Finding Peace With Heartfulness Meditation

We lead hectic lives, overloading our brain with information all the time. And most of the time we are surrounded by people, making it impossible for us to sit and chant mantras.

There are still ways to fit meditation into your busy schedule; to harness your thoughts and find those blissful moments of stillness. Heartfulness meditation is a simple form of meditation that you can practice even while you commute to work. “In this meditation, we give a supposition that there is a divine light in our heart. It works like a process of transmission wherein the divine energy from the source is transmitted into the aspirant’s heart,’’ says Dr Haresh Mehta, a visiting cardiologist at Hinduja Healthcare Surgical and Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai.

One has to keep his eyes closed while doing this meditation. People say once they close their eyes, their mind is flooded with thoughts, says Mehta. “We teach them how to deal with their thoughts. We tell them not to push their thoughts away. When you are travelling in a train, the scenery comes and goes. Similarly, one should allow his thoughts go away. Don’t try to follow them,’’ he says.

An important element of this meditation is cleaning, says Dr Veronique Nicolai, a French paediatrician based in Chennai, who has dedicated her life to teaching heartfulness meditation. “As a practising doctor, I used to have very difficult days. The cleaning would help heal my mind tremendously. It helps you remove all the unpleasant or disturbing experiences you have had during the day, and get back to life with a fresh mind,’’ says Nicolai who recommends it highly for students.

An hour of heartfulness meditation a day can work wonders on your body and mind. “As a beginner, one may be able to do it for five to ten minutes only. That is good enough. You can slowly build it up,’ says Mehta who has been practising it since 2007.

Heartfulness meditation has numerous health benefits. A brain mapping study conducted by a group of researchers at the Harvard University found that even with the first session of heartfulness meditation, one could enter a deep state of sleep that people normally don’t get even after three to four hours of sleep.

Dr Balabhai Nanavati hospital in Mumbai is currently doing an EEG based study on heartfulness meditators versus non-meditators. “Several studies indicate that meditators are found to have lower heart rates and blood pressure levels than non meditators. They have reduced instances of hospitalisation and they need lesser number of medicines,’’ says Mehta.

Heartfulness meditation has nothing to do with any religious belief. However, it is gaining popularity across the globe. Over 1 million people from across 100 countries practice this meditation. Heartfulness meditation workshops are conducted in a number of places across India. You can even learn the meditation at the comfort of your home.