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Believe it or not, but we leave in the crazy world where everything is not like it was a just a couple of centuries ago. Our previous generations breathed in fresh air, enjoyed pure water and produced natural food. What do we have today? Having the same physiology as it was 4 or 5 generations ago modern humans lead insane lives! We consume dirty water and extremely harmful soft drinks, stuff our mouths with harmful food, inhale filthy air and hear constant urban noise around us. As for the emotional and nervous stress and strain, it is absolutely intolerable. Our speed of life makes us be in a hurry 24/7, we are overworked and downtrodden in our family lives, we don’t have enough rest and sleep to do extra work and make our carriers. We never realize the fact that our body requires some time to relax and restore, what is more, our head requires some rest, too. Unfortunately, the majority of people realize the fact 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 humans who meditate on a regular basis are more content with their lives, healthier and live longer than those who don’t?” This utterance is rather natural today, but is it true or not?

What it meditation? It is a unique concentrating practice where the most important task is to slow down the normal whirl of thoughts occupying the mind. There are all kinds and types of meditation. Maybe you will be stunned to hear that a prayer is also a pure meditation as it is. In addition to this kind of concentration clear 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 mainstream medicine it does no fail to forget that men and women have more than a mere ailing body. Meditation views men and women as unique creatures possessing an inseparable unity of intellect, body and soul. Meditation teachers realize that you cannot be healthy and content with your life if your head is full of spite, anger and misery. The amazing fact is that more and more mainstream doctors prescribe their patients meditation as a way of managing many health problems. With meditation you can:

- lower your blood pressure;
- improve the general state of individuals with angina including their exercise performance;
- let persons with asthma breathe easier;
- forget about insomnia;
- restore after everyday disastrous day of life.

Meditation is a natural activity for every person, that is why it is up to you to decide 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 choose to learn from a good teacher.

With all its simplicity meditation can offer you numerous options. There are several approaches to meditation. Here are some prompts for you how to meditate.

1. Focus on your breath - keep your attention on the feeling of the stream of air going 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 mind should be free of any judgments and reactions.

2. Concentrate on your body - keep your attention on the feelings 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 major task is to keep your mind free of any dangerous thoughts.

It is wrong to believe that you should always sit during meditation. It is just as good to lie down, to stand or even to walk. 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 ancient. All modern meditative approaches are the result of years and years of work and mental experiments of personalities around the world. The healing power of mediation has been known and used for thousands of years. Its cornerstone is tradition and religion; its effect is health and inner harmony! To tell you the truth, all religious groups apply meditation in one form or another.

No doubts of all the religions Buddhism is a “father of meditation” - it is the best known and the most practiced type of meditation in the world. Buddhists use the practice of meditation for reaching real wisdom and compassion and for perceiving reality as it is. Buddha followers guess that our usual consciousness is very narrow - it is both limited and limiting. Meditation broadens human horizons and makes it possible to reveal our conscious and unconscious possibilities profoundly.

The stunning truth is that despite its unique history and rich traditions, meditation has been undeservedly ignored by the representatives of official medicine and only during the past thirty years the medical science focused 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 show 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 started! The ironical scientific world was deeply shocked when refined scientific instrumentation proved that incredible things are possible! Now doctors specializing in stress-related disorders had a unique way of treatment without ruinous 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, humans 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 research 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 has 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, low 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 MD R. Keith Wallace investigating Transcendental Meditation revealed 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!

In contrast to Transcendental Meditation, Taoists consider that our emotions are governed by the Fire energy of the heart. When you cannot keep your emotions, this fire energy flares upwards and destroys your life energy and clouds your mind. But you can cope with 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 dissipating your life. So, Taoists believe 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 probably one of the safest activities imaginable. It is good for people of all ages and states of health. However, you should know that in personalities with bad psychiatric issues, there have been a few reports in which regular meditation has worsened the state of their mental health. If you have a psychiatric problem, please, ask your mental health doctor before starting the practice of meditation.

One more necessary point - if you take medicines 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 standing in line in the waiting room of your physician to get your prescription, find a trusted web drugstore online where you can purchase meds without rx legally. Take definite steps to make your life better right now! And let healing mediation be your reliable guide.