In an article posted by The Open Press on November 10, 2006, prolific self-help blogger Abbas Abedi asserts that the efficiency of meditation in stress management has already been clearly proven by scientific research. Stress itself has indeed been proven a key factor in many more diseases than previously believed: a 1983 Time Magazine article published June 6, states that “stress is now known to be a major contributor, either directly or indirectly, to coronary heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide—six of the leading causes of death in the United States.” As such, stress may be the number one killer of the era, yet is so ubiquitous that its effects are assumed to be inevitable, while its dangers regularly go unacknowledged.

Meditation has attained prominence among top stress-management methods currently adopted by mainstream North American society. Clinical trials indicate meditation’s continued effectiveness, even when disassociated from its various religious and philosophical traditions. Consequently, there has been a change in popular thinking regarding meditation practices. According to Daniel Goleman, author of the book Destructive Emotions (with foreword by the Dalai Lama): “For 30 years meditation research has told us that it works beautifully as an antidote to stress. What’s exciting is how meditation can train the mind and reshape the brain.”

A number of studies clearly suggest that meditation can reduce, or even reverse the harmful effects of stress, including the cellular breakdown which leads to ageing. What’s more, in a USA Today article, meditation is further lauded as the “fountain of youth.” (December 1, 1992) At present, medical and health professionals have grouped these new meditative waves of stress and relief management techniques under the categories of “hypnosis” and “self-hypnosis” skills. The American Medical Association approved hypnotherapy in 1959; however, it has not yet been fully integrated into North American medical practice for cultural reasons. Still, its scientific validity has been largely accepted.

Since stress is the spontaneous by-product of basic living and working, stress-management skills are an essential asset above and beyond basic stress relief mechanisms. Additionally, people benefit most when these skills and mechanisms are applied continuously. Professor David Spiegel, a Stanford psychiatrist, remarked that “living a stress-free life is not a reasonable goal. The goal is to deal with it actively and effectively.”

Further information on stress relief and management skills can be accessed on numerous websites; they are also taught at by a variety of institutions, offering courses and retreats.

(The original article was available online at
http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=14051 , in November, 2006)