The art of meditation is not new but even today it keeps opening its incredible secrets in front of stunned mainstream practitioners!
You can think of it or not, but we leave in the insane world where everything is not like it was a just a couple of centuries ago. Our forefathers breathed in fresh air, enjoyed clear water and grew natural food. What do we have today? Having the same physiology as it was 4 or 5 generations ago modern humans lead mad lives! We consume unclean water and extremely harmful soft drinks, stuff our mouths with fast food, inhale filthy air and perceive constant urban noise around us. As for the emotional and nervous tension, it is absolutely unbearable. Our speed of life makes us be in a hurry 24/7, we are overworked and stressed in our family lives, we don’t have enough rest and sleep to do extra work and make our carriers. We never give a thought to the fact that our body requires some time to relax and restore, what is more, our head requires some rest, too. Unfortunately, the majority of persons realize the fact when they fall seriously ill. Don’t join them! Think ahead and turn to totally safe and highly effective healing system known for centuries - meditation.
“Did it come to your mind that people who meditate every day are more optimistic, healthier and enjoy longer life expectancy than those who don’t?” This utterance is rather common these days, but is it true or not?
What it meditation? It is a unique concentrating practice where the essential task is to slow down the normal stream of thoughts filling the mind. There are all kinds and sorts of meditation. Maybe you will be amazed to read that a prayer is also a pure meditation as it is. In addition to this kind of focusing natural for all believers there are Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness meditation, Zen meditation, Buddhist meditation and Taoist meditation.
Meditation is the realm of complementary medicine that unlike mainstream medicine it never forgets that men and women have more than a mere sick body. Meditation perceives patients as unique creatures having an inseparable unity of intellect, body and soul. Meditation teachers understand that you cannot be healthy and happy with your life if your head is full of hatred, anger and hopelessness. The interesting fact is that more and more usual doctors prescribe their patients meditation as a way of managing definite illnesses. With meditation you can:
- lower your blood pressure;
- improve the general state of men and women with angina including their exercise performance;
- let patients with asthma breathe freely;
- get rid of insomnia;
- restore after everyday stressful day of life.
Meditation is a native activity for every person, that is why it is up to you to make up your mind where you will practice meditation. Some persons choose to master meditation at home. It is very simple with all the instructional books and audio CDs available. Others choose to learn from a good teacher.
With all its simplicity meditation can offer you numerous options. There are several approaches to meditation. Here are some tips for you how to meditate.
1. Concentrate on your breath - keep your attention on the feeling of the stream of air going in and out of your nostrils. This is so called “mindfulness meditation” - the meditator should learn to be “mindful”, i.e. aware of the present moment of time, but his or her consciousness should be free of any judgments and reactions.
2. Concentrate on your body - keep your attention on the feelings in your body: pain, warmth, discomfort, tension etc.
3. Focus on any word or phrase you like - keeping your attention on a word or phrase is called a “mantra”. Its main task is to keep your mind free of any harmful thoughts.
It is wrong to think that you should always sit during meditation. It is possible to lie down, to stand or even to have a strall. If for some reason sitting still is difficult for you, feel free to combine meditation with other practices such as yoga or tai chi - you will get double pleasure and positive effect!
The use of meditation for healing human body and soul is ancient. All up-to-date meditative approaches are the result of years and years of work and mental experiments of individuals around the world. The healing power of mediation has been known and used for thousands of years. Its cornerstone is tradition and religion; its effect is health and inner harmony! Actually, all religious groups apply meditation in one form or another.
It is doubtless that of all the religions Buddhism is a “father of meditation” - it is the best known and the most practiced kind of meditation in the world. Buddhists apply the practice of meditation for reaching real wisdom and compassion and for perceiving reality as it is. Buddha followers believe that our ordinary consciousness is very narrow - it is both limited and limiting. Meditation broadens human horizons and makes it possible to reveal our conscious and unconscious possibilities entirely.
The stunning truth is that in spite of its unique history and rich traditions, meditation has been undeservedly ignored by the representatives of traditional medicine and only during the past three decades the medical science concentrated on the studies of clinical effects of meditation on health. The 1960s started with shocking medical reports of yogis and meditation masters from the mysterious East who could perform extraordinary bodily control and could consciously stay in altered states of their minds - and this is where studies of self-regulation and voluntary control over the autonomic nervous system started! The squeamish scientific world was deeply shocked when refined scientific instrumentation proved that incredible things are possible! Now health care professionals specializing in stress-related disorders had a unique way of treatment without ruinous side effects typical for drug treatments - it was the art of meditation! It turned out to be a valuable tool for stress reduction, and what is more, individuals and physicians enjoyed both the process of healing meditation and the health benefits available with regular trainings!
But the greatest surprise was still to come! After some time of scientific investigation of meditation this activity turned out to be perfect not solely for changing the brain’s function in the short term. The medical data demonstrated that regular practice of meditation produces a miraculous long-term positive effect! So, Transcendental Meditation in particular guarantees you a blissful state of relaxation including low heart and perspiration rates, decreased pulse rate, decreased concentration of cortisol in your blood (it is a major stress hormone) and high activity of the part of your brain responsible for rest and relaxation! Famous doctor R. Keith Wallace researching Transcendental Meditation revealed that during meditation the body gets the most profound rest imaginable. Paradoxically, your brain and mind become clear and more alert - your reactions are faster, your creativity and efficiency is greater and your comprehension of the world is broader!
Unlike Transcendental Meditation, Taoists consider that our emotions are governed by the Fire energy of the heart. When you cannot control your emotions, this fire energy flares upwards and burns your life energy and clouds your mind. But you can manage that! Your willpower, on the contrary, is controlled by the Water energy located in your kidneys. If you do not control this energy, it flows down through your sexual organs, weakening your spirit and ruining your life. So, Taoists think that when you sit motionless doing nothing and thinking of nothing, i.e. when you are meditating your Fire and Water are in harmony. Water energy from the kidneys goes up to your head via the Central and Governing channels. At the same time Fire energy from the heart goes down into the Lower Elixir Field in the abdomen. Through this right circulation of two energies and by means of this mental alchemy in the organism your mind becomes calmer, cooler and more controllable, while your sexual energy becomes really enjoyable!
Meditation is definitely one of the safest activities imaginable. It is useful for individuals of all ages and states of health. However, you should know that in people with bad psychiatric cases, there have been a few reports in which regular meditation has worsened the state of their mental health. If you have a psychiatric issue, please, talk to your mental health professional before starting the practice of meditation.
One more necessary point - if you take meds on a regular basis never stop taking them before you have completed the course. The fact is meditation cannot give you stable relief at once - in needs some time to work! If you cannot stand queuing up in the waiting room of your physician to get your prescription, find a reliable online pharmacy online where you can buy pills no rx necessary legally. Take definite steps to make your life better right now! And let healing mediation be your best guide.
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