| Meditation is a group of mental training techniques. | | | | Hypnosis may have some of the same relaxing |
| You can use meditation to improve mental health | | | | and psychotherapeutic effects as meditation. |
| and capacities, to improve your motivation for | | | | However, when you meditate you are in control |
| your goals and also to help improve the physical | | | | yourself; by hypnosis you let some other person |
| health. Some of these techniques are very simple, | | | | or some mechanical device control you. Also |
| so you can learn them from a book or an article; | | | | hypnosis will not have a training effect upon the |
| others require guidance by a qualified meditation | | | | ability to concentrate. |
| teacher. | | | | |
| | | | | A SIMPLE FORM OF MEDITATION |
| WHAT IS MEDITATION | | | | Here is a simple form of meditation. By this |
| Most techniques called meditation include these | | | | meditation technique, you should concentrate in an |
| components: | | | | easy manner. This will allow foreign thoughts to |
| 1. You sit or lie in a relaxed position with closed | | | | pop up. These are handled one by one as they |
| eyes. | | | | appear. You proceed as follows: |
| 2. You breathe regularly. You breathe in deep | | | | 1. Sit in a good chair in a comfortable position. |
| enough to get enough oxygen. When you breathe | | | | 2. Close your eyes and relax all your muscles as |
| out, you relax your muscles so that your lungs | | | | well as you can. |
| are well emptied, but without straining. | | | | 3. Stop thinking about anything, or at least try not |
| 3. You stop thinking about everyday problems and | | | | to think about anything. |
| matters. | | | | 4. Breath out, relaxing all the muscles in your |
| 4. You concentrate your thoughts upon some | | | | breathing apparatus. |
| sound, some word you repeat, some image, | | | | 5. Repeat the following in 10 - 20 minutes: |
| some abstract concept or some feeling. Your | | | | -- Breath in so deep that you feel you get enough |
| whole attention should be pointed at the object | | | | oxygen. |
| you have chosen to concentrate upon. | | | | -- Breath out, relaxing your chest and diaphragm |
| 5. If some foreign thoughts creep in, you just | | | | completely. |
| stop this foreign thought, and go back to the | | | | -- Every time you breathe out, think the word |
| object of meditation. | | | | "one" or another simple word inside yourself. You |
| The different meditation techniques differ | | | | should think the word in a prolonged manner, and |
| according to the degree of concentration, and | | | | so that you hear it inside you, but you should try |
| how foreign thoughts are handled. By some | | | | to avoid using your mouth or voice. |
| techniques, the objective is to concentrate so | | | | 6. If foreign thoughts come in, just stop these |
| intensely that no foreign thoughts occur at all. | | | | thoughts in a relaxed manner, and keep on |
| In other techniques, the concentration is more | | | | concentrating upon the breathing and the word |
| relaxed so that foreign thoughts easily pop up. | | | | you repeat. |
| When these foreign thoughts are discovered, one | | | | As you proceed through this meditation, you |
| stops these and goes back to the pure meditation | | | | should feel steadily more relaxed in your mind and |
| in a relaxed manner. Thoughts coming up, will | | | | body, feel that you breathe steadily more |
| often be about things you have forgotten or | | | | effectively, and that the blood circulation |
| suppressed, and allow you to rediscover hidden | | | | throughout your body gets more efficient. You |
| memory material. This rediscovery will have a | | | | may also feel an increasing mental pleasure |
| psychotherapeutic effect. | | | | throughout the meditation. |
| | | | | |
| THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION | | | | THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION UPON DISEASES |
| Meditation has the following effects: | | | | As any kind of training, meditation may be |
| 1. Meditation will reduce stress and give you rest | | | | exaggerated so that you get tired and worn out. |
| and recreation. | | | | Therefore you should not meditate so long or so |
| 2. You learn to relax. | | | | concentrated that you feel tired or mentally |
| 3. You learn to concentrate better on problem | | | | emptied. |
| solving. | | | | Meditation may sometimes give problems for |
| 4. Meditation often has a good effect upon the | | | | people suffering from mental diseases, epilepsy, |
| blood pressure. | | | | serious heart problems or neurological diseases. On |
| 5. Meditation has beneficial effects upon inner | | | | the other hand, meditation may be of help in the |
| body processes, like circulation, respiration and | | | | treatment of these and other conditions. |
| digestion. | | | | People suffering from such conditions should |
| 6. Regular meditation will have a | | | | check out what effects the different kinds of |
| psychotherapeutically effect. | | | | meditation have on their own kind of health |
| 7. Regular meditation will facilitate the immune | | | | problems, before beginning to practise meditation, |
| system. | | | | and be cautious if they choose to begin to |
| 8. Meditation is usually pleasant. | | | | meditate. It may be wise to learn meditation from |
| | | | | an experienced teacher, psychologist or health |
| | | | | worker that use meditation as a treatment |
| THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPNOSIS AND | | | | module for the actual disease. |
| MEDITATION | | | | |