Sunday, February 28, 2010
Meditation: Breathe it Easy & Balance Out Life
Meditation has been an age old way to de-stress. That’s not surprising as meditation is known to help in healing by putting the mind at ease. Some
of the more popular ways of meditating have been through yoga, breathing techniques, reiki and dhyan.
Dhyan Foundation, a spiritual organisation spreading the message of Yoga in its original form, practices a number of activities for people to attain a relaxed sense of being.
Yogi Ashwani of Dhyan Foundation says, “If dhyan is practiced in totality, as part of Sanatan Kriya, then no harm can be caused to the body. Professionals across age groups do this. People want more time for themselves... this helps to keep balance. Stress is a form of imbalance in itself.” (More)
of the more popular ways of meditating have been through yoga, breathing techniques, reiki and dhyan.
Dhyan Foundation, a spiritual organisation spreading the message of Yoga in its original form, practices a number of activities for people to attain a relaxed sense of being.
Yogi Ashwani of Dhyan Foundation says, “If dhyan is practiced in totality, as part of Sanatan Kriya, then no harm can be caused to the body. Professionals across age groups do this. People want more time for themselves... this helps to keep balance. Stress is a form of imbalance in itself.” (More)
Source: India Times
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
Meditation appears to build up cortex, MRI scans find
If you're trying to reduce your sensitivity to pain, Zen meditation may help by actually thickening your brain, new research suggests.
The authors of a new study, published in a special issue of the journal Emotion, reached their conclusions after comparing brain thickness in 17 Zen meditators and a control group of 18 people who didn't meditate and hadn't practiced yoga or suffered from chronic pain, brain disease or mental illness.
The researchers applied heat to the participants' calves and used MRI scans to study how their brains reacted to the pain. (More)
If you're trying to reduce your sensitivity to pain, Zen meditation may help by actually thickening your brain, new research suggests.
The authors of a new study, published in a special issue of the journal Emotion, reached their conclusions after comparing brain thickness in 17 Zen meditators and a control group of 18 people who didn't meditate and hadn't practiced yoga or suffered from chronic pain, brain disease or mental illness.
The researchers applied heat to the participants' calves and used MRI scans to study how their brains reacted to the pain. (More)
Source: Business Week
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Passenger Meditation: Life Without a Steering Wheel
There's a greeting card that reads, "I miss you." And on the inside: "There's no one to grip the dashboard and scream in terror." A decade or so back, two separate people gave me that card without the other knowing.
Not much of a driver myself (a New Yorker through and through), I frequently do grip the dashboard. I stomp an invisible, non-existent passenger-side break. I grab at straps. It drives my drivers crazy. Which makes me crazy. It's simply not a fun way to travel.
But, since one particularly trying seven-hour trip with a friend about seven years ago, I have worked very hard on modifying my behavior. Realizing this is purely about trust and control and fear (I was in a scary accident with my mom at age 14), I do my best to actively let go and relax as soon as I get in a car. Here are some things I do. They may help you in similar situations, i.e., when you are feeling out of control yet are not in any actual danger--in planes, cars, in-laws living rooms, etc: (More)
Not much of a driver myself (a New Yorker through and through), I frequently do grip the dashboard. I stomp an invisible, non-existent passenger-side break. I grab at straps. It drives my drivers crazy. Which makes me crazy. It's simply not a fun way to travel.
But, since one particularly trying seven-hour trip with a friend about seven years ago, I have worked very hard on modifying my behavior. Realizing this is purely about trust and control and fear (I was in a scary accident with my mom at age 14), I do my best to actively let go and relax as soon as I get in a car. Here are some things I do. They may help you in similar situations, i.e., when you are feeling out of control yet are not in any actual danger--in planes, cars, in-laws living rooms, etc: (More)
Source: Beliefnet
Monday, February 22, 2010
Buddhist Suggests That Tiger Woods Meditate, be More Mindful to Repair Damaged Marriage
Tiger Woods says his path to redemption involves going back to Buddhism, which he's "drifted away from" in recent years.
The faith teaches a code to live by, including not harming others or engaging in sexual misconduct.
"Generally the feeling is that we don't enter into a sexual relationship unless we envision a long-term relationship," said Allan Lokos, guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in Manhattan.
"Our sexual drive has an enormous amount of energy. We need to be aware of that and that our actions can cause enormous harm to others."
To get back on track, Lokos said Tiger should meditate, be more mindful and try to make amends.
"All beings are the owners of their actions," he said.
The faith teaches a code to live by, including not harming others or engaging in sexual misconduct.
"Generally the feeling is that we don't enter into a sexual relationship unless we envision a long-term relationship," said Allan Lokos, guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in Manhattan.
"Our sexual drive has an enormous amount of energy. We need to be aware of that and that our actions can cause enormous harm to others."
To get back on track, Lokos said Tiger should meditate, be more mindful and try to make amends.
"All beings are the owners of their actions," he said.
Source: NY Daily News
Sunday, February 21, 2010
.Meditation May Boost Mood and Mental Toughness
Meditation exercises could boost mental toughness in soldiers readying for war, keeping them from becoming overly emotional, according to new research.
The study found that mindfulness training, which teaches people how to stay alert and in the moment without becoming emotional (giving them a kind of "mental armor"), improved the moods of U.S. Marines preparing for deployment to Iraq. Practicing mindfulness also improved a type of memory that enables people to complete complex mental tasks.
The key is practicing these mindfulness exercises daily, just as you would any other exercise, according to study co-author and University of Pennsylvania cognitive neuroscientist Amishi Jha said in a statement.(More)
The study found that mindfulness training, which teaches people how to stay alert and in the moment without becoming emotional (giving them a kind of "mental armor"), improved the moods of U.S. Marines preparing for deployment to Iraq. Practicing mindfulness also improved a type of memory that enables people to complete complex mental tasks.
The key is practicing these mindfulness exercises daily, just as you would any other exercise, according to study co-author and University of Pennsylvania cognitive neuroscientist Amishi Jha said in a statement.(More)
Source: Yahoo News
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Fitness Friday Tai Ji, not Tai Chi
You've heard of Tai Chi, but what about Tai Ji? They're both martial arts meant to create a calm focus and balance, but there is a difference.
This week's Fitness Friday focuses on how a corporate guy traded in suits for sweats and learned how to relax.
"I'm from jersey and I'm diagnosed as (having) a double plus personality, so seated meditation wasn't going to work for me," said Gary Matteucci.
He discovered a moving meditation called Tai Ji 13 years ago.
"I started realizing that everything ain't that serious and you can have balance in your life and still make a good living," Matteucci said.
He left the corporate world after 23 years and is now a Tai Ji instructor.
"I say this tongue in cheek, but I swear it does, it slows down the aging process," he said.
So, what's the difference between Tai Chi and Tai Ji? (More)
This week's Fitness Friday focuses on how a corporate guy traded in suits for sweats and learned how to relax.
"I'm from jersey and I'm diagnosed as (having) a double plus personality, so seated meditation wasn't going to work for me," said Gary Matteucci.
He discovered a moving meditation called Tai Ji 13 years ago.
"I started realizing that everything ain't that serious and you can have balance in your life and still make a good living," Matteucci said.
He left the corporate world after 23 years and is now a Tai Ji instructor.
"I say this tongue in cheek, but I swear it does, it slows down the aging process," he said.
So, what's the difference between Tai Chi and Tai Ji? (More)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Four Yoga Moves to Stop Chronic Pain
They'll also put your mind and body in a better mood.
Why yoga can help back pain:
Yoga teaches you healthy, natural ways to move your spine and whole body. You'll be less likely to aggravate a back injury through mindless movement in everyday life.
Yoga reduces stress. Back pain is strongly related to stress. Stress increases muscle tension and joint inflammation, and makes the pain receptors in your body and brain reactive to pain. Yoga teaches you how to relax unnecessary tension, how to breathe in a way that shuts down stress, and how to take time to yourself for rest and recovery from the craziness of life.
Yoga helps the body and brain produce the natural chemicals that suppress pain and produce feelings of pleasure and joy. It puts your mind and your body in a better mood. (More)
Why yoga can help back pain:
Yoga teaches you healthy, natural ways to move your spine and whole body. You'll be less likely to aggravate a back injury through mindless movement in everyday life.
Yoga reduces stress. Back pain is strongly related to stress. Stress increases muscle tension and joint inflammation, and makes the pain receptors in your body and brain reactive to pain. Yoga teaches you how to relax unnecessary tension, how to breathe in a way that shuts down stress, and how to take time to yourself for rest and recovery from the craziness of life.
Yoga helps the body and brain produce the natural chemicals that suppress pain and produce feelings of pleasure and joy. It puts your mind and your body in a better mood. (More)
Source: ABC News
Monday, February 15, 2010
Add Meditation to Your Anti-Aging Regimen
Meditation is the best value package for your health because it gives you the most benefit for your time. Twenty minutes a day of mindfulness meditation provides inner peace, reduces disease risks, and can even add years to your life. Research shows promising evidence that meditation can slow down aging at the cellular level, prolonging your lifespan.
The origins of mindfulness meditation stem from the East and are rooted in spirituality. Historically, Buddhist practitioners use meditation as a process for integrating spiritual teachings to enlighten to the purpose of life and achieve ultimate spiritual freedom. Mindfulness meditation has been adapted in the West mainly as techniques to relieve physical and mental discomfort. (More)
The origins of mindfulness meditation stem from the East and are rooted in spirituality. Historically, Buddhist practitioners use meditation as a process for integrating spiritual teachings to enlighten to the purpose of life and achieve ultimate spiritual freedom. Mindfulness meditation has been adapted in the West mainly as techniques to relieve physical and mental discomfort. (More)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Meditation may be the Future of Anti-Aging, Part I
According to the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, 90% of all adult illness is due to the degenerative processes of aging. Anti-aging medicine, aiming for longevity and optimal health, is most certainly the 'specialty' of the future and is based on the early detection, prevention and reversal of age-related disease. While science continues to search for answers, research has already revealed that meditation is a potent anti-aging practice that can take years off your physiological age. (More)
Source: Natural News
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Study Confirms Stress Causes High Blood Pressure
For years, it has been debated if stress leads to high blood pressure.
The Medical College of Wisconsin has the answer.
Julia Mae Banks is a 79-yea-old heart attack survivor.
Banks battles high blood pressure, and has suffered from losing her husband, children and parents.
"So, you know I feel like maybe this is the reason I'm still here. Is because of meditation," Banks said.
Banks exercises and maintains a no-salt diet. She also practices transcendental meditation.
"Because it helped me to calm down. Settle down. Helped me to accept things that I could not change," Banks said.
Banks said it also helped her high blood pressure.
Dr. Ulrich Broeckel at the Medical College of Wisconsin thinks of hypertension as having several flavors. (More)
The Medical College of Wisconsin has the answer.
Julia Mae Banks is a 79-yea-old heart attack survivor.
Banks battles high blood pressure, and has suffered from losing her husband, children and parents.
"So, you know I feel like maybe this is the reason I'm still here. Is because of meditation," Banks said.
Banks exercises and maintains a no-salt diet. She also practices transcendental meditation.
"Because it helped me to calm down. Settle down. Helped me to accept things that I could not change," Banks said.
Banks said it also helped her high blood pressure.
Dr. Ulrich Broeckel at the Medical College of Wisconsin thinks of hypertension as having several flavors. (More)
Source: WISN.com
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Slow Breathing May Soothe Pain
The simple practice of slow breathing may help people deal with the physical and emotional reactions to moderate pain, a small study suggests.
Researchers say the findings, published in the journal Pain, offer support for the idea that yoga-style breathing exercises and meditation can help ease chronic pain.
The study gauged pain responses among 27 women with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia and 25 healthy women the same age.
Researchers found that when they had the women perform slow breathing, it dampened their reactions to a moderately painful stimulus — brief pulses of heat from a probe placed on the palm. Overall, the women rated the pain intensity as lower and reported less emotional discomfort when they slowed their normal breathing rate down by half. (More)
Researchers say the findings, published in the journal Pain, offer support for the idea that yoga-style breathing exercises and meditation can help ease chronic pain.
The study gauged pain responses among 27 women with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia and 25 healthy women the same age.
Researchers found that when they had the women perform slow breathing, it dampened their reactions to a moderately painful stimulus — brief pulses of heat from a probe placed on the palm. Overall, the women rated the pain intensity as lower and reported less emotional discomfort when they slowed their normal breathing rate down by half. (More)
Source: Fox News
Monday, February 8, 2010
Daily Inspiration
This is the Ohm Meditation, part 3 of 3.
This is an evening meditation. Dr. Dyer reveals a technique for connecting to the infinite power in the Universe, using the Gratitude sound--"OM". In this meditation, you'll release your desires, and instead focus on giving thanks and gratitude for everything in your life.
New York Hospital Goes Zen
"Zen" is the Japanese word and "Ch'an" is the Chinese word derived from the Sanskrit word "Dhyana" meaning "meditation." Zen began in China back in the 6th century CE. Zen is practiced all around the world and has recently found a huge following in the United States.
Zen Buddhism focuses on gaining enlightenment through meditation. Zen is a means to reaching enlightenment. Zen declines the study of scriptures, devotional practices and any religious rites (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica). Some of the key beliefs of Zen focus on The Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfold Path: (More)
Zen Buddhism focuses on gaining enlightenment through meditation. Zen is a means to reaching enlightenment. Zen declines the study of scriptures, devotional practices and any religious rites (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica). Some of the key beliefs of Zen focus on The Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfold Path: (More)
Source: ABC7News.com
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Daily Inspiration
This is an evening meditation. Dr. Dyer reveals a technique for connecting to the infinite power in the Universe, using the Gratitude sound--"OM". In this meditation, you'll release your desires, and instead focus on giving thanks and gratitude for everything in your life.
Can Yoga and Meditation Prevent High Blood Pressure?
Devoted yogis often extol the virtues of their practice, from better sleep and improved fitness to what only the most devoted call "yoga butt."
Now researchers at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre want to study if yoga, combined with meditation, can help lower blood pressure and prevent the onset of hypertension.
Dr. Sheldon Tobe and his team have begun the search for 70 patients to participate in the study, which will involve up to a 10-month commitment.
According to Tobe, participants in the study, dubbed HARMONY (Hypertension Analysis of Stress Reduction using Meditation & Yoga) will learn skills for decreasing stress, which is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. Stress management is already a recommended treatment for patients with high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease. (More)
Now researchers at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre want to study if yoga, combined with meditation, can help lower blood pressure and prevent the onset of hypertension.
Dr. Sheldon Tobe and his team have begun the search for 70 patients to participate in the study, which will involve up to a 10-month commitment.
According to Tobe, participants in the study, dubbed HARMONY (Hypertension Analysis of Stress Reduction using Meditation & Yoga) will learn skills for decreasing stress, which is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. Stress management is already a recommended treatment for patients with high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease. (More)
Source: South Asia Mail
Friday, February 5, 2010
Daily Inspiration
This is the Ohm Meditation, part 1 of 3.
This is an evening meditation. Dr. Dyer reveals a technique for connecting to the infinite power in the Universe, using the Gratitude sound--"OM". In this meditation, you'll release your desires, and instead focus on giving thanks and gratitude for everything in your life.
Those in Pain Can Relieve Some Suffering with Meditation
HealthNewsDigest.com) - Pain sufferers sometimes intensify their pain levels by adding layers of mental anguish, say UT Southwestern Medical Center psychologists. But, by learning and using mindfulness – attending to the present without judgment – the physical pain can be separated out from the surrounding mental distress, says Dr. Marty Lumpkin, a clinical psychologist.
“Fighting pain perpetuates and spirals it into the dimension of suffering,” he says. “Mindfulness meets the pain with an attitude of allowing, not protesting.”
Mindfulness is often learned through a form of meditation. Mindfulness meditation combines focusing on some present experience, like taking a breath, with open awareness to whatever else – sights, sounds, feelings, thoughts – arises in the moment.
Mindfulness involves five aspects: (More)
“Fighting pain perpetuates and spirals it into the dimension of suffering,” he says. “Mindfulness meets the pain with an attitude of allowing, not protesting.”
Mindfulness is often learned through a form of meditation. Mindfulness meditation combines focusing on some present experience, like taking a breath, with open awareness to whatever else – sights, sounds, feelings, thoughts – arises in the moment.
Mindfulness involves five aspects: (More)
Source: Health News Digest
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Daily Inspiration
Dr. Dyer reveals the secret of the ancient "AH" meditation technique. In all languages and religions, the sound of the Creator is the same--the "AH" sound (God, Buddha, Jehovah, Krishna, Rah). Meditation connects you to the Creator. You'll learn the power of the "AH" sound to connect to the abundance of the Creator and the Universe, and to manifest miraculous change in your own life.
Should Congress Pass A Meditation Bill?
I watched the State of the Union address, and couldn't help wondering if Barack Obama had been meditating in the days that led up to his address.
To me, he seemed focused and relaxed, two qualities that I've always aimed for in my yoga practice. Qualities I'm hoping to cultivate through daily meditation.
After his speech, I tried listening to the TV pundits who dissected his every word. To the Democrats shoring up his positions, to the Republicans tearing them apart. To a few people who seemed committed to some sort of bipartisan cooperation. (More)
To me, he seemed focused and relaxed, two qualities that I've always aimed for in my yoga practice. Qualities I'm hoping to cultivate through daily meditation.
After his speech, I tried listening to the TV pundits who dissected his every word. To the Democrats shoring up his positions, to the Republicans tearing them apart. To a few people who seemed committed to some sort of bipartisan cooperation. (More)
Source: The Huffington Post
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Daily Inspiration
This is part I of the morning Ah Meditation.
Dr. Dyer reveals the secret of the ancient "AH" meditation technique. In all languages and religions, the sound of the Creator is the same--the "AH" sound (God, Buddha, Jehovah, Krishna, Rah). Meditation connects you to the Creator. You'll learn the power of the "AH" sound to connect to the abundance of the Creator and the Universe, and to manifest miraculous change in your own life.
Meditation: Peace and Release from Migraines
Migraine Meditation: Relax into Life
Migraines can be trigged by many factors. Stress, pain, bright lights or sounds can be some of the causes. Before a migraine begins, or when life feels stressful, it is more important than ever to take time for ourselves.
Choosing relaxation over stress is a gift. Meditation slows you down, allowing your mind and body to rest. It will restore your soul, creating a sense of peace that is carried with you throughout the day. (More)
Migraines can be trigged by many factors. Stress, pain, bright lights or sounds can be some of the causes. Before a migraine begins, or when life feels stressful, it is more important than ever to take time for ourselves.
Choosing relaxation over stress is a gift. Meditation slows you down, allowing your mind and body to rest. It will restore your soul, creating a sense of peace that is carried with you throughout the day. (More)
Source: Beliefnet
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)