https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/the-science daily 0.75 2020-04-06 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/services-3 daily 0.75 2020-02-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c5a514d65019f01a2cb2be5/1562687156778-ALA6EPCHKVZJKBRORFX0/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Services 3 - Dream it. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c5a514d65019f01a2cb2be5/1562687177243-45FJLRXR7NYM9GTHSZA1/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Services 3 - Build it. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/about-1 daily 0.75 2020-02-05 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/faqs-4 daily 0.75 2020-02-05 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/contact daily 0.75 2026-02-07 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/appointments-4 daily 0.75 2020-02-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c5a514d65019f01a2cb2be5/1562685630388-B9SG9KEVIYIE8V1E242C/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Appointments 4 - Book an appointment. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/home daily 1.0 2026-02-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1580861580306-8ANHHMUDLCCJI0D42LE4/1H0A5089+LR.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1602429583294-5J4I0D6AVYVYIWLFFIMS/iStock-1083067844+crop.jpg Home Stock https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1585529147572-YEQ7LP67TW4PK7NY0GTQ/artem-kovalev-fk3XUcfTAvk-unsplash.jpg Home Photo by Artem Kovalev https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1585252090691-MSPKGH0QZ9MWMQRQQM7D/meghan-holmes-bUhnOb4S_zU-unsplash+crop.jpg Home Photo by Meghan Holmes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587350306123-FBK5MHH2IIQ5S9RBT227/annie-spratt-n3T1gBYgkJo-unsplash.jpg Home Photo by Annie Spratt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587748229976-FO2M945X9TVJ77TRB0KU/ben-white-LkeX3OfsGHE-unsplash.jpg Home Photo by Ben White https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587830838986-8LQATAEP54QRAWWPORJU/brian-mann-Qmbp26bep6k-unsplash+crop.jpg Home Photo by Brian Mann https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/faqs daily 0.75 2026-02-07 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/anxiety-stress-management daily 0.75 2026-02-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1606234290143-1ODHU6CP992IYBOCLTBK/telomerasa+sized+2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1586221447882-YGFJ4ON06UP8FKMZF72N/Mayo_Clinic_Gonda_building_3997+crop.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1585619033037-WBUVDAAOETF9EYUB02XX/elijah-hiett-wW0BUXTTUmU-unsplash.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587678497247-MP2K4W0VLSX1O99J63JD/1566328496448.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1586208170124-ZK3I7OP78VIUY30KD02E/hizir-kaya-ExxuYNsViC4-unsplash+crop+cropo+3.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1588119408766-XODUI4VGTQKBEIBSHV47/iStock-922344888.jpg https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/pain-management daily 0.75 2020-10-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1602447623866-IAGZ8CF8REGHO826BJAO/iStock-1083067844.jpg Pain Management - Alleviating pain with mindfulness meditation Studies support that mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce pain and can be an effective way to alleviate chronic pain. This particular study on back pain funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed that mindfulness meditation can relieve chronic pain even more effectively than standard treatments. “Mindfulness is related to being aware of the present moment without too much emotional reaction or judgment,” explains Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D who has conducted studies on the relationship between mindfulness, meditation and pain management. “We now know that some people are more mindful than others, and those people seemingly feel less pain,” says Zeidan. You can read the findings of the studies which support their conclusions in the research paper titled Neural mechanisms supporting the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and pain. “It is vital that we identify effective non-pharmacological treatment options for 25 million people who suffer from daily pain in the US,” said Josephine Briggs, M.D., director of NCCIH. “The results from this research affirm that non-drug/non-opioid therapies, such as meditation, can help manage chronic low-back pain. Physicians and their patients can use this information to inform treatment decisions.” Stock photo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1602204827034-KITNTRXH6RYIFYKF5E83/Mindfullness+meditation.jpg Pain Management - Altering pain experience with mindfulness meditation In a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study the results showed that after four days of mindfulness meditation training, meditating in the presence of noxious stimulation significantly reduced pain unpleasantness by 57% and pain intensity ratings by 40% when compared to rest. Meditation-induced reductions in pain intensity ratings were associated with increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, areas involved in the cognitive regulation of nociceptive (relating to the perception or sensation of pain) processing. Reductions in pain unpleasantness ratings were associated with orbitofrontal cortex activation, an area implicated in reframing the contextual evaluation of sensory events. Moreover, reductions in pain unpleasantness also were associated with thalamic deactivation, which may reflect a limbic gating mechanism involved in modifying interactions between afferent input and executive-order brain areas. Fine but what does that mean? The test data indicates that meditation engages multiple brain mechanisms that alter the construction of the subjectively available pain experience from afferent information. The bottom line supports that there is evidence that meditation works to help control even chronic pain. Photo: Erik Brolin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587594728109-MJ6VPF8DAJD0D0733TLX/francisco-moreno-wuo8KnyCm4I-unsplash.jpg Pain Management - Meditation reduces pain and stress… and it changes your brain Neuroscientist Sara Lazar, of Massachusetts General and Harvard Medical School, got into yoga after sustaining running injuries training for the Boston Marathon. Yoga eventually led to also exploring the science around mindfulness meditation where she found ever-increasing evidence to support that meditation reduces pain and insomnia, decreases stress, depression and anxiety and at the same time increases one’s quality of life. Lazar decided to conduct her own neuroscience research into meditation. In her first study, she looked at long-term meditators with seven to nine years experience versus a control group. The results showed those with a strong meditation background had increased gray matter in several areas of the brain… The study also showed that the 50-year-old meditators had the same amount of gray matter as those half their age, which the researchers deemed to be remarkable. Read Business Insider article on Sara Lazar’s study. Read the first full study… and the second study conducted by Lezar and her team published on US National Library of Medicine/ National Institutes of Health website Photo by Francisco Moreno https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1588117750460-0L46YLOY5L3SHSQ8E2BL/matthew-henry-tBtuxtLvAZs-unsplash.jpg Pain Management - Treating Chronic Pain With Meditation “In some cases, the holistic practice could replace narcotics.” In this excerpt from The Atlantic the subject of the article, Sarah Kehoe had massive suffering with a herniated disc… She had tried Aleve for her back pain. She tried stretching. She tried yoga. She tried forgetting about it. She tried pain patches. She tried acupuncture. A shot of painkillers into her back. Prescription anti-inflammatory pain patches. Opiates. Surgery. Physical therapy. Heat and compresses. Ignoring it again. Steroids. More opiates. Acupuncture again. She couldn’t sit, stand up straight, lie down on her back. She was weak, had lost muscle tone. She fainted on the subway. An otherwise healthy 36-year-old woman, Kehoe, a former high school and college athlete, a yogi of 10 years, was falling apart. After two surgeries, and with a third surgery no longer being an option her last resort was a meditation course. Although anecdotal, Sarah’s story gives hope and supports the hypothesis put forth by Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D concerning pain being manageable with meditation. His studies, in fact show an approximately 40% reduction in pain intensity ratings during meditation when compared with non-meditation. Read more in this article on why Zeidan feels that meditation can be a major component in successfully managing chronic pain. “It worked for beginners,… It seems a patient does not need to be a zen master of 10 years to reap the rewards of the practice.” says Zeidan. Photo by Matthew Henry Read article… https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/depression daily 0.75 2020-10-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587780054943-S9UQ3L8JXZLVWOX4MXKR/claude-piche-lO9LgCjqsBs-unsplash+crop.jpg Depression - Transcendental meditation ‘can treat depression’ Those with depression reported that their symptoms had nearly halved within three months of starting the treatment, and the effects were maintained across the rest of the year-long study. “These results are encouraging and provide support for testing the efficacy of transcendental meditation … in the treatment of clinical depression,” said Hector Myers, the co-author of one of the studies and professor and director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Read study Photo by Claude Piché https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1602789038466-LK81R0C1JGFI06ZJJ47S/claudia-wolff-owBcefxgrIE-unsplash.jpg Depression - “A regular practice can help your brain better manage stress and anxiety that can trigger depression.” Stress and anxiety are major triggers of depression, and meditation can alter your reaction to those feelings. "Meditation trains the brain to achieve sustained focus, and to return to that focus when negative thinking, emotions, and physical sensations intrude — which happens a lot when you feel stressed and anxious," says Dr. John W. Denninger, director of research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Meditation has been found to change certain brain regions that are specifically linked with depression. For instance, scientists have shown that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) becomes hyperactive in depressed people. The mPFC is often called the "me center" because this is where you process information about yourself, such as worrying about the future and ruminating about the past. When people get stressed about life, the mPFC goes into overdrive. Read the article. Photo by Claudia Wolff https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587780214393-QOI5YAYF6O8MLWT2TJA5/valentin-salja-7ALtAHnp0Tk-unsplash.jpg Depression - Reducing Symptoms of Depression with Transcendental Meditation “The findings of these studies have important implications for improving mental health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,” said Dr. Nidich. Participants in both studies who practiced the transcendental meditation program showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms compared to health education controls. The largest decreases were found in those participants who had indications of clinically significant depression, with those practicing transcendental meditation showing an average reduction in depressive symptoms of 48 percent. “These results are encouraging and provide support for testing the efficacy of transcendental meditation as a therapeutic adjunct in the treatment of clinical depression,” said Hector Myers, PhD, study co-author and professor and director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at U.C.L.A. Read more… Photo by Valentin Salj https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1586800592139-6SQSCKGOZXBDFL9WVNJ1/Barry_Kerzin_meditating_with_EEG_for_neuroscience_research.jpg Depression - Mindfulness meditation research at stress reduction clinic With an ever-expanding interest in mindfulness and meditation to ease mental health issues, this Boston Evening article explores how meditation can help in controlling depression. Molecular biologist Matthieu Ricard believes the habit of “rumination,” or dwelling on one idea, especially a negative thought, is a factor in depression. Ricard built on the foundation of his scientific training as he shifted the focus of his attention to a more metaphysical approach when he became a Buddhist monk in Nepal. In Western cultures, mindfulness which is based on Buddhist theory, was popularized in the 1970s by University of Massachusetts professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, a cognitive scientist who founded the university’s Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine. Ricard, who has a Ph.D in molecular genetics finds the techniques of calming the mind in meditation promising to ease the potentially negative effects of rumination and other mental health challenges. Read the full article at Boston Evening… Photo: Buddhist monk Barry Kerzin participating in neuropsychology meditation research at Harvard. Photo Boston Evening https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/sleep-management daily 0.75 2020-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587241248679-ZNGE16ZQH66HNTQQE9XE/alexandra-gorn-smuS_jUZa9I-unsplash.jpg Sleep Management - Mindfulness meditation helps fight insomnia If you’ve ever crawled under the covers worrying about a problem or a long to-do list, you know those racing thoughts may rob you of a good night’s sleep. Sleep disturbances, like having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep, affect millions of North Americans. The daytime sleepiness that follows can leave you feeling lousy and sap your productivity, and it may even harm your health. Now, a small study suggests that mindfulness meditation, a mind-calming practice that focuses on breathing and awareness of the present moment, can help. The findings come as no surprise to Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. “Mindfulness meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques that evoke the relaxation response,” says Dr. Benson. Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter. Read More Photo by Alexandra Gorn https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587242343646-4E6LOKV8G81KLHDG8BZA/josh-hild--0o-SwEnNt0-unsplash+CROP.jpg Sleep Management - Meditating before bed If a racing mind is keeping you up at night, meditation might be just the sleep aid that you need. The mind-calming practice can be done at bedtime—or anytime during the day—to help fight fatigue and insomnia. By practicing relaxing, whenever you do it, you learn how to let go of the stresses of the day. Think of it like exercising a muscle that gets stronger over time. This allows you to tap into that same ready relaxation state when it’s time to say goodnight. In fact, meditation, the practice of intentionally quieting or focusing the mind, creates physiological changes that are similar to those that happen in your body during the early phases of sleep. Your pulse slows, blood pressure drops, and stress hormones decrease. Being able to get to that state on demand means that you'll have an easier time drifting off when you want to. There are a few different styles of meditation, and experimentation can help you to find the right fit for you. Read More Photo by Josh Hild https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/heart-health daily 0.75 2020-05-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587830838986-8LQATAEP54QRAWWPORJU/brian-mann-Qmbp26bep6k-unsplash+crop.jpg Heart Health - Mindfulness can improve heart health Research suggests a regular meditation practice could protect against heart disease. In this study at Harvard Health Publishing, Dr. John Denninger, director of research at the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital is quoted: "Not only can meditation improve how your heart functions, but a regular practice can enhance your outlook on life and motivate you to maintain many heart-healthy behaviors, like following a proper diet, getting adequate sleep, and keeping up regular exercise." The information in the scientific statement published in the Sept. 28, 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association supports the premise that meditation can improve a host of factors linked with heart disease such as lower heart rate, improved blood flow and reduced stress levels. It seems that what's good for the mind also tends to be good for the heart. Experts reviewed dozens of studies published over the past two decades and found enough evidence for improvements resulting from meditation that made it, “worth including in an overall program for ongoing heart care.” This synopsis is derived from dozens of studies published over the past 20 years. Source: Harvard Health Publishing - Heart Health https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1588454640924-MYDLJ1NKACX0S1050RSH/ben-white-7SRymDKKDus-unsplash+crop.jpg Heart Health - A study of contemplative meditation and breathing technique on hypertension “Stress-induced hypertension is a common disorder in the industrialized world. Medication alone is often inadequate to effectively control high blood pressure. Non-pharmacological anti-hypertensive interventions in arterial hypertension are weakly characterized.” In 2005 the American Journal of Hypertension posted results of a test that was the first randomized study showing contemplative meditation and breathing technique (CMBT) effectively reduced stress-induced high blood pressure in subjects with mild to moderate essential hypertension. In this study the effect of meditation combined with CMBT breathing techniques on stress and exercise-induced high blood pressure, was examined. 52 female patients with mild to moderate primary hypertension were randomized into two groups. Group I practiced intensive CMBT (30 minutes, 2x day) for 8 weeks whereas group II served as control. In group I, resting systolic rates fell from 151 to 136 mmHg after CMBT. There was an 11% decrease in systolic BP in group I compared to 0% in the control group. Mean systolic BP during mental stress decreased from 170 to 143 mmHg in group I, but remained constant in controls, 163 vs.157 mmHg . Maximal systolic BP during exercise fell from 218 mmHg to 199 mmHg after CMBT in group I, but remained constant in group 2, 211 vs. 209 mmHg. Mean systolic and diastolic BP during ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) fell from 137 to 133 mmHg and 85 to 80 mmHg for comparison between groups. Conclusion: This 2005 test was the first randomized study showing that CMBT effectively reduces stress-induced high blood pressure in subjects with mild to moderate hypertension. Source: American Journal of Hypertension https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/addiction daily 0.75 2020-05-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1588099956782-L35P4AIN9BZD97ULNUD9/andrew-leu-SqADfudS8x4-unsplash+v2.jpg Addiction - Mindfulness-based treatment of addiction In the past decade, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been studied as a treatment for an array of addictive behaviors, including drinking, smoking, opioid misuse, and use of illicit substances like cocaine and heroin. This article on the Addiction Science & Clinical Practice site reviews research evaluating MBIs as a treatment for addiction, based on clinical outcomes and biobehavioral mechanisms. A quote from the research: Studies indicate that MBIs reduce substance misuse and craving by modulating cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological processes integral to self-regulation and reward processing…. This is a young scientific field, and more research is needed to elucidate the clinical outcomes and mechanisms of this promising new treatment approach for addictive disorders. Some of the study’s analysis shows that MBIs produce significant effects on craving and substance misuse, suggesting that MBIs may be efficacious treatments for addiction. Read the study for more information on dealing with addiction using meditation. Source: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice Photo by Andrew Leu https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1588101105357-KBLSPIAOCTQYC0B5EW7X/photo-of-a-person-sitting-in-terrace-2998961+working+v3.jpg Addiction - Study to determine efficacy of meditation for alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment. In 2018 a study posted to the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and a number of other medical journals, indicated that meditation does have “promising clinical applications” as treatment for AUD. The feasibility of providing meditation during alcohol use disorder treatment was also part of the study. The conclusions showed that it was established that there was feasibility and acceptability of meditation as a treatment for alcohol use disorder and that consistently practicing meditation rather than initially just learning it proved to have better results. The article states that “these promising findings warrant further investigation in larger, controlled studies.” The consensus of the few studies that exist so far since this field of inquiry is still new - appears to be that more investigation is needed but that there are now many indicators for success. Source: Reprinted 2018 Elsevier Inc. for National Center for Biotechnology Information Photo by Anna Guerrero https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/life-reset daily 0.75 2020-10-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1602338340294-IBV8XXZRSRSL5LSZMMSN/matthew-henry-kq3MXXDGeOM-unsplash.jpg Midlife Reset - Do you need a “midlife reset”? For many of us we are blessed to arrive at midlife satisfied that we have met life’s professional and family demands and expectations to some degree, yet there is often that nagging question that lingers …“is this IT?” If this is indeed “IT “why do I feel something is missing? Why is there an emptiness? We can feel guilty because often our external goals have been met and we “should” be satisfied, the optics look good to us and others. So, what’s missing? For women this question inevitably arises with menopause when huge hormonal shifts mark the end of one phase our lives. We may have spent 20 + years caring intensively for our children, our own careers, our partners need and often the care of our aging parents. After menopause many (but not all) of these commitments often take a back seat, and we are left with the question “what’s next for me?” or “what do I want?” “what’s my purpose now?” The dilemma for men can be similar: their clear and driven sense of purpose can start to dim at midlife: what seemed highly important at 30 just does not always seem so at 60. For many people the years just lived have not yielded any satisfaction or joy whatsoever: often our childhood conditioning, life circumstances or poor health mean we have never had time for self-care or exploration of any kind. If we are fortunate, the gift of midlife is the ability to take that pause and ask that question. “Who am I?” We are so conditioned all our lives to service our responsibility for others: as we summit 50 and begin to look ahead to the third and fourth seasons of our lives, we start to feel the inner call to attend to the needs of our own deeper selves. Meditation is a powerful tool to take us beyond our story, world identity and past experiences, wounds, traumas and disappointments to access who we really are at source. From that stillness, the chatter of the mind disappears and the essence of who we really are and every answer we seek awaits us. Photo by Matthew Henry https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/testimonials daily 0.75 2026-02-07 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/about daily 0.75 2026-02-07 https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/about-meditation daily 0.75 2026-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1585836721282-FU1CVW79EE38971MXF6A/mitchell-griest-fbXHHCiheVM-unsplash.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1587755723962-1Z1SQ95ILXQCKN90LH41/1H0A1849crop.jpg https://www.meditationasmedicine.ca/are-you-stressed daily 0.75 2021-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1588116672437-ATRREWH3E0YTXU3FFBMW/denys-nevozhai-z0nVqfrOqWA-unsplash.jpg Are you Stressed? - About Stress This downloadable pdf will help you determine if you are stressed. By answering the questions on the pdf questionnaire – the resulting score will give you a good indication of where you are on the stress scale. What Does Your Score Mean? 150 points or less | a relatively low amount of life change and a low susceptibility to stress-induced health breakdown 150 to 300 points | 50% chance of health breakdown in the next 2 years 300 points or more | 80% chance of health breakdown in the next 2 years, according to the Holmes-Rahe statistical prediction model If you score high on the Stress Test By now we all know that stress is bad for our health. The constant knife-edge state of fear wreaks havoc with our physical being, causing health issues ranging from immune deficiencies to cancer. The fight or flight response is helpful in a crisis but when it is continually activated without resetting, we suffer cumulative effects that result in long-term health disruption such as the following: Increased heart rate Increased blood pressure Faster breathing Increased sweating Decreased immunity Increased stress hormone production (cortisol) Increased clotting of blood platelets (in anticipation of possible need for some speedy self repair) Photo by Denys Nevozhai https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e3a000de1dbad5f6d3cf541/1602374413020-3Y72I48I698SLJN1FKG9/linus-nylund-Q5QspluNZmM-unsplash.jpg Are you Stressed? - Some interesting stats on meditation 60 – 90% of all doctor’s visits are stress related (Source Stress.org ) Harvard Health Publishing estimates that 1 in 10 women ages 18 and over are on antidepressants, and the Times reports that white women over 45 make up 41% of patients currently taking antidepressants. Mental health and substance abuse cost US businesses between $80 and $100 billion annually. Another study showed that serious mental illness costs America up to $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year. Depression is thought to count for up to 400 million lost work days annually Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S - that’s 18.5% of the population - experience mental illness each year. 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