Stress is caused by the thinking brain, either through thinking excessively about past experiences (causing trauma or experientially causal psychological problems) or worries about the future (future related feelings of stress). The 'here and now' state which comes from the practice of an authentic meditation leads to a witness state, where past or present life events, future worries and problems are perceived from a detached perspective, the perspective of the observer. Problems can be dealt with in a much more effective way from this distant and detached perspective than from the usual, emotionally involved, state of mind.

This detached state of mind, that is concomitant to the mystical meditative experience, has been denominated by western philosophers as 'serenity' or 'ataraxia' (the Greek word for a state of joyful indifference). It refers to a state that lies beyond the short-lived experiences of happiness or unhappiness, a state of ever-lasting serene joyfulness and detachment. It is this state of joyful detachment that makes true yoga a path towards freedom from suffering.
Relaxing the thinking brain through meditation by entering the space of the present, the 'here and now', even if it is only for a few minutes a day, has been shown to have numerous beneficial effects to our health and physiological system. At a subjective level, this state of thoughtless awareness is experienced as highly peaceful, pleasant and relaxing. Questionnaires on quality of life have indeed shown that people meditating with Sahaja Yoga show a significant improvement in their quality of life (link: article: Spiro, 1996).