Medical disclaimer. Always consult your doctor if you have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression. Do not decide on your own to stop taking medication, and to stop visiting your doctor for checkups.
Do you struggle with anxiety and depression? Do you wish you could control the negative thoughts which enter your mind?
If so, then you may want to consider beginning the practice of meditation.
Meditation has been shown in clinical studies to be effective in aiding the process of healing many of the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
For example, scientists at the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland randomly selected one group to try mindfulness meditation and yoga to treat their depression symptoms, and another group for traditional drug therapy. They found that those who practiced mindfulness meditation improved in all areas measured by the test which included fatigue, anxiety, and depression, in some cases up to 30% (compared with the group which was treated with drug therapy).
A side benefit of the study: it was shown that those who completed the study felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment because they had been able to actively participate in the alleviation of their symptoms. Traditional therapy leaves the cure in the hands of doctors, or the drug, however, mindfulness meditation teaches the person that they can cure themselves This empowers the patient, and it is incredibly cost effective.
How does mindfulness meditation work to alleviate depression and anxiety? By training the participant to not identify with their anxiety and depression, but to instead see it as objectively separate from who they are as a person. It appears to be more effective than medication because medicine simply masks the symptoms, while mindfulness gets to the heart of the problem and confronts it, offering a way to overcome the symptoms permanently.
If meditation alone can improve the debilitating effects of anxiety and depression, think what promise it holds for helping all of us deal with the chronic negative thoughts which invade our mind, steal our joy, and keep us from living a happy and abundant life. After all, we all have some anxiety and depression, and we all have that little voice inside our heads which tells us we are not good enough. Meditation holds the key to controlling those thought patterns, and understanding that they are objectively separate from who we really are as a person.
You are more than you think you are. There is no limit to what you can achieve. However, this remains only potential if it is not actualized in your life.
Meditation, twice a day, can offer you the opportunity to live a full and happy life. Look into a good meditation program, and begin changing the way you see the world around you.
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