Meditation is seen by a number of researchers as potentially one of the most effective forms of stress reduction.While stress reduction techniques have been cultivated and studied in the West for approximately 70 years, the data indicates that they are not consistently effective.

Meditation however, has been developed in Eastern cultures and has a documented history of more than several thousand years. Eastern meditative techniques have been developed, trialed and refined over hundreds of generations with the specific intention of developing a method by which the layperson can regularly attain a state of mental peace and tranquillity, ie. relief from stress. It is a strategy that can easily be adapted to the needs of clinicians and their patients in the West.

A US study for example, showed that a short course of behaviour modification strategies that included meditation led to significantly fewer visits to physicians during the six months that followed. The savings were estimated at over $200 per patient . A study of insurance statistics showed that the use of medical care was significantly less for meditators compared to nonmeditators.

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The growing emphasis on :

Quality of life outcomes.

Concepts such as psychoneuroimmunology or mind–body medicine.

Reducing healthcare costs.

Suggest that stress reduction and improving mental health are becoming increasingly relevant to healthcare. Meditation can be an effective form of stress reduction and has the potential to improve quality of life and decrease healthcare costs.

Meditation is effortless and leads to a state of ‘thoughtless awareness’ in which the excessive stress producing activity of the mind is neutralised without reducing alertness and effectiveness.

Authentic meditation enables one to focus on the present moment rather than dwell on the unchangeable past or undetermined future.

There is little quality evidence comparing one meditation technique with another or meditation with relaxation techniques.

The theoretical explanation for the effects of meditation and relaxation techniques is that the release of catecholamines and other stress hormones are reduced and parasympathetic activity is increased.

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