Most Ankylosing Spondylitis sufferers are aware that by keeping stress at bay, they can more easily manage their symptoms. Enter meditation. Meditation is a perfect solution for reducing stress and managing the symptoms of AS.
Meditation can be as easy as taking a few minutes to create a focus; it can be as simple as closing your eyes and concentrating on your breath.
Let’s look at some of the benefits that meditation has to offer for people who suffer with AS.
When you feel frustration, stress, or pain, taking a few minutes to meditate is a great way to bring yourself back into balance. By feeling more centered, your body responds favorably to the pain and symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
- Meditation diverts attention away from pain. Concentration on pain creates hypersensitivity to pain; the more you focus on it, you more you feel it. Directing your focus and attention to something else is proven to relieve pain, and meditation is a great way to do it.
- Meditation helps reverse AS symptoms. It generates more oxygen, lowers blood pressure, and reduces stress in a myriad of ways. These are physical benefits which help to ease the pain and reverse the symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
- Meditation relaxes you. It decreases metabolism, lowers blood pressure and improves heart function while normalizing breathing patterns and brain waves. You use oxygen more efficiently, and even sweat less. When done regularly, immune function improves. The mind is uncluttered and cleared of stress, which increases cognitive function and creativity.
- Meditation improves your health. During meditation, brain scans have shown that there is an increase in areas that control metabolism and heart rate. Studies done with Buddhist monks have shown that meditation produces long-lasting improvements in memory, attention, learning and mental perception.
- Meditation wards off illness and infection. Meditation is a potent immune booster. When you relax and de-stress regularly, you are less prone to infectious disease. People with untreated stress do damage to their bodies and harm immune function, leaving themselves more vulnerable to illness and injury.
Did I mention the emotional benefits of meditation? You’ll feel more present in the moment, feel more positive, more confident, less depressed, and create much more peace of mind. All of these in turn strengthen your ability to manage the pain and symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
Peter