You close your eyes and connect to your breath. Breathing in deeply, you know that air is the substance that fills the space between everything, connecting all living things as One. Slowly, you relax your body from head to toe, letting go of all tension as it drains out of your body through your feet. You feel it melting away, like wax dripping down a candle…
We have all heard that meditation is a good practice if one wishes to maintain balance and overall wellness in their life. Individuals have used meditation for various health problems, such as:
• Anxiety
• Pain
• Depression
• Stress
• Insomnia
• Reducing Blood Pressure
• Physical or emotional symptoms that may be associated with chronic illnesses (such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer) and their treatment.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has supported studies on meditation and results have shown that meditation is good for:
• Relieving stress in caregivers for elderly patients with dementia
• Reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes in menopausal women
• Relieving symptoms of chronic back pain
• Improving attention-related abilities (alerting, focusing, and prioritizing)
• Relieving asthma symptoms
This past summer, it was discovered that meditation increases gray matter in the brain, according to UCLA studies. Studies have even shown that meditation can help children with ADHD. According to C. Norm Shealy, M.D., Ph.D and author of more than 285 published works, meditating twice a day for 20 minutes at a time reduces the norepinephrine adrenaline (stress) hormone by 50% for an entire 24 hour period. Meditation also lowers the body’s insulin requirement.
Every known illness known to man shows a deficiency in DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) hormone whether it is psychological, physical, etc. DHEA is the hormone most responsible for overall health and longevity. Chronic stress reveals high levels of cortisol in the body and low levels of DHEA. According to Dr. Shealy, training of the brain through deep meditation can double the body’s production of DHEA for a 24 hour period of time—which is why it is important to meditate every day if you wish to restore health and wellbeing to the body temple.
Medical and scientific studies have just begun to tap into the healing benefits of a meditation practice. The possibility of its potential is limitless considering the power of the human mind. If you do not currently have your own meditation practice and are unsure as to where to begin, here are a few links to guided meditations to help you get started:
http://www.sanctuary-much.com/index.php/blog/viewpost/65
http://www.sanctuary-much.com/index.php/blog/viewpost/54
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