Meditation Background
The use of meditation for healing is not new. Meditative techniques are the result of diverse cultures and peoples all around the world. It has been rooted in the traditions of the world's great religions and 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 all the religions that use meditation, perhaps Buddhism 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 history and traditions, only within the past 30years that scientists and doctors have focused on the clinical effects of meditation on health. During the 1960s, reports reached the West of meditation masters in
Doctors have described the meditation experience as the "relaxation response." It was discovered 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, even temperature and 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 waves to the blissful waves.
Meditation focuses on quieting the mind. The intention is not to remove stimulation but rather to direct your concentration to one healing element - one sound, one word, one image, or one's breathe. When the mind is "filled" with the feeling of calm and peace, it cannot take off on its own and worry, stress out, or get depressed. Meditation can be defined as any activity that keeps the attention pleasantly anchored in the present moment. When the mind is calm and focused in the present, it is neither reacting to memories from the past or being occupied with plans for the future, the sources of chronic stress known to impact health.
There are two basic types of meditations; Concentrative and Mindfulness. Concentrative meditation focuses the attention on the breathing, an image, or a sound (chant or mantra) in order to still the mind and allow an awareness and clarity to emerge. Mindfulness meditation involves opening the attention to become aware of the continuously passing sensations/feelings, images, thoughts, sounds, smells, and so forth without becoming involved in thinking about them. The person sits quietly and simply witnesses whatever goes through the mind, not reacting or becoming involved with thoughts, memories, worries, or images. This helps to gain a more calm, clear, and non-reactive state of mind.
How Meditation Works
Studies have shown that meditation can bring about a healthy state of relaxation by causing a generalized reduction in physiological and biochemical markers; decreased heart rate, decreased respiration rate, decreased pulse rate, and increased EEG (electroencephalogram) alpha, a brain wave associated with relaxation. During meditation, the body achieves a state of intense rest but at the same time the brain and mind become more alert. After meditations, people’s reactions became faster, their creativity greater and their comprehension broadened.
The drop in metabolic rate was the most interesting discovery to scientists. This was signified by a remarkable drop in oxygen consumption within a few minutes of starting meditation; falling by 20% below the normal level. People in the research took on average two breaths less per minute and their heart rate were several beats less per minute. Blood pressure stayed at 'low levels', but fell dramatically in people starting meditation with abnormally high levels. By quieting the mind, meditation can put one in touch with their “inner physician”, allowing the body's own inner wisdom to be heard.
We know that after years of research, there is significant scientific evidence that meditation can reduce blood pressure, relieve pain and stress. It is also found that meditation can normalize brain rhythms and chemistry in alcohol and drug addiction, as well as other addictions.
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