Feeling Stressed? Give Meditation a Try
A soothing mind-body practice that dates back centuries, meditation is sort-of an unofficial remedy for various conditions.
Medical studies have found that meditation-based therapies may be helpful for high blood pressure, smoking cessation, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Meditation is a component of several employee engagement and patient support programs offered by LifeBridge Health, including those designed for cancer patients.
Meditation, simply put, is a great stress reliever, a way to focus and find a sense of inner peace during hectic times. It isn't tailored for a specific person or medical condition.
"Everybody needs to meditate. Everybody can benefit from meditation practice, because we live in a world that is bombarding us with a lot of external stimuli. Our thoughts bother us most of the time, and most of the time we are on a fight-or-flight response because we're under so much stress," said Maria G. Elmazi, a holistic health practitioner who teaches meditation classes at the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute at Sinai Hospital. "The mind never stops, and most of the activity of the mind is not necessarily positive, so it's not encouraging us to do things that would be good for us. It's more judging us for the things that we haven't accomplished yet, or the things that we're not proficient at."
The thought process
The goal of meditation is to train yourself to be in the present moment, not deflect random thoughts. A common fallacy about meditation, Elmazi says, is that the mind must be completely free of all thoughts.
"We have a working brain, and the brain is going to generate ideas, concepts, opinions and judgments. It doesn't stop," Elmazi said. "By meditating, you're training it to just have one thing in its mind. And you're also training it to become an observer of what's happening, so as a thought comes, you're letting it go, without judging it, without putting more attention on it. You're just letting it go as if there are clouds in the sky and you're just watching them go by. And very gently, you bring your attention back to your focal point, and that focal point can be many things."
For beginners, this can be a frustrating adjustment, which is why Elmazi recommends meditating for a few minutes in the morning and evening to start, and gradually building up toward longer sessions.
Setting the tone
Meditators should adopt a ritual, Elmazi says.
"For people who don't have a meditation room in their home, they can choose a specific corner or a nice chair in their bedroom or elsewhere, where, if they would like, they can light a candle or some incense. Maybe they can put 
a shawl around them," Elmazi said. "It's all part of the ritual, to know that you're going to be sitting for five minutes by yourself in silence. If possible, you should do it around the same time every day, in the morning and in the evening."
Elmazi says it is best to mediate before meals to eliminate added distractions like stomach rumblings from digestion. Plus, she says: "If you meditate before you eat, then you're going to be able to digest your food better, because the blood is going to be more inside the organs and not in the muscles."
You can meditate individually or in a group setting, which may be more beneficial to some. "It's been said that when you meditate with other people, everything gets synchronized, and everybody's benefiting from everybody else's relaxation response," Elmazi said. "It's very beneficial if you can meditate in a [group] setting. Plus, you see like-minded people, you know that you're not the only person who's interested in something like this, that other people have a goal of bringing more peace into their life."
Embrace your emotions
It's good to do exercises that relax the neck and shoulders before meditating to get more comfortable. But you don't necessarily have to be in a great mood or calm state of mind. In fact, Elmazi says, there's no better time to meditate than when you're agitated, highly stressed or angry. "Embrace where you are at the point that you are, whether you're angry, frustrated or sad. Don't place blame or cast judgment on the feelings that you have, because they're still legitimate. They're here to teach you something," she said.
And if you happen to fall asleep during a session, that's ok, too. "Whenever you give your body an opportunity to rest, it will take it," Elmazi said. "If the only time you're giving the body time to rest is during meditation, it's going to take it. You may fall asleep, and that's ok. It's perfect. That's exactly what the body needs at the time."
Ideal positions
Now, that doesn't mean supine and prone positions are ideal for meditation. Elmazi recommends meditating while lying down only for unique circumstances.
"If somebody's in a hospital bed and they cannot sit to meditate, it's OK to meditate lying down. But you fall asleep more readily when you're meditating in that position, because you're entering that very peaceful state," Elmazi said. "And because we want to get to this peaceful alertness, instead of the peaceful dullness, it's better to do it sitting in a comfortable position."
You don't have to be in the lotus position, a cross-legged asana that's the most familiar of meditation positions. Also, Elmazi says, feel free to make adjustments when necessary. "If there is a time during your meditation when you need to shift the body because it feels uncomfortable, do it. If you need to scratch, scratch, and then come back to your focal point," Elmazi said.
The benefits
In addition to potentially normalizing your blood pressure and respiration rate and enhancing oxygenation throughout the body, meditation may help synchronize the brain hemispheres. "For people who have trouble maybe verbalizing their thoughts and emotions, there could be more of a connection there," Elmazi said. "If there is more of a connection between the left and the right hemisphere, the memory is enhanced as well."
Meditators may also experience other personal changes.
"Their view of life is going to change, because they're going to learn not to judge themselves, and they're going to be less judgmental of others," she said. "And because they're going to be so much more at peace with themselves, they're going to bring their attention to more positive things, and they're going to be more positive toward themselves. It's going to be easier to let go of things they would like to let go of."
There are various apps, like Buddhify and Calm, which have assorted meditation sounds and music as well as guided and unguided sessions, and allow you to set daily reminders to take a break and relax.
"Meditation is very easy. If there is no judgment and no expectation about it, it's very easy," Elmazi said. "It is a journey to go within and a process between your focal point and your thoughts. And you're just becoming an observer."