Is meditation useful for personal health?

Yes: Research studies have so far shown that meditation can be helpful in such conditions as chronic pain; anxiety & panic; sleep disturbance & insomnia; gastrointestinal distress; fatigue; headaches; skin disorders; hypertension; and with the stress factors in heart disease. For some mindfulness based stress reduction papers, see: http://www.Meditationforhealth.Com/mbsr-research.Php.

Yes: Effective meditation techniques have been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and associated stress hormones, improve reaction times, create areas of more eeg (brain wave) coherence, improve children's school performance in many underserved and poorly performing school districts, reduce health care utilization. There's no real downside.