Most people understand meditation as a powerful technique that involves staying in specific positions for a particular duration. According to freelancer and editor Douglas Paul Dohrman, many people pay very little attention to mediation, and it’s worse when it comes to addiction treatment.

Meditation is defined as a simple technique that comes with many health benefits, such as promoting peace and calmness and reducing stress and anxiety. Many addiction patients often have to deal with stress, anxiety, and depression in the course of their treatment and recovery, and that’s why meditation is incorporated to promote calmness and reduce anxiety, says Douglas Paul Dohrman.

The overall goal of meditation is to connect the body and mind, improve mental wellbeing, and enhance the quality of life. So how can people struggling with addiction use meditation to promote recovery? Here are a few benefits by Douglas Paul Dohrman.

 Promotes an inner peace

Dealing with addiction, particularly if you are trying to quit, can be a real struggle notes, Douglas Paul Dohrman. However, when you embrace meditation, you improve self-awareness and your mental functioning. Meditation also enables you to detach from personal thoughts and impulses uses and only focus on your inner peace. As a result, cravings and relapses are reduced or controlled.

Enhances the immune system and keeps blood pressure at an optimal level

According to Douglas Paul Dohrman, addiction patients tend to have high or low blood pressure depending on the substance they have been abusing. High or low blood pressure is typically dangerous for anyone trying to get away from drugs or substance abuse, but when meditation is incorporated, it promotes calmness and mindfulness, and blood pressure is controlled naturally. If the patient has problems with their immune system, mindful meditation can help improve the system’s functioning.

Better sleep

Studies also suggest that long-term meditation has positive changes in brain functioning and structure. Well, it’s evident that when your stress levels go down, you are at peace with yourself, hence better sleep, notes Douglas Paul Dohrman. He adds that lengthy meditation periods create a calmness that invites rest naturally.

Relieves pain

Many addiction patients have to deal with continuous pain that manifests as withdrawal symptoms. Douglas Paul Dohrman suggests practicing meditation whenever you encounter withdrawal symptoms to alleviate pain, reduce anxiety, and promote calmness. It helps you feel at peace at the moment, adds Douglas Paul Dohrman.

Helps you focus and grow mentally

It is not easy for someone dealing with continuous cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and other addiction-related systems to live everyday life without having psychological issues such as stress, depression, and anxiety, says Douglas Paul Dohrman. Simple meditation practices teach how to breathe, concentrate, and focus on your breathing while detaching from the word. This practice helps improve your mental activity and your overall mental health. Meditation also aids cognitive behavioral therapy. Lastly, it teaches addiction patients to accept themselves, love themselves, and not dwell on the past.

Douglas Paul Dohrman recently discussed how parents can help build their kids’ STEM education skills from home. 

Science, technology, engineering, mathematic — they’re the basis of STEM education and essential areas of learning for kids of all ages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently stated that there are more than 8.6 million STEM-oriented jobs in the United States.Douglas Paul Dohrman explained that that number is continuously rising, and it’s important for kids to develop STEM skills, even when learning from home.

“The coronavirus pandemic has forced many kids to start the new school year online from home,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said. “That can make hands-on learning very difficult, and STEM education is very hands-on.”

Douglas Paul Dohrman explained that because STEM learning is so experiment-based, it’s important for parents to help advance their kids’ STEM skills at home. He offered a few ways for parents to help advance these skills while engaging and having fun with their kids.

“Counting cups is a simple yet excellent mathematics activity for younger children,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said. “It can easily be incorporated with snack time too.”

Douglas Paul Dohrman suggested placing several empty cupcake liners in numbered rows and having their kids place the correct number of snack items (such as goldfish) in the cupcake liner with the matching number. For instance, the child should place seven goldfish in the cupcake liner marked with the number seven.

“If you’ve ever created a marble run, you know it’s just as much fun for parents as it is for kids,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said. “It’s also an ideal way to teach kids about gravity, the concepts of cause and effect, kinetic and potential energy, and more.”

Douglas Paul Dohrman explained that a marble run can be made with everyday items found throughout the house, like toilet paper tubes, blocks, LEGOs, and other toys. Help your little engineer compile items, attach tubes to one another, and create a variety of unique configurations to see how the marble travels differently each time. Ask your child to hypothesize why certain routes are faster or slower than others.

“LEGOs are a staple toy in many households, and that’s great because they can be used for a variety of STEM activities,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said.

He explained that parents can create simple LEGO structures with defined patterns and ask their kids to recreate the same designs with the same patterns. Continue increasing the difficulty level of the pattern or leave blank spaces in the pattern and ask the child to state what’s missing.

“STEM learning doesn’t have to involve in-depth science experiments or calculus,” Douglas Paul Dohrman finished. “It can be done in a way that is enjoyable for the parent and the child, and it can provide kids with the foundation they need to advance their STEM skills even more quickly when they return to a traditional school setting.”

Douglas Paul Dohrman discusses the toll wildfires have taken on California’s wine country.

Wildfires rage yet again in the state of California. This year, the northern California wildfires coincide with the 2020 grape harvest, which has put many wine enthusiasts on edge. Douglas Paul Dohrman recently explained that fires have been blazing close to California’s prized wine country, particularly the Walbridge fire near Healdsburg and the Hennessy fire uncomfortably close to Napa Valley.

Douglas Paul Dohrman added that, thanks to recent rain and diminished wind, many major wineries appear to have been spared for now. Although, La Borgata winery near Vacaville and Big Basin Vineyards near San Francisco were not as fortunate. La Borgata lost nearly everything — the distillery, winery, and vineyard. Bradley Brown of Big Basin Vineyards lost all of his 2020 crop and his home, but the winery was spared.

Avid traveler Douglas Paul Dohrman discusses why every U.S. citizen should visit Yosemite National Park in his or her lifetime.

Yosemite National Park spans almost 1,200 miles and is one of the most iconic national parks in the United States. Photos of the park are easy to access through Google searches and magazines, but its grandeur is something that needs to be seen to be believed. That’s why avid traveler Douglas Paul Dohrman states every U.S. citizen should visit Yosemite National Park in his or her lifetime. He recently explained why this park, which has been protected since 1864, should be on everyone’s bucket list.

“Yosemite is famous for its unhindered natural beauty, but it isn’t until you see it for yourself that you can truly understand how grand the mountain peaks, glaciers, giant sequoias, lakes, and meadows really are,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said.

Douglas Paul Dohrman explained that there are few National Parks in the world with as much biodiversity as Yosemite. Visitors can experience waterfalls, famous granite cliffs, lakes, and mountain peaks all in a single day. Douglas Paul Dohrman stated that a massive variety of animals call Yosemite home, including bobcats, foxes, deer, coyote, otters, cougars, and bears.

The park’s flora and fauna is best experienced on its more than 800 miles of hiking trails or via a number of other adventure outlets. Douglas Paul Dohrman explained that visitors can take part in a number of multi-day treks with expert Yosemite guides, including a climb/hike up the famous Half Dome to picture-perfect Buena Vista Lake. Hiking, climbing, backcountry camping, biking, stargazing, skiing, and snowboarding are just a few of the adventures awaiting those who visit the park.

“More than 4 million people visit Yosemite National Park every year, and you won’t fully understand until you go,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said. “Peering over the peak of Half Dome, marveling at the world-renowned climbers on El Capitan, and getting soaked on the Mist Trail are all once-in-a-lifetime experiences that can only be had at Yosemite.”

Yosemite was the 3rd national park in existence in the U.S., as well as the park that sparked the entire idea of national parks in the United States. The Yosemite Land Grant turned the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove into government-protect land in 1864, 26 years before it was named a true national park. Douglas Paul Dohrman added that visiting America’s National Parks means supporting the National Park Service, an organization that protects these parks for generations to come.

“It’s easy to do our part to protect America’s national parks. We simply have to visit them,” Douglas Paul Dohrman said. “And through visiting them and marveling at our nation’s natural wonders, we gain a deeper respect for our country and mother nature as a whole.”