Make meditation your daily mantra

Meditation helps reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke, according to a new study.

Researchers found that Transcendental Meditation, made popular by the Beatles during the flower power era of the 1960s, could cut heart attack rates by half.

This type of meditation, which involves making a sound repeatedly, lowers death rates from heart attack and strokes.

In the new study, researchers found that people with heart disease who practised transcendental meditation for 20 minutes twice a day were 48 per cent less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from all causes compared with those who attended a health education class over more than five years. Those practicing meditation also lowered their blood pressure and reported less stress and anger.

If you don't fancy Transcendental Meditation there are other ways to reduce stress and improve sleep levels and relaxation. I regularly listen to the Experience Yoga Nidra CD guided by Swami Janakanda.

Yoga Nidra means yogic sleep, a state of conscious deep sleep for extreme relaxation. The first track is only 15 minutes long so its perfect for just before bedtime. More often than not I wake up half way between track two as I've drifted off to sleep within minutes.

During the track you are guided through various scenes and visualisations which are perfect for those people who struggle to just sit and meditate. If you've got a busy mind like me, that wants to drift off to worrying about the washing needing doing, or the dogs needing walking, this is the meditation track for you.

According to the makers of Experience Yoga Nidra, the more familar you become with the tracks, the easier it is to glide into the relaxed state. And as you come to know harmony, you are soon able to instantly recall it - even in the middle of daily activities.

Here's a link to the CD http://www.yogameditation.com/Products/Yoga-Nidra