Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Meditation as Medication

30 Day Vitality Challenge Day 8

This evening I had the opportunity to watch the documentary Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould up at the University of Victoria. I found it quite fascinating.

Glen Gould was a pianist with considerable talent who reached the height of his performing career at age 31. He was as eccentric as he was talented and resorted to prescription drugs to manage his anxiety. The film minimized the fact that he over used prescription medication which altered both his personality and his health.

While pharmaceuticals do have their place in health and healing we should be very careful not to overuse them especially in situations where equally effective holistic solutions are available. This is particularly true in the area of stress and anxiety. Often changes in diet and lifestyle can help just as much as medication. It's always a good idea to discuss options with your doctor and come up with a plan together.

Meditation and exercise are two activities that can greatly reduce anxiety and calm the mind.

With that being said, on day 8 before starting my day in clinic I did 25 minutes of natural breathing meditation. You would be surprised at how both calming and energizing simple breathing can be. This will be one of the topics discussed in the upcoming Qi gong workshop. Until then, do at least one thing from the list and ...

~Think Vitality!~

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