By Regina Moraes | Project Leader
For Senior citizens, meditation and mindfulness is a way to calm the mind and body. At the Heliopolis Elderly Center, Seniors have started receiving mindfulness lessons. It requires that they sit and relax and pay little attention to thoughts as they drift in an out of their mind. "It can be viewed as an antidote to the fight-or-flight response," says their teacher Barbara Borges. "When you meditate, in general, the breath slows down, heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases, stress decreases, digestive function improves and the sense of tension in the body decreases."
The practice comes in many forms and classes have touched on different forms of meditation, for example, transcendental meditation focuses on a word or sound (also known as a mantra) that they repeat over and over (such as "peace" or "love").
Mindfulness classes concentrate on the present moment without judging it. We also practice guided imagery, focusing on mental images, such as a beach or a calming environment. Seniors especially enjoy doing the body scan meditation which includes concentrating on one body part at a time and investigating its sensations, such as how it feels where it touches the floor or bed, whether it's cold or hot and whether there is pain or tingling in the body.
Another type of meditation is a little different. Mind-body exercises such as tai chi, qigong or yoga which combine focused breathing with either slow physical movements or static poses. These techniques have a meditative quality. The Heliopolis Elderly Center also offers regular yoga classes.
Our Seniors benefit greatly from meditation because it is associated with many psychological and physical benefits. "In general, it's been shown to decrease blood pressure and inflammation. And there's some data around improving coronary artery disease outcomes and helping with post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain and headaches," Borges says.
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