Meditation Reduces Stress

We live in stressful times, it seems, and many people suffer from stress-related ailments. Research by a Doylestown chiropractor has shown that stress produces harmful reactions in the body, including an increase in cortisol, amyloid plaque, and cytokines — all of which can lead to inflammation, chronic pain, and more serious problems.

A Jamison chiropractor is finding that ancient methods like meditation can play a major role in the body’s stress response, which lessens pain and increases overall health. Meditation is the practice of turning your attention to a single point of reference. It can involve focusing on the breath, on bodily sensations, or on a word or phrase known as a mantra. In other words, meditation means turning your attention away from distracting thoughts and focusing on the present moment. Meditating is deceptively simple. Meditation can also help us to understand our own mind. We can learn how to transform our mind from negative to positive, from disturbed to peaceful, from unhappy to happy. Meditation has been show to produce chemical changes in the brain that regulate hormones, reduce blood pressure, and benefit the body in many other ways. Meditation can lessen chronic pain, and patients can actually reduce the use of drugs to manage their pain through regular meditation.

Here are three types of meditation that can help reduce stress.

1. Mindfulness. In this type of meditation you mentally scan your body, taking note of areas of stress or tension and releasing it. You can augment this with positive affirmations, like, “I am relaxed,” or, “I am feeling peaceful”.
2. Breath. By simply focusing on our breath for 20 minutes, we can calm our mind and relax our body. All you have to do is feel the breath entering and leaving your body, and when distracting thoughts pop up, simply let them pass without getting attached to them.
3. Loving kindness. By calming ourselves and then focusing on feelings of love for people in our lives (including the difficult ones), we experience the joy and compassion that love can bring, and this feeling activates the body’s healing process.

Meditation may seem easy to do, but it is always good to take a course by a local chiropractor or find a teacher, rather than trying to start this practice on your own. Fortunately, there are a lot of good meditation classes out there. Do yourself a favor and find one today!