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Practicing Meditation For Healing

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

When we practice meditation that brings our attention to our bodies, we may become aware of many aches and pains in our bodies that we hadn’t noticed before. These could be very subtle or they could be very noticeable. A pain or discomfort in a particular area of the body we may be inclined to try to get away from it or change it somehow, which is a natural reaction. If the pain isn’t a result of some specific physical problem, like in the knees for example, then this may be a chance to really deal with the potential for release and healing. Let this be your beginners guide to meditation.

Many unresolved issues are actually held in the form of tension or discomfort that is held in the body. The subconscious holds the past that has not been healed. The body is a kind of storage for the subconscious to keep things that have not been completed in our lives. That is why in meditation we may discover pain from this, welcome it and use it to release the original hurt.

We may gain insight into what we were holding and how it came to be visible to us as we experience release. If we have an ongoing pain in a place like our right shoulder, we may be able to find the source through meditating and becoming conscious of something from childhood connected to our father. This memory of a childhood reflection related to the father can be the vehicle for giving us some insight into the self. The real issue is not what the father’s actions were at all. He serves as the reflection of something that already existed within the self.

We may draw some understanding from this insight about a childhood experience about a pattern that has persisted in our relationships with men. We may notice a way of relating, or not relating to men. In the end we will understand this as a distortion of our masculine polarity. We will see, through examining the source of problems in the past in our lives, that the issues relating to masculinity were influenced by imprinting from the father, and to the feminine, by imprinting from the mother. They are the basis for the reflection and imprinting that occurs in our lives, and following the laws of sympathetic attraction will pull us to the parent that will enable us to work out the karma we’re meant to focus on in our lives.

The case is the same for emotional pain. If we really allow ourselves to experience our emotions in our bodies, to be present to ourselves and honor what is happening, we will be able to notice what develops during this process. This includes coping with anxiety and depression.

We aren’t able to sit and meditate whenever we experience uncomfortable emotions or feelings. The practice of regular meditation can give us the ability to be in the moment of each experience in our lives as it happens, and this can give us great personal power. You can also look to learn yoga for stress relief.

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Tags: Alternative Medicine, anxiety, Health, Meditation, stress relief, Yoga

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Alternative Medicine, anxiety, Health, Meditation, stress relief, Yoga

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Some Of The Benefits Of Meditation

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Meditation has its origins in Eastern culture, but it has been practiced for centuries in cultures all over the world. Meditation refers to a large variety of practices and techniques and includes guided meditation, transcendental meditation and mindful meditation practice. Many different techniques can be used, such as the focus of the mind on certain objects or words, or on the breath. Sometimes a particular posture can be used but isn’t necessary. Let this be part of your beginners guide to meditation.

Meditation can be learned by anyone, doesn’t require getting special equipment, and can be done anywhere. Meditation and yoga for stress relief can make a big impact. Even after the first session, you may experience a reduction in stress. It’s been found by researchers that just 20 minutes a day is all one needs to do to reap the long-term benefits. Even meditating 10 minutes a few days a week could produce positive results.

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.

Scientists have found that meditation encourages the release of parts of the brain that affect the autonomic nervous system, controlling involuntary bodily functions like blood pressure and digestion. Because these functions can be inhibited by stress, the relaxation effect from meditation can definitely have a positive impact on conditions that are related to stress, like digestive problems or heart disease.

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.

A group of people who had meditated for four months was studied by researchers at the Maharishi School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. The people participating in this study had a lower level of cortisol, the “stress hormone” in their systems and they said they felt better prepared to meet the challenges of stress in their lives, which includes tips on dealing with anxiety and depression.

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.

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Tags: Alternative Medicine, anxiety, Health, Meditation, stress relief, Yoga