PREVENTIVE MEDECINE: MEDITATION AS A METHOD TO REDUCE STRESS

This is the final type of stress-reduction method to be described briefly here. There are many forms and there is no room in this book to describe them in detail. Most are best learned in some kind of formal setting-many local authorities have evening classes on the subject, and there are also private groups, church groups, and many other places one can go to learn.

Before doing any meditation spend a few minutes doing relaxation exercises and deep breathing, which will make you more receptive to your chosen method of meditation. There are many techniques of meditation but they all have in common the conscious attempt to focus the mind on one subject. Concentrating on your breathing is a simple form of meditation. Concentrating on breathing is relatively easy compared with concentrating on an abstract thought or image. The crux of meditation is the clearing from the mind of everyday clutter. Some claim that meditation, if taught well and done properly, will lead to a raised spiritual awareness as well as relaxation but this may not be what you want.

The device or ‘distracting object’ which you concentrate on can be a mental picture, an image, a sound, a word, an idea, an activity, etc. Various forms of meditation have used repetitive chanting or even the repetition of a simple single-syllable such as ‘Om’.

Postures and positions for meditation vary greatly but the most important thing is to stay immobile. Whatever position is adopted it is important to incorporate the meditation into one’s daily routine and so look upon it as an oasis of calm and peace.

As the weeks go by many, if not all, of the signs of stress should disappear and you should feel a lot healthier generally. Also, the positive benefits of any of the activities described in this section will boost your natural immunity to disease and the ability of your body to heal itself when others around you are falling ill.

This is the essence of preventive health-boosting the body’s natural defences so that it can withstand the stresses, infections and cancers that are being continuously produced in all of us, as well as emotional strife, environmental onslaughts and so on. – Many people experience many or all of these yet never get ill. If more of us lived along the lines detailed in this section we could join them.

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