A Meditation for the Heart

You can take a vacation from stress−any time, any place−with a daily meditation.

Want to let go of stress? Take a few minutes each day to meditate. The ancient practice, which literally means to think, contemplate, devise or ponder, can help to heal your heart by calming your mind.

Once primarily practiced as part of religious observations, today meditation is recognized by doctors and other medical practitioners as an excellent way to deal with the very modern-day problem of chronic stress. The American Heart Association recommends relaxation techniques such as meditation as one component of a health healthy lifestyle.

Multiple scientific studies have found that meditation training can effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic and can help maintain those reductions even in people with panic or anxiety disorders.

Many people meditate to calm their minds and help them find balance in their lives, benefits that don’t end after a session. Meditation has been shown to help people handle cancer, depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, pain and sleeping difficulties, as well as manage stress and ease anxiety.

Take a Deep Breath and Get Started

To begin, experts suggest setting aside 10 minutes a day to practice meditation. One common technique is called concentrative meditation, which involves focusing on a single point such as your breathing or repeating a single word or mantra or even counting beads on a rosary. In another popular form of meditation called mindfulness, practitioners are encouraged to observe their wandering thoughts but not allow themselves to get involved with their thoughts.

While meditation is not a substitute for medication, it is a great way to lower your stress and can be done any time of the day.

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