Watt organization Meditation Center

What is Meditation?

Broadly speaking Meditation is a relaxed, centred state of awareness and connectedness, a place of being in the here and now.  This state of relaxation can help provide relief from stress and the effects that it can have on our health and wellbeing. However meditation means different things to different people and has been found in many forms throughout history. Historically it has played a central part in Eastern psychology dating back at least 2500 years including Zen Buddhist Meditation (Zazen) and Vipassana, but it is only in the last century that it has begun to make it’s way into Western psychology including the more recently developed programs of Mindfullness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfullness Based Cognitive Therapy of the 1970’s and 1990’s.

Our body and our mind are connected. From a physiological perspective the brain reacts to outside stimuli determining whether it is a threat to you or something which may be neutral or even positive. The brain then signals the release of hormones which affect the functioning of the body to induce necessary responses to that stimuli. In the event that the stimulus is perceived as a threat, this activates what is known as the Stress Response, whilst the perception of a positive stimulus activates the Relaxation Response. As part of this our reality of the moment can be shaped by where we choose to place our focus, and meditation can help us to do this, as well as being a possible way to help shift us from a state of ‘stress’ to one of ‘relaxation. Why is this important? Well a state of ‘relaxation’ allows our body time and space to heal, rest, and perform important maintenance tasks to help us stay healthy and happy.

So what is our approach to Meditation? Our aim is to help you develop a regular meditation practice with ease and confidence. Meditation at White Grove Holistics is non-religious, it does not require any forced concentration, and is easy to learn. We hope to provide you with a supportive and nurturing space in which to engage with meditation and find a way that works for you. While there may be a number of potential benefits to developing a regular meditation practice (see below), we look at meditation from a stress management perspective and hope to give you skills which may help to reduce the effects of stress has on you.

Lowering Blood Pressure

• managing chronic pain;
• improving productivity.

Further Information

Further information can be found on our, and pages. Please also see our page for testimonials from our current clients.

References:

This overview is based on information from the following publications:

Hall L. Meditation for Life. The Optimum Health Clinic; 2013. Hansen, Bjarne U, Sjodin L. Meditation – a review of current research. 2015. West MA, Claxton G, Delmonte MM. Meditation – Western and Eastern perspective. In: The Psychology of Meditation. Oxford Science Publications; 1990:3-56. Carrington P. Managing meditation in clinical practice. In: The Psychology of Meditation. Oxford Science Publications; 1990:150-172. Murphy M, Donovan M. The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation. Inst Noetic Sci. 2004.