Dayspa

FEB 2014

DAYSPA is the magazine of spa management. Spa owners and spa managers turn to DAYSPA for spa management trends, spa management tips and more.

Issue link: https://dayspamagazine.epubxp.com/i/242953

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 55 of 123

YOUR WELLNESS SPA Mind-Body Health All Clear Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end. —Jiddu Krishnamurti Mention the word "meditation" and some people instantly tap into a sense of peace and perspective, while others launch into a guiltridden round of shoulda-coulda-woulda: "I don't have a quiet place to go!" "I tried but I couldn't do it!" "I didn't feel anything, how can I tell if I'm doing it right?" Meditation is a subjective experience so, not surprisingly, its definition is also subjective. But in general terms, it is a technique used to take the mind beyond conscious thinking. Used for thousands of years in cultures around the world, meditation sprang from spiritual or religious tradition. For some it is still a spiritual experience; for others, it's a simple and natural component of wellness. The word "meditate" comes from the Latin root meaning "to contemplate" or "to ponder." Meditation is referenced in the Old Testament, and information dating back to prehistoric times suggests that early civilizations used repetitive chanting and meditative processes for devotional purposes. Although many cultures use it today as part of their religious practices, it has also become an accepted form of mind-body medicine, which focuses on how emotional, mental, spiritual and physical health are interconnected and, in fact, cannot be separated. There are almost as many types of meditation as there are cultures that practice it. Some focus attention solely on the breath to block 54 DAYSPA | FEBRUARY 2014 out distracting thoughts. Others use a mantra to eliminate thoughts from the mind. Meditations can be contemplative or concentrated on a particular thought, image or object. Or, they can seek to still the mind through prayer or sound. Still another type seeks to increase awareness of the present moment in order to quell the barrage of thoughts going through the brain. Regardless of the approach, practicing meditation can induce many positive changes in the brain, and in the body. Thankfully, scientific research and modern medicine now enable us to examine the viability of meditation as an integral part of wellness. THE BODY LISTENS It isn't fully known exactly how meditation creates physical changes, but studies confirm those changes do occur. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health (nccam.nih.gov), one theory is that meditation affects the central nervous system, which controls not only organs and muscles, but functions such as heartbeat, breathing and digestion. When a person is under stress, for example, the sympathetic nervous system can cause her heart rate and breathing rate to increase, and her blood vessels to narrow and diminish blood flow. Meditation may decrease those responses in the sympathetic nervous system and increase those of the parasympathetic nervous system, which causes the heart rate and breathing to slow down and the blood flow to increase. Often, physical response begins in the brain. Take the condition of anxiety. "Anxiety may originate in the cerebral cortex of the brain," explains Dr. Gary Kaplan, a neurologist and meditation advocate based in Lake Success, New York. "But the effects can be felt physiologically with, for example, increased blood pressure." Kaplan concurs that science cannot yet fully understand how and why physiological changes occur during meditation. But we do understand that, just as the brain can negatively affect bodily functions like blood pressure, it can just as easily affect them in a positive way. Kaplan cites three physiological components linked to the effects of meditation— metabolic rate, oxygen consumption and brainwave patterns—"which can all correlate to a lot of positive health changes." Kaplan not only recommends meditation to his patients, he himself has practiced Transcendental Meditation, or TM (a trademarked method of meditation), which relies upon an individualized mantra. "Studies on TM show that it can bring the mind to a deep, psychological rest that changes the electrical signature of the brain," Kaplan says. "It's a wakeful hypo-metabolic state, a state of restful alertness that allows the body to rejuvenate. It's a far deeper state than sleep or even hypnosis." The technique put meditation into the pop culture consciousness in the 1960s, when popular celebrities such as the Beatles flocked to India to study with its founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. COURTESY MIRAVAL RESORT & SPA DAYSPA spoke to a few experts to help shed light on what meditation is—and isn't—and what we now know about its effect on the mind and body. By Andrea Renskoff

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Dayspa - FEB 2014