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eLearning Series: Natural / Home Remedies
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Meditating
and Breathing Techniques
Can Reduce Stress
One form of natural stress relief is meditation
techniques, which often involves the use of specific breathing
techniques. This stress relief technique helps calm the mind
and create an overall sense of peace and relaxation.
There are many forms of meditation and many are linked to
certain religions or spiritual beliefs. Hinduism has many schools
of meditation, including yoga. Buddhists use meditation to
reach a state of enlightenment and many Jewish prayers are
meditative in nature. Even many Christian religions utilize
forms of meditation, such as the use of rosary beads n Catholicism.
Meditation
does not, however, have to be about a spiritual or religious
journey. Rather, it is a natural treatment for
stress and anxiety that is accomplished by getting the mind,
body, and spirit in balance.
To accomplish this, a person using meditation as a form of
natural stress relief must find a quiet place. There are no
strict rules regarding body positioning when meditating, but
most people who use meditation as a form of natural stress
relief prefer to do so in the lotus position. The lotus position
involves sitting with the legs crossed while keeping the back
straight and the shoulders level. Yet other practitioners prefer
to sit comfortably, but with the legs uncrossed.
No matter the general position chosen when using meditation
for natural stress relief, it is best to keep the spine straight
throughout the meditation process. This position encourages
circulation and makes it easier to breathe in the deep, slow
fashion that is often necessary for meditation.
After finding a quiet place to perform meditation, and after
assuming a position that is comfortable, it is time to begin
this process of natural stress relief. Some people prefer to
remain quiet while meditating. Still others close their eyes
and hum or make other repetitive noises to help clear their
minds and to block out thoughts and outside noises.
Many prefer to utilize specific breathing techniques and specific
thoughts in order to reach a meditative and relaxed state.
One popular method is to focus on each individual part of the
body. Give your self permission to relax until your entire
body is relaxed. At the same time, this method calls for taking
a few deep breaths. These are called cleansing breaths because
they help clear the mind and bring a little extra oxygen into
the blood. After the cleansing breaths, subsequent breaths
should be inhaled to the count of four, and then exhaled to
the count of eight. These counts help focus the breathing and
clear the mind of other thoughts.
Unlike medication, there is no
limit to the number of times meditation can be used. This natural stress relief technique
can be used as often as necessary and for as long as needed
because it does not have the negative side effects of medication.
In fact, it is possible to gain relief from stress and anxiety
with just a one-minute session of meditation, though 20-30
minutes of meditation is most common.
Many studies have been performed on the use of meditation
as a form of natural stress relief. These studies have shown
that meditation does, indeed, lower the biochemical byproducts
of stress. Meditation has also been proven to reduce blood
pressure and heart rate, as well as increase favorable brain
waves. This is unlike many stress-relieving medications, which
may temporarily reduce feelings of stress, but can cause long-term
harm to the body.
In fact, meditation is used often in hospitals with patients
suffering from chronic or terminal illness to reduce stress.
This is especially important because stress has been shown
to contribute to poor health. A 1999 report by neurophysiologist
Dr. James Austin from the University of Colorado stated that
meditation actually reprograms brain circuitry. His findings
were later confirmed using imaging techniques that view electrical
activity in the brain.
Further studies at the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which
is affiliated with Harvard and several other Boston hospitals,
has found that meditation causes several biochemical and physical
changes associated with relaxation, including changes in heart
rate, metabolism, blood pressure, respiration, and brain chemistry.
With all of the positive research surrounding meditation and
relaxation breathing techniques, it is easy to see why thousands
of people use the techniques every day to relieve stress and
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by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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