There is an amusing saying regarding the health of the physical body.
It is said that the loss of health results in four things: the first is being ill; the second is a pill; the third is the bill; and the fourth, in some cases, is the will. I would like to add an option to provide a healing effect for an illness — to be still! Let us explore how meditation, the art of being still, can heal our body, our mind, our emotions, our soul and the world.
Healing the body
Meditation provides physical benefits. Medical researchers have been exploring the body-mind connection. They have linked certain illnesses to our state of mind and emotional condition. They found that when we undergo mental stress, emotional pain or depression, our physical resistance to disease drops.
Spending time in meditation reduces stress. One study about meditation by Dr John L Craven, published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, states: “Controlled studies have found consistent reductions in anxiety in meditators... Several stress-related conditions have demonstrated improvement during clinical trials of meditation including hypertension, insomnia, asthma, chronic pain, cardiac tachyarrhythmias, phobic anxiety.”
In another study, Dr Ilan Kutz states: “As the ability to meditate develops, a hierarchy of sensation develops, ranging from deep relaxation to marked emotional and cognitive alterations... Many of these peripheral changes are compatible with decreased arousal of the sympathetic nervous system... The peripheral physiological changes have proven to be of value as a primary or adjunctive treatment for a variety of medical disorders such as hypertension and cardiac arrhythmias, as well as in relieving anxiety states and pain.”
Many medical centers and hospitals now offer classes in meditation to reduce stress and eliminate certain illnesses. Meditation can heal our physical body by healing our mind and our emotional state.
By becoming absorbed within, we divert our attention from feeling the effects of illness. In near-death experiences, people who underwent two excruciatingly painful accidents were lifted above pain when they left the body. With their return to the body, millions of people had the same message to report — their pain ended when they entered a world of Light. These accounts confirm what saints have said — there is a healing power of the divine that we can tap into when we shift our consciousness from the physical body to our spiritual side. We can rise above physical pain by connecting with the power within.
The freedom from pain of those who had near-death experience corroborates that protection from pain is afforded to those who perfect the practice of meditation. We do not need a near-death experience to tap into this inner power. We can access it naturally in the comfort of our homes through meditation.
Healing the mind
Our minds are often agitated by pressures. Life has become complicated. People have too much to do and too little time. Some people hold jobs that require long hours and too much responsibility.
Others work two jobs and raise a family. People snap — they become irritable, off-balance and stressed out. They may act in ways is uncharacteristic of themselves. Sometimes they take their frustration out on their loved ones.
Meditation is a way to equalise the imbalance caused by mental stress.
By spending time in meditation, we create a calm haven to restore equilibrium to our mental functioning. Researchers who record brain activity find that our brain waves measure from 13 to 20 Hz when we are under stressful situations at work, driving in traffic or in a fight-or-flight mode. In meditation, brain waves register between 5 and 8 Hz, a state of deep relaxation. In meditation, stress levels are reduced. The mind becomes calm, and, in turn, calms the body.
Through meditation, we bring a healing of our mental state. We can then function more effectively and peacefully in this world.
Healing emotional pain
Meditation can supplement therapy to heal emotional pain. As people work on their emotional problems with the guidance of trained specialists, doctors, psychologists, social workers or psychiatrists, they can aid their healing by meditating. Meditation helps in several ways. First, by going within through meditation, we see our lives from a clear angle of vision. We recognise the roots of our pains and solve the problems. Many are not aware of why they act and feel the way they do. By raising our consciousness, we become aware of the causes. We can pinpoint the areas which we need to work on. Second, in meditation, we contact the source of love. The Current of Light and Sound is made of the same essence as our soul and the Over-soul — love, consciousness, and bliss. As we contact the divine current, we experience divine love. We connect with the love of God latent within. It is said, “God is love, the soul is love, and the way back to God is through love.” Contact with godly love fills us with more love than we can ever imagine. This can fill the hole that may be the root cause of one’s emotional pain.
Through meditation’s healing power, one can mitigate and eliminate emotional pain.