Meditation -Holistic relaxation exercises
Holistic Meditation
by Rob Daniels
We are told that meditation is natural, that when someone
sleeps they go into a meditative state. To fully understand
the purpose and functioning of meditation one has to observe
the human as both a physical and spiritual or psychological
being. From the dawn of time, meditation has been a vital
part of self transformation and holistic health.
The journey to self-discovery, self help and spirituality
begins with the sacred art of meditation. The value of Meditation
is to alleviate suffering and promote healing has been known
and practiced for thousands of years. Generally, Eastern religions
have tended to concentrate on meditation as a means of realizing
spiritual enlightenment. This is the essence of Hinduism of
which all guru's promote through yoga and meditation. In fact,
practically all religious groups practice meditation in one
form or another.
The ultimate goal of meditation is to self realize your divinity,
that you are God. God dwells within you as You. It is a means
of worship and seeking God which is ultimately the highest
goal of meditation The word translated as "meditation" in
several verses in Psalms means to meditate in the sense of
reflecting upon.
In practical terms meditation helps you learn forgiveness
and loving-kindness for yourself and others in a common sense
way. Mindfulness meditation relieves stress because it relieves
preoccupation with the habitual thoughts about the past or
the future that perpetuate stress. As your entire being becomes
absorbed in meditation, every stress and strain of daily life
will fall from your shoulders.
Meditation interrupts that flood of stress chemicals, so
you don't feel on guard or tense. In other experiments, meditators
produced fewer spontaneous GSR than their non-meditating controls,
both during and after meditation.
Through meditation, one can cultivate a wonderful inner quiet
that will melt away stress and nervousness By association,
meditation can also help relieve stress- or anxiety-related
disorders such as insomnia, headaches, depression, poor concentration
and high blood pressure. Instead these conflicts could find,
through meditation, an appeasement that will help their resolution
by appropriate means. There is a natural alliance between
psychotherapy and meditation.
Meditation is now well accepted in medical circles. Remember
that meditation is an escape to reality, not an escape from
reality. In the West, however the first view was that meditation
induced a type of dissassociative state or a type of catatonia.
Various techniques of meditation are now widely taught in
medical settings such as VA clinics and hospitals. Many physicians
consider meditation a key element of an integrated health
program. In general, meditation produces a reduction in multiple
biological systems, resulting in a state of relaxation. For
example, there has been incidences where through meditation
individuals have voluntarily controlled their rate of breathing.
Mindfulness meditation involves focusing one's attention
on the moment, observing thoughts as they occur without judging
or acting. Without acknowledgment of the present moment, meditation
practice cannot progress because momentary concentration cannot
occur.
About the Author
Rob Daniels is a long term practitioner of Yoga and Pilates
additional articles available at Religious Podcasts http://www.religious-podcasts.net
and Yoga Store http://www.yoga-store.net
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