Life-Changing Meditation

Clara Tait was like many students who wanted a year off—a gap year—between high school and college, deciding on some travel to fill the time. Where she differs is when you look at what precedes the traveling: a long period of anorexia, followed by a period of bingeing that left her overweight, both of which left her depressed and angry. The purpose of going to Thailand? To experience weight loss and get a tan.
 
Well, Tait got way more than she bargained for! She was robbed and left almost penniless, so she bought a bus ticket with her miniscule amount of money and that would lead her to a monastery in Bangkok. She meditated for eight hours each day with monks and started to feel the positive effects of the practice on her mind and body. Tait says, “I gradually stopped being angry with myself and started feeling proud of myself.”
 
In the end, she was able to lose weight without trying to, but more importantly, she learned to listen to herself. Convinced for so long that meditation, a practice her mother esteemed, would never work for her kinds of problems, Tait was pleasantly surprised that it was exactly what she needed.

Tell us about your meditation. Is there a “trouble” area in your life that has been improved by meditating?  [Times Online]