Meditation in Amsterdam - Can meditation cure disease
In my Amsterdam meditation sessions I like to think of the work being done as fundamental and the kind of benefits that arise from it are often surprising.
Many people ask how could the simple act of siting, breathing and practicing awareness have an impact and overall heath and vitality. It often sounds like big problems need big solutions and also that physical symptoms correspond to a physical illness.
But if we see the kind of change that is taking place at a neurological and physical level while meditating, and also define disease as (literally) the absence of ease or balance, it becomes quite clear that the impact of meditation goes far beyond that of stilling the mind.
The mind-body connection was ignored by most of Western science for the best part of the 20th century with the exception of a few enlightened minds. Even today, physicians prescribe cures for symptoms and almost always neglect the overall person as a unified system that is either in balance our out of balance. The modern lifestyle in industrialised countries is one defined by comfort and convenience, accompanied by chronic mental and physical disease.
The big contribution of Eastern medicine through tools like meditation is seeing in acknowledging the mind-body connection, and creating methods to enhance this connection, nurture it and bring it to a finely tuned state, where the individual can function at a very high vibration or level. So in a nutshell the answer to the question is a resounding "yes".
At this point however, caution is advised. It would be unwise to declare meditation the cure for all chronic disease, given that genetic, life history and lifestyle factors play such a crucial role as well. In other words, having discovered that the mind has an effect on the body, we should not overlook the fact that the body has an effect on both itself (!) and the mind. It's a two way communication and both aspects need addressing in order to achieve integral health.
One unfortunate disadvantage from which meditation suffers as a method to treat or prevent disease is that it does not come in tablet form. You can't take a meditation pill every morning and go about your life with your same habits and routines and expect disease to disappear. At the core of this way of thinking is the idea that diseases are problems that get in the way of us living the like we want and should live. In fact the opposite is the case. Disease is a friendly advise from the body, to indicate that we're on the wrong path.
And so the path of meditation is one of accepting to listen, adjust and redirect where necessary. It doesn't present the solution we want, but instead the one we need. And so for those looking for the easy pill and the continuation of the illness inducing lifestyle with which they have identified, meditation will seem like a tedious and burdensome chore that demands too much.
This is one of the pities of life, how those who are in most need of tools like meditation lack the presence to recognise that to be the case. It is also why we never stay still in our development and either we're slowly improving or slowly deteriorating.
Namaste
Pablo Bran
www.meditationamsterdam.com
Many people ask how could the simple act of siting, breathing and practicing awareness have an impact and overall heath and vitality. It often sounds like big problems need big solutions and also that physical symptoms correspond to a physical illness.
But if we see the kind of change that is taking place at a neurological and physical level while meditating, and also define disease as (literally) the absence of ease or balance, it becomes quite clear that the impact of meditation goes far beyond that of stilling the mind.
The mind-body connection was ignored by most of Western science for the best part of the 20th century with the exception of a few enlightened minds. Even today, physicians prescribe cures for symptoms and almost always neglect the overall person as a unified system that is either in balance our out of balance. The modern lifestyle in industrialised countries is one defined by comfort and convenience, accompanied by chronic mental and physical disease.
The big contribution of Eastern medicine through tools like meditation is seeing in acknowledging the mind-body connection, and creating methods to enhance this connection, nurture it and bring it to a finely tuned state, where the individual can function at a very high vibration or level. So in a nutshell the answer to the question is a resounding "yes".
At this point however, caution is advised. It would be unwise to declare meditation the cure for all chronic disease, given that genetic, life history and lifestyle factors play such a crucial role as well. In other words, having discovered that the mind has an effect on the body, we should not overlook the fact that the body has an effect on both itself (!) and the mind. It's a two way communication and both aspects need addressing in order to achieve integral health.
One unfortunate disadvantage from which meditation suffers as a method to treat or prevent disease is that it does not come in tablet form. You can't take a meditation pill every morning and go about your life with your same habits and routines and expect disease to disappear. At the core of this way of thinking is the idea that diseases are problems that get in the way of us living the like we want and should live. In fact the opposite is the case. Disease is a friendly advise from the body, to indicate that we're on the wrong path.
And so the path of meditation is one of accepting to listen, adjust and redirect where necessary. It doesn't present the solution we want, but instead the one we need. And so for those looking for the easy pill and the continuation of the illness inducing lifestyle with which they have identified, meditation will seem like a tedious and burdensome chore that demands too much.
This is one of the pities of life, how those who are in most need of tools like meditation lack the presence to recognise that to be the case. It is also why we never stay still in our development and either we're slowly improving or slowly deteriorating.
Namaste
Pablo Bran
www.meditationamsterdam.com
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