Do you know why it seems modern life is more stressful than historic times? How can it be, when our ancestors had real problems of survival, and our problems are things like getting a document completed on a deadline?
The answer is simple: as it has become easier and easier to survive, we humans have simply created more problems for ourselves. Since our bodies can’t distinguish between the stress of running from predators or trying to meet a deadline, they release the same hormones in either case. The bottom line? Even though modern life is safer and easier than historic times, we have more opportunities to feel like we’re being chased by predators than ever before.
Getting grounded
Many people are turning to meditation to get back their equilibrium and perspective. Meditation calms the mind and gives us a chance to realize much of what we worry about really isn’t that important. Even when we do have life-threatening concerns, meditation helps us realize worrying will not help. In clearing the mind, meditation can help us realize what action we must take to solve our problems, or that there is nothing we can do but cope with the situation at hand as gracefully as possible.
Meditation and healing
There is no evidence to suggest meditation directly heals illness. But it does promote positive feelings, and those have been found in studies to promote the body’s healing processes. Translation: you should never expect meditation to fix a problem that needs medical attention, but you can expect meditation to boost whatever healing processes are already at work in your body.
Additionally, stress hormones work against the healing process. Meditation can reduce the level of these hormones in your body, which helps prevent or reduce the severity of health issues.
Meditation is also believed to help reduce free radicals in the body, which heightens your resistance to disease and aging.
Meditation and psychology
Meditation achieves very specific benefits for the mind. While meditating, your brainwave pattern alters from a wakeful or even agitated state to one more similar to sleep, even though you are still awake. This temporary shift has an effect dissimilar to any you normally experience during waking or sleeping. It promotes a feeling of conscious relaxation and contentment. You have the sense that your problems are more manageable than you feel when your brainwaves are in a more wakeful state, but you are aware of this, and that awareness stays with you after the meditation is over and your brainwaves have returned to a wakeful state.
Filed in Yoga/Meditation
Updated: September 29, 2010
Copyright: September 30, 2010
