The
American justice Dept. have recently approved the power
of yoga and meditation vide a recent judgement in the
American court."Man Who Slapped Wife Sentenced
to Yoga, It's Anger Management, Says Judge." First
there was house arrest. Now there's yoga. A judge ordered
a man convicted of slapping his wife to take a yoga
class as part of his one-year probation. "It's
part of anger management," County Criminal Court
at Law Judge Larry Standley said of the ancient Hindu
philosophy of exercise and well-being. "For people
who are into it, it really calms them down. " Standley,
a former prosecutor, said the case of James Lee Cross
was unique. Cross, a 53-year-old car salesman from Tomball,
explained that his wife was struggling with a substance
abuse problem and that he struck her on New Year's Eve
during an argument about her drinking. "He was
trying to get a hold of her because she has a problem,"
Standley said after the court hearing. "I thought
this would help him realize that he only has control
over himself." The sentence came as a surprise
to Cross, who was told to enroll in a class and report
back to Standley on his progress. "I'm not very
familiar with it," Cross said of yoga. "From
what I understand, it may help in a couple ways, not
only as far as mentally settling, but maybe a little
weight loss." Darla Magee, an instructor at Yoga
Body Houston in River Oaks, said she would recommend
that Cross take a basic yoga class emphasizing breathing
and including a variety of postures -- forward bends,
back bends and twists. "Yoga can help us to get
rid of many emotional issues we might have," she
said. "It's a spiritual cleanse." Prosecutor
Lincoln Goodwin agreed to a sentence of probation without
jail time because Cross had no significant criminal
history
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2365341.
Yoga which is one of the greatest Indian co tribution
to the world has got vast potential in all fields. In
Tihar jail India Yoga is experimented among the inamtes
and found successful. Their criminal mentality is changed.
This study aimed at investigating the effect of Vipassana
Meditation (VM) on Quality of Life (QOL), Subjective
Well-Being (SWB), and Criminal Propensity (CP) among
inmates of Tihar Jail, Delhi. To this effect the following
hypotheses were formulated. 1. There will be a significant
positive effect of VM on the QOL of inmates of Tihar
jail. 2. VM will have a positive and significant effect
on SWB of inmates. 3. Criminal propensity (CP) of inmates
will decrease significantly after attending the VM course.
4. There will be significant difference in SWB and CP
of experimental (Vipassana) group and control (non-Vipassana)
group. 5. Male and female inmates will differ significantly
in SWB and CP, as a result of VM. In the famous "Time"
magazine the importance meditation and yoga, an ancient
Indian system, is high-lighted that the ancient mind-
and spirit-enhancing art is becoming increasingly popular
and gaining medical legitimacy. It is a multi billion
dollar business in US. In many Universities it is accepted
as subject and included in the Syllabus. In the latest
famous book "Inspire! What Great Leaders Do"
written by Mr.Lance Secretan recently published by John
Wiley and sons, the benefit of meditation is elaborately
described for good corporate governance. By practising
transcendental meditation, or TM, many people have got
relief from back pain, neck pain, depression. The mind
calms and quiets, . What thoughts you have during meditation
become clearer, more focused. Anger, anxiety and worries
give way to a peace. In the world exhorbitant medical
expeneses one can definitely make use of meditation.
Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and Sri Ravi Sankar are poplarising
this. The Iyengar Yoga institute in US is famous.
In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna has inspired Arjuna to
rise from his depression by preaching Gita in the battlefield
and to rise from the depression to do his duties. In
Holy Gita we can see, being hidden by the cosmic overview
of any institution beset with myriad problems, not the
least of which is its lack of moral probity, there is
a groundswell of educated people seeking answers to
deeply personal but universally asked questions. Chie
Executives taking lessons from yoga, meditation and
learning how to deal with human resources equations
in an enlightened manner. Individuals from every walk
of life can get ideas of how to be better human beings,
more balanced and less stressed out.
Medical studies continue to show regular meditation
working magic in reducing blood pressure and stress-related
illnesses, including heart disease. Brain images show
that regular meditation helps calm the most active sensory-assaulted
parts of the brain. The ancient Hindu sage Patanjali
who had mastered the secrets of the human mind has written
a book "Yogasutra".In this book we can see
how super powers can be achieved by meditation. It has
both cosmic relevance and cosmic resonance. In spite
of its universal appeal, for most people total control
of mind remains an elusive goal and daunting task. From
time immemorial, there have been many attempts throughout
the world to unlock the mysteries of the mind and to
achieve total control over it through a variety of techniques.
One of the most powerful of these techniques is meditation.
Many spiritual leaders, sages, saints, and holy people
such asSri. Buddha, Sri Ramakrishna, Madam Sarada Devi,
and Swami Vivekananda have practised this. One of the
ways to control physiological reactions to psychological
stimuli is meditation, Yoga, Zen Buddhism etc. The scientists
take Transcendental Meditation (TM) as the uniform technique,
and base their observations on the study of the subjects
engaged in this form of meditation. In summing up the
results the scientists have come to conclusion that
the effect of meditation is a "wakeful, hypo-metabolic
state". They have found that: 1) Yogis could slow
both heart rate and rate of respiration, 2) Yogis could
slow the rate of metabolism as confirmed by decreased
oxygen consumption and carbon-di-oxide output. 3) Electro-Encephalo-Gram
(EEG - recording of brain activity) in Yogis showed
changes of calmness in the form of "alpha rhythm"
during both eyes closed and eyes open recordings. 4)
Th ir skin resistance to electric stimulation was increased
(indicating increased tolerance to external stimuli).
Our usual 'defence-alarm' reaction to emotional and
physical stress is in the form of "fright, flight,
and fight" mediated through over-secretion of certain
neuro-transmitters and neuro-modulators, namely adrenaline
and dopamine by way of stimulation of sympathetic nervous
system. Under the influence of these chemicals and hormones,
we reflexively become panicky or aggressive, our blood
pressure rises. Thus stress and anxiety is the end result
if we allow our natural age-old sympathetic reactions
to act and to come to surface. We try to run away, become
fearful, or fight the situation. But today these 'defence-alarm'
reactions have no place in our lives. Rather, they should
be replaced by more calm and serene reactions of equanimity
and fearlessness. The need is to just 'face the brute,
and it will go away'. Such desirable reactions of non-aggression
and peaceful attitude are generated by Y ga and meditation.
EEG Studies on Yogis and The Zen Meditations: Yogis
practising Raja-Yoga claim that during the state of
samadhi they are oblivious to the internal and external
stimuli, and they enjoy a calm ecstasy during that state.
A study was undertaken to record the electrical activity
of their brain during this state by means of a regular
and useful test known as electroencephalography EEG.
Physiological and experimental studies have demonstrated
that the basis of conscious state of brain, among other
things, is due to activation of "reticular system"
in the brain-stem in response to internal and external
stimuli. These stimuli bring about various changes during
sleeping and wakeful states of the organism and these
can be studied by EEG. The study was carried out on
four subjects during the state of concentration and
meditation. Effects of external stimuli, like a loud
gong, strong light, thermal simulation, and vibrations
were studied. The results were compiled and analyzed.
It was observed that two Yogis could keep their hands
immersed in extremely cold water for about 50 minutes
(raised pain threshold). During state of meditation,
all of them showed persistent "alpha activity"
in their EEG with increased amplitude wave pattern,
both during 'eyes closed' and 'eyes open' recording.
It was observed that these alpha activities could not
be blocked by various sensory stimuli during meditation.
It was also observed that those, who had well-marked
"alpha activity" in their resting EEG showed
greater aptitude and zeal for maintaining the practice
of Yoga. Similar observations and results were obtained
when EEGs were recorded in persons adept in Zen Meditative
technique. Can we say that only those persons who exhibit
such recording of "alpha wave rhythm" in their
EEG are fit for Yoga? and be designated as right candidates
for meditation and Yoga practices? (Such experiments
are indeed very few and the number of yogis examined
is also very small. Therefore, scientifically and statistic
lly these observations have only a tentative importance.
Further research is definitely called for, albeit it
will have its own limitations.) It is said that in the
unknown period of Lord Jesus Christ , He was under meditation.
Ref. Yoga magazines ;Newsweek.com; Newyork times ;Time
magazine
