FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov signed an agreement with Mr. Anant Asavabhokhin, the World Meditation Academy Chairman. The World Meditation Academy has been extremely active since it was set up and several courses in meditation are carried out by Buddhist monks with extensive experience in this area.

The benefits of meditation to chess players were reviewed and amongst the principal achievements one can note:

Physical Benefits: Through deep-breathing, which is the backbone of any meditation practice, muscle fatigue and tension are reduced by increasing the circulation of oxygen to the muscles. Meditation has also been proven to lower high blood cholesterol due to its stress-reducing benefits. Meditation also helps to strengthen the immune system as well. Meditation induces the relaxation response which reduces the occurance of pain, insomnia and headaches. Another major physical benefit of meditation is unlimited energy. Meditation helps you to create an eternal and infinite flow of pure lifeforce energy.

Emotional Benefits: Less irritability, reduction in the "fight or flight" response, and more emotional self-control.  Helps bring perspective when confronted with a crisis thus making the crisis more manageable.  Managing our modern daily lives can become quite overwhelming when you factor in traffic jams, work related stress, toxicity overload and seemingly unmanageable schedules.  Taking a small amount of daily time to meditate can bring the perspective you need to manage your busy schedule and bring back a feeling of "I can handle this".

Mental Benefits:  Better mental focus, concentration and creativity.  Less stress and anxiety and greater peace of mind.  Meditation seeks to bring harmful and counter-productive thoughts and feelings to the surface within you, quell them and help you gain the necessary perspective to invoke more truth and reality in your life. The mental benefits of meditation, if regularly practiced, are long lasting and eventually become permanent.

Spiritual Benefits:  Greater self-awareness, the feeling of being more "connected" and a greater sense of purpose, along with the added benefit of helping you to resolve past issues that tend to get buried in the psyche and cause difficulties for you on an unconscious level.

Source: http://www.benefitsofmeditation.org/

The agreement highlights scholarships which will be offered to FIDE Federations all round the world to send participants for monthly Meditation courses. More details about these scholarships will shortly be publicized on FIDE website.

Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov appointed Mr. Anant Asavabhokhin as a Senior Advisor to the FIDE President and, in turn, has also been appointed an Honorary Advisor to the World Meditation Academy.