Mindfulness and Meditation
Meditation is the practice of focusing your attention to help you feel calm and give you a clear awareness about your life. Eastern philosophies have recognized the health benefits of meditation for thousands of years. Meditation is now also widely practiced in the West, with the belief that it has positive effects on health.
Two meditation techniques are most commonly used: concentrative and mindful.
Concentrative meditation, such as transcendental meditation (TM), focuses on a single image, sound, or mantra (words spoken or sung in a pattern), or on your own breathing.
Mindful meditation, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), does not focus on a single purpose. Rather, you are aware of all thoughts, feelings, sounds, or images that pass through your mind.
At Spring Gardens Recovery near Tampa, we use guided meditation to help those engaged in the recovery process at our Florida detox center to clear their minds. During guided meditation, you you can relax and enjoy a respite from your thoughts and worries. Learning to meditate on your own can be difficult, that’s why at Spring Gardens, one of the most innovative drug and alcohol detox centers, we offer guided meditation led by a professional to help you get the most out of the experience.
Benefits of Meditation
People use meditation, which usually slow, regular breathing and sitting quietly for at least 15 to 20 minutes,.to help treat a wide range of physical and mental problems, including addiction.
Countless studies have documented the health benefits of meditation, ranging from stress relief to enhanced concentration. Meditation can also be used to help treat stress, and depression. A report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends transcendental meditation (TM) as one of the first treatments for high blood pressure. Meditation has also been proven to be effective in the treatment of chronic pain.
Meditation helps calm many individuals, which lowers blood pressure to keep the heart healthy. Meditation also helps the body release serotonin naturally. This mood-enhancing hormone in the brain can make people feel happier.
Studies show that people who meditate have more energy during the day, as well. Most experts believe that the increased energy comes about because of reduced stress. People who meditate also tend to sleep more soundly at night.
According to cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital and Mind Body Medicine Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, meditation can relieve any condition that is caused or worsened by stress.
That includes chronic pain, high blood pressure and anxiety. Research has also shown that regular meditation can help boost mood, improve heart health, enhance immunity and ease problems encountered during pregnancy.
Studies also show that meditation changes brain physiology to slow aging. “It reduces stress and its effects on the body,” explained 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.
In Buddhist monks who meditate, researchers found evidence of greater activity in areas of the brain associated with attention, memory, learning and conscious perception. Higher activity levels in areas of the brain associated with positive emotions, like happiness, were also recorded.
Repetition seems to be the key that unlocks the benefits of meditation. That doesn’t mean you have to say “om” over and over again or become a Buddhist. Meditation comes in many forms.
At Spring Gardens Recovery in Florida, guided meditation is used successfully to ease the mind and spirit during the detoxification process, which takes a toll on your body and mind. Guided meditation at our detox treatment center in Florida can help reduce your anxiety, enhance your focus and clarity, ease depression and reduce the stress your mind and body are experiencing.