Yoga and Meditation For Better Health

Many researchers now have a high interest in studying the healing effects of endorphins released during meditation and yoga. Endorphin is a natural painkiller, a substance in the brain that attaches to the same cell receptors that morphine does. This substance is believed to be able to cure many diseases such as asthma, ADHD, high blood pressure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cancer. "Ayudervedic healing," as it's called, has been in practice for over 5,000 years but didn't arrive in the United States until the 1970s. The healing is based on three areas - diet, herbs and meditation yoga - particularly "Sahaja Yoga."

Students who practice Sahaja Yoga will study the three vertical energy channels within the human body:

• the sun channel (governing our thought processes),
• the parasympathetic / nervous system channel (governing our body processes),
• the moon channel (governing our emotions).

In addition to these three channels, millions of chakras (translated from Sanskrit to mean "wheels" or energy centers) are swirling around us, keeping the channels in motion. Chakras can vary from religion to religion, but Sahaja Yoga focuses on several in its yoga and meditation: the crown chakra (pituitary gland / consciousness), the third eye chakra (pineal gland / sleep and awakening), the throat chakra (thyroid / growth and maturity), the heart chakra (thymus / stress and wellbeing), the solar plexus chakra (pancreas / digestion and energy), the sacral chakra (groin / sexuality and reproduction) and the root chakra (adrenal gland / basic fight or flight instincts and kundalini awakening).

Sahaja yoga and meditation has been taught worldwide since 1970. It's well known for treating ailments and diseases. To translate from Sanskrit, "Saha" means "spontaneous" and "ja" means "born within." Yoga, of course, means "union." The end goal is kundalini (or spiritual awakening), as well as a unity and collective awakening among people.

Yoga and meditation have been practiced for thousands of years. Today, there are many people can benefit from the healing effects and energy restoration of yoga and meditation. For the mother of three, an hour of tranquillity has calmed her nerves and boosted her spirits. For the man with intermittent explosive anger disorder, his emotions are now subdued and connected with something larger than himself. For the cancer patient and the arthritic elderly, yoga and meditation has relieved pain that hundreds of harmful prescription medications could not. The miracles of yoga and meditation are happening everywhere around the world.