Healthy Living: Meditation, the way to a healthy life

When I need a peace of mind, I have the habit of locking myself in my room to meditate. My family knows that, when they know am meditating they let me be for whatever duration of time that I will take. With the current trend of lifestyle that we lead I have come to appreciate the power of meditation. But then many a time meditation has been confused as daydreaming or fantasizing. So what exactly is meditation? Meditation is a specific practice that quiets the mind, taking us beyond our doubt, anxiety, judgments, in other words, beyond the prison of our mental conditioning. It is a state of consciousness beyond the ordinary waking state. Meditation is a means for understanding and experiencing the centre of consciousness within. Contrary to what people think, meditation is not a religion, though it plays a part in all the worlds’ wisdom traditions and is used to enrich the spiritual experience. Meditation is a science, which means it has defined principles, that there’s a specific process which is followed, and it produces results that can be verified. It is the practice of clearing the mind, allowing it to become relaxed and inwardly focused. Meditation is a state of restful-awareness; your mind is clear, you are fully awake and aware, but your mind is not focused on the external environment or any of the events that are happening around you. You are cultivating an inner state that is one-pointed and still, so that the mind will slip into silence. When this stillness happens, and the mind falls silent and it no longer distracts you, your meditation deepens. There are different types of meditation, and one can practise depending on their preference or religion beliefs. I for one, have no particular type of meditation. What I do is just sit still in my room, close my eyes for the longest time possible as I meditate trying to shut out all the negative feelings in my life. Meditation is freedom from the endless noise and distractions inside your head. Meditation allows you to experience what is taking place around you without reacting. Meditation brings you the freedom to experience who you really are, free from all the mental activity, and you begin to experience inner contentment and joy. In fact I started meditating after I read in the internet that it is helpful in the matters of health.According to researchers at the Ohio State University, meditating helps in boosting relaxation which appears to boost immunity in recovering cancer patients. When meditation is practised daily for a period of one month, the progressive muscular relaxation reduces the risk of breast cancer recurrence. It has also been proven that women are more likely to conceive during the time when they are always meditating which puts them in a relaxed mood. This worked for me after trying for a second child for seven years. Meditating also boosts male fertility because stress reduces sperm count and motility. Other health issues that have been improved by practising meditation is irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure , inflammation which is linked to heart disease, arthritis, asthma and skin conditions such as psoriasis. Sitting quietly every day for fifteen to twenty minutes in meditation can help one relieve stress to make them a better person who will not only appreciate the beauty of peace and tranquillity, but also keep stress at bay which can result to so many other illnesses making our health take a nose dive. kayitesius@yahoo.com

Lifestyle

Healthy Living: Meditation, the way to a healthy life