Meditation Therapy

Meditation as we know it is a systematic method of regulating attention and is now being incorporated into psychotherapeutic practices where clients are seeing wonderful results. This once ancient spiritual practice is finding new uses in treatments of mental illness from anxiety to depression over an 8 week period clients have expressed a reduction in their symptoms!

How we use meditation is from a trauma-informed lens and has been particularly effective at easing the symptoms of anxiety, and people with post-traumatic stress, even others who have reported being able to reduce the frequency of intrusive thoughts and flashbacks with meditation — focusing on building self awareness and self esteem is a major component to the
technique. 

Other forms of meditations used are:

Mindfulness Meditations: 
This involves focusing on clearing the mind of thoughts and gently brining your attention back to the present moment when you notice your mind has wondered (as it will). There are many forms of meditation techniques, such as sitting quietly with aromatherapy and focusing on the sent of sensations or lying in a bath and focusing on the physical sensations.

Loving-Kindness Meditations:
Is a great way to cultivate compassion for yourself and soothes the mind of difficult critical thoughts. It involves mentally sending goodwill, kindness and warmth towards yourself and others by silently repeating a series of positive coping statement, affirmations and/or mantras. 

Transcendental Meditation:
Unlike mindfulness based meditations, Transcendental Meditation is based around focusing on a single mantra, self created affirmation or coping statement, repeatedly silently. This mantra is different for every person, and is self created based on your wellness goals.

Zen Meditation:
This involves an “open-monitoring” focus on meditation, where skill are transformed into a state of reflective awareness with a broad scope of attention and without focusing on one specific object. Zen meditation is similar to mindfulness in that it’s about focusing on the presence of the mind. However, mindfulness focuses on a specific object, and Zen meditation involves a general awareness. 

All forms of meditation have been linked with increase gray matter, decrease stress, and positive psychological outcomes such as self-acceptance, increase feeling of purpose, and autonomy. Given the amount of research conducted, it shows great promise. 

“There is evidence that these practices have distinct effects on the brain. In one study, brain scans indicated that Buddhist monks who were longtime meditators, compared with controls who had just a week of training, showed a high proportion of a type of brain wave that reflects large-scale coordination of neural circuits. In another recent study, researchers measured brain
electrical activity before, immediately after, and four months after a two-month course in mindfulness meditation. They found persistent increased activity on the left side of the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with joyful and serene emotions. Studies are now looking at the effects of meditation on the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, and the caudate nucleus, which is associated with obsessional thoughts and compulsive behavior.” – Harvard Edu.