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Connect. Integrate. Become One.

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International Day of Yoga 21 June

Alpharetta, Georgia, US, 2017-Jun-13 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — The Heartfulness Institute will mark the International Day of Yoga on 21 June with public events in various locations globally (www.heartfulness.org). The events will be held at the Institute’s meditation and retreat centres and also at other community venues in partnership with civil society and yoga organizations and Indian diplomatic missions.

Every year on 21 June the United Nations invites the global community to celebrate the life-enhancing practices of Yoga. In establishing the International Day of Yoga, the United Nations underscored the need for building better lifestyles, recognizing that Yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being. The UN also called for the wider dissemination of information about the benefits of practising Yoga.

On the International Day of Yoga, the Heartfulness community, led by its youth, will bring together hundreds of thousands of people with the theme ‘Connect. Integrate. Become One’, in Chennai, Singapore, Hyderabad, Paris, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and in other major metropolitan centres, as well as in many smaller cities, towns and rural areas globally. The core practices of Heartfulness are self-development tools for a modern lifestyle and for people from all walks of life. They include relaxation, heart-based meditation, cleaning and inner connection. There is no dogma or prerequisite of any kind, and no financial requirement; only the willingness and interest to try the simple, effective Heartfulness practices.

Since the beginning of 2017, the Heartfulness Institute has been offering free masterclasses in meditation, led by its global guide, Kamlesh Patel, also known as Daaji. More than one million people around the world, including educational, business and professional groups, have experienced the free masterclasses that are available at http://en.heartfulness.org/masterclass/.

Heartfulness is an approach to the Raja Yoga system of meditation called Sahaj Marg, founded at the turn of the 20th century and formalized into an organization in 1945. More than seventy years later, ongoing Heartfulness meditation training can be found at 2,500 schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in over 3,000 corporations, non-governmental and government organizations.

Heartfulness Centres, known as HeartSpots, exist in 130 countries, supported by thousands of certified volunteer trainers. There are over 5,000 HeartSpots and over 300 retreat centres around the world where thousands of people gather to meditate (http://www.heartfulness.org/).

About Kamlesh D. Patel
Known to many as Daaji, Kamlesh D. Patel is the fourth guide in the Heartfulness tradition of meditation. He is a prolific speaker and writer, and you can read his latest writings at http://www.daaji.org/.

About Heartfulness Institute
Heartfulness Institute is a non-profit organization that promotes well-being and self-development through meditation, research and training. The Institute offers programs for individuals, local communities, corporates, government departments and the armed services, schools and colleges, rural communities and civil society groups worldwide, supported by certified trainers who are volunteers and who offer their time and expertise in this social cause.

For more information 
Email: info@heartfulness.org
Toll free numbers:India: 1-800-103-7726USA: 1-844-879-4327
Social Media: Heartfulness Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | YouTube | LinkedIN | Instagram

Websites: www.heartfulness.org, www.daaji.org
Durga Nagarajan, 180 Westchester Way, Alpharetta,Georgia 30005

Via EPR Network
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Brain Imaging Shows Analgesic Effect Of Meditation

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Research published in the Journal of Neuroscience indicates that meditation has more potent pain-relieving effects on the brain than morphine or other pain-relieving drugs that reduce pain by 25 per cent. This study is the first to show dramatic reduction in both the brain activation related to pain, and the experience of pain itself.

“We found a big effect – about a 40 per cent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 per cent reduction in pain unpleasantness,” said lead author of the study, Fadel Zeidan, Ph D and post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest Medical Centre.

During the study, 15 healthy volunteers without prior experience of meditation attended four 20-minute classes on a type of meditation technique called focused attention. In this type of mindfulness, practitioners attend to their breath and release distracting emotions and thoughts.

Utilising arterial spin labelling magnetic resonance imaging (ASL MRI), the researchers examined participants’ brain activity. ASL MRI captures longer interval brain processes, including meditation, than a regular brain function MRI scan. Scans done before and after meditation training showed activity in the primary somatosensory cortex of the brain significantly dropping from very high to undetectable; this area creates the sensation of intensity and location of a painful stimulus.

The participants had pain induced in their right legs with a device that heated a tiny patch of their skin over 5 minutes to 120° F, a temperature painful to most people. Scans done on participants after meditation instruction showed decreased pain ratings in every participant, with a reduction range of 11 per cent to 93 per cent.

Interestingly, meditation caused increase in activity in the anterior insula, orbito-frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex areas of the brain. Robert Coghill PhD, associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest Baptist and senior author of the study said, “These areas all shape how the brain builds an experience of pain from nerve signals that are coming in from the body.”

He explained that increased activation of these areas by meditation corresponded to improved pain reduction. “One of the reasons that meditation may have been so effective in blocking pain was that it did not work at just one place in the brain, but instead reduced pain at multiple levels of processing.”

Speaking about the huge potential of meditation for use in clinical settings, Zeidan and his associates highlighted the briefness of the training needed to cause a dramatic pain-relieving effect. “This study shows that meditation produces real effects in the brain and can provide an effective way for people to substantially reduce their pain without medications,” said Zeidan.

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Women’s Level One Weekend Mindfulness Retreat, Rome, GA: June 17-19, 2011

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“It’s almost normal today to feel as if you have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). We’re all suffering from stimulation overload and sensory exhaustion” says Pamela Barge, MS, LPC, NCC, Director of Personal Coaching & Psychotherapy Associates, LLC dba Personal Coaching & Psychotherapy for Women. This is what led Pam to put together her special weekend mindfulness retreats which she offers to professional colleagues as sanctioned continuing education programs as well as to the general public.

“These special weekends are offered as a special time away…a time to check out from the world and into ourselves for a time”. With sunrise and candlelight yoga, tai chi, delicious plant based meals, mindful consideration of what the Buddhists call ‘Noble Silence’, opportunities to practice sitting and walking meditation as well as stimulating group discussions with like-minded folks, this may be just the ticket to slow things down and to become more connected with yourself and with life.

Pamela Barge, LPC, has a background as a marketing executive and independent entrepreneur. This business background together with her training as a therapist and her own practice of mindful meditation gives her therapy and coaching practice its unique flavor. The theoretical foundation of her work is founded upon the tenets of mindfulness and the evidence-based works of such folks as Jon Kabat Zinn, PhD, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts, Thich Nhat Hanh, world renowned and revered Buddhist monk who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Sharon Salzberg of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.

Each retreat is limited to fifteen attendees. For more information, to see an individual retreat schedule as well as her 2011 Retreat Calendar or to make a reservation, visit her website at www.womenscoaching.biz or phone Pam at 678-230-8127.

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