For the modern over-stressed mind to find peace and silence, rest and relaxation is becoming increasingly difficult. The oldest of relaxation techniques is meditation. Growing interest and research in the mind-body connection has made it possible for this ancient practice to become part of the mainstream today. Several techniques are now being taught in hospitals and businesses in the West.

The effects of meditation involve various psycho-physiological mechanisms. The physiological mechanism include reduced blood pressure, brain wave resonance and coherence, and a shift in the balance between the activating and quieting components of the automatic nervous system, and slow effects of aging.

The psychological mechanism include relaxation, effective handling of the stressful stimuli, habituation, deautomatization, freeing from the conditioning, and a variety of other cognitive factors. Research also shows a wide range of stress-related disorders effectively treated with the help of meditation. Meditation as a therapeutic technique is being widely applied today.

As meditation improves health and makes it possible to relax and live a happy life, its effect begins to show at various levels. Generally, the individual begins to feel self-respect and more confidence in dealing with issues. Emotionally, the person becomes more stable, more balanced, more centered. The psychosomatic symptoms become fewer and feels plentiful energy.

The effects of meditation are also visible in work-related areas. The person is able to take decisions with greater clarity and takes more and more responsibility for the decisions taken naturally and energetically. As the perspective becomes broader, relating with co-workers becomes easier and harmonious. As one becomes more relaxed, work becomes enjoyable with less seriousness and greater creative force. The individual uses optimum potential and contributes with manifold ability.

On a personal level, meditation brings about a significant change. The individual gains qualities of friendliness, respecting other’s space, and more trusting. The person relates with family more honestly, lovingly, and with a supportive and relaxed attitude bring happiness to people in the family. Living a simpler, clean, and comfortable lifestyle, one lives at ease under any given circumstances.

The humanity as whole has now reached to a point where we no longer have time to wait for someone to take care of our problems. Only a collective consciousness steeped in meditation can find solutions to poverty, disease, greed, and violence. Increasing consumerism and a blind race for material possession leaves a person totally unaware of how to keep the body and the mind healthy. We certainly have hi-tech but not higher consciousness.

There are no magic ways to staying healthy and happy. Unaccustomed to use meditation as a scientific methodology, we remain for ever in the state of pain and discomfort, stress and tension. Those who have gone deep into researching effects of meditation have come to the conclusion that, "Meditation is a way to cultivate sanity and well-being and wisdom in one’s life that you can’t get from watching television or taking a pill". And other exponents say, "Meditation is the door to open your capacity for joy, love, intimacy, creativity, and compassion".

The human society today is overloaded on the side of technologies of matter, but light on the technologies consciousness and inner peace. Our outer science and technology must be balanced by an inner science of meditation with its technology of staying physically healthy and mentally sane.