Mind-Body Connection

The news: It turns out meditating is good for more than just quiet time: It can actually help us fight the cripplingly high stress levels we experience during our busy lives, in the office or elsewhere. Scientists from Harvard University and the University of Sienna recently found that meditation is so powerful it can change the physiology of a person’s brain, resulting in positive changes like a decrease in anxiety and depression.

We are leaving behind the warm bright light of summer and early fall and headed towards the dark cold days and nights of late autumn and winter. We needn’t be afraid of the dark for there is beauty in the dark, as well. If the seed didn’t rest in the dark cool earth, there would be no blooming flower to greet us in the spring.
Just like Mother Nature, we need to honor our own cycles and rhythms. I have learned to love (or at least appreciate!) the cold dark winter months which are approaching here in the Northeast. I know many of you shudder at this thought and are perhaps frantically making plans to get out of town. But I like to burrow in, read and write, deepen my sleep, and concentrate on nurturing myself – body, mind and spirit. This year I hope to do a silent retreat somewhere deep in Nature.

As we begin this transition from Pitta Season to Vata Season, it’s important to note something that Ayurveda teaches.
“The Ayurvedic texts say that a disease can take root in the body only during the junctions between the seasons, when all nature is in flux. Because of the upheaval dominating these junctions, the body’s natural immunity becomes virtually defenseless against impending disease.” -Maya Tiwari
I have experienced this firsthand, many times, and am learning just how true this cautionary statement is. The most important lesson I have learned is to deeply nurture the Vata part of me.

According to a new study conducted by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), specific types of meditation – Vajrayana and Theravada styles of from the Tibetan tradition – elicit qualitatively different influences on human physiology and behavior, producing arousal and relaxation responses respectively.

All of doctor-induced disease – from medical mistakes to the side effects of prescription drugs – ‘pales into insignificance when compared with the intellectual neglect demonstrated by doctors failing to understand, recognize and prevent the two major causes of death; namely heart disease and cancer.

By Cynthia Sue Larson Have you ever wondered why some people age gracefully, seeming like they look pretty much the same now as decades earlier, while staying actively engaged in fun activities, learning new things, and staying active… and other people slip into steady decline? If you have noticed this and wondered, “What’s up with that?” you’ll […]