Over the last 20 years, the range of generally accepted medical therapies has expanded well beyond the traditional routes of pharmaceuticals, surgery and other conventional treatments. Western medicine, once wary of the value of therapies such as massage and meditation, has begun to embrace them as a complement to traditional medicine.

meditation

meditation

Many hospitals now offer programs in meditation, as part of their patient care in general. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1997, more than 100 million Americans have tried unconventional therapies such as meditation, hypnosis and chiropractic in that year alone [Source: CNN].

More people are turning to meditation as a non conventional therapy to help relieve pain.

A new type of drug, called Integrative Medicine, combines traditional and complementary medical approaches in dealing with global disease and injury in a broad perspective. Meditation, which dates back thousands of years to ancient cultures throughout the Orient, is one of the stars of this new approach. Its scientifically proven effects on physiology are surprising. Buddhist monks have been shown to shift their body heat through meditation, so that, during very cold, they emit heat effectively, instead of warming their bodies from the inside [source: TIME].

Although few people are at the meditation of Buddhist monks who practice meditation on a regular basis display some incredible physical changes. The concept behind Buddhist meditation is something called due diligence, or restful alertness. Vigilance is the state of being totally in the moment, fully conscious, with a quiet, focused mind. In this state, plus a feeling of great calm, physiological processes slow down and respond more readily to the desires of the mind. If the desires of the mind are that the body experience a burning pain as “hot” instead of “burn” technique used in the guided imagery practice of meditation, which comes in May occur over time.

What we are talking about is a complete mind-body connection that many of us believe in ourselves, but little experience clearly. If no one knows exactly why meditation works to reduce pain, it is quite clear that it does. On the next page, we’ll see why it might be.