Meditation: An Important Addition For Health

What is meditation
How may it effect your health
A simple meditation exercise

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, NCCAM, reports that the term meditation refers to a group of techniques, most of which started in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions. These techniques have been used by many different cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. Today, many people use meditation outside of its traditional religious or cultural settings, for health and wellness purposes.

In meditation, a person learns to focus their attention and suspend the stream of thoughts that normally occupy the mind. This practice is believed to result in a state of greater physical relaxation, mental calmness, and psychological balance. Practicing meditation can change how a person relates to the flow of emotions and thoughts in the mind.

Meditation used as a mental health intervention, generally termed mind-body medicine (one of the four pillars of health) focuses on:
- The interactions among the brain, the rest of the body, the mind, and behavior
- The ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly
affect health

People use meditation for various health problems, such as:
- Anxiety
- Pain
- Depression
- Mood
- Self-esteem problems
- Stress
- Insomnia

Meditation may also be beneficial for physical or emotional symptoms associated with chronic illnesses and their treatment, such as:
- Cardiovascular (heart) disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Cancer

There are many different forms, techniques, and styles of meditation and finding one that works well for you is very important. Try a google search for how to meditate or breathing for health. You may want to try this simple meditation technique to start, I found it very easy to get started and it is relevant for advanced users and beginner's.