Friday, July 10, 2009

Treating Anxiety with Meditation

By Gordon Dalwood

Anxiety is a condition of a most serious nature that must be dealt with by many people. With millions of people dealing with this problem there will not be a standard level of anxiety. There are many who have lower levels of anxiety but they are still bothersome. Other people have levels that keep them in a constant state of worrying about an attack. No matter what level the person has, treatment should be the way of dealing with these attacks.

As has been the case for quite some time, counseling and medication continue to be the most common forms of treatment. On the other hand, there are many sufferers who for one reason or another, prefer to adopt a more holistic approach such as meditation therapy. Interestingly enough, meditation therapy has frequent accomplished outstanding results for people dealing with all levels of anxiety.

Unfortunately, there tends to be somewhat of a misconception with regards to meditation therapy, in that many people see it as being slightly weird, believing that it has little value to offer in a real world. To the contrary though, meditation is renowned for its ability to help one relax and this in itself, is the very foundation of dealing with anxiety. It is the resulting calmness which helps to block out all the "mental noise" which people have to cope with when anxiety strikes.

Contrary to what many people believe, basic meditation can in fact be done even when you're walking or moving. For the most part, meditation requires that you clear your mind of thought, primarily by distancing yourself from images, thought, events and people. Furthermore, in addition to being able to meditate on something in particular, one can also meditate with a totally clear mind instead. Interestingly enough, one method which has proved to be extremely popular, is to meditate on a Zen koan

This is a stylistic approach to a question that has no answer. A Zen Koan is used to develop the skills needed to search one's own intrinsic character. This may seem somewhat daunting but in actuality it is simple. By allowing the mind to calm down and remove much of the 'noise' that is consistently present the anxiety is allowed to fade away.

Familiarizing yourself with the basics of mediation is by no means difficult. In fact, the internet offers a wealth of free resources concerning the subject. By following their detailed tips you can at least gain a rudimentary understanding of what is needed to get the most out of a meditation therapy session.

Naturally there are some people who will be leery of meditating alone. Many people would rather be with other people to experience this. A solution to this is to sign up for yoga classes. The process of combining meditation with yoga will help to calm the mind and relieve the feelings of depression, anxiety, stress, and pain.

It is also recommended to practice such yoga sessions at home when you are away from class. This will allow you to get into the habit of meditating on your own. This, in turn, will allow you to alleviate much of your anxiety.

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. This alone is proof of it's effectiveness for releaving anxiety. You have nothing to lose so give it a try. - 14130

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