Integrative Medicine
Science tells us that the mind and body are inherently connected. Published research has repeatedly shown that mindfulness meditation can be a powerful adjunct to the conventional treatment of many disorders.
- Integrative Medicine is the umbrella term we use to cover mind body healing approaches which serve to work alongside modern medicine.
- In this participatory approach we encourage each person to take an active role in their own health and wellbeing.
- We acknowledge that mental and emotional factors, the ways in which we think and behave, can have a significant effect on our physical health and on our capacity to recover from illness.
- The World Health Organisation’s definition of Health is A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.
- The word health is derived from the word ‘whole’, whole implying integration.
- In taking an integrated approach to health, we recognise the interconnectedness of all parts of human life. We learn to see the challenges of our lives within the context of a greater whole.
Stress: Mindfulness meditation has been proven to reduce stress and increase positive emotion.
Fatigue: Meditation helps to reduce fatigue, improve attention and concentration.
Anxiety: Mindfulness training reduces symptoms of anxiety and emotional distress.
Hypertension: Meditation training reduces blood pressure in amounts comparable to the changes that are made by medications and other lifestyle changes.
Depression: Mindfulness training has been proven to reduce the recurrence of depression.
Chronic Pain: Mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce the experience of pain and increase a person’s functioning.
Headache: Meditation training helps relieve the symptom of headache.
Coronary Artery Disease: Meditation training has been shown to reduce complications following a heart attack.
Cancer: Studies have shown a significant reduction in anxiety, depression, mood disturbance and gastrointestinal side effects in people undergoing cancer treatment.
Fibromyalgia: Mindfulness training has been proven to improve symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Participants report improvement in symptoms of irritable bowel.
Respiratory Disorders: Mindfulness can help reduce symptoms of asthma. In many chronic respiratory disorders mindfulness supports a person’s overall function.
Psoriasis: Meditation training has been proven to accelerate and maintain skin clearing in psoriasis.
Multiple Sclerosis: Mindfulness training results in overall symptom improvement, including balance.
Diabetes type 1: Meditation training lowers blood sugar in type 1 diabetics with poor blood sugar control.
Health Care Professionals
For details of the above studies see Research section, under Resources.
For further information on how mindfulness can benefit your patients see this article.
