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You can think of it or not, but we leave in the insane world where everything is not like it was a just a couple of centuries ago. Our forefathers breathed in fresh air, enjoyed pure water and grew natural food. What do we have today? Having the same physiology as it was 4 or 5 generations ago modern humans lead crazy lives! We consume bad water and extremely harmful soft drinks, stuff our mouths with fast food, inhale filthy air and hear constant urban noise around us. As for the emotional and nervous stress and strain, it is absolutely unbearable. Our speed of life makes us be in a hurry on a twenty-four hour basis, we are overworked and stressed in our family lives, we don’t have enough rest and sleep to do extra work and make our carriers. We never give a thought to the fact that our body requires some time to relax and restore, what is more, our head requires some rest, too. Unfortunately, the bulk of individuals realize this simple truth when they fall seriously ill. Don’t become one of them! Think ahead and turn to totally safe and highly effective practice known for centuries - meditation.

“Did it come to your mind that people who meditate every day are happier, healthier and enjoy longer life expectancy than those who don’t?” This utterance is rather common these days, but is it true or not?

What it meditation? It is a unique concentrating practice where the major task is to suspend the normal stream of thoughts occupying the mind. There are all kinds and types of meditation. Maybe you will be shocked to hear that a prayer is also a pure meditation as it is. In addition to this kind of concentration familiar for all believers there are Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness meditation, Zen meditation, Buddhist meditation and Taoist meditation.

Meditation is the realm of complementary medicine that unlike usual medicine it never forgets that men and women have more than a mere aching body. Meditation views persons as unique creatures with an inseparable unity of intellect, body and soul. Meditation teachers understand that you cannot be healthy and pleased with your life if your head is filled with hatred, anger and disappointment. The surprising fact is that more and more official doctors prescribe their patients meditation as a way of managing definite health disorders. With meditation you can:

- lower your blood pressure;
- improve the general state of patients with angina including their exercise performance;
- let humans with asthma breathe easier;
- get rid of insomnia;
- restore after everyday stressful day of life.

Meditation is a native activity for every human, that is why it is up to you to make up your mind where you will practice meditation. Some people prefer to master meditation at home. It is very simple with all the instructional books and audio CDs available. Others prefer to find a good teacher.

With all its simplicity meditation can offer you a number of options. There are several approaches to meditation. Here are some tips for you how to meditate.

1. Focus on your breath - keep your attention on the sensation of the stream of air passes in and out of your nostrils. This is so called “mindfulness meditation” - the meditator should learn to be “mindful”, i.e. aware of the present moment of time, but his or her consciousness should be free of any judgments and reactions.

2. Concentrate on your body - keep your attention on the sensations in your body: pain, warmth, discomfort, tension etc.

3. Concentrate on any word or phrase you like - keeping your attention on a word or phrase is called a “mantra”. Its main task is to keep your mind free of any dangerous thoughts.

It is wrong to think that you should always sit during meditation. It is possible to lie down, to stand or even to have a strall. If for some reason sitting still is difficult for you, feel free to combine meditation with other practices such as yoga or tai chi - you will get double pleasure and positive effect!

The use of meditation for healing human body and soul is rather old. All modern meditative approaches are the result of years and years of work and mental experiments of individuals around the world. The healing power of mediation has been known and applied for thousands of years. Its cornerstone is tradition and religion; its effect is health and inner harmony! Actually, all religious groups apply meditation in one form or another.

It is doubtless that of all the religions Buddhism is a “father of meditation” - it is the best known and the most practiced kind of meditation in the world. Buddhists use the practice of meditation for reaching real wisdom and compassion and for seing reality as it is. Buddha followers believe that our usual state of mind is very shallow - it is both limited and limiting. Meditation broadens human horizons and makes it possible to reveal our conscious and unconscious possibilities completely.

The sad fact is that in spite of its unique history and rich traditions, meditation has been undeservedly ignored by the representatives of conventional medicine and only during the past three decades the medical science concentrated on the studies of clinical effects of meditation on health. The 1960s started with shocking medical reports of yogis and meditation masters from the mysterious East who could demonstrate extraordinary bodily control and could consciously stay in altered states of their minds - and this is where studies of self-regulation and voluntary control over the autonomic nervous system launched! The pompous scientific world was shaken when refined scientific instrumentation proved that impossible things can happen! Now health care professionals specializing in stress-related disorders had a unique way of treatment without awful side effects typical for drug treatments - it was the art of meditation! It turned out to be a valuable means for stress reduction, and what is more, persons and physicians enjoyed both the process of healing meditation and the health benefits available with regular trainings!

But the biggest surprise was still to come! After some time of scientific investigation of meditation this activity turned out to be perfect not solely for changing the brain’s function in the short term. The medical data demonstrated that regular practice of meditation produces a miraculous long-term positive effect! So, Transcendental Meditation in particular guarantees you a blissful state of relaxation including decreased heart and perspiration rates, decreased pulse rate, decreased concentration of cortisol in your blood (it is a major stress hormone) and high activity of the part of your brain responsible for rest and relaxation! Famous practitioner R. Keith Wallace investigating Transcendental Meditation found out that during meditation the body receives the most profound rest imaginable. Paradoxically, your brain and mind become clear and more alert - your reactions are faster, your creativity and efficiency is greater and your comprehension of the world is broader!

As distinct from Transcendental Meditation, Taoists consider that our emotions are governed by the Fire energy of the heart. When you cannot control your emotions, this fire energy flares upwards and destroys your life energy and confuses your mind. But you can manage that! Your willpower, on the contrary, is controlled by the Water energy located in your kidneys. If you do not control this energy, it flows down through your sexual organs, weakening your spirit and ruining your life. So, Taoists consider that when you sit motionless doing nothing and thinking of nothing, i.e. when you are meditating your Fire and Water are in harmony. Water energy from the kidneys goes up to your head via the Central and Governing channels. At the same time Fire energy from the heart goes down into the Lower Elixir Field in the abdomen. By means of this right circulation of two energies and through this mental alchemy in the body your mind becomes calmer, cooler and more controllable, while your sexual energy becomes really enjoyable!

Meditation is obviously one of the safest activities imaginable. It is great for men and women of all ages and states of health. However, you should know that in people with bad psychiatric cases, there have been a few reports in which regular meditation has worsened the state of their mental health. If you have a psychiatric case, please, talk to your mental health professional before starting the practice of meditation.

One more essential point - if you take medications on a regular basis never stop taking them before you have completed the course. The fact is meditation cannot give you stable relief immediately - in needs some time to work! If you cannot bear queuing up in the waiting room of your practitioner to get your prescription, find a reliable web drugstore online where you can get medications without a rx legally. Take definite steps to make your life better right now! And let healing mediation be your best guide.