Can the question– Have you meditated today?– be integrated into our daily conversation in the future?
Why not?
I mean, unlike other exercises and habits, meditation can be practiced within the 24 hours/7 days of our lives. That much is simple, right?
One of the best things about it is that meditation deals with our own minds to help us soothe ourselves, focus and concentrate better, with peace, happiness and joy as the outcome. Well, there are important things to consider. The practice of meditation is gaining fast ground even in the scientific community, now being recommended by medical doctors, health and wellbeing professionals, and researchers to maintain our mental as well as physical health. In addition, world peace begins within oneself.
The World Peace Initiative Foundation (WPI) hosted an excellent summit with the theme “Meditation for Health & Wellbeing” last January 21 to 23, 2022. The Summit aimed to give an experts approach, answering the fundamental question of how mind-body processes affect our health and wellbeing. Doctors, neuroscientists, and psychologists discussed the impact and role of mental health care tools in wellbeing and health, delivering innovative treatments and new bridges between body and mind based on research in mindfulness and meditation.
The summit host, Thailand-based organization World Peace Initiative Foundation (WPI), is dedicated to “creating a unique tool of self-development programs with professional guidance to let you start your journey of happiness, peace, and joy. Finding balance, harmony, and freedom is not far from reach. We delicately help you to unleash the secret of life through the practice of meditation, mindfulness, and habit development to transform you and to become a better version of yourself.”
The organizers invited participants to “this Meditation for Health and Wellbeing Summit which brings together leaders and innovators who go the extra mile and implement complementary mental health tools to improve health care and treatments. Our speakers come from different backgrounds and specialties, with one thing in common: the practice of meditation and mindfulness. Connect with these brilliant minds to explore the new dimensions of health and wellbeing that ancient practices combined with modern science bring to us. Learn how both methods work together to accelerate the healing processes and apply it as a health provider or as a patient willing to make a significant change in their health progress. We are looking at the future of health and wellbeing in these important and pivotal times, and we want you in.”
I am quite sure, as may all summit participants and presenters would agree, that the sessions were highly designed to deepen the understanding of individual and collective wellbeing concepts, using meditation as a way to support our health program, understanding meditation and mindfulness as a universal language and a tool to create a transformative journey in the health field and which helps to build, support, and strengthen a complementary path of healing and recovery with conventional medicine for a large number of people.
Aside from this, as an artist, the session “ The neuroscience of meditation: An introduction to Art Therapy” with Dr. Leila Ali, Neurologist, Artist, Cognitive Remediation Therapist, Music Therapist, Mediator, was so interesting. It highlighted how meditation is linked with art and the creative processes in our brain. Dr. Leila expertly explained a very specific region in the brain that is called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in relation with the “Eureka Moment” areas in creative endeavors. She added that activity in the superior sulcus in “eureka moments” signifies recognition of a new association of ideas. Critical analysis of new ideas sparks ACC activity.
In her Welcome Message, CEO, Ping Ping Worakate, CEO and co-founder, delivered a clear message saying “as we live in the provoking era of life and death since 2020 when the pandemic erupted and spread throughout the world, the concept of health and wellbeing is inevitably the hot topic of discussion not only for doctors and health care workers but among all of us. At WPI, health and wellbeing is considered one of the most important aspects in our life as it tremendously affects our mental, social, and financial ones. Lifestyle and mental health disruptions during the pandemics raise a big concern on how to live healthier and happier in the future. We believe January 2022 is the right time to start a year with an open discussion on how to balance and boost our Body and Mind as a top priority list.
We would like to invite individuals and collectives to learn, share, and experience with our professional speakers including Buddhist Monks. Finally, we hope the Meditation for Health & Wellbeing Summit will give you great inspiration, immense knowledge, and top-tier know-how to elevate our life to a state of happiness, peace, and security. Let’s transform the body and empower the Mind together!”
The summit has been a refreshing reminder about the importance of the daily practice of meditation and mindfulness as a way to maximize our peace, joy and happiness. To me, it was quite a wonderful chance to meet again the teaching monks & the CEO who are my mentors along the way in the practice, as well as doctors, neuroscientists and psychologists around the world.
For further information please visit : www.wpifoundation.org
Photo credits: WPI
