Many have long known through experience that meditation makes life better. And now, that fact is well-documented scientifically with impressive findings. For people in addiction recovery, the research is particularly promising. The effects of regular meditation can dramatically improve many of the residual effects of an addiction after detox.
How Meditation Helps Heal the Brain After Drug or Alcohol Addiction Click To Tweet
Chronic Anger: Its Consequences and How to Manage It
Chronic anger is that feeling of persistent animosity that prevails beyond the normally accepted emotional span. It is hostility that lingers in your heart and mind, and like a gangrenous ulcer, it eats away at your core and destroys your physical and psychological well-being. [Read more…] about Chronic Anger: Its Consequences and How to Manage It
How Apps Help You Stick To A Regular Meditation Practice
The past few years have seen people being drawn to meditation for its health and wellness benefits, as well as for the inner calm it brings to the minds and hearts of individuals who practice the discipline regularly.
For those who are already meditating and those who want to begin, a common dilemma is setting aside time to do it. Life as it is today has become so busy that adding meditation to the daily routine of home, work, kids, spouse and a dog or two seems impossible. Finding a quiet space to focus on your breathing and be still is a challenge in the workplace or at home. This is where apps come in handy. [Read more…] about How Apps Help You Stick To A Regular Meditation Practice
15 Books on Mindfulness and Meditation to Find Balance in Life
Recent global events added to our own personal stressors have made it more difficult for us to cling to our hopes and dreams for a better world. That’s why more and more people are turning to meditation to attain the inner calm and peaceful countenance that seem so elusive in the present time.
These books on meditation and mindfulness will help you gain focus, achieve serenity and lower stress levels. Here’s hoping they will be of valuable assistance to you in your daily practice. [Read more…] about 15 Books on Mindfulness and Meditation to Find Balance in Life
Practice Mindfulness Meditation and Protect Yourself from Chronic Diseases
Mindfulness meditation has been touted as an antidote to stress, anxiety and depression. And science has backed it up with evidence showing that people who practice meditation on a regular basis produce less of the stress hormone cortisol and more of the happy hormone serotonin in their bodies.
Mindfulness meditation brings us into a balanced state of mind. It accomplishes this balance by stimulating the whole brain to maximum performance. Our brains have right and left hemispheres. The left hemisphere is our logical, practical side while the right hemisphere takes care of creativity and intuition. One side usually dominates. That’s why we often say artists are right-brain persons and scientists are left-brain creatures. But ideally, both sides should be equally operating. With regular meditation, we can achieve whole brain function and enter into harmony. New neural pathways are created, blood flow improves and the mind is better able to deal with negative sensations like pain. When the mind is relaxed, it becomes a fertile ground for healthy cells to regenerate.
Here are three chronic diseases that we can prevent or halt the progress of, through mindfulness meditation:
Mindfulness meditation and heart disease
Meditation involves focus on deep breathing and silent contemplation. When the mind goes into this state, the neural activity of the prefrontal cortex of the brain decreases, thereby lowering stress levels. Many researches have attested to these findings and taken brain scans of subjects for further tests and evaluation. It also found that participants in the study had lowered risks for heart diseases compared to a group who did not do meditation.
Mindfulness meditation and obesity
Mindful eating makes us aware of the food we eat, their taste, texture and appearance. It also keeps our focus on our hunger and satiety, so that we don’t overeat. But meditation has more than a psychological effect on our appetites. Science says that when meditation makes us more calm and less stressed, our bodies produce endorphins, neurotransmitters and hormones that have positive and relaxing effects on our bodies and minds. Endorphins give us a feeling of happiness and satisfaction, driving away hunger and emotional eating. The neurotransmitter GABA decreases neural excitability and stabilizes our moods, preventing binge eating, and the hormones DHEA, serotonin and melatonin strengthen our immune systems, help keep depression away and regulate our circadian rhythms to give us a good night’s sleep.
It should be noted that not all cases of obesity can be resolved by meditation alone. Genetic, environmental and organic factors can add to the excess pounds. These and the need to lose weight fast for health reasons will benefit from medical intervention. Although the human growth hormone (HGH) is also produced by the body during meditation, a doctor-prescribed HGH dosage for weight loss will give greater results in a shorter time.
Mindfulness meditation and diabetes
Diabetes is a debilitating disease that has grave complications. Anyone diagnosed with it has to take medicines for a lifetime. People with this disease are prone to stress and depression, and for good reason since diabetes curtails pleasurable activities. Meditation helps in reversing insulin’s effect on the pancreas and reducing blood sugar levels by lowering the person’s stress. Stress triggers the body to produce the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which in turn increases glucose in the blood, leading to or aggravating diabetes. When stress is relieved, sleep patterns become regular, which promotes healing of the pancreas.
The alleviation of stress and anxiety that comes from the practice of mindfulness meditation promotes the healing or halts the progress of chronic diseases. Aside from the most common conditions of heart disease, obesity and diabetes, other continuing illnesses are hypertension, cancer, diseases of the gut and many more.
Western medicine has embraced this ancient Eastern practice as an important component of any therapeutic regimen. But we need not wait to be ill to start practicing meditation.
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Can’t Meditate? These Hacks Will Solve That
Learning how to meditate is probably one of the hardest things I’ve experienced. Even today, I can’t say that meditation comes easily to me.
As Wayne Dyer said, “Meditation is difficult for many people because their thoughts are always on some distant object or place. One form of meditation is to label the thought as it appears and then choose to let it go.”
But what if you still can’t meditate the way you want to – or the way you think it ought to be done? [Read more…] about Can’t Meditate? These Hacks Will Solve That
