and physiological health. The brainwave pattern can be brought into the alpha state by meditation. This is the state of consciousness which encourages healing. Meditation promotes relaxation, mental clarity, psychological health, healing from different diseases, and mind/body health generally.
It’s been found in studies that meditation activates the part of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, controlling the body functions like digestion and blood pressure. Stress has a powerful negative impact on these functions, so meditation can help relieve the causes of stress-related disease, like digestive disorders or heart conditions.
In a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine, 90 cancer patients practiced mindful meditation for a period of seven weeks. Patients found at the end of that time that they suffered from less depression, anger, confusion or anxiety. They experienced fewer heart or gastrointestinal problems, and they reported higher levels of energy.
At the Maharishi School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, researchers studied a group or people who meditated for four months. They discovered that the participants had lower levels of cortisol, which is also known as the stress hormone, and were able to deal with stress in their lives better.
Research can help confirm some of what we know about, but there are obviously many benefits we can claim without research. Meditation offers benefits to almost everyone, and has no reported ill effects.
