ROLE OF MEDITATION IN CARDIAC HEALTH

Dr. Shilpa Kantilal Ingle and Dr. Sampada Sandeep Sant

ABSTRACT

Meditation has history of thousands years. It works on improvement of four dimensions of our being i.e. physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Meditation is followed by people in various types such as guided meditation, transcendental meditation and mindfulness meditation. It is a scientific technique through which one can achieve a state of inner calmness, physical relaxation and psychological balance. Stress, anxiety, anger, hatred, worries if continue for longer period then they can accelerate the disease at the level of body or mind. Stress is an integral and inevitable part of modern day life. Repeated exposure to episodes of stress can give an adverse effect on health in general and cardiovascular functions. Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations, building skills to manage the stress, increasing self- awareness, focusing on the present, reducing negative emotions are other very fruitful benefits can be achieved through the meditation. Psychological stress has also been found to responsible for imbalance in autonomic nervous system. Mental stress, anxiety causes increased sympathetic activation or poor vagus nerve control over heart. Imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system leads to vasospasm and has been associated with high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction. Regular practice meditation might be a strong path for the healthy destination.

Keywords: meditation, stress, emotional health, cardiac health.