Over a whopping 2.59 lakh – that was the number of new covid-19 cases India recorded in a single day on April 20. With the figures continuing to increase and moreover, the viral flu doing the rounds amidst the changing season, it is more crucial than ever to keep your health in check. Vipassana meditation, though practiced over 2,500 years ago, is one such way to ensure that, and did you know that it is also a health trend amongst men working in the Silicon Valley?
Though the positive impact of Vipassana on mental health is widely known, studies revealed that it can also reduce physical pain and psychological distress such as anxiety, depression, and stress. It enables us to be mindful of the bodily and emotional pain that we are experiencing and respond to it more calmly. However, the key is practicing it regularly.
Talking about his tryst with Vipassana meditation, Daniell Noll, a story teller, adventurer and tourism development professional wrote on Uncornered Market, “It often struck me – no, it still strikes me – as facile the suggestion that we ought to focus on our pain, that focus alone can make it go away. I found it simplistic, until I found a reason and approach that doesn’t belie the reality that this process involves a great deal of work.”
On the other hand, active yoga practitioner Rajat Khare associates the age-old meditation technique with the contemporary world and brings an interesting connection between the two. “Though taught in India around 2,500 years ago, Vipassana is still relevant in today’s times. In an era where many people live in an illusionary world of social media and materialistic comforts that account for a majority of our mental health problems, this form of meditation teaches us to ‘see things as they really are’,” he wrote on his Facebook page Rajat Khare – Yoga.
Whether it is curbing the inherent pain associated with materialism, or the stress associated with covid-19, the relevance of Vipassana meditation in today’s times cannot be overstated. Realizing its benefits, an increasing number of people have started to practice it, when will you?