Acupuncture & Massage Blog

College students are particularly prone to psychological distress caused by academic pressures, financial strains and uncertain futures. Transcendental meditation can aid in significantly improving students’ mental health.
Benefits of transcendental meditation include:
• Purposeful, flexible thinking
• Energy and vitality
• Strong immune functioning
• Balanced physiology
• Fit cardiovascular system
Transcendental meditation may also reduce blood pressure, anxiety and depression among at-risk college students, according to [...]

People with chronic low-back problems who do yoga also do better at overcoming pain and depression than people treated conventionally for back pain, a West Virginia University study funded by the National Institutes of Health shows.
The three-year, $400,000 study, published in the September issue of the journal Spine, showed lifted mood, less pain and improved [...]

Originating in India, yoga combines physical and mental disciplines which balance mind, body and spirit. Yoga encompasses many branches of practice, hatha yoga being the most common outside of India.
Hatha yoga consists of postures (asanas), breath control (pranayamas), muscle locks (bhandas), and gestures (mudras) which integrate stretching, flexibility, strengthening, aerobic, and cardiovascular.
Each asana [...]

A specific type of yoga can help improve stability and balance in women over age 65, which could help to prevent falls, finds a preliminary study out of Temple University’s Gait Study Center.
Dr. Jinsup Song and researchers at the School of Podiatric Medicine and the College of Health Professions examined the gait and postural stability [...]

Adding the relaxation response, a stress management approach, to other lifestyle interventions may significantly improve treatment of systolic hypertension in the elderly. In a study conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)
Hypertension Program and the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at MGH, participants who received relaxation response training in addition to advice on reducing lifestyle [...]

A consistent practice of qigong, meditation and yoga for health promotes longevity and has a long-term effect of reestablishing the body/mind/soul connection. Qigong, meditation and yoga for health may be beneficial for various diseases and ailments such as cardiovascular disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, arthritis, and asthma.
Health benefits of qigong, meditation and yoga for health [...]

A hypnotized state produces mental and physical benefits. Hypnotherapy is a group of techniques that allow individuals to strengthen the mind-body connection to promote healing. Hypnotherapy lowers blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. Hypnotic sessions often begin with breathing exercises that aid in developing a deeper, healthier breathing pattern. Hypnosis also reduces stress. A majority [...]

Focusing on body improvement and physical well being, Hatha yoga consists of postures (asanas), breath control (pranayamas), muscle locks (bhandas), and gestures (mudras) aimed at balancing mind, body and spirit through practice. A Hatha yoga session is a complete workout, combining stretching, flexibility, strengthening, aerobic, and cardiovascular. Each asana or body position develops the strength [...]

Hypnotherapists typically use deep relaxation exercises that bring about an altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance. Hypnotherapy techniques may include: Guided imagery, repetition, direct or indirect suggestion, post-hypnotic suggestion, and visualization. An individual in a trance or a state of deep concentration is highly responsive to suggestion. During hypnosis, an individual’s thoughts [...]

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION MAY REDUCE PAIN AND EXTEND LIFESPAN
Stress and depression can increase chronic pain and risk of cardiovascular heart disease. Transcendental Meditation (TM) may make tests and treatments easier for patients, improves stress reactivity, decreases the brain’s reaction to pain, and may extend lifespan. TM, a non-drug stress-reduction method, improves heart functioning by reducing sympathetic [...]