complementary and alternative medicine lecture 2
TRANSCRIPT
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Lecture 2
Meditation
• Approach used to cope with stress, medical conditions, anxiety – through thought, contemplation, reflection
• Bringing forth quiet thought or emptying of the mind’s activity
Variety of Practices
• Transcendental meditation – mantra recitation
• Prayer• Zen meditation• Taoist meditation• Mindful meditation• Buddhist meditation
Benefits of Regular Meditation
• Healing of body and mind• Physical– Decrease of blood pressure– Improvement of air flow (breathing)– Decreased resting heart rate– Less anxiety– Promotes youthful skin and appearance
Psychological
• Relaxation• Decrease in stress• Improves moods• Improves memory• Decreases mood swings• Decreased depression
Yoga
• Reaching total calmness and emptiness of mind
• Means union of consciousness or soul to spirit
Types
• Hatha – system of physical posture, purifying the body and bringing it to oneness
• Karma – selfless service conscious of God as the doer• Mantra – centering consciousness on one word or
phrase• Bhakti – surrendering devotion completely to seeing
and loving the divinity – non-stop worship• Jnana (Gyana) – path of wisdom, applying
discriminative intelligence• Raja – combination of all other paths
Acupuncture• Promote health and alleviate pain• Perspective of acupuncturist on health and sickness concepts
– Vital energy– Energetic balance– Energetic imbalance
• Assessment of vital energy flow through pathways (meridians & channels)
• Stimulates areas along meridians– Needles– Herbs– Electricity– Magnetics– Lasers
• Adjust vital energy to proper place and time – stimulates healing.
Reiki
• Japanese technique for stress reductionand relaxation
• Promotes healing• Laying on hands• Composed of two Japanese words– Rei – God’s wisdom– Ki – life force energy– (spiritually guided life force energy)
Reiki
• Treats person as whole– Body – Emotions– Mind– Spirit
• Benefits– Relaxation– Peace– Security– Wellness
Reiki
• Known to work with virtually every malady• Works by self or with medical or therapeutic
techniques• Easy to use on self• Spiritual in nature, not religion
Biofeedback
• Trains observation shifts of bodily functions using electronic monitors– Heart rate– Respiration– Blood pressure– Muscle tension– Brain activity
Biofeedback
• Gives ability to change mental and emotional responses
• Alleviates symptoms and conditions• Benefits– Lowers blood pressure– Reduces anxiety– Increase flexibility– Greater metal acuity
Breathwork
• Awareness of breathing• Short shallow breaths– Lack of oxygen– Restriction of blood flow– Muscle tension
• Full deep breath– Tension reduction– Relaxation– Stress reduction
Breathwork
• Techniques– Alone– With other practices (yoga, qigong, tai chi)
• Able to be performed anywhere/anytime• Enables release of stressful thoughts• Benefits– Slower heart rate– Decreased blood pressure– Stress cycle broken
References
• www.project-meditation.org/what_is_meditationhtml• www.project-meditation.org/what_is_meditationhtml • www.yogananda-srf.org/what_Is_Yoga_Really_.aspx#.UXYxf7WG3T6
• http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/acupuncture-whatis.html• www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html• http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/
biofeedback• http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/
breathwork