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Read here about the array of therapies we offer and how they work for various disorders.
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Meditation
Meditation, Exercise, and Medicine
The role of exercise is well documented in
both the prevention and treatment of a substantial array of human illnesses.
Exercise benefits every single aspect of the bodymind. It is invaluable in both
the prevention and treatment of many degenerative and functional diseases,
and is very useful in the treatment of
anxiety, depression, and musculoskeletal illnesses. It benefits the
cardiovascular system, the endocrine system, the lympathic system, the
respiratory system, the muscles, and the psycho-emotional state. Exercise has
four important components
Exercise
=Aerobics, Strength Training, Stretching, and Progressive
Relaxation
There are four key elements to a
comprehensive exercise system. One is aerobic exercise, well known for its
cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental health benefits. According to science,
everyone should walk at least 45 minutes three times per week at a barest
minimum to maintain health and prevent disease. More recently, scientists have
demonstrated the remarkable benefits of strength training, or exercising with
weights, not just for building impressive muscles, but for promoting health and
muscle tone as we age. Too often neglected, stretching after aerobic and anaerobic
exercise is critical for preventing injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments and
joints, and is crucial for maintaining a flexible, pain-free lifestyle as we
age.
Finally, and both most critical and most neglected, is progressive relaxation. All of us lead
highly stressed lives. Industrialization,
noise pollution, water pollution, air pollution, light pollution,
pesticide pollution, overpopulation, working long hours at demanding jobs,
driving on freeways and in traffic, leave our nervous systems frazzled and
tense. We place our bodies in unnatural
positions all day under great emotional pressures.
Our minds are haunted by the past and fearful of the future. The thought
process never stops. There is little silence and not much peace. We struggle to
control events while our bodies tighten and become rigid. Underneath it all,
anger, sadness, and fear.
The
experience of inner peace begins with many small steps. Inner peace, mental peace is the root of
physical relaxation. You can go to Tahiti or to the Moon, but if your mind is
tense, so is your body. If your body is always tense, jaw tight, neck and
shoulder tight, stomach tight, etc. then you are in fight or flight response. In fight or flight the body shunts
more blood to the muscles and keeps them ready for action, over the long term,
this state, called Sympathetic Nervous System Drive leads to tight,
shortened muscles lacking in elasticity and prone to injury. For muscles to be healthy and strong they
must be supple; to be supple they must be relaxed. All of the great athletes
know this. It is part of physical training.
Some kind
ofprogressive relaxation
practice is central to a healthy lifestyle. It is the basis for the treatment of many
different functional disorders, that is, ailments in which there is no damage
to structure, rather in which things are not functioning well. Allergies,
headaches, insomnia, ulcers, muscle pain, back and neck pain, joint pain, pms,
endometriosis, various other women’s health problems, hypertension, high
cholesterol and many others can all benefit immensely from a daily progressive relaxation of body and mind.
Some of these diseases are impossible to cure
without addressing underlying factors of
anxiety and stress.
THE ONLY
WAY TO ELIMINATE THE STRESS RESPONSE IS BY LEARNING A NEW RESPONSE, THE
RELAXATION RESPONSE. There
are a number of methods.
Progressive
Relaxation Methods
All methods of intentional relaxation involve
some element of mind mastery, of quieting the restless mind, of freeing it from
the grip of worry, anxiety, fear, and overthinking
Yoga
The actual meaning of Yoga is “union with
God” It involves physical exercises, breathing practices, meditation, mantra,
devotional and ethical practices. Yoga in its fullest form is a complete way of
life. At its beginning level, Hatha Yoga, whether in the Ashtanga, Iyengar, Desickar, or Sivananda styles is
meant to be a meditative as well as physical
experience, practiced with an attitude of humility and strength.
Siva, the favorite diety of Yogis, sits in the Lotus Pose practicing Pranayam,
strong AND relaxed, both Yin and Yang. He is alert and aware while calm and
supple. While Yoga can be learned from good books or videos it is best to find
a teacher who is experienced, sincere, and knowledgeable.
Tai Qi
Chuan/Qi Gung
Tai Qi, and its sister practice, Qi Gung, are
an excellent method for training the body and mind in relaxation. The essence of Tai Qi is the
balance of Yin and Yang elements in the body and mind, power and quietude, the Tiger alert, but
supple. Grounded in Taoist philosophy,
there is almost no way to practice Tai Qi without relaxing. While one can
remain tense while doing Yoga, and an inferior teacher may fail to correct
this, the very first lesson in Tai Qi
is how to stand on both feet and sink into the ground. It is harder to misuse
Tai Qi than Yoga, and for that reason I recommend Tai Qi as a starting point
for many patients. Like Yoga, Tai Qi addresses the relaxation of both body and
mind. Like Yoga, it is best to find a teacher who can pay attention and correct
you as you progress. Experience is, of course, the best master.
Western
Style Progressive Relaxation, or Body Scanning
This technique has been popularized in
hospital and outpatient pain centers. It is borrowed from the Yoga tradition;
it is simply a form of the “complete corpse pose of peace and relaxation,” poorna
sava santi asana. One
lays down on ones back, or sits in a chair, or even stands, and using the mind’s eye, or one’s “awareness,”
traces the tension in the body from
head to toe, or from toes to head, keeping one’s awareness in the body and away
from thoughts. Softening around the tension the tension dissolves. In some
cases autosuggestion is used, we approach the tension with softness and
presence and it releases. This is a technique which I have been practicing
daily since 1972 before going to sleep at night, and it has helped me to sleep
calmly and deeply. I find it an
invaluable adjunct to acupuncture and a great beginning to the path of
meditation. I often teach this technique as a precursor to more advanced
meditation techniques.
Pranayam
or Breathing Practice
Pranayam is
the scientific art of mastering the breath. It was developed in ancient India by Yogis
interested in health, longevity, and spiritual development.. It involves
learning how to practice a deep, slow, rhythmic style of breathing that
authomatically calms the mind, develops the prana or qi, giving us more energy
and making us less vulnerable to stress. There are various types of pranayam
with different specific effects. The basic technique that I teach is called
Nauli Kriya Pranayam, and it is the precursor to learning meditation. It is
very beneficial in any of the disorders involving chronic tension or anxiety.
Pranayam can be learned easily in two or three separate lessons, often combined
with meditation instruction.
Meditation
Meditation
is practiced quite naturally in some form or another by all religious systems. What all forms of meditation have in common
is their end result: as we gain quietude our breath smoothes, the heart opens,
the senses clear. Our pulse and blood pressure go down, our digestion and
elimination improves, our muscles relax.
Simply stated, the result of
meditation is the opposite of flight or fight, it is the relaxation response. It is the
opposite of the sympathetic nervous system “drive,” it is the parasympathetic
response, the neuromuscular response that involves all the processes of
relaxation. It gives us the capacity to face life with equanimity.
Ultimately
meditation is the most powerful and elegant form of progressive relaxation. It is part and particle of Yoga and Tai Chi,
but it needs to be learned separately from the physical postures and movements.
Meditation is a skill, it
can be learned as easily as riding a bike or speaking a foreign language. All it takes is practice
and sincerity of purpose. The rewards are far greater than the investment, and
in this respect meditation makes the 1999 stock market look like a bear.
Science has demonstrated (see Herbert Benson,
M.D., The Relaxation Response, etc.) that people who spend 10-20 minutes per
day meditating have dramatically lower levels
of ALL the stress related
disorders. If you let me teach you how to meditate, you will not
need me to put acupuncture needles in your body as often. You will save money
and time, and most importantly develop the skill of self healing.
Over the past 28 years I have practised the
meditation techniques of Kriya Yoga, Sufism, Buddhism, and Transcendental
Meditation. I have found two techniques to be the most valuable for people’s
daily lives.
Awareness Meditation
Awareness meditation is the actual technique
of meditation taught by Gauthama, the Buddha, a man who achieved a state of
awareness in India in the 6th century B.C.E. It has nothing to do
with any religion, though it is associated with Theravada Buddhism, the style
of Buddhism practiced today in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma.
While the goal of Awareness meditation is the
end of suffering, in the meantime it is extremely valuable for helping the
practitioner become aware of her thoughts, feeling, and sensations so he can be
less governed by unconscious processes, and more governed by conscious
decisions.
It is immensely relaxing, can be practised
seated, while walking, or even while driving. It is very useful for the relief
of pain, and for unlearning the stress response. It can be learned thoroughly
in two sessions, and once learned, will yield immense benefits immediately. It
is advisable to practice this form of meditation twice daily for 15 minutes.
Mantra Meditation
Not everyone enjoys or is able to do the
Awareness Meditation technique.
Some people at the beginning level need an
easier technique and that is the mantra meditation technique, which is similar
to the technique called Transcendental Meditation by Mahesh Yogi of 1960's
Beatles and Mia Farrow fame.
This meditation technique has been subjected
to the most broad ranged and extensive scientific study. It is very very easy
to do, can be learned in two sessions, as again, yields immediate results of
calmness, relaxation and inner peace. It is not quite as helpful as a technique
for “personal growth” work.
Nevertheless, it is a good technique for extreme stress, and its benefit
accrues over time.
Chakra Meditation
Chakra meditation is used for physical,
mental, and spiritual health. This is similar to Chinese Qi Gung, and involves
recognizing and cultivating the energy centers inside your BodyMind through
concentration, visualization, and mantra practice. It brings into conscious
awareness the subtle meta-physical energies that circulate in your body through
the channels described in Chinese medicine as they flow between the Chakras and
the rest of the body. It is very valuable for cultivating internal Qi and sensitivity
to the Qi of your surroundings.
Eyton has
been practicing and teaching meditation and pranayam since 1972. If you have
any further questions about how these self-care techniques can help you, or
about the process of learning meditation and breathing, please call Eyton
@619.296.7591 or email eyton@bodymindwellnesscenter.com. Thank you
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