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BY MICHELE MEYER
h e re ’s a n old saying th a t th e
o nly w ro n g w ay to m e d ita te
is n o t to d o it a t all. So w hy
do p eo p le stru g g le w ith it?
M e d ita tio n can p ro d u ce a
d ee p sta te o f rela x atio n an d a se n se o f
calm , peace, an d em o tio n al stability.
It also m ay o ffer real, m edical b en efits
fo r h e a rt p a tie n ts, according to th e
A m erican H e a rt A ssociation, w h ich has
review ed rese arch stu d ies o n th e h ea lth
b en e fits o f m ed itatio n .
A lthough th e rese arch isn ’t
conclusive, sev eral stu d ie s have show n
th a t m e d ita tio n can low er blood
p re ssu re , ch o lestero l, b lo o d sugar, an d
stre s s h o rm o n es.
“S tre ss accelerates b u ild -u p o f plaque
in a rte rie s an d in creases th e likelihood
o f irre g u la r h e a rtb e a ts, w hich in th e long
ru n can b e life-th reaten in g ,” says D ean
O rn ish , M D, a U S -based card io lo g ist
an d c re a to r o f a v eg etarian , very-low -fat
d ie t to rev erse h e a rt disease. O n e o f th e
key ele m e n ts o f his p ro g ra m is a daily
stre ss-m a n a g e m e n t sessio n th a t includes
m e d ita tio n . “D irectly o r indirectly,
an y th in g th a t helps yo u m anage stress
effectively stab ilizes o r rev erses h e a rt
disease,” he says.
Jan e Percy, D irecto r o f R iverlight
W ellness C e n te r in C o n n e cticu t, US,
te lls scep tics to tak e th e ir p u lse an d
b lo o d p re ssu re , th e n follow a guided
m e d ita tio n an d tak e th e n u m b e rs again.
“Y ou’ll b ecom e a believer,” she says.
“In tw o m in u te s o f m in d fu l m e d ita tio n ,
w e ca n low er b lo o d p ressu re; in five
m in u tes, ch o lestero l an d b lo o d su g ar
levels d ecrease; an d in
15
m in u tes,
m easu rab le s tre s s levels are red u c ed
q u ite significantly.”
T h a t’s terrific, b u t th e n w h a t sta n d s
b e tw e e n y o u an d th a t ev erlastin g om -
m agnificent peace?
ILLUSTRATION: © IMAGEZOO/CORBIS
