Meditation Eases Stress - Study

A recent study has shown that meditation proves effective in easing stress and promoting better health.

Meditation triggers a change in electrical activity of the brain, improving the mind and body in measurable ways, revealed Dr Ramesh Manocha at Sydney University, lead researcher of the study on work stress.

"Within the context of meditation and stress, it's the largest study in the world and we've applied some rigorous conditions," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dr Manocha as saying.

The secret to the success of the study, he said, was the "mental silence" traditional approach used in Sahaja Yoga.

"What authentic techniques should do is show you how to widen space between thoughts until the space is so large you have no thoughts whatsoever in that moment," he stated.

In the study, 178 full-time workers practised meditation twice daily at home for 10 to 20 minutes over eight weeks.

The improvements for mood and depression were twice as high for those practising "mental silence" compared to the "relaxation" and placebo groups.

"We've done other published studies where, when you teach people relaxation, they feel better, but there's no change in disease, but when you teach mental silence approach, they felt twice as better but also saw significant changes in indicators with disease," added Dr Manocha.

Toni Martelli, 33, who took part in the trial, believes the benign lump on her throat has shrunk by half since adopting mental silence and an alternative medicine approach.

Source: ANI