Effectiveness of Meditation in Reducing Stress

Effectiveness of Meditation in Reducing Stress

Recent research on the benefits of meditation in reducing stress-related illness has convinced many corporations nationwide – including Adolf Coors, Marriott, Poloroid, Hughes Aircraft, Pacific Bell, and NASA – to use meditation training as an integral part of their stress management programs. Meditation has been the subject of hundreds of clinical studies in recent years. Below is a summary of key studies:

1) Meditation significantly controls high blood pressure at levels comparable to widely used prescription drugs, and without the side effects of drugs. Hypertension, AMA Medical Journal

2) Meditators are able to reduce chronic pain by more than 50% while increasing daily function and markedly improving their moods, even 4 years after the completion of an 8-week training course. Jon Kabat-Zinn, MD Stress Reduction Clinic

3) 75% of long-term insomniacs who have been trained in relaxation and meditation can fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed. Dr. Gregg Jacobs, Psychologist, Harvard

4) Meditation decreases oxygen consumption, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, and increases the intensity of alpha, theta, and delta brain waves – the opposite of the physiological changes that occur during the stress response. Herbert Benson, MD Harvard Medical School

5) Relaxation therapies are effective in treating chronic pain, and can markedly ease the pain of low back problems, arthritis, and headaches. National Institutes of Health, 1996

6) Reducing stress can dramatically reduce heart disease. In a five year study of heart disease patients, those who learned to manage stress reduced their risk of having another heart attack by 74%, compared with patients receiving medication only. Reducing mental stress also proved more beneficial than getting exercise. Dr. James Blumenthal, Duke University

7) Twenty eight people with high levels of blocked arteries and high risk of heart attack were placed on a program with regular practice of meditation, yoga, a low fat vegetarian diet, and exercise. Twenty people in the control group received conventional medical care endorsed by the AMA. At the end of a year, most of the experimental group reported that their chest pains had virtually disappeared; for 82% of the patients, arterial clogging had reversed. Those who were sickest at the start showed the most improvement. The control group had an increase in chest pain and arterial blockage worsened. Dr. Dean Ornish, San Francisco Medical School

8) Two groups were compared: meditators and non-meditators The meditators were less anxious and neurotic, more spontaneous, independent, self confident, empathetic, and less fearful of death. Atlantic Monthly, 1991

9) Twenty out of twenty two anxiety prone people showed a 60% improvement in anxiety levels following an eight week course in meditation. University of Massachusetts

10) A study of women with severe PMS showed a 58% improvement in their symptoms after five months of daily meditation. Health, 1995

11) High school students who study relaxation techniques stay in school more often and have fewer incidents of suspension. The Education Initiative, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Harvard

12) In a recent study, 77% of individuals with high levels of stress were able to cool down, lower their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, simply by training themselves to stay calm. Health, 1994

Yoga For Dystonia

YOGA FOR DYSTONIA

by Kathy Randolph, Certified Practitioner of Yoga for the Special Child™

Yoga is an ancient discipline to bring body, breath and mind into balance. The eight-fold path of yoga includes avoiding unhealthy behaviors and attitudes, cultivating healthy practices, practicing yoga postures to gain control and stillness in the body, breathing exercises to control energy and stress, mental exercises to focus within, concentration, meditation, and a connection with the universe.

The two physical branches of yoga, the postures and the breathing, make up Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is founded on the truth that the state of the mind is inextricably combined with the condition of the body. Using the postures and breathing together provides a powerful method for reducing muscle spasms and tightness in the neck and shoulders, relaxing the body and mind, and relieving stress.

First, the full diaphragmatic breath, to provide maximum oxygenation of the muscles. Place one hand on your abdomen, with your thumb on your navel and the rest of your hand below. Breathe deep into your lungs, trying to fill the lowest section first. Your lungs extend to two inches below your navel on the right and four inches below your navel on the left. As you inhale, your lungs will expand, moving your hand away from your spine. As you exhale your lungs will empty and your hand will move toward your spine. Continue breathing fully into your low lungs until the motion is smooth. Then add your ribcage. First, fill your low lungs, then try to expand your ribcage and fill your lungs in your middle chest. Continue this breath, low lungs and then middle lungs until it feels smooth. Then add the upper chest. Fill your low lungs, then middle lungs, and then try to top it off, filling your lungs to maximum capacity. Continue breathing in this wave, low…middle…top, until it feels smooth.

The deep breathing of yoga brings oxygen into the muscles, and allows the old chemicals such as lactic acid and adrenaline to be released back into the blood stream and exhaled, speeding the release of tension from the muscles. In addition, since you are moving more oxygen with each breath, using your full lung capacity allows you to breathe slower, reducing your heart rate and blood pressure. When we are calm, we breathe slowly and deeply. Our minds and bodies are so connected that when we breathe slowly and deeply, our minds think we are calm. This allows us to use our ability to control our breath to choose to deliberately alter our mental state.

Building on this base of oxygenation, muscle relaxation and stress relief, let’s add the physical stretches for the neck and shoulders. Refer to the illustrations for a general idea of the pose.

Slow Motion Dive: Sit erect in a chair with your hands on your knees and inhale fully. As you exhale, slowly lower yourself with your hands to knee level and let your head hang freely. If you can go further, place your hands on the floor and continue to lower yourself. Pause there up to one minute, breathing fully, letting the weight of your head stretch out your neck and spine. Then, inhaling, lift yourself up with your arms, head still hanging until last. This pose stretches the neck, shoulders and upper back.

Seated Neck Stretch: Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, breathing fully. Place your right hand behind your left ear, grasping the base of your skull. As you exhale, gently pull your skull to the right, stretching your neck, then turn and look at your right knee. Pause, gently pulling and breathing fully, then release. Repeat on the other side. This pose stretches the neck muscles.

Seated Half Moon: Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, breathing fully. Place your right hand on the seat of the chair or the floor. With your left palm up, inhale and lift your left hand up, then exhale, curving to the right. Be sure to move sideways, rather than forward. Repeat on the other side. This pose release the ribcage.

Seated Twist: Sit comfortably in a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Inhale and straighten your spine. As you exhale, bring your right hand across to your left knee and turn in your low spine to the left. Hold the position as you inhale, then as you exhale try to turn further, using your ribcage. Hold the position as you inhale, then exhale turning your head if possible. Repeat on the other side. This releases the neck and ribcage.

Circle of Joy: Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor. Interlace your fingers. Exhale and press your arms forward, palms away from you. Inhale and lift your arms overhead, palms up. Exhale, releasing your arms to the side and around behind you. Interlace your fingers, palms away from you and inhale, straightening your elbows as much as possible. Exhale, bending forward. Inhale, release your arms and sit up. Repeat as desired. This stretches the neck, shoulders, arms and back, releasing all the muscles used in breathing.

Bent Knee Dive: Sit comfortably in a chair. Place your left ankle on your right knee. As you exhale, lower yourself forward, head hanging. Pause and breathe, then raise yourself with your arms, head hanging until last. This pose stretches the neck shoulders, back and hips.

Now, having done the stretches that appeal to you, return to the full diaphragmatic breath. Does it feel freer? smoother? deeper? The breath enhances the benefits of the poses, and the poses make the breath fuller and more beneficial.

Remember, you control your breath, and with that control, you can alter your physical and mental state at will.

Breathe!

Kathy Randolph

Breath and Stress

Notes On Yoga – Breath and Stress by Bob Fulkerson

Yoga is more than stretching or muscle building; it is in fact a spiritual practice. Scientific studies and centuries of experience have demonstrated profound physiological improvements of a regular Yoga practice.  These notes are just a very brief attempt to look at two major aspects of the power of Yoga in our lives: Breathing and Stress Reduction.

“What is God?  God is the breath inside the breath.” Rumi

Getting in touch with the breath at the beginning of each session prepares one to quietly and heartfully go inward, awakening body, mind and spirit to the asana practice that will follow. Following are some notes about the relationship between breath and spirit:

•  In Sanskrit, the word “prana” means life force, energy, and breath.

•  The Greek word for “psyche”, or soul, is related to “Psychein”, meaning “to breathe”.  From the Latin word for wind (“anemos” ) are derived the words for soul (“anima”) and spirit (“animus”).   In Hebrew, the word for breath (“ruauch”) also means “spirit”.

•  The word “Hatha” itself is loaded with connotations related to the breath.  The “Ha” is for inhalation and the “tha” for exhalation.  In Sanskrit,  “hatha” means “now”.  Reminds us to pay attention to the eternal moment of our current breath. (The type of yoga I teach is “Hatha Yoga”.)

•  The “Ha” of Hawaii also means breath or spirit.  The native people there first used the term “Howlie” to describe Captain Cook and the first white people they encountered.  It means “the people without breath or spirit.”

•  The Paiute word for prayer, blessings, or peace, is” Na-nish-na-heit” (spelled phonetically).  The “heit” is an aspirated sound to simulate the breath.  Similarly, the word “Shun-da-hai”, in Western Shoshone, means peace, blessings, or prayer.  The “hai” is also aspirated to motivate outward breath.  At the end of a prayer, you will see and hear Shoshone blowing (breathing) outward.

BKS Iyengar, likely the foremost teacher of Yoga today, in his commentaries on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, states:

“The wise yogis studied this connection between breath and consciousness and advocated the practice of pranayama to stabilize energy and consciousness…Prana is energy, when the self-energizing force embraces the body.  Ayama means stretch, extension, expansion, length, breadth, regulation, prolongation, restraint and control.” (Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. P.153.)


Yoga and Stress Reduction

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is the “auto-pilot” of the body’s central nervous system. From moment to moment, the ANS is either winding up or winding down. When we’re winding up, the sympathetic nervous system takes over; the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in as the body gears down. (Note:  There is not consensus in medical science that we can influence the ANS, in spite of several studies to the contrary and centuries of experience of yogis through the ages.)

In the former, when experiencing perceived danger, excitement or fear (“fight or flight”), the messages go out to the body to prepare it for a critical situation. The heart beats faster, blood pressure increases, breathing increases, pupils dilate, adrenaline flows, the digestive system shuts down.  The parasympathetic nervous system is the other half of the ANS that allows us to rest between stressful “battles.” Digestive juices flow again, adrenaline secretion stops, blood flow to the muscles decreases (no reason to run) and blood flow increases to the reasoning centers of the brain.  This is why simply stopping to take a deep breath in times of stress sometimes allows us to think more clearly in a critical situation.

We all live under varying degrees of stress or anxiety. Most of our lives are full of stress from modern life’s seemingly endless list of stressors including bills, traffic (road rage), relationships, threats or anxiety over war and terrorism. Stress contributes to most major health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and even cancer.   The good news is that research on the physiological effects of Yoga shows we can correct the chronic imbalance in the ANS that results from stress and alleviate many health problems.

By practicing yoga and reducing stress, we also

   •  Increase  “feel good” neuropeptides such as serotonin.
•  Improve circulation of lymph and tone the spleen, leading to more efficient removal of toxins and strengthening the body’s immune system.
•  Decrease harmful levels of cortisol hormones.

The body also produces cortisol in response to stress.  People who are wound up contain elevated levels of cortisol, also known as the “death or stress hormone”.  Elevated cortisol levels:

   •  Add to unwanted weight gain by stimulating the appetite.
•  Ensure efficient conversion of these calories to fat.
•  Ensure that fat tends to get stored in the abdomen.

Yoga reduces the body’s production of cortisol.  Yoga also helps with unwanted weight gain by increasing your sense of body awareness–from whether your cervical spine is ready for halasana (shoulder stand) to whether you want to eat even though your stomach is already full–which may of us with weight problems do.

In closing, Yoga is not simply about flat abs, looking good, or asana (postures) on the mat. The Eight-Fold Path (“Ashtanga”, meaning “eight”) of Yoga laid down in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (See BKY Iyengar’s Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali) is a 5,000-year old remedy to modern ailments that is in line with every religious and spiritual tradition I’ve come across, from the Buddhism to the 12 Steps to Christianity (“Be still, and know that I am God”; A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine.”)  It is not meant to supplant medical science or treatment for physical ailments—be sure to tell your doctor about your yoga practice.  At the root, Yoga (from “yoke”, or “union”) is about self transformation. We intuitively understand that we are united with the divine presence in our lives.

With gratitude to Patanjali, Gyandev McCord at The Expanding Light Yoga School at Ananda, Dr. Timothy McCall, MD, of the Yoga Journal, and the long line of yoga teachers and students I’ve been blessed to know.

Bob Fulkerson
March 5, 2005


“By your stumbling, the world is perfected.” Sri Aurobindo