This post was written by H&W instructor Nari Clemons. Nari instructs her Meditation for Patients and Providers course.
Meditation is persistently making its way into mainstream culture. Research continues to emerge regarding the benefits of meditation, and not just for those who are seeking enlightenment. Traditionally, meditation was thought of and taught as a pathway to transcend the suffering in life, but increasingly there is evidence that meditation practice, even in small amounts, has far reaching benefits.
Last month, in an article titled, “Meditation is even more powerful than we thought” via the Huffington Post online, author Alena Hall states, “Consistent (meditation) practice can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression in people who often need it most.” Hall describes two recent studies. The first, a recent study from Harvard University and the University of Sienna found that the powers of meditation move beyond the cultivation of self-awareness, improvement of concentration and protection of the heart and immune system-- it can actually alter the physiology of the human brain. “Cognition seems to be preserved in meditators," says Sara Lazar, a researcher at Harvard University. Lazar continues in the article to say that “meditators also have more gray matter – literally, more brain cells.” Certainly, more brain cells are something that any of us can use.
She also describes that mediators have longer telomeres. What is a telomere? According to Wikipedia, Telomeres are essentially buffers at the end of genes. When genes replicate, the replication does not occur to the end of the gene, so the chromosomes essentially shorten over time. The portion of the gene where this shortening occurs over time is the telomere. This protects the gene from having the genetic code itself truncated. So the length of the telomere is essentially a marker of biologic aging, versus chronologic aging. Shortened telomeres are associated with biological aging. So, there are even anti-aging associations.
People have said that if the benefits of exercise could be put into a pill, it would be the most prescribed medication. The benefits of meditation are far reaching, including mental health, improved blood pressure and heart rate, brain changes, genetic preservation, not to mention improved pain perception. As physical therapists, we have the ability to teach our patients to use meditation to improve their lives, health, and pain perception. What medication could offer all of that?
In the Herman Wallace course, Meditation for Patients and Providers, we prepare health care providers to integrate these skills into their own practice, how to choose the right techniques to use with different patient populations, and how to use meditation and mindfulness to benefit their own lives and practices.