| Cancer Meditation may take it easier to live with and | | | | intentional self-regulation of attention, a mental shift to |
| therefore allow you to concentrate on the aspects of | | | | focus on a particular experience, and the outcome is |
| cancer treatment that you can heal yourself. | | | | often the relief of stress and other side effects of |
| During the 1970's and 80'd an Australian psychologist | | | | cancer treatment. It helps you to sleep more naturally, |
| Ainslie Meares started to study the effects of | | | | cancer patients often find that they suffer from |
| meditation on the immune system with a specific | | | | insomnia, or they wake up in the night, the relief of |
| question as to whether or not it was possible to shrink | | | | stress through meditation often means a deeper nights |
| the size of tumors by meditation. | | | | sleep. |
| The idea behind it was twofold to get excited about | | | | Medical research has shown that meditation is |
| the here and now and live in this moment for the | | | | effective it can reduce anxiety and lessen the |
| moment, but to plan for the future as well. Living in the | | | | likelihood of a panic attack, it reduces chronic pain, and |
| moment is savoring the now time which is especially | | | | lessens overall stress levels. |
| important for cancer patients, the renewed sense of | | | | Meditation is never going to cure your cancer but it |
| connection that they feel because most families pull | | | | may make it easier to live with and therefore allow |
| together in a crisis. | | | | you to concentrate on the aspects of cancer |
| It is human to dream about the future and plan, but for | | | | treatment that you can heal yourself. It seems that |
| many healthy people it can bring about a sense of | | | | meditation affects the brain patterns and clinical trials |
| profound depression because it can be very | | | | have shown that healthy people who meditate have a |
| disappointing. Often those that are chasing wistful | | | | higher level of brain activity in areas of the brain that |
| dreams for the future can forget to live and taste the | | | | control emotional states. |
| benefit of the now moments. It can be very easy to | | | | The benefits of meditation is the fact that it can be |
| take the now for granted and assume that we always | | | | done anywhere, there are no averse side effects, you |
| have a now, when of course we cannot take that for | | | | may find that it does not help you feel better, but it is |
| granted. | | | | not going to have an averse affect. The second |
| The trauma of being told that one has cancer is | | | | benefit is that most people feel the benefit immediately. |
| sufficient to make a lot of people lose their sense of | | | | As there are different schools of meditation such as |
| equilibrium for a time, and meditation helps to realign | | | | Zen meditation, Tibetan meditation as well as those |
| your life to realize what is important. The more positive | | | | from tai chi and other martial arts. Meditation can be |
| that you are the more positive the outcome of your | | | | practiced by all the family because the strain and |
| cancer treatment will be. | | | | anxiety of cancer affects everyone. |
| Meditation from a psychological perspective is | | | | |