“Luca is an extremely spiritual individual, filled with light. His teachings of meditation, yoga, affirmations, and words of wisdom are very calming and healing.” Coleen Saylor – PhD, RN.- Los altos “My experience with Luca during a few short months has been one of complete joy. If you want to learn some new meditation techniques, find inner balance, reconnect to the divine and share some early morning song, this may be the place for you. Luca is very heart centered and willing to share. PEACE.” Jovani M, Cupertino     “It is wonderful to take meditation and yoga from Luca who so clearly enjoys teaching it! ... After his class I always feel uplifted, energized and more at peace." Virginia Schulz, Mountain View   “Luca is a well-grounded and intuitive individual with a very nurturing spirit… After guiding me through meditation and giving me the tools to meditate on my own, I noticed a change almost immediately. My chronic anxiety was lessening and I was able to handle stressful situations in a calm manner, which I have never before been able to do." Angela Kearney, Menlo Park

MEDITATION        "Scientists study it. Doctors recommend it. Millions of Americans - many of whom don't even own crystals - practice it every day. Why? Because  meditation works…"       Time Magazine What Meditation is  Physical Benefits  Mental Benefits  Spiritual Benefits  Techniques  Location  Cost READ ARTICLE What Meditation is Just as it is necessary to release the tension in the muscles, it is also essential to release the tensions in the mind. Usually, mental tension is caused by preoccupations about the past or desires for the future. Meditation gives you the ability to choose to relax and to be in the present moment.  Meditation, which is the most natural of all human activities, is simple. Based on concentration, breath, and relaxation, meditation will help you find inner peace, and will give you the ability to relax and enjoy life even more deeply. If we would live completely in the here and now, it would be very easy to stay relaxed and happy. Meditation helps bring us into this state.  Joy is within you. Health is only one breath away. Meditation is the key to finding and making joy and health ever-present in your life. "Even a little practice of meditation will free you from dire fears and colossal sufferings" Bhagavad Gita - Ancient Hindu Scripture Physical and health benefits of meditation Suprising Self Healing Benefits of Meditation • READ ARTICLE As meditation has become more well-known in the West, scientists have begun to quantify its physical benefits in hundreds of studies. Significant benefits have been found for many health conditions, including heart disease, cholesterol, high blood pressure, insomnia, chronic pain, cancer, and immunity. Because meditation is a low-cost intervention with no side-effects, it shows promise for relief of a wide range of societal and health problems.  • In a study of health insurance statistics, meditators had 87% fewer hospitalizations for heart disease, 55% fewer for benign and malignant tumors, and 30% fewer for infectious diseases. The meditators had more than 50% fewer doctor visits than did non-meditators.(1) • Meditation lowers blood pressure to levels comparable to prescription drugs for those who are normal to moderately hypertensive.(2) • Meditation increases circulation in beginning meditators by 30%, and in experienced meditators by as much as 65%.(3) • Meditation has endorsed by the NIH as effective for the relief of chronic pain. Chronic pain sufferers experience a reduction in symptoms of 50% or more.(4) • 75% of long-term insomniacs who have been trained in relaxation, meditation, and simple lifestyle changes can fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed.(5) • Meditation reduces blood sugar levels in diabetics.(6) • A group of inner-city residents suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, depression, diabetes and hypertension were trained in meditation. They experienced a 50% reduction in overall psychiatric symptoms, a 70% decrease in anxiety, and a 44% reduction in medical symptoms.(7) Mental and productivity benefits of meditation Research on meditation has shown significant improvements in mental health, memory, concentration, and productivity. • Brain scans show that meditation shifts activity in the prefrontal cortex (behind the forehead) from the right hemisphere to the left. People who have a negative disposition tend to be right-prefrontal oriented; left-prefrontals have more enthusiasms, more interests, relax more, and tend to be happier.(8) • Researchers tested novice meditators on a button-pressing task requiring speed and concentration. Performance was greater at 40 minutes of meditation than after a 40-minute nap.(9) • Meditation helps chronically depressed patients, reducing their relapse rate by half.(10) • Meditators notice more, but react more calmly than non-meditators to emotionally arousing stimuli.(11) • Those with smoking, alcohol, and eating addictions who have been trained in meditation break their addictions with significantly lower relapse rates than those receiving standard therapies.(12) • Middle school children who practice meditation show improved work habits, attendance, and GPA.(13) • Brain scans of meditators show increased thickness in regions of the cortex associated with higher functions like memory and decision making.(14) • Meditation appears to slow aging. Those meditating five years or more were 12 years younger than their chronological age.(15) Spiritual benefits of meditation For millennia, meditation has been an exclusively spiritual practice for serious seekers. By quieting the mind and deeply relaxing the body, the meditator experiences deep states of inner peace, and ultimately, higher states of awareness. There are many subtle benefits of practicing meditation—greater intuition, compassion, awareness, focus, among others—but they are ancillary. Ultimately, meditation is the practice of mystics seeking union with God.   References: 1 D. Orme-Johnson, Pschosomatic Medicine 49 (1987): 493-507. 2 Michael Murphy and Steven Donovan, The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation (Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1997). 3 Ibid. 4 J. Kabat-Zinn, L. Lipworth, R. Burney, and W. Sellers, “Four year follow-up of a meditation-based program for the self-regulation of chronic pain,” Clinical Journal of Pain 2(1986): 159-173. 5 Gregg Jacobs, Harvard Medical School, Say Goodnight To Insomnia, (Owl Books, 1999). 6 H. Cerpa, “The effects of clinically standardised meditation on type 2 diabetics,” Dissertation Abstracts International 499 (1989): 3432. For 7 B. Roth, T. Creaser, “Meditation-based stress reduction: experience with a bilingual inner-city program,” Nurse Practitioner 22(3) (1997): 150-2, 154, 157.   8 R. Davidson, J. Kabat-Zinn, et al, “Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation,” Psychosomatic Medicine 65 (2003): 564-570. 9 Reported in The Boston Globe, November 23, 2005 10 J.D. Teasdale, Z.V. Segal, J.M.G. Williams , V. Ridgeway, M. Lau, & J. Soulsby, “Reducing risk of recurrence of major depression using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68 (2000):  615-23. 11 Michael Murphy and Steven Donovan, The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation (Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1997). 12 C.N. Alexander, P. Robinson, M. Rainforth, “Treatment and prevention of drug addiction,” Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11 (1994): 11-84. 12 J. Kristeller and B. Hallett, “An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder,” Journal of Health Psychology Vol 4, (1999): 357-363. 12 P.A. Royer-Bounouar,“A new direction for smoking cessation programs,” Dissertation Abstracts International 50, 8-B (1989): 3428. 12 M. Shafii, R. Lavely, and R. Jaffe,“Meditation and marijuana,” American Journal of Psychiatry 131 (1974): 60-63. 13 H. Benson, M. Wilcher, et al,  (2000). “Academic performance among middle school students after exposure to a relaxation response curriculum,” Journal of Research and Development in Education 33 (3) (2000): 156-165. 14 Massachusetts General Hospital, reported by Carey Goldberg, The Boston Globe (November 23, 2005) 15 R.K. Wallace, M.C. Dillbeck, E. Jacobe, B. Harrington, International Journal of Neuroscience 16 (1982): 53-58. Excerpted from Freedom from Stress, David and Karen Gamow, Glenbridge Publishing (2006).     TECHNIQUES OF MEDITATION By Paramhansa Yogananda "Through Oneness in samadhi, the dualities of human experience disappear. Everything is perceived to change into Spirit. In this state, the man in samadhi can perceive the spiritual ocean, with its waves of creation or see the same spiritual ocean, transcendentally calm, existing without the waves of creation." Paramhansa Yogananda Sit up right, close your eyes and listen to the following words from the poem Samadhi, written by P. Yogananda, where the great Indian yogi  describes the state of superconsciousness (samadhi), during which every Self-realized person can perceive Oneness.  Three-Minute Meditation  Meditation for Peace of Mind   Mindful Meditation  Yoga Meditation    HONG SAU    Meditation    CLICK HERE       USEFUL TIPS  for Meditation    CLICK HERE    Meditation on Samadhi Poem