We all live extremely stressful existences, trying to balance work, play, family and friends. We burn the candle at both ends and rely on limited periods of down time to recover.  And sometimes our idea of relaxing is not actually healthy for us. We have a cocktail or a smoke to “wind down” after a busy week. We lose sleep all week and then try to “catch up” on the weekends. We party hard to counter hard work. We eat comfort food.

Given these especially tough times, it’s no surprise that we’re all working harder than ever to maintain our livelihoods. Multi-tasking, stacked plans, road rage, mean bosses, rebellious children; we deal with a lot in our day-to-day lives and take on a lot in order to just get by.

Perhaps the East knows best when it comes to coping with crazy lives. One excellent way to counter your busy schedule and stressed state of mind is with meditation. Meditation is spreading like wildfire in the West and with good reason. Meditation is now proven to improve your health- both inside and out- relieve your stress, and help with your overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Medical research has shown that meditation literally reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate. It also enhances the immune system by increasing number of white blood cells levels your blood pressure and slows your heart. Particularly for women, meditation can help relieve PMS symptoms, help to resolve the deepest of neuroses, fears and conflict which play their part in causing stress and ill health...