Mind-Body Therapies

Meditation

In addition to making you feel better, the health benefits of meditation have proven to be extensive. Meditation changes your brain in a way that makes your body stronger at fighting infections. Meditation results in significant changes in the brain associated with better immune system function. Research has also proven the effectiveness of meditation in treating many diseases including hypertension, heart disease, psoriasis, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, panic disorders, phobias, and binge eating disorders to name a few. Meditation is also associated with significant increases in antibody titers that improve the effectiveness of the flu shot. This change in effectiveness of the response to the flu shot is linked to changes in the brain resulting from meditation.

According to Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin's new $10 million W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, longtime meditation practitioners show brain activation on a scale never before imagined. "Their mental practice is having an effect on the brain in the same way golf or tennis practice will enhance performance." It demonstrates, he said, that the brain is capable of being trained and physically developed through meditation, in a way that can affect our mood, sleep and general well-being.