When a doctor prescribes meditation along with medication
I was recently talking to a friend in the United States and she informed me about one of her friends who went to a doctor, for slight inflammation and fever. The doctor turned out to be an unorthodox practitioner and she asked her few questions. She (the doctor) gave her a healthy smoothie and they just had a friendly chat. During the course of the conversation, the doctor understood that the patient (let us call her Amelia) had bit of resentment against her parents. So, the doctor said that she was prescribing small dose of Paracetamol along with a recommendation of “loving kindness meditation” twice a day. The doctor happened to be a meditator herself and she gave a CD to Amelia. Although I do not have a copy of the prescription, I re-created one here;
Amelia practiced meditation (perhaps she wanted to do it, as a choice) and within two days, her inflammation had gone. I am not suggesting that a miracle would have happened. Perhaps Amelia was healthy and had good immunity. However, meditation like Loving Kindness Meditation helps us to find a semblance of balance in our life. The breath work and the soothing idea of sending kindness to others alters the way we perceive our reality.
As a Lifestyle Medicine learner and a wellness coach, I am convinced that the practice of meditation (whichever works for you) changes the chemical composition of your brain and your level of acceptance and awareness gets enhanced if done diligently. I hope there would be more such medical practitioners who would recommend some kind of meditation to their patients in the near future.
Let us close our eyes and think of ourselves and others;
Think of yourself, close your eyes, take few deep breaths and say to yourself
May I be happy, may I be full of love, may I be healthy, may I be safe, May i live with comfort and ease
Think of others (including those who hurt you), take few deep breaths and say to yourself (imagining each individual, one by one)
May you be happy, may you be full of love, may you be healthy, may you be safe, May you live with comfort and ease
And of course, give yourself and others the permission to be human!
