Meditation as a career
Introduction
Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.
Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.
As Western medical practitioners begin to
understand the mind's role in health and disease, there has been more interest
in the use of meditation in medicine. Meditative practices are increasingly offered
in medical clinics and hospitals as a tool for improving health and quality of
life. Meditation has been used as the primary therapy for treating certain
diseases; as an additional therapy in a comprehensive treatment plan; and as a
means of improving the quality of life of people with debilitating, chronic, or
terminal illnesses.
Meditation can be used with other forms of medical
treatment and is an important complementary therapy for both the treatment and
prevention of many stress-related conditions. Regular meditation can reduce the
number of symptoms experienced by patients with a wide range of illnesses and
disorders. Based upon clinical evidence as well as theoretical understanding,
meditation is considered to be one of the better therapies for panic
disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, substance dependence and abuse, ulcers,
colitis, chronic pain, psoriasis, and dysthymic disorder. It is
considered to be a valuable adjunctive therapy for moderate hypertension (high
blood pressure), prevention of cardiac arrest (heart attack), prevention
of atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries), arthritis
(including fibromyalgia), cancer, insomnia, migraine, and prevention
of stroke. Meditation may also be a valuable complementary therapy
for allergies and asthma because of the role stress plays
in these conditions. Meditative practices have been reported to improve
function or reduce symptoms in patients with some neurological disorders
as well. These include people with Parkinson's disease, people who
experience fatigue with multiple sclerosis, and people
with epilepsy who are resistant to standard treatment.
