1. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Lecture 2

2. Meditation Approach used to cope with stress, medical conditions, anxiety – through thought, contemplation, reflection Bringing forth quiet thought or emptying of the mind’s activity

3. Variety of Practices Transcendental meditation – mantra recitation Prayer Zen meditation Taoist meditation Mindful meditation Buddhist meditation

4. Benefits of Regular Meditation Healing of body and mind Physical – Decrease of blood pressure – Improvement of air flow (breathing) – Decreased resting heart rate – Less anxiety – Promotes youthful skin and appearance

5. Psychological Relaxation Decrease in stress Improves moods Improves memory Decreases mood swings Decreased depression

6. Yoga Reaching total calmness and emptiness of mind Means union of consciousness or soul to spirit

7. Types Hatha – system of physical posture, purifying the body and bringing it to oneness Karma – selfless service conscious of God as the doer Mantra – centering consciousness on one word or phrase Bhakti – surrendering devotion completely to seeing and loving the divinity – non-stop worship Jnana (Gyana) – path of wisdom, applying discriminative intelligence Raja – combination of all other paths

8. Acupuncture Promote health and alleviate pain Perspective of acupuncturist on health and sickness concepts – Vital energy – Energetic balance – Energetic imbalance Assessment of vital energy flow through pathways (meridians & channels) Stimulates areas along meridians – Needles – Herbs – Electricity – Magnetics – Lasers Adjust vital energy to proper place and time – stimulates healing.

9. Reiki Japanese technique for stress reductionand relaxation Promotes healing Laying on hands Composed of two Japanese words – Rei – God’s wisdom – Ki – life force energy – (spiritually guided life force energy)

10. Reiki Treats person as whole – Body – Emotions – Mind – Spirit Benefits – Relaxation – Peace – Security – Wellness

11. Reiki Known to work with virtually every malady Works by self or with medical or therapeutic techniques Easy to use on self Spiritual in nature, not religion

12. Biofeedback Trains observation shifts of bodily functions using electronic monitors – Heart rate – Respiration – Blood pressure – Muscle tension – Brain activity

13. Biofeedback Gives ability to change mental and emotional responses Alleviates symptoms and conditions Benefits – Lowers blood pressure – Reduces anxiety – Increase flexibility – Greater metal acuity

14. Breathwork Awareness of breathing Short shallow breaths – Lack of oxygen – Restriction of blood flow – Muscle tension Full deep breath – Tension reduction – Relaxation – Stress reduction

15. Breathwork Techniques – Alone – With other practices (yoga, qigong, tai chi) Able to be performed anywhere/anytime Enables release of stressful thoughts Benefits – Slower heart rate – Decreased blood pressure – Stress cycle broken

16. References www.project-meditation.org/what_is_meditationhtml www.yogananda-srf.org/what_Is_Yoga_Really_.aspx#.UXYxf7WG3T6 http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/acupuncture-whatis.html www.reiki.org/faq/whatisreiki.html http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing- practices/biofeedback http://takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing- practices/breathwork