Meditation has become an important form of healing – although
still relatively minor in Sri Lanka compared to Yoga and Ayurveda.
Science is finally confirming what yogis have known for millennia:
that meditation helps us to heal emotionally, has a calming
effect on our nerves, balances blood pressure, reduces stress
and helps us to relax and to control pain. The benefits are
unique for each person, but both physiological and psychological
balancing is common. Some of the benefits of meditation will
be realized quickly and others may take over many months and
even years.
What is meditation? It can be defined as the practice of mindfulness,
focusing on awareness whole-heartedly. It is the practice of
paying attention to everything you do in life, however small.
It can also be defined as the state achieved from intense concentration
in which all objects and thoughts vanish. In whatever way you
choose to define meditation, it aims to bring a feeling of happiness,
fulfillment, contentment, and peace between body, mind, and
spirit.
Some of the forms of mediation are: silent sitting, chanting,
praying, walking meditation, meditation that uses visualization
or focus on objects, and breathing exercises.
Ayurveda hotels around Sri Lanka offer meditation as part of
their treatment. Whether your goal is enlightenment, revelation,
relaxation, or low blood pressure, the process of meditation
can put you in touch with something good and quietly profound.
Meditation really can promote happiness
Buddhists who claim their religion promotes happiness have found
support from American scientific research.
According to a recent report in New Scientist magazine, brain
scans of devout Buddhists have found exceptional activity in
the brain's "happiness centre'' -- the parts of the left-side
of the brain that promote serenity and joy.
Earlier research suggested that Buddhists also have lower than
normal activity in the part of the brain that processes fear
and anxiety.
Researchers are now speculating that meditation -- a key element
in the Buddhist way of life -- may be beneficial in the treatment
of depression. |
