and their motivation to instigate
lifestyle changes that promote good
health and well-being.
our attention away from our health
and well-being, and often promote
unhealthy lifestyles. Western medicine is largely responsive rather
than preventive; by the time most
individuals seek medical help, they
have established disease requiring
active intervention. There are obvious benefits of diagnosing disease in
its early stages, or even preventing
it before it can develop. The achievement of this, however, depends on
both the individual’s awareness of
their state of health and well-being
18
Meditation offers a potential strategy through which an individual can
cultivate and maintain a state of
good health and well-being. Longterm stress can have damaging
effects on the body long before these
effects are manifest as poor health
or disease. Not only does meditation reduce stress, but it may also
prevent or delay the onset of stressrelated diseases, as well as reducing
risk prone behaviour triggered by
stress, such as smoking and the use
of recreational drugs. Furthermore,