BBC asks: Can meditation bring happiness?

" Can meditation bring happiness? "... "Can meditation bring happiness?"!!!!
The BBC & David Sillito has been finding out if there is a scientific basis for meditation leading to greater levels of happiness.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/health-16389183

... Recently here in the UK there is a revival of an old idea suggesting that meditation can bring happiness.
More than that it may have the potential to cure illness and at the least bring relief to pain.

Following neurological FMRI tests on Mattieu Ricard a french born monk in 2006 it was found that long term meditation can have a similar effect to that of a person under anaesthetic. In addition it balances moods and with the traditional Tibetan focus on compassion and unconditional love, Ricard says meditation dissipates anger and brings happiness, he hasn't felt anger for 25 years!

I love it when western science catches up with eastern methodology...!
It suddenly and nonchalantly allows those of us affiliating with hippy philosophies to breathe a sigh of self-respect amongst the sceptics.

This is Ricard on video talking us through the technique.
Why not try it?
I meditate daily. Either 10-20 mins as my alarm goes off I naturally wake and remain with my eyes closed in bed or last thing at night before I sleep.
It sets me up for the day. I know who I am, where I am and what it is I need to do - in the biggest sense of the word.

I can, do and have, talked rooms full of kids and adults through this process, taking them from over-stimulation to deep refreshing relaxation and maybe sleep in minutes... its very, very satisfying.
As I talk, I walk around and still fidgety wriggling of the body or mind with a gentle hand.
Its the mind and body in training, ... strengthening against an over-wired, over-industrialised, over -sensitised world.

...No side effects, its a free and convenient de-stresser. If I am getting ill (rarely now) I focus on dispersing my illness away and replacing unenergised matter with healthy tissue.
It works .. and that's sustainable healthcare at its best.