In October of 1991, the United States Congress passed a law dedicating $2 million to fund an office of the National Institute of Health dedicated to the investigation of nontraditional medical practices. Seven years later, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) became an official branch of the National Institutes of Health. Although alternative medicine has only recently gained official recognition in the United States, the mind/body practices that pervade NCCAM’s research have ancient roots. For example, the some forms of meditation, a technique originating in Eastern religions, can be traced back thousands of years. The American Yoga Association reports that yoga dates back more than 5,000 years! As of 2008, 38% of Americans 18 or older and 12% of children used some form of alternative medicine. The rates of individuals in the United States using alternative techniques, and the general interest in these methods of treatment, is continually growing (Frass et al., 2012). Although there are many types of alternative techniques, some specific examples include meditation, hypnosis, guided imagery, yoga, tai chi, and qi gong. As these modalities gain more attention, it becomes natural to wonder about the effectiveness of these methods, their mechanisms of action, and the specific ways in which they interact with the brain, immune system, and genes.
Meditation, which is a general term, is a practice in which attention is focused on something. Meditation itself can refer to a number of techniques, including mindfulness meditation, which comes from a Buddhist tradition, and transcendental meditation, which has roots in Hinduism (NCCAM Meditation site). In mindfulness meditation, the goal is to focus on ...
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Meditation allows for you to relax, slow down, and become more aware of yourself and your environment. By meditating in a quiet place with no distraction, you are able to greatly limit the information that is constantly entering into our brains. This information gives us a train of thought that is very difficult to be halted, because it is in the nature of our brains to analyze any information that we have coming in from our senses like what things we are seeing with our eyes and what we are hearing with our ears. By limiting the amount of information that is entering into the brain, we are able to separate ourselves from the mind that is analyzing all of that information and to become aware of it.
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Meditation is a private devotion or mental exercise consisting of a number of techniques of concentration, contemplation, and abstraction to heighten spiritual awareness. It has also been defined as, “Consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consciousness.” Meditation has been practiced around the world since the ancient times. It was used back then and still used today for spiritual growth (becoming more conscious). Meditation is mostly concerned about your attention, where it is directed to, and how it alters or changes a person’s consciousness.
Complementary and alternative therapies are relatively new and essential options in health care, they help to increase the quality of life of patients and provide them with numerous possibilities to ensure growth of their health, beyond current medicine. Recently, these therapies, such as massage therapy and acupuncture, have become more prevalent in research. Consequently, their substitution with standard medicine in the healthcare system has been supported by the literature. The literature that supports these methods has explored why complementary therapies are needed, the different and distinct features of each therapy, and they also examine the education and knowledge those implementing the services must have. To accurately analyze if complementary and alternative therapies are valuable to the health care system, this paper will aim to learn why they are becoming predominant and why nurses should use these therapies’ to assist in improving the health of individuals. To determine the main attributes of these therapies, a variety of resources that extensively discuss complementary and alternative therapies will be examined and the paper will also examine the benefits and weaknesses they have on improving health. Lastly, this paper will aim to determine if these services should be implemented by nurses as alternative options for their patients, as nurses should have substantial knowledge pertaining to implementing these therapies.
Though Buddhism has long been a disciplined and strict religion since its’ beginning in the 3rd Century, it has recently gained positive utilitarian use within the psychological and neurological fields of science. Programs dedicated to improving and helping the lives of those who suffer from mental illness have started to incorporate the use of meditation as a form of treatment. Meditation is enforced in many schools of Buddhism as a method, or a way of life, to becoming enlightened. With growing qualitative and quantitative research on meditation, it becomes more evidential of the positive and life changing impact meditation serves in improving overall health of the mentally ill. Additionally, meditation can be implemented as a preventative
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
According to Sandra Augustyn Lawton in Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Teens, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can be defined as “a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine” (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Although complementary and alternative medicines are often interpreted as the same thing, complementary methods are used in coordination with conventional methods and alternative methods are used in place of conventional methods of medicine (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Another method used is integrative medicine, which uses conventional medicine and CAM together because there is proven scientific evidence to support that the treatment plan is safe and effective (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Complementary and alternative medicines are used throughout the world in many different countries, some more specifically than others.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is slowly becoming better known all over the world. CAM encompasses various types of therapies, such as yoga, reflexology, chiropractic therapy, herbal therapy, ayurveda, meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc. The evidenced-based research, recognition of disconnect between patients and also the positive and negative aspects of CAM modalities are reasons behind the increased attention it has gained in medicals schools all over the United States. (Hart, 2009, p. 287).
These alternative treatments include acupuncture, meditation, and therapy among many others.There is growing evidence that the desire for alternative medicine is expanding because people undergoing procedures in today’s health care system has had unmet needs as well as feelings of being uncared for (Acari & Flanagan, 2015). Alternative medicine is able to provide patients with treatments that provide relief for hard to cure problems such as back pain, neck pain, and arthritis. Many of these alternative treatments have been shown to be successful for various problems. The use of complimentary and alternative medicine as well as the open ended communication that holistic nursing provides is gaining popularity from patients who are fed up with traditional care and hospital
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (2010). Health info. Meditation: An introduction. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
Hence, what is mindfulness meditation? Mindfulness refers to the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present with no judgment. Whereby, meditation is a spiritual and introspective practice involving components of both analysis and concentration as a part of a process of becoming aware of the present surroundings and the mind (Gordon et al., 2013). Meditation can also be defined as the practice of revolving your attention to a single phenomenon, which include focusing on the breathing,
In a world full of skepticism towards the alternative, Yoga has created a place of growing belief for itself. As Timothy McCall, M.D. states in his book Yoga As Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health & Healing: A Yoga Journal Book:
First, I will present the research of the physical effects that meditation has on our body’s major internal systems and other common physical chronic conditions. Secondly, I will discuss how meditation practices can impact one 's mental and emotional health. Lastly, I will offer a definition of spirituality and how meditation can bring positive spiritual results.
Just like lots of arts and sciences that are deep, beautiful, and powerful, yoga has endured from the divine deficiency of the present day world. It has been trivialized, watered down, or reduced to clichés. The profound and eternal substance of yoga has been misrepresented and packed for the personal gain clever people. As a result of some, the yoga has been reduced to the position of yet another exercise program on videotape. In other contexts, yoga has been offered as a cult religious beliefs, aimed at appealing to "devotees." Such a haze of distress has been created across the clear and natural idea of yoga that it's now essential to redefine yoga and clarify its interpretation and purpose.