Please note:
I am not a doctor, and I am not prescribing anything. I am not advocating that anyone stop their medication without consulting their doctor. I suggest you consult your doctor when you have a health concern. Certain mental health issues require medication. Many doctors view meditation as a good addition to Western medicine.
Quick Fix
We all want a quick fix, but meditation before medication may be our best bet. Some of us are medication averse, and others would be fine popping a pill to feel better.
Brain Research
Current brain research with fMRI has shown the tremendous difference in brains of people who meditate and those who don’t. And the data is loud and clear: meditation rewires our brain into a healthier state.
Meditation Helps:
– Us be more emotionally stable and less likely to get upset
– Us able to calm down more quickly after an upset
– To lower blood pressure
– With chronic pain
– With depression
– Sharply reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke among a group of African-Americans with heart disease
– Improve mental and cognitive functioning
– Us be more emotionally stable and less likely to get upset
– Us able to calm down more quickly after an upset
– To lower blood pressure
– With chronic pain
– With depression
– Sharply reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke among a group of African-Americans with heart disease
– Improve mental and cognitive functioning
Meditation Coming Into the Mainstream
My primary care doctor at Kaiser recommended meditation to me at my annual check-up. I was pleased of the promise as the medical community is recognizing the value of meditation.
At Beth Israel Deaconess, Stanford Medical Center, Harvard, Kaiser, and other medical intuitions, meditation and other mind-body therapies are slowly being worked into the primary-care setting.
Mindfulness meditation is the most commonly taught mediation for health issues at this point.
Medication
Medication certainly has its place, and for certain people it is absolutely the right path. When necessary, I refer out to a psychiatrist for a diagnostic and medication assessment and coordinate care with that psychiatrist.
Self-Care
We can do the important self-care that gives the brain the greatest chance of health:
– Sleep
– Exercise
– Diet
– Meditation
– Social interaction
– Sleep
– Exercise
– Diet
– Meditation
– Social interaction
I recommend reading “The Brain Bible” by Dr. John Arden. I attended a workshop he gave, and was very impressed with his research and knowledge. He spells out the recipe for brain health clearly and concisely. As Dr. Arden says, now all we have to do is “Do the things we’re resistant to.”
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