The Many Benefits of Meditation
Meditation is the process of training your mind to focus and redirect thoughts and develop concentration.
We have known for many years that Meditation is good for reducing our stress levels and helping with our mental health, but it can have other, more far-reaching benefits, that we can bring into our daily lives.
Regular practice of Meditation can help us develop other beneficial habits and feelings, such as a positive mood and outlook, self-discipline, healthy sleep patterns, and even increased pain tolerance.
Stress Reduction is one of the most common reasons people try meditation. Stress causes increased levels of the hormone cortisol. This produces many of the harmful effects of stress, such as disruption to sleep, depression and anxiety, increased blood pressure, fatigue and cloudy thinking.
Meditation can help reduce levels of cortisol and improve symptoms of stress-related conditions.
Control Anxiety reducing stress levels also translates to less anxiety. One study found that a course of mindfulness meditation helped reduce anxiety with the effect being seen strongest in those with the highest levels of anxiety. Anxiety symptoms lessened in people with anxiety disorder, with them reporting a reduction in anxiety levels, along with increased positivity and noticeable improvements in their coping skills.
Emotional Health some forms of meditation can lead to improved self-image and a more positive outlook on life. For example, it has been found that mindfulness meditation improves symptoms of depression with people experiencing fewer negative thoughts. Chronic pain sufferers have also reported improvements with depression, anxiety and pain.
Memory Loss improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may help keep your mind young. The improved focus gained through regular meditation may boost memory and mental clarity. These benefits can help fight age-related memory loss and dementia.
Addiction mental discipline can be developed through meditation which may help break dependencies by increasing self-control and awareness of triggers for addictive behaviours. Meditation develops mental awareness and can help manage triggers for unwanted impulses. This can help recovery from addiction, manage unhealthy eating, and redirect other unwanted habits.
Improve Sleep nearly half of the population will struggle with insomnia at some point. A variety of meditation techniques can help relaxation and control runaway thoughts that can interfere with sleep. This can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep and increase sleep quality.
Control Pain our perception of pain is connected to our state of mind, and it can be elevated in stressful conditions. Meditation can diminish the perception of pain in the brain. This may help treat chronic pain when used hand-in-hand with medical care or physical therapy as an holistic treatment.
Decrease Blood Pressure meditation can improve physical health by reducing strain on the heart. Over time, high blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood, which can lead to poor heart function. Blood pressure decreases during meditation and also over time in people who meditate regularly. This can reduce strain on the heart and arteries, helping prevent heart disease.
