Today is probably the first serious work day of the new year—and with it may come increasing pressures as the economy continues to slide downward.

So what can you do to manage your stress? No surprise to regular visitors to this blog—you can meditate to relive your tension and worries. Even if you’re new to meditation, you can expect to see results quickly, even after your first session. Of course there are many other health benefits to meditation, but don’t take my word for it. As reported on CNN, take Dr. Brent Bauer’s word for it.

Dr. Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, had this to say about the effects on meditation on stress.

“We completely underestimate the severity of stress and the impact on our health. “When you look at what stress does to us, it reduces our immune function, it delays wound healing … and raises the risk of heart disease.”

He said he would never recommend that a patient replace conventional medicine with alternative therapies; rather, he suggested they be used to complement each other.

“I’ve got high blood pressure,” he said as an example. “I’m taking medication, but I’m also doing meditation. That’s probably the right approach.”

Two decades ago, he acknowledged, many American physicians were skeptical about integrating alternative medicine into their recommendations. Today, he said, it is part of our culture.

It really is so simple to get started meditating, and best of all in these times—it’s absolutely free!

There are many links on this blog to information on how to get started. Please—for your peace of mind—give meditation a try today! Your brain, your neck muscles and a lot of other body parts will thank you!