# Meditate the stress away



## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

FYIMeditate the stress away http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,20...2238756,00.html


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Interesting article. Mike and I were discussing the differences of meditation and hypnotherapy, not only in application to IBS, but to stress as this article mentions.Any mind-body intervention is a step forward. And as the article mentions... "there's plenty of evidence to show that mind-body therapies such as meditation are beneficial and should be recommended alongside conventional treatments... and that"Anything that increases our ability to handle different types of stress in our lives will be beneficial," The article also mentions that "meditation takes dedication and practice. Beginners may not experience an immediate calming effect as they sit with their eyes closed. Some people experience discomfort at first because the flood of thoughts becomes more intense."It might be pointed out here, that meditation requires the active effort of the individual to concentrate by their own guidance - what I believe as the article's mention of "dedication and practice" - but while hypnotherapy is in reality "self-hypnotherapy" the patient is guided by the sessions and suggestions of the therapist with specific intent. The patient in hypnotherapy doesn't really have to do anything but listen and participate in the guidance. Meditation has the element of work in my viewpoint, though I do meditate, I find hypnotherapy allows me the freedom to be free and relax, and yet has all the advantages of meditation as well. It can be said that feelings of wandering thoughts and uneasiness and intenseness can occur with hypnotherapy as well, but since this method is a guided progression, this aspect can be minimized and protected within the structure of the sessions.The wonderful thing about the use of clinical hypnotherapy for IBS is that the patient is not required to constantly keep learning everything they can about IBS - and though educating oneself about IBS and all the causes and treatment methods is certainly wise, IBS patients already know they are suffering, and want the suffering to stop. By constantly thinking about IBS, it just reinforces it. Mike and I were discussing how hypnotherapy takes the person away from IBS thoughts that are initially constantly on the mind prior to therapy and imbedded in the thought pattern, so that when healing progresses and becomes an "automatic" response, the constant IBS thoughts are taken away from the condition. This is why typically many sufferers who have used this therapy method no longer are engaged in IBS research - IBS is removed from their thought patterns. They suddenly realize, "Gee, I haven't had IBS for awhile." It sort of sneaks up on the patient gradually that they are better.Meditation, which is self-guided is certainly a positive step forward, but I believe in terms of IBS symptoms, and the accompanying anxiety, etc. and thought patterns, that gut-specific clinical hypnotherapy takes no effort on the part of the sufferer and may have more far-reaching successful results. Of couse this may not be true for everyone, but is certainly a valid point in looking at these two approaches.


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