Meditation Does Not Have to Be So Hard

Meditation Does Not Have to Be So Hard

Taken from http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8171/5-benefits-of-a-10-minute-meditation-practice.html

When people hear meditation, they are probably thinking about monks in monasteries where they spend entire days sitting supposedly “meditating”. Well if we look at it that way, it becomes an extremely difficult act to follow and we get discouraged if we ever wanted to try it. Nevertheless, listening and seeing all the recent advertising about how meditation can be really good for you is making more and more people want to try it. But most people are not aware of is that, if they try it by themselves without a guide, they will most likely feel discouraged because, they will not be able to achieve a “blank mind” right away.

Meditation has been around for 5,000 years, and it has known benefits such as mind and body healing, and emotional steadiness and harmony. The Art of Living Journal states that, “Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into a relaxed state that promotes healing.” Meditation has a way of bringing energy to the body even better than sleeping. The Art of Living also explains that, “With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.” That way and in so many more, practicing meditation regularly can increase the overall wellbeing of a person.

Taken from http://www.artofliving.org/us-en/meditation/meditation-for-you/benefits-meditation

Meditation has been practiced by lots of different cultures and religions around the world in different ways, and there is not a specific manner of meditation that applies to everyone. Meditation has a lot of different ways to be practiced, and it can literally be customized to everyone’s needs. It is not supposed to make people suffer in the process, or have to make an enormous effort in order to achieve it. But it is also not supposed to be as easy as breathing; specially because, it is not possible to achieve a deep meditation state the first couple of times one tries it. Like every other practice, it requires time and practice to become better at it.

The first times you meditate with a guide or by yourself, the first thing you need to do is not expecting too much and not pushing yourself to be able to meditate for a long time. One should start with short 5 – 10 minutes meditation sessions in which one should just try to find a breathing rhythm. Going straight for trying to clear one’s mind is not that easy. A post on Meditation Oasis explains that, “This is probably the most common challenge people have with meditation. They feel they are unable to quiet the mind and keep out thoughts. ‘My mind just won’t stop its chatter.’ ‘I can’t stay focused on meditation.’” This is one of the reasons why people have the wrong idea about what meditating means. The solution is to stop resisting thoughts because, they are a part of meditation. Meditation oasis states that, “They are a natural activity in the mind. Although meditation can be a way to experience inner silence, this comes about not by eliminating thoughts but by becoming aware of the silence that is naturally present in the mind along with the thoughts.” Therefore, the only way to truly experience calmness, is to stop resisting our own minds.

The Awakening of Acupuncture

The Awakening of Acupuncture

Taken from http://www.drjamesodell.com

As a part of CAM, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, we have Chinese medicine. There are many different things in which this type of medicine focuses on, but the key component is Acupuncture. It has been on the Chinese medical world almost for 2,000 years, while for the western civilization it is still gaining complete acceptance. Nevertheless, the fact is that it really works, like an article in Medical News Today states, “According to WHO (World Health Organization) acupuncture is effective for treating 28 conditions, while evidence indicates it may have an effective therapeutic value for many more.” With all these benefits that this practice brings, I wonder why it is not included in more primary health treatments and hospitals.

What does acupuncture consist of? It is a form of treatment that involves the insertion of extremely thin needles through the skin at strategic meridian points in order to make the Qi (CHEE) move and induce healing. The Qi is the term Chinese medicine uses to refer to vital energy or life force that is known to flow through these pathways called meridians. Acupuncture is mainly used for pain relief, but as I mentioned above, it has been known to treat different diseases as well.

Apart of it being extremely beneficial, it is not invasive and it does not have any side effects. There are 350 acupuncture points in the body, by which the energy flows may be accessed. For Chinese medicine, illness is known to be a consequence of imbalance of the Qi, or the energies in the body. Therefore, while inserting these needles in appropriate combinations and in different depths, the flow can be brought back into proper balance.

Taken from http://lindahuangtolentino.com/do-those-acupuncture-needles-hurt/

One could think that acupuncture would be a rather painful treatment, since it involves inserting needles. Nevertheless, when done right by a qualified acupuncture practitioner, there should not be pain. An article in Johns Hopkins Medicine about Acupuncture explains that, “Most people report feeling minimal pain as the needle is inserted. The needle is inserted to a point that produces a sensation of pressure or ache. Needles may be heated during the treatment or mild electric current may be applied to them. Some people report acupuncture makes them feel energized. Others say they feel relaxed.” Thereby, the feeling as the needle is inserted should be of relaxation rather than of pain.

With all the benefits that acupuncture brings, and the fact that it is not invasive and it does not have side effects, it would certainly have to be considered when it comes to everyone’s treatment. It is not only recommended to treat diseases itself, but it is also strongly recommended for alleviating stress and opening one’s mind. A Huffington Post explains that one of the ways acupuncture can change your life is the fact that it takes away stress and provides you tools to feel relaxed. It explains that “By mellowing out the nervous system, acupuncture can help you feel less affected by and better equipped to manage the stressful aspects of life.” Because of this and the other aspects stated above, I believe people should start to pay more attention to these kind of treatments in order to improve their health in every aspect possible.

Taken from http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/health-benefits-acupuncture

The Natural Pain Relief

The Natural Pain Relief

Taken from www.consciousbreathing.com

Not many people are aware of the fact that human beings have in their power the possibility to not feel pain or to minimize it. There is a way by which people can actually play a role in not feeling pain with their own body, and not with painkillers. The body is designed to react in order to thrive in any circumstances given by the environment. Nevertheless, it is not used to the amount of stress we put ourselves through today. Pain and stress cause the same response in our body. The Pain Management Health Center in WebMD explains that “Pain and stress have a similar effect on the body: your heart rate and blood pressure rise, breathing becomes fast and shallow, and your muscles tighten.” Therefore, when we are stressed or in pain, our whole body is tensed and alert, and it is waiting for the pain or stressor to go, so that it can relax.

Sadly, we do not allow our bodies to get back into a relaxation state because, we are in constant stress. Chronic stress, such as worrying about what might happen or what did happen, or fearing the future, causes the body to be in a constant state of tension and can never actually recuperate. When our body is relaxed, our heart rate slows down and our vital functions begin to work normally. Something really important to remember, is that the body has its own relaxation technique to help itself regenerate. This technique is exhaling. When we inhale, the sympathetic nervous system activates, and with that the alert response that also activates when we are under stress. While when we exhale, the parasympathetic nervous system activates and allows the body to turn on its long term functions such as digestion and the immune system. Therefore, it is like a vicious cycle; when we are stressed we breath faster, and since we breath faster, the parasympathetic nervous system shuts down and with that our regeneration.

A post on the DailyMail says that, “Most healthy adults take between 12 and 18 breaths a minute. But new research shows that slowing this down to as few as six a minute can have a powerful pain-busting effect.” They did a study on healthy middle-aged women and women who had fibromyalgia, where they wanted to measure how much pain they could tolerate. They found that when they breathed slowly, they rated the pain as less intense as when they breathed normally.

Taken from www.fix.com

This is in fact a novel finding, because the only thing it takes it’s breathing slower. There are several ways by which people can relax themselves, but this is one of the easiest and the handiest at every moment of our days. When we feel stressed, we only need to remember that exhaling triggers the relaxation response in our bodies, and it can also help us stop worrying. Andrew R. Block, PhD comments on Spine-Health that, “Learning to relax takes practice, especially when you are in pain, but it is definitely worth it to be able to release muscle tension throughout the body and start to remove attention from the pain.” This is how we can achieve pain relief in a natural way.