In this Digital Age, most of us commute by car or public transportation, remain stationary at our office desks throughout the day, opt for online shopping, and reduce social interactions to social media following. This sedentary lifestyle has negative impact on our wellbeing, especially on the physical aspect of our health. Acute and chronic back pain is on the rise among all age groups, as a result of lack of exercise and improper body posture assumed while sitting for prolonged periods of time.
It is therefore encouraging to know that meditation has helped many people overcome the problem of back pain, though a combination of mindful awareness, relaxed breathing, proper posture and right intention.
Narayan from Bangalore, an attendee of the Dhyana Sadhana Saptaham program, followed a spiritual impulse to learn about meditation. He describes his enrollment into the program at Pyramid Valley as a beginning of his spiritual journey. Narayan remained totally open to the experience, as he was gradually learning the fundamentals of the anapanasati meditation and overcoming beginner’s challenges. As days went by, he attuned to the practice and it became easy for him to meditate, anywhere, anytime. But the greatest surprise for him came in a form of a physical benefit. ‘I used to suffer from spondylitis (back pain),’ he says. ‘But from the second day in the program, I no longer felt any pain in any part of my body.’
To Srishail from Bangalore, the first positive experience during the Dhyana Sadhana Saptaham program was his realization that, in spite of sitting for ten hours in meditation every day, he did not feel any back pain. In comparison, his office chair had been causing him back pain almost regularly, a pain so acute that he had to depend on pills in order to sleep.
A tremendously inspiring testimonial comes from Chandra Prakash from Bangalore, whose enrollment in the seven-day meditation retreat at Pyramid Valley was motivated by a wish to become a regular meditator. Like many others, he too experienced a number of health benefits ranging from feeling energized to improved concentration and better quality of sleep. But the greatest transformative experience, which he considers to be no less than a miracle, happened to him during Guru Purnima. Chandra had become aware of a severe back pain from the first day of the program. Therefore, on Guru Purnima, he made a mental conviction to cure himself of back pain through meditation. That night, he sat in meditation from 9:00 in the evening till 6:30 in the morning. When he finally opened his eyes, he found out that his intention has materialized and his back pain was completely gone.
Holistic health is a multifaceted state of being which consists of physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial wellbeing. To remain healthy, one needs to maintain these aspects in balance. When people become aware of an issue in one or more areas of their life, they often turn to meditation in pursuit of a remedy. Meditation not only provides the sought-after cures, but it also offers a trove of countless positive side-effects on our body, mind and the soul.