Before the pharma trolls accuse me of giving bad medical advice(medicate) let me just state it is never safe to just stop taking a drug cold turkey. This is in no way shape or form to be considered medical advice. This writer’s opinions are her own. I’m simply just sharing information. What you do with the information is entirely up to you.

If you grew up in the midwest like I did, in a predominantly conservative area where Christianity is the dominant religion, you may have thought those who meditate in the lotus position while chanting “OM” were crazy or possessed. Religious superstitions and suppressed information has been going on for eons. Humanity is way overdue for a gnostic upgrade.

The truth will set you free is the biggest understatement of the century. We make things way more difficult and problematic than they need to be simply due to lack of knowledge. We’re so busy and caught up in the rat race we have little time for ourselves. We chug the coffee for a pick me up.

Feeling anxious? There’s a pill for that. Stressed about your finances? There’s a pill for that. Work got ya down? Meet your friends at the bar to drown your cares away. Drink too much and fall on the sidewalk twisting your ankle? There’s a hell of a pill (opoid) for that. Feeling depressed? There’s a pill for that too.

I get a pill. You get a pill. Everybody gets a pill! 70% of Americans are on at least one pharmaceutical drug. We also consume more anti-psychotic medication than any other country on the planet.

I could’ve never weened myself off anti-depressants had I not found meditation and really discovered the power of it.  It’s not just a cultural or religious practice it has profound scientific effects on our physical, mental, and spiritual bodies.  Change one letter in medicate and you get MEDITATE!

Recent studies from Harvard University found that long-term meditators have increased amounts of gray matter in the insula and sensory regions, and the auditory and sensory cortex.

Wait…what?                                                                                                                                     

Basically, Harvard has confirmed what yogis been teaching for thousands of years:

• meditation reduces stress,
• fosters clear thinking and
• increases our capacity for empathy and compassion.

Meditation is quite simply mental hygiene: clear out the junk, tune your talents, and get in touch with yourself. Think about it, you shower every day and clean your body, but have you ever showered your mind? Meditation can bring about a true personal transformation from the inside out. Brain-imaging studies show that meditation sharpens attention and memory.

When meditating, beta waves, which indicate a state where information is being processed, decrease, and are replaced by alpha waves, which are associated with total brain coherence. The frontal and parietal lobes, which deal with reasoning, planning, and processing sensory information, slow down. And without a glut incoming stimuli, the nervous system is able to rest, resulting in relaxation and improved functioning in the entire body.

Why Everyone Should Meditate NOT Medicate

“The quality of our life depends on the quality of our mind.”

-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

On a physical level, meditation:

• • Lowers high blood pressure
  • the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks
  • Decreases tension-related pain, such as, tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle and joint problems

• Increases serotonin production that improves mood and behavior
• Improves the immune system
• Increases the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy

Research from the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital found that yoga and meditation can change our genetic expression.Meditation is also a practice of self-care, that allows for a connection with the inner self. In doing so, self-esteem increases and the ability to make decisions that align with the individual’s authentic feelings and desires, and allow for better self-regulation. While there is no doubt that you will feel the benefits of meditation after just one session, in order to experience an integration of the benefits of meditation into daily life, regular practice is necessary.

We can change the world by doing the inner work, meditation is the key to unlocking full potential, dissolving the ego and awakening the vital life force that flows through everyone of us all at all times.

We are beings made up of love and light the more light we accrete through the inner work, the more we raise the frequency of humanity and mother earth. We are a global collective totally inter connected to each other in ways only a few truly understand, what we put out is what we get back its that simple.

5000 schools together. 1 million ‪‎children‬ meditating for world ‪‎peace‬ at the Phra Shammakaya Temple of ‪‎Thailand‬.

You know what else happened in Thailand?  Police laying down their weapons and joining the protesters who are fed up with their tyrannical government just as we are.  Yet you don’t see American cops joining the protesters here huh?  CLEARLY WE ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG! I do think the paradigm shift has begun as an elementary school in Baltimore is using meditation instead of detention with great results!

If you need help getting started this article is a great source on how to quiet your mind.  The video below is a great source as well. It takes only a few minutes every day, and once made a part of the daily routine, meditation will become the best part of your day!