"Just Say Om"

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.