Meditation and Good Health

DAVID WAS RIGHT!

Psalm 1

¹ Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on God's law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Did you know the more we meditate on God, the better we are physically and emotionally? I’m not talking about some anecdotal story from some pop-psychologists, but hard, verifiable science.

Brief prayer, those short shout-outs to God, has not shown to have a direct effect upon our well-being, and may actually increase depression, as reported in American Journal of Geriatric Psychology (Apr. 15, 2007; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17384312).

However, longer, intense meditation and prayer practiced within the context of weekly religious activities effectively treats, as reported in Complimentary Therapies in Clinical Practice (Aug. 12 2006):

• hypertension,
• cardiac arrhythmia,
• chronic pan,
• PMS, insomnia,
• anxiety,
• depression,
• hostility,
• infertility,
• side effects of cancer treatment and AIDS” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16835029).

So, if you are feeling out of sorts, depressed, weak, ill… well, don’t be a stranger to the very disciplines God has given us to keep us as whole as possible. Be part of the practices that (get this) even improve mortality! (International Journal of Psychiatry Medicine; 2006).

David was right; but then for the religiously focused soul who is already active in a religious life, this is common knowledge.