{"id":7653,"date":"2021-04-14T13:31:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T13:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theravada.gr\/?page_id=7653"},"modified":"2025-06-17T20:15:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T20:15:14","slug":"doctors-order-meditation-is-therapeutic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.theravada.gr\/en\/doctors-order-meditation-is-therapeutic\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation & Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span>\"\"

Meditation & Health<\/p><\/div>\n\n

Home<\/a><\/span> \u00bb Meditation & Health<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span>\"\"

BREATH<\/p>\n\n

ANCHOR YOURSELF<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n

<\/span>\"\"

FOCUS<\/p>\n\n

TRAIN YOUR MIND<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n

<\/span>\"\"

OBSERVE<\/p>\n\n

FIND PEACE WITHIN<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Doctor\u2019s Order: Meditation is Therapeutic<\/h2>\n\n

Meditation is a popular topic right now, but not many people know about its innumerable benefits outside of just relaxing and relieving stress. Meditation is certainly the key to happiness and peaceful life, more so though, studies have established that practicing mindful meditation on a regular basis yields lifelong benefits such as reduced stress levels, reduced physical pain, improved sleep quality, lower blood pressure, a healthy heart, and decreased cellular inflammation. Moreover, mindfulness practice has been linked to increased serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain, helping to battle against depression & anxiety. Clinical trials<\/a> have proven that systematic mindfulness meditation results in greater activation in a part of the brain called the left prefrontal cortex which is associated with emotions, wellbeing, and acceptance of experience.<\/p>\n\n

Dr Peter Malinowski<\/a>, suggests that \u201cSince the beginning of the new millenium the interest in the scientific exploration of meditation practices \u2013 in particular those of buddhist descent \u2013 has been increasing dramatically. New studies appear continuously, contributing to the ever-growing scientific descriptions of the processes involved in regular meditation practices and their enduring effects, physiologically as well as psychologically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Jon Kabat-Zinn<\/a> created his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR) in 1979, making this type of meditation one of the most widespread options available. The methods of this program are implemented on a secular basis by therapists and medical professionals, worldwide. By focusing on the present, instead of wandering into thoughts about the past or future, people who use this technique can manage anxiety and concentration virtually anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n\n

Through mindfulness practice individuals strive to maintain attention to internal and external experiences, as they occur in the present moment, in a non-judgemental way, manifesting acceptance, curiosity and openness. It is the exact opposite of \u201cruminative thinking\u201d (the tendency to dwell on the same thought or theme) which creates low moods that persist and return. Mindful meditation teaches individuals to attach \u201clabels\u201d to thoughts and to detach from emotions so as to acquire the space and time needed for an informed response and avoid impulsive reactions. It teaches that thoughts are thoughts, not facts. It promotes self compassion, as well as, compassion to experience and others.<\/p>\n\n

Mindfulness heightens body awareness. When an external stimulus triggers an emotional reaction, the attention system detects a conflict. Heightened body awareness helps to detect physiological aspects of the feelings present (e.g., body tension, rapid heartbeat, short shallow breath). This triggers the emotion regulation process to react to the stimulus differently than usual (i.e. just noticing it as opposed to reacting to it) and thus breaks harmful thinking patterns and habits, which lead to several mental & physical illnesses.<\/p>\n\n

Resources<\/h2>\n\n

Links<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

  1. Center for Mindfulness \u2013 UMass Medical School<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  2. MBSR as an Adjunct to Outpatient Psychotherapy<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  3. Oxford Mindfulness Center<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  4. https:\/\/meditation-research.org.uk\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  5. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for low back pain. A systematic review<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  6. MBSR and health-related quality of life in a heterogeneous patient population<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  7. Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) : A Brief Overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  8. Psychology Today<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  9. Prevention of relapse\/recurrence in major depression by MBCT<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  10. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for generalized anxiety disorder<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  11. Mindfulness Meditation Training Changes Brain Structure in 8 weeks \u2013 Science Daily (article) Amiishi Jha & James Carmody<\/a><\/li>\n\n
  12. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n

    Books<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

    1. Full Catastrophe Living \u2013 Jon Kabat-Zinn<\/li>\n\n
    2. Wherever You Go, There You Are \u2013 Jon Kabat-Zinn<\/li>\n\n
    3. Coming to Our Senses \u2013 Jon Kabat Zinn<\/li>\n\n
    4. A Gradual Awakening \u2013 Stephen Levine<\/li>\n\n
    5. Mindfulness for Dummies \u2013 Ahamash Alidina<\/li>\n\n
    6. 10% Happier. How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works \u2013 A True Story \u2013 Dan Harris<\/li>\n\n
    7. The Mindful Way Through Depression \u2013 Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn<\/li>\n\n
    8. Mindfulness and Psychotherapy \u2013 Christopher Germer, Ronald Siegel and Paul Fulton (eds)<\/li>\n\n
    9. Buddha\u2019s Brain: the practical neuroscience of happiness, love & wisdom by Rick Handon, Richard Mendius<\/li>\n\n
    10. Thoughts Without a Thinker \u2013 Mark Epstein<\/li>\n\n
    11. Power over Panic \u2013 Brownwyn Fox<\/li>\n\n
    12. Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation \u2013 Sharon Salzberg<\/li>\n\n
    13. Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happines \u2013 Sharon Salzberg<\/li>\n\n
    14. Mindfulness \u2013 Ronald D. Siegel, Christopher K Germer, and Andrew Olendzki<\/li>\n\n
    15. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions \u2013 Christopher Germer<\/li><\/ol><\/div><\/div>\n\n

      Subscribe here! We will be informing you about our free lessons and we will send you as a gift, one of the most popular discourses of the Buddha, Kara\u1e47\u012bya Metta Sutta, in e-book, in English.<\/h3>\n\n