Patricia Norris, Ph.D., Director of the Biofeedback and Psychophysiology Clinic at the Menninger Foundation, reports, that in their practice at Menninger they use meditative techniques to improve immune functioning in cancer, AIDS, and autoimmune patients. They also use meditation in conjunction with neuro-feedback to normalize brain rhythms and chemistry in alcohol and drug addiction, as well as other addictive conditions. Almost all of they patients use meditative techniques in learning self-regulation for disorders such as anxiety and hypertension, and for stress management. They consider meditation a recommended practice for anyone seeking high-level wellness.

   Today, more and more physicians, psychotherapists, and other professionals are adding meditative techniques to their practice. According to David Orme-Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of Research for Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, over six thousand physicians have begun the practice of Transcendental Meditation and regularly recommend the TM technique to their patients. Dean Ornish, M.D.,  had recently demonstrated that heart disease can be reversed with a comprehensive program that includes meditation. Ron Hunninghake, M.D., has made meditation a key element in the integrated health program at the Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning International in Wichita, Kansas. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., founder and Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, has taught Buddhist meditation and yoga to thousands of patients, most of whom were referred by their physicians. Dr. Norris mentions such well-known physicians as Larry Dossey, M.D., Deepak Chopra, M.D., Bernie Siegel, M.D., and Norman Shealy, M.D., who also use and advocate meditation for total well-being.

  The benefits of an ongoing meditation practice can be classified into three categories: physiological, psychological, and spiritual.

The practice of meditation.

  Stress Control: The term stress was first popularized in the 1950s, based on Dr. Selye's physiological studies of animals injured or placed under extreme conditions. People now use the term to refer to any or all the various pressures experienced in life. These stressors can arise from work, family, illness, or environment and can contribute to such conditions as anxiety, hypertension, and heart disease. According to Dr. Kabat-Zinn, "How an individual sees things and how he handles them makes all the difference in terms of how much stress he experiences.''

  Dean Shapiro, Ph.D., of the University of California at Irvine, conducted a research project in which  individuals reported self-regulation effects that long-term meditators (average four plus years) could identify as positive attributes from meditation. Those studied agreed that learning to control stress was an enormous benefit. They  became more relaxed, learning how to control negative thinking, and became able to handle situations with calmness and composure.

  Pain Management: Dr. Kabat-Zinn says, that chronic pain can systematically erode the quality of life.  Although great strides are being made in traditional medicine to treat recurring pain, treatment is rarely as simple as prescribing medication or surgery.

  In one study overseen by Dr. Kabat-Zinn, 72 percent of the patients with chronic pain conditions achieved at least a 33 percent reduction after participating in an eight-week period of mindful meditation, while 61 percent of the pain patients achieved at least a 50 percent reduction. Additionally, these people perceived their bodies as being 30 percent less problematic, suggesting an overall improvement in self-esteem and positive views regarding their bodies.

  Chronic Illness: Dr. Ainslie Meares, an Australian psychiatrist who uses meditation with cancer patients, studied seventy-three patients who had attended at least twenty sessions of intensive meditation, and wrote, that nearly all such patients can expect significant reduction of anxiety and depression, together with much less discomfort and pain. There is reason to expect a 10 percent chance of quite remarkable slowing of the rate of growth of the tumor, and a 50 percent chance of greatly improved quality of life.

  Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., founder and Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, states, that one simple way to bring awareness into our life is through walking meditation. Dr. Kabat-Zinn explains, that this brings our attention to the actual experience of walking as we are doing it, focusing on the sensations in our feet and legs, feeling our whole body moving. We can also integrate awareness of our breathing with the experience.

  To do this exercise, focus the attention on each foot as it contacts the ground. When the mind wanders away from the feet or legs, or the feeling of the body walking, refocus your attention. To deepen your concentration, don't look around, but keep your gaze in front of you.

   Dr. Kabat-Zinn says, one thing that we find out when we have been practicing mindfulness for a while is that nothing is quite as simple as it appears. This is as true for walking as it is for anything else. For one thing, we carry our mind around with us when we walk, so we are usually absorbed in our own thoughts to one extent or another. We are hardly ever just walking, even when we are 'just going out for a walk'. Walking meditation involves intentionally attending to the experience of walking itself.