I heard these words from a great meditation teacher some four decades ago. Today I am still fascinated by this concept referring to the fact that deep within us is a supreme intelligence with an amazing organizing power. I find it remarkable that, without the least effort on our part, our 37 trillion cells carry out thousands of functions per second in coordination with each other and with awareness of what every other cell is doing.
Meditation is a simple technique in which we still the body, slow down the breath and quiet the mind… releasing stress and coming closer to the dynamic, yet silent, core within each of us. This silence within rejuvenates our entire miraculous body.
Volumes of scientific research document the multifaceted health benefits of meditation. These range from lowering blood pressure, stress hormones and heart disease to increasing intuition and the capacity to love. One of the most recent studies, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology reports that meditation actually alters gene expression. A single day of intensive meditation was found to turn “on” and “off” selected genes to result in:
• Down regulation of harmful pro-inflammatory genes (COX2 and RIPK2)
• Faster recovery from stress
A few years back, we realized that our choice of foods can impact gene expression, and now we see that our thoughts and mental activity can also impact our basic genetics in a favorable way. My meditation experience I have meditated for more than four decades with uplifting, health-enhancing, sustained benefits. It’s not always easy for me to quiet my mind. Some days my mind relentlessly jumps from thought to thought as I meditate. When I find myself thinking, I just come back to my breath. By sitting and paying attention to my breath, I experience greater happiness and enhanced energy. Even more striking, I become clearer as to my most heartfelt intentions. And, the clearer I become, the more easily my heart-felt goals are fulfilled. Truly, meditation allows me to do less, to sit and do nothing, and accomplish more!
Coming into contact with your own great intelligence through meditation, prayer or visualization is an important part of the Better Bones Program. If you’re already meditating, keep it up and go deeper into the silence. If you haven’t started yet, jump on board. You might well start by trying the short meditations I created just for you on my new Meditations for Bone Health CD. I guarantee you will find it worth the time and effort.
Reference:
Kaliman, P. et al. Rapid changes in histone deacetylases and inflammatory gene expression in expert meditators. Psychoneuroendocrinlogy, vol 40, Feb 2014: 96-107