Pathway to Wellness

"Our brain controls so much of how we heal. Some say it’s the work of the vagus nerve, which runs from your brain to your abdomen, letting your brain communicate with the rest of your body. And evidence is mounting that the more you practise mind-body techniques, the more powerful they become.

Some benefits:

Pain relief without drugs. Biofeedback, tai chi, yoga, hypnosis and progressive muscle relaxation may help ease chronic pain, according to a review of studies, mostly on the over-50s. Study author Dr Natalia Morone says these activities may simply distract you from pain, release muscle tension or help you cope with the anger and depression that often accompany chronic aches.

Flu-fighting boost. The Chinese exercises qi gong and tai chi seem to boost the effectiveness of the flu vaccine in older people.

Healing from afar? No-one knows for sure how the mind-body connection might make this leap, but praying for someone who is sick seems to work, says a recent review of 17 studies on people with heart disease, cancer, infertility and other conditions."

( Reader’s Digest, October 2008)

The above passages catched my attention. The studies by the Western researcher just confirm what has been preached by Islam. I would say Solat is not just mere ibadat but, physically it is a form of progressive muscle relaxation. In fact, through Solat, you can relief the pain without drugs and perhaps you can achieve the highest level of peaceful mind by performing a Solat with khusu’ ( full concentration and submission towards Almighty). This will eventually help you cope with all kind of inner self problems such as anger and depression that often accompany chronic aches.

Islam preached us to pray for other's wellness. According to the Prophet’s tradition, it is the duty of all muslims to do three things : to visit the sick, to attend funerals, and to say, 'may Allah have mercy on you' when someone sneezes if he praises Allah Almighty. As a muslim we were guided by the Prophet p.u.h that whenever we visit a sick person we should pray for them by making supplication that he will get well.

“Abu Bakr ibn Juz' and Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir were some people from the mosque who visited 'Umar ibn al-Hakam ibn Rafi' al-Ansari. They said, "Abu Hafs! Relate to us!" He said, "I heard 'Abdullah say that he heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "When someone visits a sick person, he dives into mercy to such an extent that when he sits with him, he settles in it."

That’s the beauty of Islam. Islam means peace. Islam is about being tolerant and considerate towards others ,not hatred. Islam is not associated with terrorism but somehow there’s few lunatic extremists who had burnt the bridge of humanity which has tarnished the image of Islam. This chaotic problem has given the opportunity to the real enemy of Islam blatantly continue to attack Islam.