Meditation has many well-known health benefits and is recognized as a legitimate complementary medicine for healing the body, mind and spirit. Healing meditation techniques are used to augment cancer care, as a companion to traditional modes of pain management, to assist in the recovery from depression, and in many other areas of medicine. Healing meditation techniques are easy to master and can be practiced in a group setting or in your own home.
Healing Meditation for the Body
Stress is a part of everyday life, but when stress is extreme enough to be traumatic or long term, as in the case of a cancer diagnosis or chronic illness, it can cause changes to the nervous system. Fortunately, these changes can be modulated and even reversed by simply becoming mindful of your breath.
A simple meditation technique using deep diaphragmatic breathing, when practiced regularly, will illicit the relaxation response, lowering blood pressure and decreasing the heart rate. You can try this technique yourself by placing one hand on the lower abdomen and the other hand by the collarbone. Breathe deep so that your can feel the lower abdomen fill with breath. Continue to fill the torso with air until the the hand resting on the collarbone rises, then reverse the process by exhaling completely. This simple technique can be practiced anywhere and it only takes a few minutes a day to receive the healing benefit.
Healing Meditation for the Mind
Much of the stress we experience is created in the mind. Buddhist tradition holds that much of human suffering is created by craving things we don't have or wanting our current situation to be different. Mindfulness, a form of meditation that practitioners use to focus on moment-to-moment experience, has another important component. Practitioners are asked to take a break from judging their thoughts. This nonjudgmental state of mind is relaxing and healing, and fosters acceptance. Like other forms of meditation, mindfulness has been shown to reduce the levels of stress-related chemicals in the body, such as adrenaline and cortisol.
Healing Meditation for Emotions
Difficult emotions can have a negative effect on the body if left unchecked. The Wave Technique is a healing meditation technique developed at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The goal of this technique is to work with difficult emotions like fear, anger or sadness. Start by breathing deeply and relaxing your muscles to reduce bodily tension, paying extra attention to any areas of the body that feel tight or tense, and directing the breath to those locations. Next, notice any emotions that come up. Instead of pushing unpleasant emotions away, gently hold your awareness on these emotions, letting go of any judgment and watching the emotions with child-like curiosity. Letting them remain in your awareness with curiosity will help difficult emotions disperse. Like a drop of ink in a large lake, the emotions will lose their intensity.
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