On Covid-19, mental health, and meditation

Abstract

The art of meditation has attracted vivid attention and considerable interest in contemporary unstable and unpredicted world, especially now when the outbreak of COVID-19 has created mental health concerns among the general population worldwide. Contemporary research on meditation for different conditions shows that meditation helps to control pain, may reduce blood pressure, leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density, may reduce age-related memory loss, enhances self-awareness, reduces feelings of loneliness and increases social contact, cultivates more creative problem-solving skills, promotes emotional health. Its positive impact on stress, anxiety, depression, chronic diseases is well-known. To enhance mental health and stabilize human beings in happiness and harmony, it is now more crucial than ever to turn to the Eastern spiritual practices and integrate them with the Western scientific discoveries. It will expand the functional field of human capabilities to achieve freedom and self-realization.