Meditation and Mind-Body Connection

  Mental illnesses are common in the United States. Nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (51.5 million in 2019). Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate  to  severe.   The mental health of so many teens, especially in college, has been getting worse and worse as the years go on.   In today’s modern world, stress seems to be a normal part of everyday life. But several adverse health effects have been associated with stress, including an increased risk of headaches, muscle pain or tension, fatigue, changes in sex drive, gastrointestinal  symptoms, anxiety, and sleep difficulty. Uncontrollable stress can also increase the risk of chronic health problems, like heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. Meditation helps ease mental health conditions like depression and anxiety—so much so, that some clinicians are trying it as a course of treatment befor...