The Benefits of Meditation

When it comes to making meditation a part of your daily routine it is metaphorically-speaking, a no brainer. Studies show it does everything from taming the run-away monkey-mind, increasing creativity, pumping up energy and vitality, reducing muscle pain, lowering stress, boosting organizational skills, to offering mental and physical flexibility.

The ability to quiet one's mind and retreat to a thought-free state of calmness opens the connection to higher intelligence and greatly enhances problem-solving abilities. A study at Massachusetts General Hospital found that the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain that deals with focusing on processing sensory input) is more active in meditators.

THE INDISPUTABLE BODY OF EVIDENCE

The science confirming meditation’s benefits is far-reaching. Here’s just a snapshot taken from hundreds of available studies:

•Eighty percent of hypertensive meditation patients who meditated lowered their blood pressure and decreased medications, while 16% were able to discontinue using their medication all together, according to a Harvard Medical School study.

•Researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago found that people with insomnia who meditated for 15 to 20 minutes twice daily for two months all reported improved sleep; in fact, the majority of them were able to reduce or eliminate sleeping medication.

•Folks who suffered from chronic pain including injury, surgery, arthritis and fibromyalgia, reduced their physician visits by forty-two percent, and open heart surgery patients had fewer post-operative complications due to a regular practice of meditation, according to studies conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

•Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles showed that patients were able to lower their blood sugar and insulin by practicing meditation.

•The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reports women with severe PMS who meditate daily have a 57% reduction in physical and psychological symptoms.

If findings like these don’t give you enough reason to consider placing your butt on a cushion, how about meditation’s ability to add years to your life? The International Journal of Neuroscience reports that meditators who have been practicing for at least five years are physiologically twelve years younger than their non-sitting counterparts.

The reasons? “Studies show meditators lower their levels of cholesterol, blood sugar, inflammation, and the stress hormone, cortisol – all of which are known agers,” explains Rashmi Gulati, MD, Director of Patient’s Medical, a holistic medical center in New York City. What's more, studies done by Yale, Harvard, and Massachusetts General Hospital have shown that meditation increases gray matter in the brain and slows down certain kinds of brain deterioration.

The Harvard experiment included 20 individuals with intensive Buddhist "insight meditation" training and 15 who did not meditate. The brain scan revealed that those who meditated have an increased thickness of gray matter in parts of the brain that are responsible for attention. “There are dozens more studies proving meditation decreases depression, anxiety and moodiness, and boosts self-esteem, concentration, and relaxation. The practice simply makes people happier," says Dr. Gulati. It reminds us of our purpose in life: to experience joy in the here and now.”

MOOD MANAGEMENT

Meditation produces a state of relaxation, relief from stress, and helps to eliminate feelings of anxiety and anger.

“Using a moving MRI, researchers at the University of Wisconsin looked at the brains of meditators and discovered their amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for the fight or flight impulse), switches off and the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for feelings of peace, compassion and happiness, lights up,” reports Jim Batzell, MD, author of Meditation for the Rest of Us (Fairview University Press).

Dr. Batzell, who has taught meditation around the world, says that it’s the perfect antidote especially for stress junkies, particularly in our culture.

“Consider it a tool,” he suggests. “When you make a commitment to Pilates the aim is for self-improvement. Mediation takes you one step further. It helps make your life – even better.”

HOW TO MEDITATE

Although meditation has profound effects on our well-being, it doesn't have to be a complicated process. Advanced meditators may prefer to sit on a cushion in a lotus or half-lotus position and focus on their breathing or on a particular chakra (one of the seven centers of spiritual energy in the human body according to yoga philosophy). But for beginners, follow these basic steps:

•Sit in a quiet, comfortable place on a straight-back chair or floor cushion. Relax your muscles; do not lie down.

•Select a syllable, phrase or word, such as "one," "peace," "love," or "om" to focus on.

•Close your eyes and follow the rhythm of your breath.

•Repeat your chosen word as you breathe in and out. If your mind wanders, don't quit. Just let your thoughts go and refocus by repeating your chosen word.

•Continue for ten to twenty minutes.

When you finish, sit quietly for a minute or two -- first with eyes closed, then with eyes open – and enjoy life.