Meditation and positive thinking

Whether you choose traditional prayer, meditation or communing with nature, a spiritual practice can have a positive effect on your health and happiness. Holly Davis reports.

The power of the mind has long been a wonder to us: how is it that life may seem unbearably gloomy one day and the next, when it appears nothing has changed, we feel optimistic and bright? Thinking is ubiquitous and seemingly uncontrollable, but there are those that believe our thoughts can be used to benefit ourselves and others. Prayer and meditation are two potent examples of this.

The power of prayer

Although Australia is considered a secular country, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 74 per cent of us believe in a ‘higher power’. For many people, a spiritual practice is a lifelong journey; for others, it’s the suffering of a loved one or an impending loss that compels them to commune with the Great Spirit, our higher self or God.

After recovering from a dire prognosis, many people attribute their restored health to a newfound or deepening relationship with their ‘God’. We look to the divine in times of distress, seeking help from sources other than machines and cold clinical diagnoses. At times like this, the spirit becomes more important to us, and prayer is an ally for the person in crisis and those closest to them. 

But does prayer work? In 1988 a study was conducted to see whether praying for someone else was effective. The subjects – 393 consenting adults with mixed beliefs – were patients of San Francisco General Hospital’s coronary care unit. Although they had all been informed of the study and agreed to take part, only half the subjects were anonymously prayed for every day of the trial. There were no major differences in their symptoms at the beginning of the trial, but when the study was complete the people who were prayed for had done significantly better in these areas: they needed less ventilation assistance and fewer antibiotics; had fewer cardiopulmonary arrests, fewer episodes of congestive heart failure and pneumonia; and required fewer diuretics. The findings, which were published in the Southern Medical Journal, created a lot of interest and people began discussing the role of prayer and the responsibility of the practitioner.

Since then, another larger study showed prayer did not make a difference to the health of its subjects. However, participants of the second study knew that people were praying for them and some researchers feel there may have been an expectation that prayer would make a difference, which confounded the result. The jury is still out, but my opinion is prayer is an almighty tool and can do no harm.

Seeking solace

I recently heard that when we’re praying we’re asking God for assistance, and when we meditate we’re listening for God’s reply. When and if we do pray or sit in contemplation, what do we say? Do we give thanks and express our gratitude for our lot? Do we ask for a specific outcome for another or ourselves? Do we ask for guidance in the next part of our journey?

I’ve turned to prayer at times when I’ve felt completely helpless and at a loss for what to do next. Extreme fear, grief and even anger have led me to seek guidance from an unknown force. I’m fairly certain there’s not a human being alive that hasn’t sought out a god in times of great need. Once entered into, a spiritual practice can be an ongoing support.

Often our lives may not go exactly as we’d like. Is it possible that, however our lives proceed, everything happens for the best and it is not for us to know why at the time or perhaps ever? Perhaps an enquiry as to God’s will for us and our fellow man may yield a different experience of life and have a positive effect on our thinking.

Think good thoughts

The provocative film What the Bleep Do We Know!? presents a range of challenging views that suggest our ability to think holds more power than most of us have ever considered. It features photographs from Dr Masaru Emoto’s study to show the effect of our thoughts on water crystals. Dr Emoto set out to prove that human thoughts directed at water before it is frozen can result in incredible changes in its crystalline structure. He found that water exposed to loving words and thoughts photographed as brilliant, complex and colourful snowflake patterns, while water exposed to negative thoughts produced ice crystals with asymmetric patterns and muddy colourations.

As 75 per cent of our planet is covered in water and our bodies comprise 60 per cent water, the implications of Dr Emoto’s research creates a new awareness of how we may be able to have a positive impact on our environment, each other and our overall wellbeing.

How do we direct our thoughts and create a buoyant view of the world, each other and ourselves? In short, find a way to commune with the Divine. Paying attention to the things in our lives we’re grateful for is a good place to begin. All cultures have rituals for acknowledging the power of the Divine, for seeking guidance and finding solace. The humble act of offering a prayer is the most recognisable pathway for this. Yoga and meditation, contemplation, journaling, chanting, singing, or anything else done mindfully, may connect us to a higher realm and may also be considered acts of prayer. While debate rages about the efficacy and relevance of prayer as a healing tool, the humble act of sitting quietly as a ritual practice, to still the mind, to hear the voice of God (or whatever name this mystical, magical force is called by you), is done by many thousands of people all over the globe.

Spiritual needs

In the past six years, at least 10 studies have been done on the effect of prayer. Dr Harold Koenig, a leading researcher in the field of spirituality and health, has said, “We can’t measure God, but we can measure where he has been.”

This spiritual need is becoming the focus for academics. There are currently more than 2,000 papers in academic literature discussing the role that prayer plays in healing. Airdre Grant is a doctoral student at Southern Cross University who is researching the role spirituality and religiosity play in our health. She reports that several studies on the power of prayer have shown mixed results. She says: “Findings show that people who have a spiritual or religious connection or practice have better health outcomes – they smoke less, have more stable relationships and are less prone to depression.”

It helps to have some kind of spiritual or religious observance in your life, but spirituality and religiosity are not the same. In her article ‘Spirituality and Health’ (The Journal of Complementary Medicine September/October 2005), Airdre notes that a religious practice may encompass spirituality but a spiritual practice is not necessarily religious. She describes religion as an “organised system of beliefs, practices, rituals and symbols designed to facilitate closeness with the sacred and provide the average person with moral and social guidelines for behaviour”. The definition of spirituality is highly individual, but it is generally agreed to involve a quest for the sacred in life and beyond, a seeking of answers to life’s most meaningful and vital questions. What is evident is we need something that lifts our spirits (other than alcohol and drugs!), gives us hope and reason, and adds depth to our lives.

“See God in each other” – Swami Muktananda

So what’s the most appropriate spot for prayer or meditation? I think wherever you are when the mood takes you is just fine. There are ‘quiet rooms’ set aside for this purpose all over the place: airports provide a space for prayer and contemplation, and there are chapels in schools, churches and hospitals.

Happily, there are no hard-and-fast rules for praying or meditating, and any meditative act may provide us with some peace in which to ‘listen’. My favourite ‘church’ is anywhere under an open sky.

Wherever we may find them, warmth and light are essential to our existence and, as much as we need to create space and time for ourselves, we also have to live together, preferably in harmony. We have the great fortune to live in a time when we can access knowledge and information about cultures all over the planet, and in Australia we’re free to choose just about any of these that we’re moved by. I have found inspiration and an expansion of my love for my own life and other people’s lives in the teachings of Swami Muktananda and the practices of Siddha yoga.

There are endless opportunities to reach a state of divine union and appreciate life. For one person it may be the power and passion invoked by listening to a piece of music such as Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ or Beethoven’s ‘Fifth Symphony’; for another it may be touching the patina of antique furniture or biting into a perfectly ripe piece of fruit. Whatever it is for you, the moments of connection are there for all of us, and for this I thank God. 

 

Words: Holly Davis. Photography: Steven Chee. Styling: Nadene Duncan. Hair & make-up: Kimberly Forbes.