Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Kavitha M. Chinnaiyan, MD, author of the Heart of Wellness.
As a long-term meditator, I constantly recommend the practice to anyone who'll listen. Meditation has undisputedly changed my life, by clearing the lens of my perception and creating a sense of deep, unshakeable peace, even during times of unrest. As any meditator knows, an effective practice necessarily leads to periods of tumultuousness, including pain, confusion, and darkness. I call this the "washing-machine" effect, otherwise known as purification.
Meditation works on our bodies and minds in innumerable ways; its objective effects occur via the autonomic nervous system