Calming the Senses

There are many types of meditation

The term meditation refers to a group of techniques such as:

•Mantra Meditation•Relaxation Response•Mindfulness Meditation•Zen Buddhist Meditation.

MEDITATION

Meditation used as CAM is a type of mind-body medicine.

Generally, mind-body medicine focuses on:

•The interactions among the brain/mind, the rest of the body, and behavior.

•The ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect health.

MEDITATION (CON’T)

How Meditation Might Work

Some types of meditation might work by affecting the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system. This system regulates many organs and muscles, controlling functions such as heartbeat, sweating, breathing, and digestion. It has two major parts:•The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the body for action. When a person is under stress, it produces the "fight-or-flight response": the heart rate and breathing rate go up and blood vessels narrow (restricting the flow of blood).• The parasympathetic nervous system causes the heart rate and breathing rate to slow down, the blood vessels to dilate (improving blood flow), and the flow of digestive juices increases.

CAM

What is ‘the art of calm’?

•The art of calm is basically total relaxation.

•Relaxation is the absence of tension and a minimum or absence of ‘inner chatter’.

•In order to reach such peace, one must ‘practice’ relaxation to gain the benefits.

CALMING THE SENSES

Breathing Physical Exercise

MassageMeditation

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

General & specific benefits to practicing relaxation.

•Each technique for relaxation has one aim: to return the body to a state of homeostasis.

•It is not uncommon to see people who are caught in the grips of chronic disease due to too much stress and not enough R&R.

PRACTICE

What is Stress?

•Although muscle tension doesn’t necessarily place people in the hospital, other organs targeted for stress surely will.

•It is not uncommon to see people get caught in the grips of chronic disease due to chronic stress.

STRESS

•10 percent of sensory information is processed through senses other than sight, smell, taste, touch & hearing.

•Each of the 5 senses have specific receptors for stimuli and these cells have links to the nervous system and thus to the brain.

THE FIVE SENSES

• Above all else, we are visual animals and the eyes happen to be the windows to our world.

• Approximately 70 percent of sensory information is processed through our eyes.

SENSE OF SIGHT

• 20 percent of sensory information is processed through our ears.

• Like all information that is processed through the five senses, one's perception makes the difference between tranquility and annoyance or (melody and noise).

SENSE OF SOUND

• There appears to he a universal agreement that flower scents as well as many herbs can diffuse the meanest temper. For some, pine trees hold the same properties, as does the smell of the ocean, and of course most everyone's attention is swayed by a wide selection of food (Seaward, 2007)

• Whether for finding food, avoiding predators or choosing a mate, the sense of smell is critical for the existence of almost all creatures.

• Humans are able to distinguish over 10,000 different odor molecules (Fragrance Foundation, 2013).

SENSE OF SMELL

It's been said that 80 percent of taste is smell.

The tongue's taste buds are divided into Four specific regions:

• Sweet• Bitter• Salty• sour

SENSE OF TASTE

• Humans not only crave touch, but research now reveals that without it,

• our health can diminish greatly.

• The skin is the largest organ of the body, and the sense of touch is by far the most delicate sense. Nerve endings in the skin and other parts of the body transmit sensations to the brain.

• Muscle massage in all its many forms is not the only means to relax through the power of touch.

SENSE OF TOUCH

Health Benefits of Achieving Calm• Decreased resting heart rate & blood pressure• Decreased respiration cycles• Increased sleep quality• Decreased fatigue levels• Decreased sense of anxiety• Decreased muscle tension• Decreased stress hormone activity• Increased sense of well-being & self esteem• Increased integrity of the immune system• Increased digestion• Increased mental concentration and attention span

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CALMNESS AND RELAXATION

Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use.

Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health.

This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

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VIDEO WEB LINKS

Meditation Videos:

Mindfulness Meditation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhDCW4Q1Rc Transcendental Meditation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuoMXHhyMMs Guided visualization - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh-klfBJlHc Qi gong meditation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ4hc4hR07c Yoga meditation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMzitUCItVM Massage - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAFRw8k-3-c Reiki - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP8YoYWL_rE

Fragrance Foundation (2013). http://www.senseofsmell.org/

NCCAM (2012). http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm

Robinson, Lawrence (2013). http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_relief_meditation_yoga_relaxation.htm

Seaward, B. L. (2007). Essentials of managing stress. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Zamora, Antonio (2013). http://www.scientificpsychic.com/workbook/chapter2.htm

REFERENCES