Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Meditation and Stress Relief
Every time your heart beats, it sends blood filled with oxygen and nutrition through the arteries to reach your entire body. By the time you reach age 80, your heart will have done this more than three billion times. Your entire cardiovascular system, which includes the heart and blood vessels, works in harmony to send blood to every part of your body. When stress occurs, your body releases hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine), which causes your heart to pump faster, your arteries to constrict, and raise your blood pressure. Prolonged periods of stress can cause permanent damage to the cardiovascular system.
Researchers have suggested at least six different ways that psychological stress can kill you, all of which involve some sort of damage to the heart or arteries.[1] Cardiovascular disease (CVD) occurs when damaged arteries impact the amount of blood reaching the heart, making it so the heart itself is not getting enough blood. One common cause of CVD is stress.
The American Heart Association and other professional organizations recommend non-drug lifestyle changes as the first line of treatment for people with high blood pressure and as part of treatment for cardiovascular diseases. Transcendental Meditation (TM) has been suggested in a variety of studies to help reduce blood pressure, hypertension and other symptoms of psychological stressors.[2][3] (MORE)
Researchers have suggested at least six different ways that psychological stress can kill you, all of which involve some sort of damage to the heart or arteries.[1] Cardiovascular disease (CVD) occurs when damaged arteries impact the amount of blood reaching the heart, making it so the heart itself is not getting enough blood. One common cause of CVD is stress.
The American Heart Association and other professional organizations recommend non-drug lifestyle changes as the first line of treatment for people with high blood pressure and as part of treatment for cardiovascular diseases. Transcendental Meditation (TM) has been suggested in a variety of studies to help reduce blood pressure, hypertension and other symptoms of psychological stressors.[2][3] (MORE)
Source: Huffington Post
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Prayer Versus Meditation? They’re More Alike Than We Realize
You could call it a religious war of words, with the West Coast serving as one of its most intense battlegrounds.
The bid to win hearts and minds pits Buddhist meditation against Christian prayer, with meditation, especially so-called “mindfulness,” seeming to be gaining ground.
It’s been the focus of more than 60 recent scholarly studies. It’s being embraced by hundreds of psychotherapists, who increasingly offer Buddhist mindfulness to clients dealing with depression and anxiety. It’s been on the cover of Time magazine.
Even though polls show there are 10 times more Christians in the Pacific Northwest than Buddhists, the forms of meditation associated with those on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean are rising to the fore in North America.
Buddhist meditators, who tend to think of themselves as “spiritual but not religious,” claim what they do is not “religious.” That’s part of the appeal of mindfulness. Such medita-tors complain that Christian (as well as Jewish and Muslim) prayer over-emphasizes pleading with, confessing to or praising a God.
But meditation, Western Buddhists maintain, is simply a “practice.” It’s “secular,” with no traditional God, even while it may also be “spiritual.”
It turns out, however, that the gap between Buddhist meditation and Christian prayer might not be so huge. Indeed, some forms seem almost identical. (MORE)
The bid to win hearts and minds pits Buddhist meditation against Christian prayer, with meditation, especially so-called “mindfulness,” seeming to be gaining ground.
It’s been the focus of more than 60 recent scholarly studies. It’s being embraced by hundreds of psychotherapists, who increasingly offer Buddhist mindfulness to clients dealing with depression and anxiety. It’s been on the cover of Time magazine.
Even though polls show there are 10 times more Christians in the Pacific Northwest than Buddhists, the forms of meditation associated with those on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean are rising to the fore in North America.
Buddhist meditators, who tend to think of themselves as “spiritual but not religious,” claim what they do is not “religious.” That’s part of the appeal of mindfulness. Such medita-tors complain that Christian (as well as Jewish and Muslim) prayer over-emphasizes pleading with, confessing to or praising a God.
But meditation, Western Buddhists maintain, is simply a “practice.” It’s “secular,” with no traditional God, even while it may also be “spiritual.”
It turns out, however, that the gap between Buddhist meditation and Christian prayer might not be so huge. Indeed, some forms seem almost identical. (MORE)
Source: Vancouver Sun
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Mindfulness Meditation Is Rediscovered
Mindfulness meditation is being rediscovered as a very modern—and medical—path to personal nirvana.
In July 2008, I retired from my job as editor in chief of O, the Oprah Magazine , a move that mystified a lot of people. Editors tend not to exit willingly. They’re usually ripped out of their magazines, like pages. Their sales go south, and so do they. A media reporter wasn’t buying my “retired” line. He called to get the real story. “You can tell me,” he said. “Are you being pushed out?” The truth, I told him, was that I’d been doing Buddhist meditation for years and ached to dive into practice. My job was getting in the way of my life.
That answer didn’t explain anything to a business friend. “What is so compelling,” she asked, “that you would leave all this?”
“All this” encompassed powers and perks universally acknowledged to be worth killing yourself for. The magazine was a big hit. We were putting good ideas and good writing into the culture. We respected each other, we won awards, and we were paid well enough. I couldn’t have been happier.
And then things changed, as things do. (MORE)
In July 2008, I retired from my job as editor in chief of O, the Oprah Magazine , a move that mystified a lot of people. Editors tend not to exit willingly. They’re usually ripped out of their magazines, like pages. Their sales go south, and so do they. A media reporter wasn’t buying my “retired” line. He called to get the real story. “You can tell me,” he said. “Are you being pushed out?” The truth, I told him, was that I’d been doing Buddhist meditation for years and ached to dive into practice. My job was getting in the way of my life.
That answer didn’t explain anything to a business friend. “What is so compelling,” she asked, “that you would leave all this?”
“All this” encompassed powers and perks universally acknowledged to be worth killing yourself for. The magazine was a big hit. We were putting good ideas and good writing into the culture. We respected each other, we won awards, and we were paid well enough. I couldn’t have been happier.
And then things changed, as things do. (MORE)
Source: thedailybeast.com
Thursday, January 12, 2012
ADHD Drug Shortage: Can Meditation Fill the Gap?
Drugs designed to treat ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) have been widely available for decades, but America now faces its most severe shortage of these drugs since they came on the market.
Adderall, Ritalin and similar drugs are used by an estimated 5.4 million children and 1.5 million adults who suffer from ADHD. Drug company marketing strategies are behind much of the shortages, says Gary Boggs, agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Many who rely on these medications drive for hours to find them -- searching from one pharmacy to another.
Meanwhile, more and more health professionals are recognizing the viability of effective meditation for overcoming ADHD. As a meditation teacher, I routinely witness meditation's transformative effects on children and adults with ADHD. (MORE)
Adderall, Ritalin and similar drugs are used by an estimated 5.4 million children and 1.5 million adults who suffer from ADHD. Drug company marketing strategies are behind much of the shortages, says Gary Boggs, agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Many who rely on these medications drive for hours to find them -- searching from one pharmacy to another.
Meanwhile, more and more health professionals are recognizing the viability of effective meditation for overcoming ADHD. As a meditation teacher, I routinely witness meditation's transformative effects on children and adults with ADHD. (MORE)
Source Huffington Post
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Americans Are Stressed, But We're Getting Used To It
Americans' stress is down for the first time in five years and at its lowest point since 2007, finds an audit of self-reported stress to be released today.
The USA's average stress level in 2011 was 5.2 on a 10-point scale, down from 6.2 in 2007, says the survey, by the American Psychological Association. But that doesn't mean we're not feeling stressed — 39% of those surveyed say their stress rose last year; 17% say it dropped and 44% say it stayed the same.
So why the decrease? The economic climate has improved little and stressors remain the same as in past years: Money was cited as a concern by 75% of respondents; two-thirds cited work stress and more than half say they struggle with relationships or health problems. (MORE)
The USA's average stress level in 2011 was 5.2 on a 10-point scale, down from 6.2 in 2007, says the survey, by the American Psychological Association. But that doesn't mean we're not feeling stressed — 39% of those surveyed say their stress rose last year; 17% say it dropped and 44% say it stayed the same.
So why the decrease? The economic climate has improved little and stressors remain the same as in past years: Money was cited as a concern by 75% of respondents; two-thirds cited work stress and more than half say they struggle with relationships or health problems. (MORE)
Source: USA Today
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