Meditation Articles Series

I read that 3.5 million people in the UK are given 13 million prescriptions a year for anti-depressants. In the US over 8 million people are using anti-depressants. In Australia depression is now the fourth most common reason for a visit to the doctor.

Since the 1990’s there has been an enormous increase in these drugs throughout the world. It is an indication that people are not only unhappy, but their lives are out of balance, and often out of control. Of course there is a place for medication for people with serious mental disorders.

Meditation – The New Anti-Depressant

These drugs do alter people’s moods. They feel happier, better about themselves, and their lives. However, meditation does exactly the same. Research shows that meditation changes the chemistry in our bodies enhancing a greater sense of well-being. Consider too, that when you do encounter difficulties in your life, meditation helps you cope a lot better with whatever challenges confront you.

People will so often say that they don’t have time to meditate. It’s easier and quicker to pop a pill and still keep up a frenetic lifestyle. This may be a short-term solution, but long-term adverse side effects may outweigh the “quick fix”. If you’re aware that your fast paced life is keeping you on the treadmill of underlying dissatisfaction and stress, you may begin to step back and question your state of doing rather than your state of being. In this case meditation could become part of a change that brings greater contentment, peace, and joy back to living.