Meditation has always been the elusive dangling carrot on my path towards wellness. I mean, I’ve experimented with it for about a decade but never really seemed to have a strong hold on a technique that worked for me. That was until I started walking for exercise. Something about the repetitive movement really worked for my mind to let go of all its tension and visualize my “happy place”. Now I tend to get my best meditation done while massaging clients. Strangely enough, my mind tends to get in a very relaxed, meditative state while I help others reduce their pain and stress.

It took me a while, though to find a setting or two that worked for me. If you have an interest in meditation (and you should because it’s very effective!), start experiementing with getting your mind into a relaxed state for 15 minutes to start. Read on for more information about meditation and it’s healing effects. I found this post at Visalia’s Guide to Healthy Living, a pretty cool site.

The term meditation refers to a group of techniques, most of which started in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions. These techniques have been used by many different cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. Today, many people use meditation outside of its traditional religious or cultural settings, for health and wellness purposes.

In meditation, a person learns to focus his attention and suspend the stream of thoughts that normally occupy the mind. This practice is believed to result in a state of greater physical relaxation, mental calmness, and psychological balance. Practicing meditation can change how a person relates to the flow of emotions and thoughts in the mind.

Most types of meditation have four elements in common:

A quiet location. Many meditators prefer a quiet place with as few distractions as possible. This can be particularly helpful for beginners. People who have been practicing meditation for a longer period of time sometimes develop the ability to meditate in public places, like waiting rooms or buses.

A specific, comfortable posture. Depending on the type being practiced, meditation can be done while sitting, lying down, standing, walking, or in other positions.

A focus of attention. Focusing one’s attention is usually a part of meditation. For example, the meditator may focus on a mantra (a specially chosen word or set of words), an object, or the breath.

An open attitude. Having an open attitude during meditation means letting distractions come and go naturally without stopping to think about them. When distracting or wandering thoughts occur, they are not suppressed; instead, the meditator gently brings attention back to the focus. In some types of meditation, the meditator learns to observe the rising and falling of thoughts and emotions as they spontaneously occur.
Meditation is practiced both on its own and as a component of some other therapies, such as yoga, tai chi, and qi gong. This Backgrounder focuses on meditation practiced on its own.

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Meditation for Health Purposes
Meditation used as CAM is a type of mind-body medicine (one of the four domains, or areas of knowledge, in CAM). Generally, mind-body medicine focuses on:

The interactions among the brain, the rest of the body, the mind, and behavior
The ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect health
People use meditation for various health problems, such as:

Anxiety
Pain
Depression
Mood and self-esteem problems
Stress
Insomnia
Physical or emotional symptoms that may be associated with chronic illnesses and their treatment, such as:
Cardiovascular (heart) disease
HIV/AIDS
Cancer
Meditation is also used for overall wellness.

A large national survey on Americans’ use of CAM, released in 2004, found that nearly 8 percent of the participants had used meditation specifically for health reasons during the year before the survey.


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