Stephan Bodian

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world; it encompasses several branches (or schools), including Theravada and Mahayana. In addition to fundamental teachings on the nature of reality, Buddhism offers a systematic approach involving techniques and practices that enable its followers to experience a deeper level of reality directly for themselves.

Meditation can help you survive the 21st century. Meditation offers a time-honored antidote to fragmentation, alienation, isolation, and stress — even stress-related illnesses and depression. Although it won’t solve the external problems of your life, it does help you develop inner resilience, balance, and strength to roll with the punches and come up with creative solutions.

When most folks first consider taking up the practice of meditation, they usually have a few questions they want to have answered — and when they get started, they come up with a few more. Here are the answers to ten common questions to get you started on your journey. Will meditation make me too relaxed or spaced out to succeed at work or school?

You might find mindfulness meditation is a great way to start your workday. By the time you arrive at work in the morning, you may already be feeling stressed out. After a hectic hour or two preparing the kids for school or haggling with your partner or dealing with some emergency at home, followed by a commute through rush-hour traffic, you may have gotten your workday off to a harrowing start.

To get started with Yoga with Weights, you need a little willpower, an open mind, and a sense of adventure; at least, those are the only intangibles you need. Taking the first step in any new activity is usually the hardest part. As for the tangibles, you need some equipment to get going.At minimum, you need a quiet and comfortable place to exercise, hand weights, and ankle weights.

Yoga is well known for making people more flexible, supple, lithe, and limber. In fact, you’ve probably seen photographs of yogis or yoginis contorting themselves into different yoga postures. However, recent studies indicate that it’s a safe and effective option for relieving moderate low back pain.In a study funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), participants suffering from chronic lower back pain were divided into three groups: one group took 12 weekly yoga classes, one group took 12 weekly stretching classes, and one group was given a self-care book and encouraged to exercise to relieve pain.

Besides overcoming separation, basic meditation practices contribute to the healing process in a number of essential ways. For some help with meditation, check out these basic meditation practices. Love and connectedness As Dean Ornish, MD, reveals in his groundbreaking research, love is more important than any other factor in the healing process, including diet and exercise.

Mediation offers healing power through imagery. In her book Staying Well with Guided Imagery, psychotherapist and guided-imagery pioneer Belleruth Naparstek cites extensive research that establishes three basic principles behind the healing power of imagery. These principles help explain the effectiveness of meditations that use imagery extensively.