Friday, February 15, 2013

Reduce Perceptions Of Pain Through Meditation

March 21, 2011 by  
Filed under Natural Pain Relief


natural pain remediesOne cannot ignore meditation in the arsenal of natural pain remedies to consider. The mind-body practice of meditation is an age-old discipline that has its roots in the religious and spiritual traditions of cultures around the world. While a variety of meditation techniques exist, the general goal of this holistic healing practice is to use focused attention, posture and nonresistance to distractions to quiet the mind. Research into the effects meditation has on the body and its impact on overall health and well-being are just getting underway, so relatively little is known about its healing effects.

To ensure you get the best treatment possible, take the time to inform your health care practitioner of any alternative healing modalities you are currently using so that he or she has a complete picture of what you are doing to stay healthy. The goal of meditation is to focus one’s attention in order to quiet the mind. This is accomplished in many forms of meditation by simply observing one’s thoughts, feelings and body sensations without judging them or trying to resist or stop them. Soon, the mind begins to quiet and the body relaxes as both physical, and mental tension is released. The more one meditates, the easier it becomes to remain calm and peaceful in the midst of any situation.There are a few particular essentials to a successful meditation practice regardless of the technique used:

  1. A quiet setting.  A location where there is a minimal amount of distractions is best, especially for the beginning meditator.
  2. A posture that is comfortable to hold.  The specific posture will depend on the type of meditation being practiced and can include sitting, standing, walking, and lying down.
  3. Focused attention. An easy way to quiet the mind is to focus attention on something other than thinking. One can repeat a special word or words called a mantra, observe an object such as a candle flame, or simply watch the breath.
  4. Non-judgment. Non-judgment simply means allowing whatever is happening to happen without labeling it as good or bad. Instead of trying to stop distracting thoughts, feelings, or sensations, observe them without reacting and then turns the attention back to whatever is being focused on.

There are even forms of meditation that use distractions as the focal point of the meditation. Many disease conditions, including joint pain, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease and inflammation, respond well to meditation.  It is an excellent practice for improving overall physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual health. A regular meditation practice also increases energy, improves mental and emotional clarity and stability, helps establish healthy sleep patterns, and increases lung and heart efficiency, resulting in improved breathing.

Meditation is a powerful, self-care modality because of its ability to harmonize, strengthen, and balance all of the body’s systems and reduce the risk factors associated with debilitating heart disease and stroke. Beginning a regular and consistent meditation practice and sticking with it is easy when you start out with a short, 10-minutes session. Slowly increase this time to around 30 minutes a day to experience the enormously powerful benefits that result from meditating every day. Inner peace, increased awareness, and a plethora of health benefits are just a few of the positive results you’ll experience when you are able to reduce excessive thinking via the gentle practice of meditation. If you want to learn more about natural pain remedies using meditation visit the project meditation website.

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- Eric

Photo Credit: Hape_Gera

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