This post helps me put together two of my important thoughts. The first about age stereotypes and and the second about the basic
process of Meditation. It all comes together at the bottom of the article,
where a blog by the authors is listed, For me, meditation is a daily activity
and Ageism continues to be a major factor in my continued activity to help
others
The Content of Age Based Stereotypes
Clusters of age based stereotypes reflect
the ageist attitudes, (some positive) such as the notion that older aged adults
are less competent the younger adults or on the other hand, wiser. Studies also
suggest the belief that as we age, we are less independent and strong. We are
also seen as less attractive. Hence we often see commercials promising that the
item for sale will help reduce wrinkles. “ Consider the number of terms that
are used for older adults that reflect unattractiveness, such as crone, goat,
hag, witch, withered, and wrinkled (Palmore, 1990)
For those of you who are interested in
ageism the items are on Table 9.3, p. 376, in the book listed below. There are
five factors considered characteristics of aging
Activity/Intolerance
Get upset easily ;Talk to themselves;
Grouchy; Intolerant/impatient; Rigid Critical; Miserly
Health / Physical Appearance/ Personality
Have health problems; Never fully recover
illness Walk slowly; Wrinkled
Talks slowly;Hard of hearing
Personality
Are set in their ways; Meddlesome;
Old-fashioned; Think about the good old days; Gives good advice; Interesting to
meet; Good companion; Likeable
Interesting; Experienced
Dejected
Poor; Hopeless; Unhappy; Lonely; Insecure;
Complains at lot
Sociability
Unproductive; Not optimistic
How Meditation Benefits Health?
Meditation
is the practice to train his or her mind to gain some benefits. The meditation
practice is originated as spiritual practice in Asian for thousands of years.
The techniques of meditation are using awareness of physical process such as
breathing and sensation surrounding body to gain conscious thoughts (Mackenzie
& Rakel, 2006). There are some misunderstandings or myths about meditation.
Some people believed that meditation is a religious practice as it appeared to
be practice in the ancient religious. In fact, meditation is the universal
practice for anyone with different religious or even no religion. Some people
said that meditation is for old people. Actually mediation is suitable to all
age groups. Also, there is a misunderstanding that meditation is the thought
control. In reality meditation is the practice that mediator is just witness
the thoughts or sensation surrounding the body without trying to involve or
control his or her thought. The person meditating will be later able to accept
the situations as they are and move into the deeper silence and relaxing space
(Ten Myths about meditation, 2012). Recently, meditation is widely practiced in
the west with the belief that it has positive affects on health (Mackenzie
& Rakel, 2006).
How
meditation affects the health is still under the process of researching and
learning. It is known for many of those who meditate that meditation can truly
benefits health such as relieving stress, reducing chronic illnesses’ symptoms,
or boosting immune system. But
there are still some questions for people who not know or understand about
meditation frequently ask. Can meditation relieve stress? Can meditation reduce
the symptoms of chronic illnesses?
Or, can meditation improve an immune system? The information in this
paper will address evidences to support how mediation can benefit health;
especially, when dealing with stress, illnesses, and immune suppression. In
point of fact, the research has shown meditation can benefit health because it
can relieve a stress, reduce the symptoms of chronic illnesses and improve an
immune system.
The
researches show that meditation practice has been accepted as an alternative
way to reduce stress. According to Mackenzie and Rakel, they mention about the
history of mediation that was introduced to western medicine as a treatment for
stress since1979. Meditation techniques have been used in the medical centers
and hospitals for a long time to reduce stress. The recent review of the scientific literature showed that
there were over 60 studies that examined the effects of mindful-based stress
reduction program and improving mental and physical health (2006). From this
evidence, it shows that meditation has been accepted to western medicine as an
alternative ways for stress reduction for long periods of time. Stress is known
to affect the body negatively. According to American Heart Association, the
body will release hormone and adrenaline when stress, which can cause high
heart rate, high blood pressure, weaken immune system and uncomfortable
physical and emotional symptoms such as headache, stomach ache, and depression
(2011). According to the article “Benefits of meditation for stress
management,” the author explained that meditation can reverse stress response
to the opposite ways such as slow down heart rate and breathing which will
benefits the body by helps stabilized blood pressure, increase oxygen
consumption, and restore the body (Scott, 2012).
There is
other evidence that supports the ideas that meditation can reduce stress.
According to Parker, the study of stress reduction research has shown that
transcendental meditation affect the human’s metabolism by lowering the
biochemical byproducts of stress such as lactate, decreasing heart rate, blood
pressure and positive change in brain waves (Parker, 2007). The level of Lactic
acid will elevate when that person confront with stressful situation (Young,
2011). This study can prove that
meditation can relieve stress by showing the result physically. Another
research that supports the main point that meditation can reduce stress is the
result of ECG data from the research. The study shows that meditation induced
relaxation by increasing the frontal lobe alpha wave activity and coherence
which are associated with being awake and in a resting state (Everly &
Lating, 2002). Alpha waves are the brain waves that have a characteristic of
wakeful rest which means that person is alert but relaxed (Brain waves and
meditation, 2010). This study
result means that people who meditated will feel relax but awake and fully
conscious, unlike sleeping. When people are sleeping, the neuronal
communications between brain areas are partly diminished. So, people tend to
loss their consciousness or reduce their awareness and perception of the
surrounding during sleep (Samann et al., 2011). On the other hands, the study
proves that meditation practice can make people relax or reduce their stress
when they are awake or while they are doing activities in the daily lives.
Meditation
not only can reduce stress, it can also reduce some symptoms of chronic
illnesses as shown on many researches. One example of chronic illnesses is the
MS or Multiple sclerosis. According to Dr. Bowling, usually multiple sclerosis
patients suffer from pain, anxiety, and depression. His study suggested that meditation may be helpful for
relieving stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and pain for patient with MS
(Multiple sclerosis). He suggested that feeling of control, empowerment, and
self-esteem may develop through meditation and progressive muscle relaxation
may improve insomnia. The study has shown that meditation along with imagery
decreased both anxiety and physical complaints during the physical
rehabilitation process of MS patients (2007). Moreover, another example of
chronic illness is Psoriasis which is the disease that affects skin. The study
has shown that Psoriasis patients who listened to the meditation recording saw
their Psoriasis clear significantly faster than the group that did not hear the
meditation recordings; patient undergoing drug and phototherapy for Psoriasis
while listening to the meditation recordings had fifty percent skin clearing in
an average of 48.5days, compared to 85 days for the group that did not listen
to the tape (Stork, 2011). The
study suggested that the group of meditated patients is able to recover from
the disease faster than the other group who did not meditate. Nowadays, many
people suffer from heart diseases. According to CDC, “About 600,000 people die
of heart disease in the U.S. every year that’s 1 in every 4 deaths.” (2012).
One of the study of Meditation and heart disease shows the group of patients
that have high risks of heart attack by dividing them into two groups. Both
groups were given treatment for high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, but
one of the groups has to practice meditation 15-20 minutes a day. Over five
years, the patients who practiced meditation experienced 47 percent fewer heart
attacks, strokes, and death compared with the control group (Wang, 2009). This
study suggested that meditation can lower the symptoms or risks of patient with
heart disease also decrease the death rate. One of the studies shows that
meditation can improve the symptoms of Fibromyalgia which is a syndrome of
chronic pain and fatigue (Mackenzie&Rakel, 2006). The study reported that
over one-half of the patients that participated in meditation program had
improved their symptoms, increased positive mood, and positive coping responses
(Mackenzie & Rakel, 2006).
In addition, meditation practice has
been used for Cancer patient to improve symptoms of Cancer. Many cases report the
regression of cancer with intensive meditation (Mackenzie & Rakel, 2006).
Studies have shown that meditation can help reduce pain, reduce stress, reduce
depression, reduce anger, reduce confusion, improve immune function, improve
mood and improve the quality of life for cancer patients (Mackenzie &
Rakel, 2006).
It
is known that mind and body can affect each other such as people may become
sick easier when they stress. The meditation practice is about training our
mind. It is directly affect our mind and can affect our body. The research
shows that meditation can improve an immune system. According to Davis, the
study shows immune function test by dividing volunteers into two groups. One
had meditated for eight weeks, and another group did not meditate. Both groups
were given flu shots. The blood test was taken from both groups. The result
showed that the group that meditated had higher levels of antibodies produce
against the flu virus (2005). From the study result, it suggested that the body
will produce more antibodies which are part of human’s immune system to fight
the illnesses when people practice meditation. This is a strong evidence to support that meditation can
improve the immune system. Besides, according to Storrs, The research suggested
that people who were doing mindfulness meditation were more protected against
illnesses. The researchers divided the participants into three groups. The first group did not change their
habits. The second group started an eight-week program of moderate exercise.
The third group spent the same amount of time in mindfulness meditation. The
researchers followed the participants for one cold and flu season and asked
them to call at the first sign of an illness and record their symptoms daily.
The result shows that the meditation group lost 16 days of work to illness, the
exercise group lost 32, and the group that did not change their habits lost 67
days. The study suggested that participants in the meditation group seem to
suffer less and feel sick for less amount of time than other groups (2012).
Therefore, the study’s result proves that meditation can improve immune system
as seen from the amount of sick time.
According
to the research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the article
suggested the study of meditation and immune response of athletes. Since it is
well-known stress and maximum workload of exercises will suppress the immune
system. This study suggested that meditation may modify the suppressive
influence of physical stress on the immune system. The research shows that the
blood tests before and after exercise of two groups, one with meditating
athletes. The athletes who meditated have lesser T-cell than the control
groups. The T-cell is known for immune suppressor which means that the meditating
athlete group has less immune suppressor even after workload exercise or stress
(Solberg, Halvorsen, Sundgot-Borgen, Ingier& Holen, 1995). When people have
less immune suppression, their immune system will function better. Therefore,
the result of this study suggested that the meditation helps improve immune
system.
Meditation
has known for a long time. However, many people still do not understand how
meditation works and how it may benefit their lives, especially for health. In
fact, when people understand the meditation and practice it the right way, the
studies have shown that the meditation may benefits health.
Many
studies have shown that meditation can reduce stress. The meditation has been
used in Western medicine as an alternative way for stress reduction since
1979(Mackezie & Rakel, 2006). The study has shown that meditation can
reverse stress response to the body in the opposite way and it appears to have
positive affect for the body (Scott, 2012). The studies’ results proved that
meditation can reduce stress such as the study that suggested meditation can
lower the lactate level which appeared when stress (Parker, 2007). Or, the
study that suggested positive brain waves after meditate when check with ECG
data (Everly & Lating, 2002).
Meditation
can also reduce some symptoms of chronic illnesses. The studies suggested that
meditation can reduce the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis such as anxiety,
depression, pain and insomnia (Bowling, 2007). As well, the studies suggested
that the Psoriasis patients that meditated recovered from the disease faster
than patients who did not meditate (Stork, 2011). Furthermore, the studies have
shown that the meditation can decrease the risks of heart attacks, stroke, and
death in the patients that have heart disease (Wang, 2009). Additionally, the
studies have shown that meditation can reduce the symptoms of patients with
Fibromyalgia and Cancer (Mackenzie & Rakel, 2006).
Besides,
the researches have shown that meditation can improve immune system. One of the evidence is the blood test
that shows high level of antibodies in the meditation group that received flu
shot compared to the control group that did not meditate (Davis, 2005). Other
evidence is the records of symptoms and sick time of meditation groups compared
to other group who did not meditate. The study suggested that the meditation
group suffered less and spent less sick time in cold and flu season (Storrs,
2012). The other evidence is the study’s result that shows the athletes who
meditated have less immune suppressor after workload of exercise or stress than
other athletes that did not meditated (Solberg, Halvorsen, Sundgot,-Borgen,
Ingier&Helen, 1995).
Therefore,
this documentation suggested that the research has shown meditation can benefit
health because it can relieve a stress, reduce the symptoms of chronic
illnesses and improve an immune system.
Physically inactive
Active outside home
Has lots of friends
Has hobbies
i Whitney,B.E.&
Kite M.E. (2006). The Psychology of Prejudice and Descrimination, Thomson,
Wadsworth, For more go to www.wadsworth.com
