The Benefits of Meditation

By Leslie Loanzon

It’s crunch time: You have only two days to finish something that should take a month and your nerves are shot!

In the sometimes high pressure lives we lead, many of us seem to suffer from stress like this almost daily.  From being single with a full time job to being a single mother with a full time job, stress always seems to follow. Even retirees can have difficulties.

Many of us engage in different activities to serve as an outlet for all that stress; gardening, cleaning, walking, and other activities are good for that purpose. 

However, chanting “ommm” during meditation is something very different.  The use of chants has been around since ancient times.  In Eastern countries, “ommm” or other mantras are used during meditation. 

According to folklore, one can find inner peace by chanting “ommm.  Seeking methods for quieting that internal chatter and reducing stress are what initially attract many people to meditation. Studies have shown by engaging in meditation during yoga, one may have a relief of symptoms of anxiety and depression.  People benefit from its calming aspects, and it is absolutely facilitative of good mental health because it brings about a higher level of self-acceptance and insight about oneself. 

That is why some experts suggest marrying meditation to psychotherapy. "Both allow the person to be present for the moment, open and nondefensive," says clinical psychologist Dr. Roger Thomson, who explores the complementary nature of the two in the American Journal of Psychotherapy. "In both meditation and psychotherapy, we are trying not to get caught up in internal preoccupation, but to be intimately present with what is happening here and now." 

Indeed, studies have shown that meditation has not only a mental but also a profound physiological effect on the body. Among other benefits, meditation can help reverse heart disease, the number-one killer in the United States.  It can reduce pain and enhance the body's immune system, enabling it to better fight disease.

So why are so few people using meditation for health? Sometimes it is emotional discomfort, as meditation can put us in the middle of ourselves, which is not always where we want to be.  Often, we want to fix things rather than accept them the way they are. Many of us feel as though we cannot afford the time and energy to meditate when there is work to be done.

Researchers at the Maharishi School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, found that meditation has a pervasive effect on stress. They looked at a group of people who had meditated for four months and found that they produced less of the stress hormone, cortisol. They were therefore better able to adapt to stress in their lives, no matter what their circumstances were.

So, the next time stress enters your life via crises at home or work, remember chanting “ommm” just might make your day a bit brighter. Perhaps your inner peace shall surface.