Meditation: Ollie Ollerton explains simple breathing exercise
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There’s no cure for arthritis but you can be treated for the condition to help slow it down. Normally people’s treatment centres around a mix of physiotherapy, medication, such as steroids, and surgery. But not for Ted Danson. The star has been open about how he has used a meditation practice his wife introduced him to back in 1995 to manage his condition.
Danson, who has been using transcendental meditation for more than twenty years, told EveryDay Health: “Life gets more complicated and stressful the older you are.
“I no longer find [meditation] fun and interesting — I find it a lifesaver.”
Transcendental meditation is a silent meditation that involves focusing on breathing for 10 to 20 minutes while listening to a mantra sound.
The actor revealed that when he is working on shows or films, he has hip and back pain.
“At the beginning or end of a new job, my hip will be killing me. My back will be hurting.”
Danson is just one of a long list of celebrities, including Mike Love from The Beach Boys and Ellen Degeneres, who use the practice to stay on top of their health.
There are scientific studies showing that the meditation practice can help with chronic pain.
A 2019 study in the PAIN Reports journal used an fMRI scan to find the effects of the practice on the brain.
It found that higher levels of mindfulness, in people who were naive to meditation, were linked to having less pain.
Meditation was shown to reduce the activity in the brain which is responsible for processing pain.
Meditation can also help to alleviate conditions which are worsened by stress–and there are a lot of them.
According to Mayo Clinic, meditation can help manage symptoms of cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure.
One 2016 study even found that meditation reduced symptoms of mental health issues such as depression and trauma in prison inmates.
Danson told People magazine that being less in his mind, experiencing pain has allowed him to connect better with his family.
He said: “Anytime you are more present, more in your body and less in your mind, you’re available to be real with whoever you’re with … be present with my granddaughters, be with my wife, be real, be loving, be present.”
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which provides guidance for the NHS on how to treat patients, recommends a holistic approach to treating arthritis.
It suggests that the most common arthritis types, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid, should be treated using both medicine based and non-medicine based approaches.
On the non-medicinal side, the body specifically recommends acupuncture, weight loss and exercise among other things.
However, there is no reason why a short 10 to 20 minute daily meditation shouldn’t be part of your practice as well.
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