Fragrant Heart Blog

From the same article on www.familyhealthguide.co.uk I also found some very interesting information on specific health conditions and how meditation affects them.  Simply put, meditation works by reducing the levels of stress hormones that are the culprits in leading to states of ill health.

ATHEROSCLEROSIS

“Researchers studying the effect of meditation on atherosclerosis (a condition that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease) in the African-American population reported that those who had practised meditation for 69 months potentially had an 11% decrease in the risk of heart attacks and up to a 15% decrease in the risk of a stroke.”

CANCER

“A separate study showed that cancer patients who practised meditation for as little as 7 weeks were significantly less depressed and anxious than their counterparts who did not meditate.” 

CARDIAC AND GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS

“Meditators also reported increased energy levels and lesser cardiac and gastrointestinal problems than non meditators.”

If you’re interested go to the website and find out more on the affects of meditation on:

• PAIN
• ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
• INFERTILITY
• INFLAMMATION
• DIABETES
• HYPERTENSION

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A friend of mine sent me this website, www.familyhealthguide.co.uk.

It’s about how long term practitioners of relaxation methods such as meditation and yoga can alter the course of disease.

Here’s what was said in the article,

“In the words of Dr Herbert Benson, who led the research group at the Harvard medical School, “We found a range of disease fighting genes that were active in the relaxation practitioners but not active in the control group.”

“Interestingly, in as little as two months after the control group began meditating, their genetic profile changed to resemble those of the relaxation practitioners.”

Are you familiar with an inspiring website called, www.ted.com? 

On it I found a talk by Mathieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk, author and photographer.  His talk takes around twenty minutes and is well worth listening to.  It’s about what makes us happy.

He defines meditation as mind transformation.  To transform the mind requires mind training.  The question is, why bother training the mind?  When the mind is full of hatred, strong grasping, or jealousy, for example, a person will feel tormented.  These states of feeling arise from thoughts.  All emotions are fleeting, and that makes it possible for the basis of mind training. 

Mathieu Ricard says that we spend a lot of time in doing other things to improve ourselves, but little time in taking care of how the mind functions.

Mind training, going within, is the direct route to happiness.

Here’s a quote from the spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson.  She says, “If you really want to be a great friend, you sit with them and focus your attention and really listen.  And since your relationship with the divine is essentially your relationship with your deeper self, you do indeed need to sit with yourself and really listen, nurturing the relationship as often as you can.  And one of the best ways to do it?  You guessed it: meditation.”  (My underlining)