Medi(c/t)ation

I meditate therefore I medicate? Sort of...

In the past, some doctors may have prescribe meditation as a means of reducing a patient's stress or anxiety levels, but now scientists are beginning to better understand exactly what goes on in the brain of a person while he or she meditates.

"[Andrew Newberg] has found that those who meditate have increased activity in the frontal lobe -- the part of the brain involved in concentration -- and decreased activity in the parietal lobe — the area of the brain that is related to sensory information and helps us form our sense of self."

People who meditate often describe a feeling of oneness with the universe and their surroundings. Could this possibly be related to the decreased activity in the parietal lobe?

I have been practicing traditional Buddhist techniques for meditation and concentration, and I always come from the experience feeling more energized and at peace. Often times during deep meditative states, we focus our concentration on our breath and ask ourselves who is the "I" experiencing the experience of the present moment. With practice, it becomes easier to let go of our worries and enjoy simply being alive in the infinite moment that is "now."

Not only can meditation/prayer affect our outlook on life or our emotional well being, it can also have physical healing affects as in the case of Sheri Kaplan who has had HIV for the past 15 years and "has never taken medicine, yet the disease has not progressed to AIDS (and she is not part of the population that has a mutation in the CCR5 gene that prevents progression of HIV to AIDS)"

Kaplan explains it's her faith in God that has granted her this unique ability, but one does not necessarily have to believe in God to experience such benefits. Whether it is God that created the brain or the brain that created God, prayer and meditation seem beneficial to the practitioner.

I found this website to be extremely informative, and it is also where I got most of my information for this entry.

Here are some guided meditations which I enjoy. I recommend starting with Prana, and once you have mastered focusing on the breath, you can move on to the others.