Meditation

MeditationI am dedicated to making Meditation instruction available to persons of all incomes and abilities. While working with me, you will be guided in a meditation modality that is best suited to your needs. Whether you want to explore basic breathwork or work on issues related to eating patterns, sexuality, infidelity, depression, anxiety, disease, or end of life circumstances (malignant diagnosis), your meditation session will be completely confidential and uninterrupted.

Meditation instruction is provided on a sliding scale fee, according to your income. I operate on the honor system so I do not require that you provide proof of income.

(Travel fees may apply depending upon your location, however, the travel fee may be waived depending upon your circumstances)

I provide Discreet Guided Meditation services at your location.

1. On-Site: At your location (You must have a quiet, uniterrupted area large enough for a massage table). 

I've spent most of my life searching for ways to improve myself. Of the ways I've found to be most useful, meditation has maintained a consistent presence in my life. I've interacted with a variety of different cultures and communities, curious of how their practices may assist with the alleviation of various mental and physical ailments. Whether it be Eastern or Western traditions, meditation need not carry religious or spiritual significance. Although meditation is most often coupled with a form of spirituality, the power of meditation can be practiced successfully without the spiritual or religious components. Feel free to ask how I may assist you in achieving a successful meditation practice.

The following will provide a general overview of meditation and its benefits.

Uses of Meditation for Health in the United States

A 2007 national Government survey that asked about CAM use in a sample of 23,393 U.S. adults found that 9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months—compared with 7.6 percent of respondents (representing more than 15 million people) in a similar survey conducted in 2002. The 2007 survey also asked about CAM use in a sample of 9,417 children; 1 percent (representing 725,000 children) had used meditation in the past 12 months.

People use meditation for various health problems, such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Pain
  • Depression
  • Stress
  • Insomnia
  • Physical or emotional symptoms that may be associated with chronic illnesses (such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer) and their treatment.

Meditation is also used for overall wellness.

How Meditation Might Work

Practicing meditation has been shown to induce some changes in the body. By learning more about what goes on in the body during meditation, researchers hope to be able to identify diseases or conditions for which meditation might be useful.

Some types of meditation might work by affecting the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system. This system regulates many organs and muscles, controlling functions such as heartbeat, sweating, breathing, and digestion. It has two major parts:

  • The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the body for action. When a person is under stress, it produces the "fight-or-flight response": the heart rate and breathing rate go up and blood vessels narrow (restricting the flow of blood).
  • The parasympathetic nervous system causes the heart rate and breathing rate to slow down, the blood vessels to dilate (improving blood flow), and the flow of digestive juices increases.

It is thought that some types of meditation might work by reducing activity in the sympathetic nervous system and increasing activity in the parasympathetic nervous system.

In one area of research, scientists are using sophisticated tools to determine whether meditation is associated with significant changes in brain function. A number of researchers believe that these changes account for many of meditation's effects.

It is also possible that practicing meditation may work by improving the mind's ability to pay attention. Since attention is involved in performing everyday tasks and regulating mood, meditation might lead to other benefits.

A 2007 NCCAM-funded review of the scientific literature found some evidence suggesting that meditation is associated with potentially beneficial health effects. However, the overall evidence was inconclusive. The reviewers concluded that future research needs to be more rigorous before firm conclusions can be drawn.

If You Are Thinking About Using Meditation Practices

  • Do not use meditation as a replacement for conventional care or as a reason to postpone seeing a doctor about a medical problem.
  • Ask about the training and experience of the meditation instructor you are considering.
  • Look for published research studies on meditation for the health condition in which you are interested.
  • Tell all your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care. For tips about talking with your health care providers about CAM, see NCCAM's Time to Talk campaign.

NCCAM-Supported Research

Some recent NCCAM-supported studies have been investigating meditation for:

  • Relieving stress in caregivers for elderly patients with dementia
  • Reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes in menopausal women
  • Relieving symptoms of chronic back pain
  • Improving attention-related abilities (alerting, focusing, and prioritizing)
  • Relieving asthma symptoms.

References

Sources are drawn from recent reviews on the general topic of meditation in the peer-reviewed medical and scientific literature in English in the PubMed database, selected evidence-based databases, and Federal sources.

For More Information

NCCAM Clearinghouse

The NCCAM Clearinghouse provides information on CAM and NCCAM, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.

Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-888-644-6226
TTY (for deaf and hard-of-hearing callers): 1-866-464-3615
Web site: nccam.nih.gov
E-mail: info@nccam.nih.gov

PubMed®

A service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), PubMed® contains publication information and (in most cases) brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. CAM on PubMed®, developed jointly by NCCAM and NLM, is a subset of the PubMed® system and focuses on the topic of CAM.

Web site: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
CAM on PubMed®: nccam.nih.gov/research/camonpubmed/

ClinicalTrials.gov

ClinicalTrials.gov is a database of information on federally and privately supported clinical trials (research studies in people) for a wide range of diseases and conditions. It is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Web site: www.clinicaltrials.gov

Acknowledgments

NCCAM thanks the following people for their technical expertise and review of the original publication: Michael Baime, M.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison; Robert Schneider, M.D., Maharishi University of Management; and Catherine Stoney, Ph.D., Margaret Chesney, Ph.D., and Jack Killen, M.D., NCCAM.

NCCAM thanks the following people for their technical expertise and review of the content update of this publication: James Carmody, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School; Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison; Amishi P. Jha, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; and Catherine Stoney, Ph.D., NCCAM.

 

NCCAM has provided this material for your information. It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your primary health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy is not an endorsement by NCCAM.