Meditation: Stress Antidote

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By Nancy Christie

When Quentin Motley, a high school principal in Augusta, Georgia, took part in a blood pressure reduction study, he was amazed that meditation, not medication, was prescribed. He was even more amazed when it worked.

After four months of twice-daily meditation, for 15 minutes at a time, Quentin's elevated blood pressure dropped and he noticed a calming effect. "Now I don't fuss, don't cuss, and don't raise my voice," he says.

Meditation may hold the key to banishing stress-related health woes, including tension, anxiety, headaches, poor sleep quality, and, in severe cases, cardiac irregularities. "Meditation is one of the techniques, one approach, that evokes the relaxation response," says Herbert Benson, M.D., the Harvard physician who founded the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston. "It decreases heart rate, rate of breathing, and blood pressure."

Meditation also produces changes that are physiologically opposite those that occur during stressful situations. "All it takes to invoke the relaxation response is sitting quietly for 10 to 20 minutes, once or twice a day," Benson says.

But don't add to your stress level by regarding meditation as one more thing you have to do. Look at it as something you want to do, an opportunity to relax and refresh your mind and body.

"Practicing occasionally is better than not practicing at all," says Bruce Frantzis, author of Relaxing Into Your Being: The Water Method of Taoist Meditation (North Atlantic Books, 2001). "However, practicing regularly every day is better than practicing irregularly."

There are several simple relaxation and meditation techniques that can be practiced, including methods that have you focus on your breathing, soft music, a word or mantra, or even the sound of your footsteps as you walk. Take your pick from one of the three methods on the next pages.