Meditation Introduction
The use of Meditation
for healing is not new. Meditative techniques are the product of diverse
cultures and peoples around the world. It has been rooted in the
traditions of the world's great religions. In fact, practically all
religious groups practice meditation in one form or another. The value
of Meditation to alleviate suffering and promote healing has been known
and practiced for thousands of years.
Of the religions that use meditation, perhaps Buddhism, practiced widely
in eastern and central Asia, is the best known. To Buddhists, the
practice of meditation is essential for the cultivation of wisdom and
compassion and for understanding reality. Buddhists believe that our
ordinary consciousness is both limited and limiting. Meditation makes it
possible to live life to the full spectrum of our conscious and
unconscious possibilities.
In spite of its rich history and traditions, it is only during the past
three decades that scientific study has focused on the clinical effects
of meditation on health. During the 1960s, reports reached the West of
yogis and meditation masters in India who could perform extraordinary
feats of bodily control and altered states of consciousness. These
reports captured the interest of Western researchers studying
self-regulation and the possibility of voluntary control over the
autonomic nervous system. At the same time, new refinements in
scientific instrumentation made it possible to duplicate and
substantiate some of these reports at medical research institutes.
Health care professionals who were often dissatisfied with the side
effects of drug treatments for stress-related disorders embraced
meditation as a valuable tool for stress reduction, and today both
patients and physicians enjoy the health benefits of regular meditation
practice.
He discovered by studying various yogis and long-time mediators that the
meditation process counteracted the effects of the sympathetic nervous
system-the one that wants to fight or flee. Whereas the sympathetic
system dilates the pupils and gets the heart rate, respiration, and
blood pressure up, the parasympathetic system, activated when we
meditate, does just the opposite. Muscle tension decreases, blood
pressure drops, and for some extraordinary practitioners, even
temperature and basal metabolism rates drop during a prolonged
meditation. Oxygen needs of the body are reduced when you are in a
highly relaxed state, and brain waves change from the busy beta-waves to
the blissful alpha waves.
What Is Meditation?
There are numerous varieties of meditation - prayer might be one of the best
known, but there is additionally TM (Transcendental Meditation), mindfulness
meditation, and from the Japanese custom, Zen meditation, Buddhist meditation,
and Taoist meditation.
The meditation encompasses such numerous methods as:
Formal sitting through which the body is held motionless and the attention
controlled. e.g., Zazen, Vipassana
Expressive practices , by which the body is let free and something can happen.
e.g., Siddha Yoga, the Latihan, the chaotic meditation of Rajneesh.
The observe of going about one's each day round of actions mindfully. e.g.,
Mahamudra, Shikan Taza, Gurdjieff's "self-remembering".
All these practices have one thing in widespread - all of them concentrate on
quietening the busy mind. The intention is to not take away stimulation but
somewhat to direct your concentration to at least one healing component - one
sound, one phrase, one image, or one's breath. When the thoughts is "crammed"
with the sensation of calm and peace, it can't take off on its own and worry,
stress out, or get depressed.
In keeping with Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., a pioneer in the subject of mind/physique
medicine, meditation can be broadly outlined as any exercise that retains the
attention pleasantly anchored in the current moment. When the mind is calm and
focused within the current, it is neither reacting to reminiscences from the
past nor being preoccupied with plans for the longer term, two major sources of
persistent stress identified to impression health. "Meditation," says Dr.
Borysenko, "helps to keep us from figuring out with the 'motion pictures of the
mind."
Psychological Benefits of
Meditation:
Meditation can help
most people feel less anxious and more in control. The awareness that
meditation brings can also be a source of personal insight and
self-understanding.
