Originally Published August 9, 2005 -- Your Wellness
Guide
Slow-Down Habits That Bring
Greater Health
—————————————————————
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ideas:
Smile, You Might Live Longer -- and Enjoy
It!
Financial Stress Ends With
Simple Changes
Light Your Way Through Life's Storms
|
You
won’t find this religion and health study published on the National
Institutes of Health website, but according to recent reporting by
the Wall Street Journal the NIH put together a panel of three
scientists in 2001 who were to review a growing quantity of
literature that showed a link between religion and health. Says the
newspaper “The [NIH] panel reported that the studies showed a 25
percent lower mortality rate for those who attend religious services
at least weekly.” And this review also excluded any study that
failed to control for the social benefits of church attendance and
the fact that church goers are often more healthier anyway. |
“There’s an
unknown mechanism contributing to the benefit,” noted one of the panel’s
scientists in the news article, hinting at while the panel didn’t think it
was God helping out perhaps, instead, it was the practice of turning to
prayer or meditation during difficult times that “diminished harmful
effects of negative emotion.”
While those who
are spiritually inclined might give a hand to God in the results, this
conclusion is not unlike that which I have also heard from many homeopaths who
feel that stress and negativity upset people’s systems to the degree so as to
cause a good portion of disease and physical conditions.
And many yoga
teachers will also propose that a releasing of stress through stretching,
postures, and breathing techniques will bring you greater health.
Both in religious
settings and quiet places such as at a yoga class, reverent religious service,
or in your home in the early A.M., you are able to get the benefit of slowing
down, breathing more deeply, and relaxing your body and mind. For many, this
can be the start of spiritual closeness.
Meditation Expert
Camille Maurine says “When you meditate, you can take pleasure in all of your
senses -- touch, hearing, vision, smell, taste, and even your sense of balance.
We are open to experience and our heart is moved.”
Maurine, who
co-authors
Meditation 24/7, says that the physical benefits of meditation, even if
you only meditate for five minutes, include:
Profound
relaxation of muscles and nerves
Deeper rest
Quicker recovery
from fatigue
Release of stress
from your nervous system, “reducing stress-related ailments”
Improved immune
system
Lower blood
pressure
Enhanced senses
Where can you
meditate? And what is the easiest way to start? It doesn’t require the perfect
spot nor an hour of your time. Meditation can be as simple as taking a few
extra moments in the shower to close your eyes and breath deeply, waiting a few
minutes before you get in your car in the morning to enjoy the sunshine and
birds singing outdoors, or turning off the radio in the car for 10-15 minutes to
offer a prayer or quiet your mind. Anytime your reduce the “chatter” and noise
in your life, you are helping to calm your mind and body.
Whether you go to
church, meditate, pray, practice yoga, or utilize alternative medicine to help
calm your mind, body, and soul, the more important thing to remember is that it
is all a choice. While outside circumstances may dictate what you react to, you
still have a option as to what will be your reaction and, then, your action.
Terra
Wellington
is a
national authority on creating a wellness lifestyle.
www.terrawellington.com
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Wellington
