Ajit Karn
Proven Benefits To Meditation: Some people associate the term’meditation’ with images of robed monks seated cross-legged for hours in solitude. This image makes meditation appear somewhat unattainable, challenging, or inaccessible to beginners. However, consider again! Meditation need not be complicated, and anyone can practice it. With daily practice, it can significantly enhance your physical, mental, and spiritual health. In fact, it is one of the most advantageous behaviors you can develop, and it is free. A basic meditation practice can be initiated by devoting just ten minutes per day to paying mindful attention to your breath. Why not incorporate it into your daily routine? Defining Here Eight Proven Benefits To Meditation.
Here are eight proven benefits to meditation:
Meditation reduces stress. The fight-or-flight response is activated and cortisol, the stress hormone, is released in response to stress, which is the body’s response to unexpected threats. Meditation helps decrease cortisol levels in the brain. Dr. Elizabeth Hoge, an anxiety specialist and psychiatrist, asserts that daily meditation practice trains you to manage tension positively and reduces anxiety symptoms. Even a few minutes of meditation can restore calm, equilibrium, and interior serenity. And these benefits continue even after you cease meditating! According to studies, they persist throughout the day. And in times of pandemic, we could all use less tension and anxiety!
Meditation helps to decrease depression and anxiety. According to research, mindful meditation can alleviate anxiety and depression and is an effective adjunct to mental health treatment. In fact, psychologists from the University of Exeter demonstrated that mindfulness meditation and breathing exercises are more effective than medication or therapy in treating depression. Meditation improves emotional health, refocuses attention, and diminishes the negative thoughts that can fuel depression. Try walking meditation to incorporate meditation with moderate exercise, another proven antidepressant.
Meditation improves self-awareness and self-esteem. When you practice mindful meditation, it forces you to slow down and examine your own thoughts and feelings without judgement. Spending time without distraction can help you develop a better understanding of yourself, as well as how you relate to the people around you. Ultimately, this growing sense of self-awareness leads to greater self-esteem. It’s all about being comfortable in your own skin!
Meditation improves your brain health. Want to feel youthful for an extended period of time? Meditation may also be the answer here! In fact, research indicates that meditation slows and may even rectify the effects of aging on the brain. It can also enhance the memory and mental agility of the elderly. A region of the frontal cortex associated with memory and decision-making diminishes with age. Dr. Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist, has demonstrated that meditation literally alters the brain. In fact, her findings revealed that meditators aged 50 had the same quantity of gray matter as those aged 25. Lazar also discovered that eight weeks of meditation enhanced the health of the brain regardless of age.
Meditation increases your focus. With so much information being thrown at us all day long via email, social media, etc. and so many competing demands on our time and attention, it’s no wonder so many of struggle to focus. Meditation actually increases your concentration, helping to control mind-wandering and short attention spans. In fact, learning to control your focus is one of the key elements of meditation. By focusing on your breathing and clearing your mind, you give yourself space to relax and cultivate mental clarity.
Meditation decreases high blood pressure. High blood pressure causes strain on the heart and arteries as it forces the heart to work harder to pump blood. It can also lead to a narrowing of the arteries, which in turn can cause strokes and heart attacks. Meditation can help by relaxing the nerve signals that coordinate heart function and blood vessel tension. Happy heart!
Meditation helps you sleep better. Meditation enhances relaxation, so it should come as no surprise that it can help you sleep better. Some individuals prefer to begin their day with meditation, whereas others find it to be an effective method to conclude the day. It is a peaceful and meaningful way to relax and unwind. (Make certain your phone is turned off or in another room!) Include some mild self-reflection during your meditation, acknowledging and expressing gratitude for your day. (You could begin by attempting these Mind Body Green meditations.)
Meditation can help to control pain. Meditation is not a panacea for chronic pain, but it can help to alleviate it. For this reason, many physicians have begun recommending mindful meditation as part of a comprehensive pain management program. According to studies, it decreases pain sensations in the body without utilizing the narcotics naturally produced by the brain. This is excellent news for anyone suffering from post-surgical, acute, or chronic pain, as well as conditions such as migraines or osteoarthritis.
The evidence proves the health benefits of meditation, but the only real way to know this is to try it for yourself! And remember, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Keep it simple and create a daily practice that fits seamlessly into your life. Practice and it will get even easier. That’s why it’s called a mediation practice
Also read: Nighttime Meditation and Its Benefits
