Mediation can give your body so many benefits, including:
– Stress relief
– Increased self-awareness & emotional intelligence
– Improved concentration and memory
– Reduced anxiety and depression (depression may increase for a short period after meditation, as you become more aware of your negative emotions)
– Reduction in pain sensitivity
– Lower blood pressure and heart rate
– Improved sleep quality and insomnia relief
The Meditation effect occurs when you focus on something specific—any form of meditation works, where the only difference is the object of your attention. Popular objects include: counting breaths, repeating a word or phrase (mantra), visualizing an object/scene/color, observing sensations and thoughts that pass through your mind without attachment by viewing them as fleeting. You can also meditate by doing nothing at all, focusing on nothing, or feeling your body’s natural energy or breath. Focusing on breathing is the most common form of meditation, especially because it is free and accessible at any time, anywhere.
Any form of meditation that includes focusing on an object will result in stress relief, improved concentration & memory, increased self-awareness & emotional intelligence, improved sleep quality, and insomnia relief.
Types of Meditation:
Focused Meditation:
If you’re sitting still for a few minutes or more while focusing your attention on something specific (e.g., breathing), you are meditating. This very simple practice has benefits similar to other forms of meditation without requiring complex training. Over 100 published research studies have demonstrated the many psychological and physiological benefits gained from even short periods of mindfulness meditation.
Relaxation response:
The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes your body’s response to stress (the fight or flight response). The relaxation response reduces cortisol, commonly called the “stress hormone,” and increases serotonin, which helps improve mood and regulate sleep. It also increases melatonin — a naturally occurring hormone that assists with sleep — and decreases adrenaline — another hormone released when we’re stressed.
Perceived energy:
A study on the effects of mindfulness meditation found improvements in measures of perceived energy compared to those in a control group who attended an eight-week health education program on nutrition, stress management, and relaxation techniques. This means you’ll feel more energized even if you haven’t slept as long as you normally would or if you did more exercise than usual.
Pain relief:
Meditation has been linked to pain relief because the brain areas responsible for processing pain also activate during meditation. A study on arthritis patients showed that mindfulness meditation lessened sensitivity to painful stimuli. Another study found that long-term meditators had a greater tolerance for pain due to changes in their brain’s processing.
Overall mood improvement:
Not only does meditation help increase your focus and concentration, but it can boost your sense of well-being too, which is why so many people turn to it when they’re feeling stressed out, anxious or depressed. One study found that just 10 minutes of meditation resulted in participants having a more positive overall mood state (compared to those who did nothing).
Depression:
While there is no cure for depression, several studies show meditation can be an effective alternative therapy to help manage symptoms. One study found that mindfulness meditation was just as effective in treating depression as Prozac (60% of participants reported remission after 12 weeks). Another study showed 75% of people who regularly practiced TM experienced a reduction in their depressive symptoms within two months.
Anxiety:
Mindfulness meditation has positive effects on anxiety disorders by helping to reduce uncontrolled thoughts and fears associated with them. There are also several other helpful meditative practices, including mantra practice, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization techniques.
Pain management:
Meditation can help you improve your ability to cope with pain by training your mind to tune out distractions and become less aware of pain. A study on various patients recovering from surgery found that those who practiced mindfulness meditation had shorter hospital stays and needed fewer post-operative prescription medications than non-meditators.
Self-awareness:
Mindfulness meditation can increase your productivity and your self-esteem, self-control, and overall happiness. An eight-week program consisting of daily 15 minute guided meditations helped participants feel more positive about themselves have an increased ability to deal with stress, and improve their focus & memory.
Heart health:
Studies show that certain types of meditation can help reduce cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure, cholesterol levels, anxiety, and depression even better than medication or exercise in some cases. It can also help protect your heart during a heart attack — trained meditators had better results than those who didn’t meditate after a heart attack.
Cancer:
Meditation reduces the symptoms of stress and depression among cancer patients and improves their quality of life (physical and emotional well-being). A practice known as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) that combines meditation with yoga has proven effective at treating people diagnosed with cancer. Researchers have studied the program since its development in 1979, particularly for breast cancer survivors. It shows it helps improve mood, sleep habits, appetite, and treatment compliance (the ability to stick to their medication schedule).
Lung health:
Studies suggest yoga breathing — a form of meditation — can improve lung function and reduce symptoms of respiratory disorders like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Immunity:
Studies show that mindfulness meditation may help strengthen your immune system and make you less likely to get sick. One study found that meditators were only half as likely to come down with the flu than those who didn’t regularly practice it. Another showed that just eight weeks of daily meditation boosted participants’ antibody response to a flu vaccine by fifty percent more than those who received the vaccine alone.
Management of chronic pain:
Mindfulness meditation has been shown effective not just for overall pain management but also for specific types such as headaches, back pain, arthritis, and other chronic conditions involving persistent or recurrent pain.
Women’s health:
Women who practice regular meditation during and after menopause had fewer hot flashes and night sweats than those who didn’t.
Meditation is also effective at helping people quit smoking or manage their weight. This is due to an increased awareness of external cues (such as spending time with certain friends or watching TV) influencing their desires. Some studies have also found it beneficial for managing food cravings — one reported that subjects successfully decreased their craving for chocolate and snacks by practicing mindfulness-based eating approaches.
