Advocates say meditation eases physical, mental pain, helps focus

Meditation practitioners see benefits in health and spirituality.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Meditation, the ancient mind-and spirit-enhancing art is becoming hugely popular and gaining medical legitimacy.
That hardly surprises former Kansas City Royals shortstop Buddy Biancalana. Ten years ago, when he started transcendental meditation, or TM, his major-league playing days were ending. He had excruciating back and neck pain and depression.
"I was at a point where I needed something to feel better," said Biancalana, who now coaches a minor-league team.
Biancalana went to the Raj Health Center in Fairfield, Iowa, where the followers of meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began Maharishi University.
There, everything changed. Transcendental meditation can feel spiritual at times. But it isn't about religion, he said. It's about letting go.
He discovered that "when one is meditating regularly, there is just very, very little fear in life."
What happens
The mind calms and quiets, he said. What thoughts you have during meditation become clearer, more focused. Anger, anxiety and worries give way to a peace that -- as the name implies -- transcends thought.
"It simplifies things. There's less anger. Better relationships," Biancalana said.
Because meditation centers you, he said, and helps you focus more intensely and intently on the moment rather than outside distractions, "it has made me very, very driven in the areas that I want to be driven in," he said. "I no longer waste time in life."
Meditation is booming in America, with about 10 million die-hard practitioners, double the number from a decade ago.
Medical studies continue to show regular meditation reduces blood pressure and stress-related illnesses, including heart disease.
Some who meditate
However, should anyone ask Clare Roberts' group of five friends who regularly meditate after work in any one of their homes, they'll tell you that few stories go far enough in espousing the marvels of meditation.
Patricia Pelot, 75, a retired nurse, has meditated for 28 years, as has Elaine Pomfrey, an Internet consultant. Dan Koehn, a contractor, and his wife, Nancy, have meditated for 30 years.
Roberts, who does public relations for Blue River Community College, has meditated for 31 years. Rick Sprinkle, who's in construction, for 30 years.
In the mornings, they meditate alone, 45 minutes or less. In the evening, they sometimes meditate together. The force of group meditation, they say, is intense.
They sit in chairs in utter silence. Shoes off. Ankles crossed. Eyes closed. Backs straight. All face the same way, like frozen figures on a bus, each concentrating on their breathing and on their own special individualized mantras -- a word or sound they repeat silently in their minds to help release thought.
Meditating together, they say, borders on the spiritual. Just as praying in a group of hundreds seems more powerful, so does meditating together. Peace and tranquility are multiplied the more people meditate together.
"It's the power of silence, like in churches," Pomfrey said. "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
How it helps
Pelot said meditation has helped her control migraine headaches and a premature atrial contraction that made her heart feel as if it was skipping a beat "absolutely disappeared."
Still others said it brought them even closer to their religions, made their prayers that much deeper and more profound.
"It is much more than just sitting," Roberts said. "Thoughts may come up, but you're not focusing or concentrating. Your goal really would be not to think rather than to think. You're actually learning to release thought, a kind of letting-go of thought."
All of which, Sprinkle said, leads to a kind of inner harmony, peace and joy, not unlike the carefree and thoughtless joy a child may feel swinging on a swing on a summer day. Or an adult may feel, just for a moment, staring contentedly at the sun rising or setting over the ocean.
"The mind becomes completely enlightened," Sprinkle said. "It settles down and arrives in a field of calm."