"As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong, no matter how ill or how hopeless you may feel." Jon Kabat-Zinn
HEALING MEDITATION
Medical doctor Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches mindfulness meditation to his patients. He writes: "You can think of meditation as a lens, taking the scattered and reactive energies of your mind and focusing them into a coherent source of energy for living, for problem solving and for healing." His two books teach the same meditation training program used in his stress reduction and healing clinics. There are detailed instructions for meditation, plus research on mind-body medicine explaining how the practice of mindfulness is related to physical and mental health.
One meditation technique taught by Kabat-Zinn and others is the Body Scan. "It involves lying on your back in a very relaxed position, and then moving your mind through the different regions of your body. The idea is to release tension accumulated in the body. This is the first technique our patients learn to keep their attention focused over an extended period of time, to develop concentration, and to establish calmness and mindfulness."
Deepak Chopra teaches the Body Scan, too. And his overall approach to meditation is based on the principal of connecting with the self that resides beneath or beyond the surface tensions of daily life. He writes: "Meditation allows us to place our attention and intention in these more subtle planes, giving us access to all the unseen, untapped information and energy found there." He gives instruction for a daily meditation practice that uses breathing and sounds to develop a new kind of awareness. "If we are quiet, we encounter moments of pure silence or gaps, and through these gaps we can glimpse the deeper level of the soul."
Stephen Levine teaches healing and mindfulness meditations that address a wide range of issues, from eating disorders and other addictive behaviors to physical pain, illness and grief. One meditation that he calls 'Healing Into the Body' involves "flooding the body with a healing awareness, refined by mercy and self-foregiveness." It is similar to the Body Scan and it can be used in any situation.
We have collected writings about healing meditations for the following situations. Follow the links to read our articles:
Meditation for Addiction Recovery
Living from the Level of the Soul, by Deepak Chopra
Meditations for Reducing Stress
Grief MeditationsBooks Available from Amazon
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn ($19) Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, is perhaps the best-known proponent of using meditation to help patients deal with illness. This book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn ($11). This book blends stories, anecdotes, poems, images, and scientific observations with easily followed meditation instructions.
Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healings, by Stephen Levine offers dozens of different meditation techniques for developing compassion, confronting illness or grief, recovering from addictions or eating disorders, and working with pain. ($11).
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, by Deepak Chopra ($17), a NY Times bestseller for many weeks, this meditation book is also available in audio formats: Cassette ($17) and CD ($20). Chopra offers practical meditation advice, backed with a theory of the mind that supports and inspires meditation.
The Soul of Healing Meditations, by Deepak Chopra, CD ($14) is a perfect introduction for beginners. Dr. Chopra offers four guided meditations set to music.
Meditation for Optimum Health: How to Use Mindfulness and Breathing to Heal Your Body and Refresh Your Mind, by Andrew Weil, Jon Kabat-Zinn (CD, $18) Two mind-body medicine experts join forces to teach stress-reducing meditation techniques in easy-to-follow instructions.
Links
The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (CFM), founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn, has information about him, his teaching schedule, and his meditation techniques. www.umassmed.edu/cfm
Stephen Levine is no longer teaching. He was interviewed for the PBS program "Thinking Allowed" and that video tape is available at www.thinkingallowed.com.
The Chopra Center for Wellness www.chopra.com offers meditation classes and has information about speaking and teaching tours of Deepak Chopra. They conduct public retreats, and also train people who offer their methods in other parts of the country. Check with them for more details.
The Insight Meditation Society, founded by Sharon Salzberg and others, offers training in Loving Kindness and Vipassana meditation techniques. Their site has links to other centers teaching these practices.
Many Vipassana meditation centers offer retreats and classes for people dealing with illness or recovery. Check with these two: the Spirit Rock Meditation Center www.spiritrock.org and the Insight Meditation Society www.dharma.org
