How Sahaja Meditation Promotes Holistic Healing

Over the course of our lives, most of us will need to seek out healing, requiring restoration for either our physical bodies or our minds. The word healing literally means to make whole, and thus healing involves repair to return to a whole state.

Historically, many have turned to meditation for healing and when the mind is quieted, healing through meditation is possible. There are many reasons we may seek healing in our lives, involving physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pains.

Sahaja meditation is a collection of ancient techniques that can pave a modern path to healing and self-improvement.

Meditation reduces stress levels, boosts the immune system and improves overall health, which, in turn, fosters physiological stability and facilitates healing. Through meditation, you’ll harness the healing power of your inner energy to improve your mental and physical resilience. Healing and self-improvement come from the inside out, rather from the outside in.

Many practitioners find that through its state of thoughtless awareness, Sahaja provides deeper healing and self-improvement benefits than other forms of meditation. With persistent, long-term effort, meditation can be a successful approach to holistic healing.
The insights and abilities you acquire through meditation can not only help you build a productive life filled with meaningful relationships, they strengthen your ability to spontaneously engage the healing process in your daily life.

Our physical health is more important than any material possession we can acquire. And, when it is in jeopardy, everything else falls away. Problems with our physical health can stop us in our tracks.

Everyone, at some point or another, must face health concerns. Chronic or acute, many of us battle with troublesome physical conditions that push us to find answers and advocate for our own healing: illness, chronic pain, aging or addiction. The power to heal lies within the body, not the meditation; meditation is simply a key to unlock the body’s healing potential. But one thing’s for sure: Healing and long-term wellness begin with harnessing your own untapped energy.

With practice, meditation can have a meaningful impact on our physical bodies and any illnesses with which we wrestle.

Meditation boosts our immunity by reducing oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory genes, cell aging, cell death and having a positive impact on immune function, effective coping, antibody production, chromosomes, psychoneuroimmunologic protection, telomerase activity and gray matter volume. These factors have known effects on healing from cancer, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, arthritis and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

When it comes to cancer, specifically, there is good evidence to show that meditation can relieve cancer symptoms and treatment side effects, facilitate healing and recovery, and increase survivorship.

A recent, comprehensive study of 49 breast cancer patients and 10 prostate cancer patients investigated the longer-term relationships between meditation and a range of key cancer biomarkers. In 6 and 12 month follow-ups, researchers found that in addition to enhancing quality of life and decreasing stress symptoms, meditation systematically decreased cortisol levels and blood pressure. Immune patterns over the 12-month period revealed a continued reduction in Th1 (pro-inflammatory) cytokines (Carlson et al, 2007).

Meditation also relieves stress, which impedes healing and has been linked to increased tumor growth and recurrence.

Meditation has significant therapeutic effects on the body at a macroscopic, physiological level, impacting your body on the molecular level, where immunity begins.

The inner energy flows strongly through us, connecting with the all-pervading energy that we become one with, nourishing our energy centers and energy channels, healing and improving us in so many ways.

While Sahaja is not meant to be a cure for any disorder or to replace any medical treatment you are undergoing, Sahaja can be a powerful alternative form of treatment and healing for many types of disorders. Specific techniques that restore the energy balance in the affected areas of the subtle system can boost physical and emotional healing.

Healing the subtle energy system within and restoring the energy balance within the body not only helps heal illnesses, but speeds recovery from illness, as well.

It is possible to realize significant health improvements over time with the practice of Sahaja and the scientific literature is reflecting more and more evidence to support that.

Sahaja meditation’s primary goal is to help people adopt meditation as a long-term holistic improvement measure in their lives — physically, cognitively, emotionally and spiritually. Just as you can see the effects of electricity flowing throughout your home just as you can feel the effects of the inner energy flowing throughout your energy centers (chakras) during Sahaja meditation and experience its specific healing effects afterward.

We invite you to read more in-depth research about meditation for healing and immunity.

Mental anguish can be debilitating, even when our physical health is intact. People struggling with depression, anxiety, ADHD and concerns over stress or attention/focus, know all too well the burdens associated with mental illness.

Many professionals recommend a multi-faceted approach, involving supportive treatments to restore wellness.

A successful approach for many struggling with mental illness usually involves treating both the mind and the body. Many studies today point to the known benefits of meditation for healing from mental illness. Meditation for healing can lead practitioners to a higher consciousness, resulting is greater emotional regulation, attentional equilibrium, improved relationships and stronger self-concept.

In a recent study, one 8-week program showed that meditation combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy helped participants view thoughts simply as events in the mind, independent of their content and emotional charge. While many participants felt that a longer program was needed, 72 percent of people with depression showed improvement and 63 percent of anxious participants showed improvement (Finucane, A., Mercer, S., 2006).

Thoughtless awareness, a state reached through Sahaja meditation, also improves theta activity, which appears in the frontal mid-line areas of the brain is reached in a state of thoughtless awareness. In a waking theta state, we can access and influence the powerful subconscious mind where emotional experiences and behavioral changes are integrated.

We are capable of deep and profound learning, creativity, healing, and growth.
During Sahaja meditation, the meditator is able to inhibit impulses to move, act or respond. Overall sympathetic nervous system tone is blunted, which produces a sense of equanimity and well-being. Thoughts and feelings rise and fall and are calmly observed without reaction or judgment. This response inhibition or de-linking of action from impulse helps relieve the negative effects of stress, and may ultimately have much deeper implications for healing.

The Kundalini energy starts doing its work of healing and strengthening our chakras, and our personal traits automatically improve.

During the initial weeks, nearly everyone practicing Sahaja meditation reports that they feel calmer inside and more patient, less stressed and less emotionally reactive to problems.

Often, the mechanisms through which Sahaja meditation’s energy-based techniques facilitate healing automatically relieve symptoms of multiple mental health problems at once; for example, one might experience relief of symptoms of both depression and anxiety.

Regular meditation leads to other lifestyle changes that further enhance health and wellbeing. We invite you to read more in-depth research about meditation for healing and mental health.

Everyone faces traumatic situations in our lives, and we all respond differently to life’s stressors. While some of us are able to let problems roll off our backs, sometimes it can feel impossible to let go of hurts. If you’re struggling with finding emotional healing for loss, grief, anger, negative thinking or self-esteem, meditation can help.

Sahaja meditation harnesses the healing power of our inner energy to help mediate internal emotional conflicts.

Healing from emotional pain is possible through meditation. Meditation can help us build resilience, coping skills and greater self-awareness. The more emotionally resilient we are, the less likely we are to experience adverse reactions to stress and negative outcomes when we must solve challenging problems.

One large study of more than 8,000 subjects revealed that as many as 25% of grieving people who were diagnosed with depression and placed on antidepressants were not, in fact, clinically depressed and would have benefited far more from supportive therapies that could keep them from developing full-blown depression (Wakefield et al, 2007).

Through meditation, regular balancing of the inner subtle system and more specifically the left energy channel results in significantly higher emotional resilience.

Experienced Sahaja practitioners tend to be able to live in complete acceptance of events outside of our control, including devastating losses, such as the loss of a loved one.

While healing from emotional pain is certainly not an easy task or something that can take place in the flip of a switch, healing is possible through meditation, connecting our own, inner energy to the divine power of the universe. We invite you to read more about meditation’s impact on resilience.

Perhaps you have sought out answers to your deepest spiritual questions, and have been left feeling discouraged.

Unlike any other avenue, Sahaja meditation helps you access the all-pervading energy or the divine power, establishing a relationship that will pave the path to self-transformation.

Self-Realization and regular meditation energizes, nourishes and heals the energy centers, which intrinsically heal our problems across all dimensions, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. When you are able to integrate spirituality in your everyday life, you will be able to detect tangible, perceptible change.

Without conflicting with any religion, Sahaja connects the dots, imparting a holistic view of spirituality that leads practitioners to discovering their own pure innate religion, a divine relationship with their higher power.

Nurturing allows for gentle introspection so that practitioners can nourish and repair their Kundalini energy and their subtle energy system. This promotes holistic healing at the deepest levels within us since the subtle energy system drives our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

These days, we live in a global community. Investigating meditative traditions with greater cultural and conceptual sensitivity allows for the possibility of a mutual enrichment of both the Eastern meditative traditions and Western psychology, enabling them to become partners in one of the greatest of human quests—the exploration, understanding, healing, and enhancement of the human mind. With greater knowledge comes greater open-mindedness and mutual exploration.

We invite you to dig deeper, and read more about the spiritual benefits of Sahaja meditation.

These days, there are many options for treating substance abuse and addiction and preventing relapse, though results vary widely. A growing body of research suggests that, for many, meditation, which automatically influences many different levels of mental, physical and spiritual well-being, can be a safe, effective solution for recovery and relapse prevention.

Generally, mental health problems lie at the root of substance use disorders.
For example, factors such as low self-esteem, a sense of meaninglessness, and poor coping skills contribute to establishing and maintaining substance abuse and addiction. Sahaja meditation can reduce or extinguish substance use by improving many different aspects of mental health, such as stress relief, self-awareness and mindfulness, acceptance and forgiveness.

Meditation has been shown to increase self-awareness and increase coping skills when it comes to recognizing triggers and overcoming the desire to return to a lifestyle of misusing drugs or alcohol.

Most people find that the length of time practicing meditation tends to be proportional to the decrease in drug or alcohol use, thus regular meditators are likely to experience greater decreases in substance use and cravings. For those who meditate regularly, entering the meditative state may become a highly reinforced alternative to using drugs or alcohol. And because relapse often occurs with 3 to 6 months after treatment, adopting meditation as a lifestyle choice can be a safe, effective solution that not only aids recovery but provides a buffer against relapse.

For more information, see how Sahaja meditation can help with addiction.

Humans are driven towards connection, and feeling connected to a larger community plays a significant role in long term wellness.

Along with our mind, our physical bodies crave connection. For example, when we experience a pain somewhere, our minds automatically tell our hands to try to alleviate the pain by holding, pressing or massaging the painful area. Our spirit is also seeking wholeness, or integration with the whole. Whether we’re able to perceive it or not, this is how nature designed human beings. The Inner Self is always trying to encourage us to achieve the Infinite by accessing higher states of existence — higher realms of consciousness.

Beyond a physical group or membership, Collective Consciousness is a subtle form of integration and coming together, creating a healing union.

When we practice Sahaja meditation, we become part of the collective, integral being, just as nature created us and intended us to be. The Sahaja state is all about reconnecting and reintegrating so that we are in complete harmony with the universe, all human beings and nature, and with divinity. That is perfect collectivity.

We invite you to dig deeper, and read more about Collectivity through Sahaja.

Healing Through the Power of Collective Meditation

Group meditation sessions exponentially magnify the benefits of Sahaja meditation and the same holds true for achieving relaxation. Your ability to get into Thoughtless Awareness and the overall relaxation is significantly more due to the combined effect of multiple meditators being connected to the Collective Consciousness, the realm of higher consciousness that your attention is shifted to, during Sahaja meditation.

And Sahaja Online can be the perfect tool for you to regularly attend Collective Meditation sessions by just using your phone or device to log into our online sessions as many times a week as you need.

Healing Through Social Consciousness

Sahaja meditation cultivates empathy and compassion, shifting our perspective from the self to the larger world. Through deep introspection and Sahaja meditation techniques, our traits and values can shift towards higher social consciousness, increasing our motivation to do more good.

Every day, we face decisions and dilemmas that we are called to address. These decisions involve our priorities, values, traits, and perceptions. Meditation can help us by stimulating positive mental and physical changes, actually compelling us to act more readily in the favor of others. In turn, positive emotions, overall happiness, and well-being are all increased when people act socially responsibly.

Meditation may also increase the likelihood of socially responsible behavior by relieving occupational stress.
Businesses and organizations today are turning towards more responsible, sustainable and transparent practices to strengthen the greater community and marketplace, thus creating a sustainable, profitable future for all.

For more information, see how Sahaja helps develop Social Consciousness.

As a Sahaja practitioner, holistic healing is achieved by strengthening and nourishing your inner subtle energy system which is the driver of your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Here are some specific ways to embark on the journey of healing and achieve the best outcomes.

Turning the Attention Inward

Nourishing your inner energy system means that you’re going to have to spend a significant part of your attention introspecting about problems and, in general, turning it inward into yourself. This means taking a break from your fast paced or taxing or directionless life, for example, and making the healing within a priority for yourself. This also means making meditation a part of your lifestyle. Don’t expect a magical healing experience, rather be prepared to enjoy the experience of the journey you will undertake so the healing is permanent and also enlightening in the process.

Meditation, at least twice a day, will be essential and if you’re not there yet or just starting out, be patient with yourself until you get to that point. And if you’re trying to heal from difficult situations such as pain, loss, grief or addiction, it’s going to be harder, but making this your #1 priority in life and persevering will help.

Waiting for that moment when you and your inner energy get strong enough to propel and guide you automatically in your meditation schedule is where you want to focus. Once that happens, things get easier and the soothing experience of the healing, the increase in your perception of vibrations and evident effects of healing will keep you going.

Humility and Surrender

You will need to understand that Sahaja meditation isn’t like other healing, rehab or meditation programs – here you surrender to your own inner self, inner energy and to the all-pervading power and allow them to do the work. You try to fall into the state of meditation, not fight with yourself or your problems. You try to be patient and allow the inner energy to take over. Another important aspect is that excessive planning, making checklists and rules isn’t going to help much, you’ll need to try to go to that higher state of consciousness and beyond your mind to achieve real healing in Sahaja.

Developing Vibratory Awareness and Detecting Your Specific Problems

Sahaja meditation works through a dynamic and real feedback system within you. Once you get started with the practice of Sahaja meditation, you will begin to improve your sensory perception of the subtle energy system in a gradual manner (for more information, see Subtle System Health and Diagnostics). Having this feedback mechanism working properly within you is essential for you to focus on what aspects inside you need healing and where your problems really are. Vibratory awareness improves through consistent meditation and clearing techniques.

Working on the Problems through Clearing and Long Improvement of the Chakras

The practice of Sahaja, thankfully, can be customized and highly specific to solve problems inside you. And you can clearly analyze and understand the problems at the deepest levels inside you, including specific chakras or channels. Sahaja meditation isn’t some relaxation or spa treatment course that does many things and hopes to feel better – once you’re clear about your problems, you can use specific techniques for specific parts of your energy system. Sex addicts for instance, can cure their Mooladhara and Agnya chakras and overcome weaknesses in their left energy channel. Someone who is dealing with a loss and emotional issues can focus primarily on the left energy channel. And so on.

Advanced Stages of the Practice for Healing

Depending on the extent of healing you feel you need, you may need techniques used in advanced stages of the practice – mantras, for example. You may also be able to connect with the scientific and medical research teams within Sahaja and visit our hospitals dedicated to healing people through Sahaja and natural techniques. However, you should keep in mind that the primary purpose of Sahaja is not curing or just healing, it is spiritual ascent through the vehicle of continuous and consistent practice of meditation. If you’re looking for a 3 month stay at one of our hospitals to get rid of a nagging problem and with no other intent of practicing Sahaja for your spiritual growth, then Sahaja may not be able to help you.

Making Use of Our Instructors and Coaches

Most practitioners may hit a plateau or need expert help beyond a point. While we never give personalized health advice, we have a large community of practitioners with over four decades of experience in dealing and sharing all kinds of experiences and problems. You are always welcome to reach out to our coaches who can help you with your specific queries, problems and even guide you in your journey of healing. (Use our contact page or send us a note directly at support@sahajaonline.com)