Mayo Clinic

Dalai Lama cancels events, remains at Mayo Clinic for evaluation

wildmind meditation newsThe Associated Press, Talking Points Memo: The Dalai Lama remains at Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic after canceling his U.S. appearances for the month of October.

A Mayo spokeswoman confirmed Sunday the 80-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader remains at the Rochester clinic for a medical evaluation. No other details were released.

The Dalai Lama’s office said Friday in a statement on its website that he has canceled his planned October U.S. visit after doctors advised him to rest. The statement gave no more details about the Dalai Lama’s condition, and there was no update on the website as of Sunday.

Among the Dalia Lama’s canceled appearances next …

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A beginner’s guide to meditation

Amy Malloy: The Age: For many people, meditation falls into the same category as cycling, drinking more water and exfoliating. We suspect we should be doing it; we have friends who swear by it, but who has the time? And will it really make you feel better? The answer is yes: there’s even cold, hard science to prove the benefits.

A 2012 study published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes found regular meditation cut the risk of heart attack and stroke by 48 per cent.

In a series of studies, Professor Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School also found meditation could help…

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Stress free, medicine free

WLTV: If there were a medication you could take that would reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, reduce anxiety, increase your ability to focus, prevent disease and improve your quality of life would you take it? Well, there is no such drug, but research shows that meditation can help all of those things. Doctors at Mayo Clinic have developed an iPhone application to help you fit the many benefits of meditation into your busy life.

Ann Marie Gullickson’s life is packed. She works, takes classes, keeps her family organized and somehow finds time to sew costumes for her kids’ performances. “When my mind is really busy with all the different balls I have in the air.”

Meditation is what keeps her together. Every day Ann Marie carves out 10 minutes and turns on her iPhone meditation app for a quick, but very effective session. “Sometimes when I’m meditating or right after, I maybe don’t feel any different. But later I’ll notice the sense of awareness, of calm, of presence.” Then, Ann Marie says, the to-do list that used to feel miles long, seems a little less daunting. She feels less stressed. “Meditation is a state of concentration with relaxation.”

Dr. Amit Sood and his colleagues at Mayo Clinic developed the application after four years of research. “We combined concepts and ideas from a variety of meditation styles. We also looked at some of the scientific data and put it all together into a program that could be learned in as little as 10 minutes.”

It’s very user-friendly. Musical chords synchronized with moving circles help you focus your breathing and mind. Dr. Sood says if you practice this two or more times a day, you will begin to feel more alert, focused, relaxed, and like Ann Marie, better equipped to confront a busy day. There is no mystical, ritualistic or religion-based approach to it. It’s simply a way to train your mind so that your attention becomes strong. And that can help you live a fuller, more balanced.

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