your life ENJOYING THE JOURNEY
Learning to meditate, or just allowing a little stillness into
your life, not only helps you find calm during life’s storms, it also yields powerful health benefits. By Bethany Kandel
Every morning, Latham Thomas wakes up at 5:45, an hour before her son arises, so she can sit quietly in her New York City apartment “to set the tone” for her day. For 20 minutes, she tunes out all sounds, smells and activity around her, closing her mind to everything but her own rhythmic breathing and heartbeat. Why does she give up that extra hour of sleep? Because meditation changes Thomas.
“It activates a relaxation response in the body, sending a cocktail of endorphins into the bloodstream rather than stress hormones,” says the holistic wellness expert and single mom. Studies have shown that meditation can lower heart rate and blood pressure; reduce
depression, chronic pain and muscle tension; and boost the body’s immune system to fight infection and disease. Meditation can also help people sleep better and have more energy and focus. “Meditation helps promote the overall health of your body,” says Sue Smalley, co-author
of Fully Present: The Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness. “When you meditate, you are actually changing body states over time; perhaps even rewiring your brain in some ways.” Smalley, a professor and behavioral geneticist, started the Mindful Awareness
Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, after her own experience with meditation following a melanoma diagnosis. She turned to the practices of yoga, acupuncture, massage, meditation and a macrobiotic diet to change the Western lifestyle that she felt influenced her illness. In mindfulness meditation, “which invites us to stop, breathe, observe and connect
with one’s inner experience,” she found an attuned sense of “being fully present,” she explains. It’s a way to bring that calm sense you may experience in nature or perhaps when you’re on vacation into your everyday life.” Contrary to what some may think, learning to meditate or be still doesn’t
have to entail chanting, burning candles or sitting cross-legged in the lotus position. All you need to do is “practice focusing your attention with open curiosity—
ILLUSTRATION BY JASON HOLLEY FALL 2010 | HEALTHY ADVICE 45
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