How Women Can Reach the Pinnacle of Good Health with Meditation and Yoga

In an attempt to become "Jack of all trades," women usually follow a hectic schedule. This stressful timetable creates hormonal imbalance and disrupts our body’s natural rhythm, which ultimately leads to serious health problems. Yoga is adjudged as an effective therapy to overcome the demons of stress, anxiety and depression. One of the five principles of yoga is meditation.

Meditation is a technique, which enables us to relax our body and mind. It is one of the eight limbs of yoga, which leads to enlightenment. It is a trustworthy tool for achieving mental clarity, improving concentration and discovering the wisdom and tranquility within us. It serves to free our mind of unnecessary thoughts and brain activity. Meditation is neither an end in itself nor a special experience. It is only a very efficient technique, which helps us to control our mind and conciliate our body. Meditation should not be confused with a dream, with sleep or a state of trance. During meditation we are more awake, more alert and better focused, yet relaxed. By practicing meditation we become more observant, more tolerant and more aware because this technique trains our powers of concentration.

The Fundamental Principles of Meditation

1. Meditation requires a special place because the atmosphere helps us to focus our mind at one point. This focus can be our breathing, a word that we repeat, sensations in our body or even our thoughts. In the beginning thoughts may wander, but they should be brought back to the focus. There is no need to hide or suppress thoughts. Irrelevant thoughts should only be ignored. We should neither be judgmental nor should draw conclusions or think about trivial matters. We should accept the moment as it is.

2. Although the perfect time for meditation is dusk and dawn, when the atmosphere is charged with a high level of spiritual energy, but best time is that when the mind is free for all worries.

3. The same time and place should be used for meditation because it helps to focus the mind quickly.

4. It is beneficial to sit facing north or east direction with the back, neck and head in perfect straight line.

5. By establishing a rhythmic breathing pattern it becomes easier to concentrate.
6. Initially the mind wanders, we should allow it to promenade because if we force our mind to concentrate, it will grow restless. Slowly, but steadily we should bring our mind to rest on the focal point of our choice. Meditation comes when we reach a state of pure thought, but still retain our awareness of duality. When this duality disappears then the super-conscious state is attained.

Health Benefits of Meditation

Research has shown that meditation can contribute to an individual's psychological and physiological well-being. It brings the brainwave pattern into an alpha state, which is a level of consciousness that promotes the healing state. The health benefits of meditation are segregated into three categories:

A. Physiological Benefits of Meditation

1. Decreased metabolic rate, lowered heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.
2. Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate, the two chemicals associated with stress.
3. Reduction of free radicals, which are unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage.
4. Decreased high blood pressure.
5. Higher skin resistance. Low skin resistance is correlated with higher stress and anxiety levels.
6. Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease.
7. Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. This has been very helpful to asthma patients.
8. Decreases the ageing process.
9. Higher levels of DHEAS in the elderly women. An additional sign of youthfulness.

B. Psychological Benefits of Meditation

1. Increased brain wave coherence.
2. Greater creativity.
3. Decreased anxiety.
4. Decreased depression.
5. Decreased irritability and moodiness.
6. Improved learning ability and memory.
7. Increased self-actualization.
8. Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
9. Increased happiness.
10. Increased emotional stability.

C. Spiritual Benefits of Meditation

The longer a woman practices meditation, the greater the likelihood that her goals and efforts will shift toward personal and spiritual growth. Many women who initially learn meditation for its self-regulatory aspects find that as their practice deepens they are drawn more and more into the realm of the "spiritual." In her work with many cancer and AIDS patients, Dr. Borysenko has observed that many are most interested in meditation as a way of becoming more attuned to the spiritual dimension of life. She reports that many die "healed," in a state of compassionate self-awareness and self-acceptance.