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Adopting a healthy lifestyle is one of the health tips that I hear most often from podcast guests. Meditation practice. In fact, on-air or off-air, I’d estimate that at least half of all guests have mentioned this as being one of the most impactful parts of their life. The science backs it up!
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of meditation.
What is meditation?
What is meditation? Meditation is derived from the Latin word MeditariThe art of meditation is to think, contemplate, or meditate. Meditation is an art. Directing attention. When we meditate, we focus our attention on specific words, thoughts, or actions.
Although many religions and belief systems incorporate meditation, it doesn’t have to be attached to these practices. Science is proving how beneficial meditation can be. For years I thought I was bad at meditating because I couldn’t clear my mind. Turns out, it’s not about that!
Some meditation types focus on visualization. Some meditations focus on a specific emotion, such as love, forgiveness, or kindness. Some focus their attention on the feelings of forgiveness, kindness and love. Deep BreathsRhythmic motions like walking or jogging or repeated blessings.
Most people have preconceived ideas about what meditation is and isn’t. The great thing is that there’s not just one way to meditate. There are several very different methods, which means there’s something for everyone.
How Meditation Works
Meditation training is said to improve brain structure. The gray matter of your brain can be increased by a daily practice over a period of several weeks. Gray matter is higher in long-term meditators than non-meditators.
What does this mean to your brain health, exactly? Meditation can improve emotional balance and memory. LearnabilityIt also improves your ability to solve problems, plan ahead and make decisions. This can have a variety of benefits, including improving your career and personal relationships.
Meditation can lower levels of anxiety and depression. Stress hormone cortisolIt increases serotonin. Studies have shown that it can be as effective as antidepressant drugs. In a 2014 systematic review and Meta-analysis, meditation was shown to be just as effective as antidepressants.
It was the same as the medication, despite the minimal improvement. The same results, but without side effects. While these results came from daily practice over 2 to 6 months, meditation sessions don’t have to be long. Even 10 minutes of meditation can help reduce stress, improve focus and other things.
The field of neuroscience recognizes meditation’s potential. Neuroscientists have only just begun to study the mechanisms of meditation. In my interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza.
Benefits of meditation for health
The science continues to validate a therapy that has been used by many cultures for thousands years. According to research, regular meditation can help with a variety of health conditions.
Mental Health
Meditation is particularly beneficial to mental health and emotional stability. Here are a few of the ways that it can improve your overall quality of life.
- Combatting Food cravings
- How to boost low self-esteem
- Calming elevated levels of stress
- Anxiety disorders can be soothed by a variety of methods
- Reduce the symptoms of depression
- Improve symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Self-awareness is a good way to increase your awareness.
Meditation has numerous benefits. Meditation is a practice that can be beneficial for many reasons. adapt under stress.
Physical Health
Meditation isn’t just helpful for your mental health. Meditation can help with digestion, pain, sleep and reduce the risk of serious health conditions. Here are a few positive effects that meditation has on your physical health:
- Improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Improve symptoms of fibromyalgia
- Chronic pain can be relieved
- Reducing tension headaches
- Reduce resting heart rate
- High blood pressure can be reduced
- Heart disease: Lowering your risk
- Poor sleep hygiene is a problem that needs to be addressed
- Improving Immune system
- Supporting well-being
Even the traditional healthcare system is beginning to recognize its benefits. Mayo Clinic and other places recommend meditation as a way to reduce stress. Researchers have shown that meditation improves health and quality-of-life.
Types Meditation
There are many types of meditation to explore. There are many types of meditation. Some follow specific instructions, while others follow general guidelines. These are a selection of some of the most popular:
Ziva Meditation
Emily Fletcher founded this powerful type of meditation. It gives you rest that’s five times deeper than sleep. Ziva is a sleep aid that focuses on improving sleep and reducing anxiety. It’s the perfect combo for moms.
Read more about Ziva MeditationYou can find out how here. My podcast is also available. Interview with Emily here.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Relief
You focus on the present moment when you meditate. You focus on the Flow of your Breath, any thoughts that arise, and how you’re feeling. This type of mediation helps to stop mental chatter, and thoughts about lists of things to do. This type of meditation shifts the focus from doing to being.
A specific mindfulness-based program is Mindfulness-Based Stress Relief (MBSR). This meditation program was introduced by Jon Kabat- Zinn and is designed to help reduce suffering in those with chronic pain.
Meditation can help reduce disease markers. Disease. In 2021, a review of six MBSR-related studies concluded that it could be a helpful intervention for high blood tension. In 2011, a review of 18 studies found that it improved the symptoms of chronic conditions. Both physical and mental conditions were included.
MBSR may even help you worry less. This type of meditation has been shown to shrink the part in the brain responsible for fear and anxiety. The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for planning and focusing, may be strengthened by this type of meditation.
Guided Meditation
The guided meditation can also be called guided imagery, or just visualization. The “guided” aspect usually comes from listening to a class leader or recording. They lead you in visualizing a beautiful, relaxing place.
In this type of mediation, you are encouraged to use all of your senses. You imagine what it is like to see, hear or smell. The more senses you use, the better. Endorphins may give you goosebumps or tingles.
A guided meditation can help you relax and fall asleep.
Meditation of Loving-Kindness
Meditation on loving-kindness (LKM) or “Metta” is a traditional Buddhist practice. It is a traditional Buddhist practice that focuses on sending positive energy and love out into the world. It is a way to send love and positive energy out into the world. It begins by cultivating feelings love and You can be kind to yourself. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This practice includes phrases. Sending out wishes or prayers for yourself or others is part of this practice. Examples include:
- “May I be healthy.”
- “May I be confident.”
- “May I be joyful.”
- “May you be healthy and strong.”
- “May you be successful in everything you do.”
As you begin with self-love, it expands outward to family, friends, acquaintances, and even people you don’t like. The feelings of love are then extended to everyone in the world. This intentional loving extends to animals as well.
LKM was found to reduce self-criticism in a 2014 study. This meditation is also beneficial for those with post-traumatic disorder (PTSD). This meditation helped to reduce symptoms and improve self-compassion.
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Mediation is a popular form of meditation introduced to Westerners by a yoga guru from India in 1959. The practice consists of sitting silently for 20 minutes, with the eyes closed. The meditator then repeats the mantra repeatedly. This technique can be used to calm an anxious body and mind.
More than 6 million people worldwide have studied transcendental Meditation.
How to Meditate
All forms of meditation begin with finding a place that is quiet and where you can concentrate. You can meditate in nature. forest-bathe. Meditation and walking go very well together. Find a place that is calm, such as a nature trail. You can then focus on the sounds, sights or smells around you.
You can also meditate by simply deep breathing. Choose a quiet spot to sit, or even lie down. Focus on your breathing. Your mind may wander, so gently direct your attention to your breathing. Yoga and deep breathing go well together.
You can easily incorporate mindfulness meditation into your everyday routine. Just direct complete attention to something you’re doing, like brewing tea or shelling peas. Folding laundry can help you focus. The main thing is to make sure you won’t be interrupted.
Use mindfulness to be aware of your thinking patterns. Dr. Amen calls them “ANTs” or Automatic Negative Thoughts. Once you’re aware of your repetitive thoughts, you can make a deliberate effort to change them. You can then make a conscious effort to change them. Self-limiting thoughtsEmpowering others.
The idea isn’t to necessarily sit in the lotus position and empty our minds. Meditation can be a very useful tool, even if some people prefer to do it that way.
How Do I Use Meditation?
Over the years, my meditation has changed. I used to get bored easily and my mind would wander. I’d start thinking about new blog post ideas and that load of laundry that needed to be switched to the drier. For a time, I thought I wasn’t very good at meditation.
Since I’ve learned more about how to actually do it, I’ve found it to be really beneficial. For me it’s about focusing on my breathing, settling myself, or even just practicing gratitude. It’s something that’s helpful to include in a daily Nighttime Routine too.
Children Can Benefit from Meditation
When children daydream and lose themselves in their little worlds, they are practicing meditation. They may get so engrossed in drawing or building a sand castle that they’re completely unaware of the world around them.
Children can learn to meditate with focussed attention. Some forms of mediation can help kids with their attention at school; others aid with getting better sleep. In the last few years, school-based mindfulness programmes have become increasingly popular.
Children’s meditation techniques tend to emphasize mindfulness, visualization and breathwork. Imagine their favorite place. Pay attention to everything they feel, see, hear and smell.
Combining breathwork with yoga poses will help them to focus on their body and breathe. It helps to calm their minds, and keeps them in the present.
These techniques allow them to bring their focus inward and let the external stress drift away. Then, when they’re feeling scared, overwhelmed, or upset, they have those tools to self-soothe.
Bottom Line on Meditation
For a long period of time, I was against the idea. Although I tried it a few time, I didn’t feel any difference or notice any benefits until I started a regular meditation practice. Meditation slowly changed from something I believed I could do to a regular practice. It is not necessary to use Do something that I was looking forward to.
It became a part of my daily life. You can incorporate meditation in your daily routine in an almost infinite number of ways. The best part is that meditation can be an individualized experience. You can choose the meditation or mindfulness technique that works best for your needs.
Do you meditate regularly? Have you ever meditated? Mindfulness practice? Please share your thoughts with us!
Sources
- Schulte, B. (May 2015). Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brain. The Washington Post
- Goyal, M., et al. (2014). The effectiveness of meditation for stress management and psychological well-being. A systematic review with meta-analysis. JAMA internal medicine, 174(3), 357–368.
- Walton, A. G. (February 9, 2015). Meditation Changes the Brain in 7 Ways. Forbes.
- Hofmann, S. G., Grossman, P., & Hinton, D. E. (2011). Love-kindness meditation and compassion: Psychological interventions that can be based on it. Clinical psychology review, 31(7), 1126–1132.
- Shahar, B., et al. (2015). A randomized controlled study of a loving-kindness meditation program for self-criticism. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 22(4), 346–356.
- Seppala, E.M., et al. (2014). Loving-kindness Meditation: A Tool to Improve Healthcare Provider Compassion, Resilience, and Patient Care. Journal of Compassionate Health Care 1, 5.
- Tang, YY., Hölzel, B. & Posner, M. (2015). The neuroscience behind mindfulness meditation. Nature Review Neuroscience, 16, 213–225.
- Mayo Clinic Staff (April 29 2022). Meditation is a simple and fast way to reduce anxiety. Mayo Clinic Website
- Janssen, M., et al. (2018). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on employees’ mental health: A systematic review. PloS one, 13(1), e0191332.
- Taren, A. A., Creswell, J. D., & Gianaros, P. J. (2013).Dispositional mindfulness co-varies with smaller Amygdala volumes and caudate volume in community adults. PLOS ONE, 8(5), e64574.
- Conversano, C., et al. (2021). Does Mindfulness-Based Stress Relief Work for Hypertension Patients?? A Systematic Analysis and Meta-Analysis 30 Years of Evidence Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), 2882.
- Niazi, A. K., & Niazi, S. K. (2011).Mindfulness-based approach to chronic illness: non-pharmacological stress reduction. North American journal for medical sciences, 3(1), 20–23.
- Kearney, D. J., et al. (2013). A pilot study of loving-kindness for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(4), 426–434.
- Gryczynski, J., et al. (2018). Integration of Transcendental Meditation® (TM) into alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment. Journal of substance use treatment, 87, 23–30.
- Krishnakumar, D., et al. (2015). Modern scientific perspective on how meditation and yoga can modulate brain mechanisms that affect behavior and anxiety. Ancient science, 2(1), 13–19.
