Meditation

Okay, now I have the evidence-ha!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/health/research/09aging.html?ref=health

Although this article refers to "older people"-maybe that means me too, I don't know what the author's idea of an older person is, but I definitely experienced cognitive malfunctions after my hospital experience, and I still do to some extent. Many people just laughed at me when I would try to explain this phenomena, even my doctor told me I was over reacting.
But I know the difference in how my brain worked before I went in and after I came out, and it was distinctly slower on the outbound side.

Maybe some of the cognitive slow down had to do with the trauma of it all in general, I would buy that theory. Multi- tasking for me is not what it used to be, and, my reaction to extreme multi tasking these days usually results in high anxiety (one of my favorite Mel Brooks' films). Sometimes I don't even know I have high anxiety, until I pop! That doesn't happen that often, but when it does "mommy needs a time out"!

Now here's where the benefits of one the "so-called alternative therapies" comes in.
Meditation, is a very useful and beneficial activity. Meditating allows your mind to process information, without really thinking about it. Sounds paradoxical, but it's true.
And there are many different ways to meditate, you don't actually have to sit with legs crossed, index fingers touching, palms up while humming "ohm". I meditate while I'm playing the piano.
I meditate while I'm walking-usually in the park on a circular track-that way I don't get run over by someone who is drinking a latte, talking on their cell phone while driving their car.
I used to meditate while swimming, but I had a very close to drowning type incident and decided that just the zen-like feel I get from swimming would suffice.
Meditation has been proven to lower blood pressure and restore-guess what-brain activity.

I started my exploration of meditation when I was in the 7th grade-I found a book at the library called "Kung Fu Meditations". How a book like that ended up in our tiny town in the middle of Iowa I have no idea. But I followed the steps and found a certain kind of peace that helped me through those crazy middle school years. Now I follow more of the Mindfulness Meditation concepts. There's a lot more leeway in that camp and it fits my lifestyle.

Meditation helps to clear my head so I can work on the repair of those cognitive functions.
I'm not "all there yet"-but I'm much closer than I was a year ago.