Methods —

Practice of Self-Care

This reclining meditation practice is based on a progressive relaxation technique used in hundreds of American hospitals. CALM HEALING Health Care offers an entrance into the unconditioned state enabling a person to alter conditions on a cellular level, releasing conditioning and gaining life force.

Practice of Self-Care brings the immune system to life, developing new nerve and energy functions, with immediate and long-term benefits. In the case of a disease condition, the shift to inherent unconditioned body encourages the healing experience. The CALM HEALING methods connect you to your inner awareness to reduce fear of pain and fear of fear, to help reduce and in some cases eliminate medication dependency by producing pleasure hormones. (26 minutes)

Vase Breathing guides you in a deep breathing sitting meditation that helps people recover health and gain new levels of function. It’s a visualization practice based on a vision of the human body that comes from ancient wisdom. Learning to breathe vital energy in the air and to optimize oxygen intake, people can renew their sense of life. This practice improves immune function and increases energy for restoration and wellness. Your life force and awareness are enhanced. This is a practice of undisturbable awareness and undistracted calm. With this practice people do not become disabled by disturbance especially at the time of illness or death. In most people, meditation reduces disease conditions and symptoms. (21 minutes)

Reversal of Suffering is an important healing practice that comes from ancient wisdom. It is known for being effective with the most challenging health problems and for developing inherent healing capability. This method enables sick people to practice the healing of others. It has brought an expanded sense of ability to countless people. (7 minutes)

The CALM HEALING audio guide therapies are being recommended by medical professionals for cancer, HIV-AIDS and other disease conditions. See Applications below.

Applications —

Addiction
Alzheimer’s Disease
Anxiety
Cancer
Cardiovascular Disease
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Depression
General Medicine
HIV-AIDS
Neuromuscular Disorders
Pain Management
Stress
Surgery

Addiction

Meditation directly reduces addictive tendencies in several ways:

Meditation is gratifying and produces endorphins, commonly known as pleasure hormones, that give a sense of joy and well-being. This helps people drop addictive habits.
Meditation produces elevated levels of melatonin and DHEA, hormones that increase vitality, reducing or eliminating the need for drugs or other addictive substances.
Meditation increases patience, enabling a person to experience an impulse without feeling compelled to act. Meditation, therefore, directly breaks the pattern supporting addiction.
Meditation increases self-discipline, enabling a person to cut through their patterns of addiction.
Meditation helps people let go of their patterns and develop trust in their own inner wisdom.
Meditation increases confidence and self-reliance while enhancing self-image, all of which tend to reduce or eliminate addictive tendencies.

Reference:
Murphy, M., Ph.D. and Donovan, S. Ph.D. (1999). The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Science. An extensive review of the research into the benefits of meditation. More than 50 contemporary studies show that meditation has helped relieve addition.

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Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Jung said that in his 50 years of clinical practice the most “astonishing” observation he had made was that in patients whose brain had been severely damaged or whose brain function had collapsed, it was evident that the person was still very alive in a state of what he called “inner awareness”. In inner awareness people can be conscious of the external world and can have vivid dream experiences.

The inner awareness of Alzheimer’s patients is accessible in two ways. The MediGrace audio guide, Alzheimer’s Care, MG5, is a new and important approach to reach with people thought to be beyond communication. The audio guide reaches inner awareness through direct communication and through a new kind of music made for a new kind of hearing. The MediGrace audio guide CALM HEALING, MG3, is ideal for the health of the Alzheimer’s caregiver.

References:

Jung, C.G., M.D., Dreams, Memories, Reflections (1965): NY, NY: Vintage Books.

Mindell, Arnold, Ph.D., Coma (1990): Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications.

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Anxiety

Meditation is a proven method for long-term and short-term calming of anxiety disorders. Starting in the early 1970's, extensive research studies have shown that meditation and practices such as progressive relaxation significantly reduce both acute and chronic anxiety. This is in agreement with traditional teachings that contemplation and methods of self-calming reduce fear. Buddhist meditation practices have been proven to reduce both cognitive and body anxiety. Those who practice meditation regularly show a significant decrease in anxiety.

Mindfulness meditation reduces depression.
Meditation and contemplation reduce impatience.
Meditation and self-calming reduce hostility resulting from enforced waiting.
Meditation is effective in reducing test anxiety.
Meditation and progressive relaxation treatments result in significant reduction of stress symptoms.
Meditation has significant value for stress management programs in organizational settings.
Psychiatric assessment has certified significant improvements through the use of meditation.
Meditation decreases anxiety and psychotic experiences increasingly with regular practice.
Meditation produces clinical improvement in anxiety in the large majority of applications.

Reference:
Murphy, M., Ph.D. and Donovan, S. Ph.D. (1999). The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Science. An extensive review of the research into the benefits of meditation. In 34 studies, from 1973-1997,indications show that meditation and practices like progressive relaxation reduce both acute and chronic anxiety.

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Cancer

Research concludes that medical technology has not reduced the death rate from cancer for more than 50-years, and has suggested that a broader, holistic approach involving meditation is needed. Meditation has become an increasing part of many cancer care programs and it is associated with significant immune system enhancement, rest and restoration, and psychological stability. With the reduction of stress hormones, meditation produces powerful immune activation hormones.

With stress reduction through meditation, regression of carcinoma cancer in the breast has been noted at mastectomy sites.
Extended meditation sessions result in significant reductions of anxiety and depression in cancer patients.
Regular meditation has been associated with remission of massive metastasis from undifferentiated carcinoma of the lung.
Regular meditation has been associated with regression of cancer of the rectum.
Regular meditation has been associated with regression of osteogenic sarcoma metastasis.
Regular meditation has been associated with the alleviation of breast cancer.
Meditation has been associated with the improvement of diplopia and ataxia.
Meditation significantly strengthens the immune system functions, reducing pathology and increasing healing.
Meditation produces higher levels of melatonin, a major hormone with important anti-oxidant (anti-cancer) and overall immune enhancement function.
Meditation produces higher levels of DHEA, a major hormone used in cancer therapy with powerful immune enhancement properties.

Cherniske, S., M.A. (1996). DHEA Breakthrough. NY, NY: Ballantine Books. Comprehensive research on the superhormone crucial to health.
Kabat-Zinn, J., Ph.D. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living. NY, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell.

Ten years of clinical and research experience in the most renowned medicine/meditation program.

Kabat-Zinn, J., Ph.D. et al (1995). Meditation, Melatonin and Breast/Prostate Cancer. Medical Hypothesis, 44, 39-46. The important research report about elevated levels of melatonin caused by meditation.

Murphy, M., Ph.D. and Donovan, S. Ph.D. (1999). The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Science. An extensive review of the research into the benefits of meditation.
Pelletier, Kenneth, M.D.; Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer (1975): NY, NY: Dell Publishing Company. A ground breaking medical view of meditation, for total systemic restoration and general renewal.
Reiter, R., Ph.D. (1995). Melatonin / Your Body’s Natural Wonder Drug. NY, NY: Bantam Books. The leading melatonin researcher summarizes the world-wide research in the many remarkable benefits of melatonin in immune system enhancement and life preservation.

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Cardiovascular Disease

Extensive research since the 1960's has proven that meditation is an important medical method for both the prevention of and the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Mindfulness meditation has been proven to be a vital method for:

Blood pressure reduction.
Heart rate moderation.
Heart arrhythmia reduction.

Mindfulness meditation:

Preserves the health and integrity of heart tissue.
Slows the heart rate and decreases its electrical activity, with proven survival advantages.
Redistributes the blood flow for mental clarity, well-being, and increased energy.
Helps lower blood pressure in people who are hyper-tensive. Often high blood pressure diminishes or disappears entirely even if meditation is discontinued.
Helps relax the large muscle groups pressing on the circulatory system in various parts of the body.
Helps relax the small vessels that control the blood vessels themselves, reducing the pressure inside them.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Meditation is a vital treatment for fatigue in general and for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Fatigue is painful. Meditation produces endorphins known as pleasure hormones that give a sense of happiness and well being while blocking pain.
Daily meditation reduces anxiety and accompanying neuromuscular tension that wastes vital energy. Meditation saves vital energy that would be lost to anxiety and hypertension.
Meditation quiets the mind that wastes substantial energy in its incessant drives. Thus, meditation saves vital energy that is lost in the mind.
Meditation provides physical and mental rest that enhances energy restoration.
Meditation can renew breathing that normally functions inefficiently, wasting energy and providing insufficient oxygen to the body. Oxygen is vital for energy production. Meditation increases oxygen intake.
The MediGrace meditation methods provide maximum oxygenation plus vital energies absorbed from the air.

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Depression

Meditation is potentially a very important depression medicine. The effect of meditation on depression is immediate as well as long-term for most people.

If you train people in mindfulness-awareness meditation, some of them will show a natural ability for meditation, even if they do not know how to read or write. Some people will snap right out of a state of depression when they are given a meditation method.

Meditation increases energy and improves hormonal function. It is good for the heart and spirit. It makes people feel good, and when people feel good depression is prevented.

Meditation produces endorphins - pleasure hormones that make people feel good.
Meditation develops calm and patience so people feel better about themselves.
Meditation develops insight that helps free people from emotional states.
Meditation increases confidence in the ability to shift function to a state of higher energy.

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General Medicine

Meditation is indicated for anxiety reduction and disease prevention and is indicated for almost all * disease conditions. Meditation makes most people healthier and calmer. It strengthens immune and hormonal functions, facilitating healing.

Meditation is basically good medicine because it improves biologic function. It restores control of adrenaline for hormonal health. The improvement of breathing with increased oxygenation makes meditation a potentially important medical method for most disease conditions.

* In some mental diseases, meditation is not advisable, such as in the case of schizophrenia.

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HIV-AIDS

Meditation can be pivotal in HIV-AIDS care. It may bring optimal breathing to the patient, directly enhancing the immune system and strengthening neural function. Energy is gained and may replace a sense of sickness with a sense of wellness. Meditation can bring a calming to the body mind and increase the desire to live.

Meditation brings significant immune system enhancement through higher counts of T-cells, B-cells, interleukin-2, gamma interferon and natural killer (NK) cells, immunological allies that the body relies on in fighting disease.

Meditation techniques and the willingness to adhere to protocol (discipline) strengthen both the psyche and the immune system.

People with cancer and AIDS experience decreased symptoms and better control of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.

References:
Benson, H., M.D. (1996). Timeless Healing. NY, NY: Simon & Shuster. Thirty years of research into the biological effects of meditation and its benefits with respect to most disease conditions.
Cherniske, S., M.A. (1996). DHEA Breakthrough. NY, NY: Ballantine Books. Comprehensive research on the superhormone crucial to health.
Murphy, M., Ph.D. and Donovan, S. Ph.D. (1999). The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Science. An extensive review of the research into the benefits of meditation.

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Neuromuscular Disorders

Starting in the 1920's neurological and psychological problems began to be seen as having a significant muscular component. Many problems of the nerves and the mind were seen to be treatable as neuromuscular conditions.

An eminent doctor at Harvard and then at the University of Chicago, Edmund Jacobson, M.D., Ph.D., A.M., in the 1920's and 1930's developed methods of neurological and psychological therapy that were prescribed as medical procedures. The techniques in general are called Progressive Relaxation methods. Today they constitute a respected group of procedures usually grouped with meditation as body/mind therapy.

The first progressive relaxation method to achieve national recognition was the body scan developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (UMMC) in their Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, which was initiated in 1979. The effectiveness of the UMMC program is such that its methods, including the reclining body scan, are now used in hundreds of hospitals in America and Canada.

References:
Jacobson, E., M.D. (1938). Progressive Relaxation. Chicago, IL: U. of Chicago Press. The reversing of various disease conditions using ground-breaking mind/body medical methods.

Kabat-Zinn, J., Ph.D. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living. NY, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell. Ten years of clinical and research

experience in the most renowned medicine/meditation program.

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Pain Management

One of the most proven and successful uses of meditation in medicine has been in pain management. Mindfulness meditation teaches people to distinguish between the sensation of pain and what the mind does with the sensation of pain. The mind tends to create suffering out of pain, and meditation helps people prevent suffering, saving energy and building inner strength. Meditation increases the tolerance of pain and develops greater psychological ability.

Meditation is effective even when the physiological experience of pain remains the same. At the famous Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (UMMC), thousands of people with pain problems have been successfully treated with mindfulness meditation over the past 20 years.

Patients with chronic pain experienced less severity of pain, less anxiety, less depression, less anger, were more active, and visited medical facilities much less often in the two-years after completing the MBSR program. In many cases, the meditation methods used in the UMMC program resulted in an important reduction or elimination of medications such as addicting painkillers with various side effects.

The pain management methods in the MediGrace program are an advancement of the UMMC methods.

Kabat-Zinn, J., Ph.D. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living. NY, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell.

Ten years of clinical and research experience in the most renowned medicine/meditation program.

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Stress

Meditation is an antidote to the stress caused by disease and is perfect medicine to prevent stress-related diseases. As many as 85% of the visits to doctor’s offices are for medical complaints based on stress factors. Stress is the accumulation of normal and abnormal pressures and demands of daily living that test the individual’s ability to cope. Meditation alleviates pressure and stress, offering reserve, restoration, and renewal.

Stress can be reduced or eliminated as a disease condition with the use of self-calming methods, free of risks that come with chemical treatments.

See application for anxiety.

Chopra, D., M.D. (1991). Creating Health. NY, NY: Houghton Mifflin Co. An important work relating to mind/body medicine and new dimensions of health.
Murphy, M., Ph.D. and Donovan, S. Ph.D. (1999). The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Science. An extensive review of the research into the benefits of meditation.
Pelletier, Kenneth, M.D.; Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer (1975): NY, NY: Dell Publishing Company. A ground breaking medical view of meditation, for total systemic restoration and general renewal.

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Surgery

Since the early 1970's there has been a growing tendency in the medical establishment to use meditation in conjunction with surgery because:

Meditation lowers anxiety associated with surgery, reducing the need for additional drugs which may bring medical risk and complicate the surgery;
Meditation enhances the immune system and quickens healing and recovery;
Because of accelerated recovery, hospitals have incorporated meditation programs for surgical patients at the urging of medical insurers;
Patients spend less time in the hospital, thus have less medical expense associated with the surgery.
Patients are healthier from participating in their own recovery.

References:
Benson, H., M.D. (1996). Timeless Healing. NY, NY: Simon & Shuster. Thirty years of research into the biological effects of meditation and its benefits with respect to most disease conditions.
Murphy, M., Ph.D. and Donovan, S. Ph.D. (1999). The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Science. An extensive review of the research into the benefits of meditation.
Pelletier, Kenneth, M.D.; Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer (1975): NY, NY: Dell Publishing Company. A ground breaking medical view of meditation, for total systemic restoration and general renewal.
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