Shoulders relaxed, jaws relaxed, eyes closed, you quietly follow the flow of air coming and going through your nostrils, filling your lungs. Your ribcage takes its ease. A smile is sketching. That's it ! You bathe in the meditative state that brings serenity and health.

Health? "More than a thousand American studies have demonstrated the benefits of meditation on the body," argues Marc de Smedt, publisher, writer and journalist French specialist in meditation techniques and wisdom of the world.

Meditation ? An immunity booster

The rest it provides is deeper than that reached during sleep.

Associated breathing consumes less air while providing increased oxygenation of the lungs. And the body produces less waste! It acts on the hormonal, vascular and muscular system, increases immunity, regulates sensitivity to pain.

The author of the bestseller "Small Daily Meditation Exercise Book", constantly reissued at Jouvence, praises "the proven effectiveness in hospitals and the development of a secular meditation movement on a global scale."

It reduces blood pressure and chronic pain

According to Elodie Garamond, the founder of the very dynamic Yoga Tigre Club & Spa, all the meditations are good but the so-called "mindfulness" technique has been the subject of more intensive scientific studies than her sisters: "secular meditation (her other name) ) emancipates from all religion to bet on the therapeutic side "analyzes the yoga teacher. "Neuroscience has largely explored its benefits on metabolism following the work of American Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of this new practice.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a doctor of molecular biology, developed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) therapy in the 1970s. Order ? Half an hour of mindfulness a day, for 8 weeks.

Results? A drop in blood pressure in hypertensive subjects, clear improvements in diseases such as generalized anxiety disorder and depression, but also in chronic pain and skin diseases, psoriasis in the lead.

In the United States, 550 centers, hospitals or clinics now use the MBSR, and around 700 around the world. The effects are so convincing that the British Social Security now takes care of it.

It allows a better oxygenation of the brain

On the physiological level, what exactly is happening? "The work of breathing is fundamental. One connects to her by a simple awareness of inspiration and exhalation; it is a tool accessible to all, including children "says Elodie Garamond. At the heart of this awareness of the breath, an increase in breathing capacity and movement. Oxygen diffuses better in the body and especially the brain, hence the sensation of almost immediate clarity.

Medical imaging, and in particular the EEC-electroencephalogram, has shown that meditative practice boosts the creation of new neuronal connections.

It also improves the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. Dedicated to the management of our emotions, it allows you to step back, develop intuition and creativity. It circumscribes the harmful effects of stress and limits negative emotions such as fear or anger.

"Meditation balances the degrees of excitement of the two cerebral hemispheres. This equilibrium point of intelligences and senses facilitates harmony between body and mind. It plunges the being into a state of high experience that promotes psycho-therapeutic integration. It is a precious resource at a time that generates more and more psychosomatic imbalances "says Marc de Smedt.

Tested and approved in a medical environment, it is taught at the university!

Improvement of the concentration, harmonization of the mood ... The medical circles were not mistaken there. Another popular secular technique is MBCT (mindfulness-based cognitive therapy), which is used in more than 200 hospitals in the United States to counter the relapse of depressed people. In Paris, the highly specialized St Anne's Hospital offers medical meditation classes.

At the University of Strasbourg, the diploma "Medicine, Meditation and Neuroscience" attracts more and more vocations. "The body has its own dynamics of well-being. Meditation helps him to put his antidotes in place.

The more you do the inner silence, the more the balancing is done spontaneously "summarizes Elodie Garamond, who insists on the need for a daily practice. "Ten minutes are enough. The challenge is to hold on the duration. There are many little moments of the day where it is possible. It's up to you to find yours.