There
are many benefits regarding the practice of meditation. Joel Stein points some of these benefits out
in his article “Just Say Om” for Time magazine.
These meditative benefits can include both mental and physical. Meditation has only become a part of American
life since the Dali Lama payed met with Western-trained psychologist in
Dharamsala, India. This visit brought
meditation into the modern era. There
are now ten million people who practice daily meditation than there was just a
decade ago. These American can include
lawyers, school children and even prisoners.
There are obviously benefits that Americans have picked up on or there
would not be this surge in quietly concentrating on how we breathe.
A starting point looking into
meditation is to start with the physical benefits of practicing meditation at
least two times a day. These benefits can be anything from low blood
pressure to fighting cancer. It also helps with chronic pain. When dealing with my own pain as a hip
replacement recipient meditation and prayer helped to quiet my thoughts on how
much pain I was experiencing. Joel Stein
points out that meditation helps with pain because the meditator is taught to
accept the pain instead of concentration on the pain itself. Also, women are encouraged to meditate when
dealing with breast cancer. The study
suggested that those women who meditate have higher immune cells known to
combat the tumors in the breast. In high
levels of stress people may visit the doctor 60% of the time due to
stress. This may result in high blood
pressure which can bring to the patient to heart issues. These physical conditions have been shown to
slow down because of meditation.
When speaking of mental benefits of
I think about what my own family has been through with my son’s struggle with
Autism. My son William was diagnosed
with high functioning Autism when he was five and struggled with anger in elementary
school. The one thing that I did was to go and buy a cd for meditation. There are five stories that deal with anger
as an emotion and how best to deal with his anger. Along with the schools help, meditation and
behavioral therapy William is on his way to a happier William. Joel Stein points out that meditation helps
with depression. In particular Mr. Stein
points out the story of Wendy Weisel, a daughter of two Holocaust survivors and
the author of the book “Daughters of Absence”, took anxiety medicine for
years. She began to practice meditation
and for two years she has not been on any medication.
There are many benefits to practice
meditation. It is no longer a group of
monks in a far off temple. Meditation
takes form in yoga centers and has been proven by scientist and doctors’ .to
help with quality in life. My own life
has been improved by prayer and meditation.
I am more focused and my son, William, has learned to focus his energies
towards the positive and not the anger.
Meditation is not only good for the soul, but also for the physical and
mental.
