Provena nurse touts benefits of regular meditation

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8-10-01 The Upper Room, One North LaSalle......The group meditates for 20 minutes before shaing lunch and a presentation........The Upper Room is a year-old non-denominal meditation center that offers a 90-minute alternative to the business lunch for world-weary workers......Kathleen Falsani story.....Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Updated: August 28, 2011 12:23AM

The latest research on the benefits of meditation didn’t surprise a local psychiatric nurse. Christine Daniel, a behavioral health liaison nurse with Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center, said she’s been practicing meditation for a while and feels its calming, refreshing effects immediately.

“I usually get my best meditation times on vacation by the water,” she said. “Afterward, I feel like I’ve had the best sleep in my life.”

Research published in April in the medical journal, Brain Research Bulletin, found that meditation may actually modify alpha rhythm waves in the brain, which help regulate sensory input from the surrounding environment.

Previous research has found other changes in the body during meditative states. Studies even show a long-term health benefit from regular meditation — a reduction in the occurrence of depression for those who have the condition. Areas of the brain associated with learning and anxiety may actually undergo physical changes with daily meditation.

“Past studies show that it (meditation) does decrease anxiety, blood pressure, and stress levels,” Daniel said. “When you’re able to quiet your brain down, you slow down the whole neurochemical thing that’s happening.”

Stress relief

Daniel said that, especially today with all our social media, we are inundated with stimuli, and we don’t allow our bodies and minds to get a respite from it.

“So often, we’re just bombarded with input and stress,” she said, “and our bodies and minds never have that chance to decompress. Anytime you can quiet down and relax, your stress will go down and blood pressure will go down.”

Daniel said she has seen people with headaches and gastrointestinal problems feel better after meditating.

A psychiatrist she knows takes meditation breaks now and then during his practice to regroup during stressful times. She does, too, on occasion and finds it is a way to refresh and return to her life with a better attitude and feeling better.

It’s a great way to quiet the mind, she said.

“Meditation is especially good to help with anxiety or depression disorder,” she said.

Quiet the mind

Daniel emphasized those with serious medical problems should consult a physician, rather than try meditation first, but meditation in conjunction with medications and other therapy can work wonders.

Meditation is different for everyone, but Daniel said one thing all the various techniques have in common is to seek a quiet place within the mind.

“Some people start with prayer,” she said. “Some people have to be in a dark room. Some people can do it in a park. People find their own way to get into that quiet place within themselves.”

To achieve the most with meditation, Daniel advised doing it on a daily basis, even if only for five minutes, and to be consistent with it. It’s going to take some time to learn how to quiet your mind, she said.

To begin, she said, sit in a comfortable position for you. The classic position thought of for transcendental meditation is sitting cross-legged, but Daniel said any position is fine.

Benefits of music

Some may begin with a soft chant they find soothing, repeated over and over, to get their minds focused. Others may start by concentrating on their breath. When the mind begins to wander to work assignments or grocery lists or problems, they pull their mind back to their breathing or chant.

“For some people,” Daniel said, “it’s music. I know that classical music in a heartbeat will calm me down.

Or the sound of waves. And then you work on just letting it all go.”

Daniel said she gets into her meditative state by imagining herself wrapped in a gold light, like a hug. It’s a protective light, she said, shielding her and calming her.

Meditation is more than just physical, too, she said. It can be a very spiritual thing.

“I think it really helps you connect back to your source as a spiritual being,” she said. “It’s a good way to connect with the spiritual, whatever that may be.”