Meditation for Healing: The Restorative Art of Quieting Your Mind
Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress
Meditation has been a wellness tool for thousands of years because it’s simple and it works. Anyone of any age or physical ability can apply the most basic meditation types and techniques to experience physical and emotional benefits. Advanced techniques incorporate different eye focus, mudras (finger and hand positions), and mantra (sound current) for more targeted and deeper benefits. Meditation for healing is ideally done after yoga and breathwork. These practices balance the nervous system and stimulate your subtle energy. If you’re not a yogi or yogini, then practice after exercising. You will have released stress and your mind will be less distracted.
Yoginis and yogis talk about the ideal time to practice yoga and meditation as the “ambrosial hours.” It is the 2 1/2 hours before sunrise when the sun is at a sixty-degree angle to the Earth. The energy is most supportive of spiritual work and there is a unique stillness. Although this routine is part of many people’s lives, it is not for everyone. With a busy lifestyle, anytime you can meditate is a good time. It’s a great way to start and end your day and an excellent break during the day. In as little as 3 minutes you can begin experiencing a benefit.
Benefits of Meditation
According to The Mayo Clinic, The emotional and physical benefits of meditation can include:
Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
Building skills to manage your stress
Increasing self-awareness
Focusing on the present
Reducing negative emotions
Increasing imagination and creativity
Increasing patience and tolerance
Lowering resting heart rate
Lowering resting blood pressure
Improving sleep quality
Some research suggests that meditation may help people manage symptoms of conditions such as:
Anxiety
Asthma
Cancer
Chronic pain
Depression
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Irritable bowel syndrome
Sleep problems
Tension headaches
Let’s explore some of these benefits by putting them in the context of our daily lives.
Stress Reduction
Stress is the #1 cause of major illnesses. Regular meditation can directly support your physical well-being by reducing stress levels. Is that motivation enough to begin meditating? Imagine living with greater internal calm and peace. A study by the Cleveland Clinic found that after eight weeks of intervention, participating employees reported feeling more energy and less stress and anxiety, which can lead to depression. After a year of regular meditation, participants experienced a 31% reduction in stress levels. I know some of you will roll your eyes and focus on what seems impossible - 8 consistent weeks of meditating, never mind an entire year. Just start. Take it one day at a time.
Focusing on the Present
When we are anxious, our minds are focused on the future. When we live our lives from the perspective of regrets, we are focused on the past. What we are forfeiting, is being present at the moment. A moment that will not be repeated. Meditation helps us to focus on the present moment both by focusing on our breath and maybe on a mantra or a movement. It is in the precious present that we have the opportunity to check in with mind and body and come to a greater sense of peace and calm. From this perspective, we can more clearly make objective decisions. Eckhard Tolle summarizes it this way, “People don’t realize that now is all there ever is; there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind.” It is a powerful reminder of how to live our lives.
Increasing Patience and Tolerance
A meditative mind is less reactive and more neutral. With regular practice, you will find yourself being less reactive and emotional in situations that trigger your subconscious. You will begin to notice subconscious thought patterns and can begin to make conscious choices in your words and actions to break those patterns that do not serve you. A less reactive mind has greater clarity and mental awareness. It is more productive and present.
Depression
According to WebMD, meditation may not make all the symptoms of depression disappear but will help you manage them. It works by changing how your brain reacts to stress and anxiety. When you meditate, you can override the triggers stimulated by the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. This explains why your stress levels fall.
Sleep Problems
As I shared in a recent blog, Sleep Like a Baby, One in 5 Americans is sleep deprived. According to Healthline, research also shows that poor sleep has immediate negative effects on your hormones, exercise performance, and brain function. It can also cause weight gain and increase disease risk in both adults and children. For older adults, the risks include increased risk of accidents and falls. In contrast, good sleep can help you eat less, exercise better, and be healthier. As a relaxation technique, it can quiet the mind and body while enhancing inner peace. When done before bedtime, meditation may help reduce insomnia and sleep troubles by promoting overall calmness.
Can meditation heal your body?
For those of us who meditate regularly, we would say absolutely - no doubt! For those new to meditation and for the skeptical reader, let’s see what researchers have found. CanYouZen, offers a good summary of the research to date.
It is well known that excess and prolonged inflammation in the body is responsible for many diseases in addition to slowing the body’s healing process. A number of studies have shown that meditation, and mindfulness in particular, lower biomarkers of inflammation in the body, significantly reducing inflammatory disease risk.
Another study showed that when combined with exercise, this correlation was even stronger.
A review of 20 randomized control trials showed that meditation had positive effects on the immune system. Immune cells have an essential function in the wound-healing process.
Another study also demonstrated that meditation could increase antibody response in individuals injected with the influenza vaccine.
Can meditation remove anxiety?
As I mentioned earlier in this blog, when we’re anxious we are focused on the future. Meditation requires that we be in the present moment. So it makes sense that meditation can help ease anxiety. According to the research study, Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being, a review of 18,753 citations, included 47 trials with 3,515 participants. The results were that mindfulness meditation programs had moderate evidence of improved anxiety. The term moderate may sound disappointing but when you consider meditation requires no medication and is an empowering self-care tool, I encourage you to explore it to treat your anxiety.
Quoted in Harvard Health Publishing, Dr. Elizabeth Hoge, a psychiatrist at the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says that mindfulness meditation makes perfect sense for treating anxiety. “People with anxiety have a problem dealing with distracting thoughts that have too much power,” she explains. “They can’t distinguish between a problem-solving thought and a nagging worry that has no benefit.”“If you have unproductive worries,” says Dr. Hoge, you can train yourself to experience those thoughts completely differently. Mindfulness teaches you to recognize, ‘Oh, there’s that thought again. I’ve been here before. But it’s just that—a thought, and not a part of my core self,’” says Dr. Hoge.
What are 5 ways to meditate?
Mantra meditation
As a Kundalini Yoga teacher, mantra meditation is a part of almost all of my classes. Why is it so powerful? There are 84 meridian points on the roof of the mouth. The movement of the tongue stimulates these meridian points and as a result, stimulates the secretion of chemical messengers through the 72,000 nadis (energy channels) through our bodies. These nadis form our subtle nervous system. Mantra directs the flow of prana/life force energy to wherever it is needed in the body. From a practical perspective, chanting gives the mind something to do. For those who are challenged by an overactive mind may find mantra meditation particularly supportive.
Healthine also shares that according to 2017 research, chanting certain mantras may stimulate these changes, since chanting can help synchronize the left and right sides of the brain and promote relaxing (alpha) brain waves. This synchronization may help improve brain function over time and possibly slow cognitive decline.
Guided meditation
I am a strong believer in learning to use several different techniques so that you can more easily take care of yourself, in any situation or state of mind. Sometimes you need help focusing. That’s when it can be helpful to use guided meditation. We all have a dominant sense. If yours is the sense of sight then a guided meditation may be particularly beneficial. Use an app for a guided meditation with music, or without, as you prefer. Having someone talk you through your meditation makes it easier to focus. Insight Timer is a great free app.
Transcendental meditation
Transcendental meditation became popular in the west in the 1960s and 70s as bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys became devotees. It was originally introduced to the west by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s. Simply put, this type of meditation applies a silent mantra, as opposed to mantra meditation which applies audible sound currents.
Loving kindness meditation
According to Mind, Body, Green, the loving-kindness meditation is thought to have originated in ancient India, before the time of the Buddha. Since then, it's become known as a traditionally Buddhist philosophy and practice, but the ideas of loving-kindness, compassion, or maitrī, can also be found in Hindu and Jain texts. I actually had never heard of this form of meditation, also known as Metta, and was moved by its basic tenets, which remind me of sacred geometry which connects us all. The concepts of self-love and love for all, including those we don’t care for, is powerful when applied with authenticity. There are various scripts that you can use as a launching point for this meditation of love and compassion for self and others. If the idea of treating yourself with pure love and compassion makes you squirm, this form of meditation is calling you.
According to Positive Psychology, Metta meditation usually starts with the self, as Buddha said ‘unless we treat ourselves with love and compassion, we cannot reflect the same on others.’ Once we start experiencing self-love and self-compassion ourselves, we can show the same to others too. With love and kindness meditation comes self-compassion, increased focus and attention, and a deep sense of emotional strength that balance our thoughts and actions. Loving-kindness meditation soothes the mind and reduces subjective feelings of suffering. Traditional Buddhist practices in different parts of the world consider this practice as a pathway for cultivating happiness, appreciation, satisfaction, and ultimate acceptance (Bodhi, 2005; Shen-Yen 2001).
How do I start meditation practice?
Find a quiet and comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed. Don’t limit yourself to a room where you can simply close the door. Consider a quiet spot in your favorite park or green space.
Posture is important. Whether you sit on the edge of your bed or chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground or invest in a meditation cushion, sit up straight so that the energy can move easily up the spine. Be aware if your mind is wandering, which it probably will, just instruct your mind to come back to your breath or mantra. Don’t engage in distracting thoughts. Start slowly and build up the length of your meditation over time. With just 3 minutes of meditation, you are benefitting your circulatory system and electromagnetic field. 11 or 31 minutes is a good goal to work towards.
What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation?
According to Deepak Chopra, mindfulness is a nonjudgmental awareness of thoughts, sensations, surroundings, and emotions, and meditation is one tool for developing mindfulness but isn’t the only tool. When you are consciously bringing your wandering mind back to the present moment, you are cultivating mindfulness. You can do that in everyday life by tuning into your surroundings.
Mindfulness allows me to be more present and connected to the subtle realm. I find it incredibly useful to scan my body when I sense a shift in my energy or thoughts. I stop and explore, without judgment, where I am experiencing tension or a discomforting sensation. I then can have a short internal conversation to figure out what is going on and how to create a shift. Sometimes a deep compassionate breath into that part of myself is all I need. It also helps me to connect with nature. I connect with the energy of plants, the sky, the ground beneath my feet. For me, that relationship with nature, allows the downloads to come more easily whether they are for my own self-care and growth or for when I am in service to others.
The Lazy or Smart Person’s Meditation - Gong Sound Therapy
Whether you develop a regular meditation healing practice or not, gong sound therapy is a great addition to your wellness routine. We live in demanding times and often simply want to be taken care of. Gong sound therapy addresses this need. The ancient technology of gong sound meditation can offer physical, emotional and spiritual healing through deep relaxation, stimulating the glandular systems and cleansing the subconscious mind. The sound waves of the gong stimulate the skin’s dermatomes, a network of nerves connected to the body's organs resulting in a sound massage.
Fondly named “the smart person’s meditation”, gong sound healing also brings the mind to a neutral state and only requires you to be open and to allow the sound of the gong to wash over you. Therein lies the appeal of the gong therapy - little effort is required on your part for a deeply relaxing experience.
Improve Meditation with Gong Therapy
Ready to experience the healing power of sound through Gong Therapy? Monique's compassionate, student-centered approach has helped countless individuals tune into the benefits of Gong Sound Therapy.
About SoundWellness
Monique Derfuss is the founder and President of SoundWellness offering gong sound therapy, Reiki, Kundalini Yoga, and meditation. Her wellness business is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has helped thousands of people over the past 6+ years move beyond only taking care of their physical bodies to taking a more holistic approach to their health by integrating support of their energetic, or subtle, bodies. Check out what others have said about her services.
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