Last updated on January 27th, 2023 at 02:36 pm
What are the benefits of meditation?
What are the benefits of meditation?
People can have difficulty getting in touch with themselves, especially when the stress of everyday activities surrounds them. Sometimes, when life becomes a bit overwhelming for us, we can find ourselves in the middle of an anxiety attack, or an even worse situation. However, there are many ways to overcome this.
With the modern era, it is increasingly difficult to stop, calm down a bit, and soak in the present moment. But more and more options have become available – one of them being meditation. If you want to read more about it and learn some of its biggest benefits, then you have come to the right place!
Meditation Explained
Meditation is a practice that has been around for thousands of years. It has been created so people can better understand the forces that guide us through life. It is considered an excellent way to delve a bit deeper into the subject of spirituality. Nowadays, people use meditation to lower their anxiety and stress levels. It is the type of activity that can do your brain some good and calm the entire body.
While meditating, you can shift your attention from one thing to another while leaving worries and negative thoughts behind you. This is a process that creates a calmer and elevated sense of self.
Benefits of meditation
Since we have established that meditation can give you that extra sense of power and balance, you can benefit from practising it by preserving your emotional well-being and your physical health too. Keep yourself centred and enjoy your inner peace.
This is why we provide you with some of the best science-based benefits of meditation below. Think about how you can incorporate it into your life, and just begin!
Reducing stress
Mindfulness meditation and breathwork have been considered to lower stress levels in the body. Once you start feeling stressed, your entire body starts to create cortisol, the hormone responsible for the fight or flight reaction from the body, and many other functions. If you are suffering from chronic stress, this means your cortisol levels are high, leading to some other issues of cardiovascular and gut nature. Since meditation calms the mind down, it can reduce chronic stress and reduce side effects.
Managing anxiety
The overwhelming tension of worry in the body can lead to a higher level of anxiety. Eventually, once you start experiencing this for a longer period, it will also start taking over your thought process and breathing pattern. This can ultimately lead to agitating the nervous system. You can notice this when your body starts sweating a lot, feeling dizzy, and your mind overthinking things – leading to an elevated heart rate. However, people who have practised meditation and mindfulness for a long time have started reaping its positive benefits and have enjoyed improved mental health.
Managing depression
While we are on the subject of mindfulness, the regular practice of meditation can lower the onset of depression too. Some studies have even shown that people who have dedicated their time to yoga and meditation for at least three months have shown significant improvement in terms of depression symptoms and improved well-being and resilience.
 Improving the immune system
If you are dealing with a disrupted immune system, the best course of action you can take is to start yoga and meditation. The stress response from the body will improve as you continue practising mindfulness and breathwork, resulting in decreased health conditions and a decreased inflammation rate.
A better mood
There is a pattern to reacting emotionally to situations and changes, and yoga and meditation will help you take control of that. Since one of the main elements of meditation is breathwork, it will allow you to take over control of your thoughts and help you have fewer impulsive reactions. This results in a calmer and clearer mind and a regulated mood. Naturally, since different meditation techniques work for different people, make sure to try a few before sticking to the one you feel works best for you.
Lowered blood pressure
Hypertension can be a thing of the past if you understand how to exercise mindfulness and meditation right. High blood pressure has affected many people worldwide, and meditation has had some positive effects on it. If you pair it with a healthier diet and balanced exercise, you can reap the benefits of meditation. Even though there are still additional studies to show the various results from the various types of meditation, the bottom line is that it can do you plenty of good.
Enjoy your memory
If you feel like your brain starts going foggy more than often, it might be time to turn to an activity that can positively impact that. Since meditation can help with anxiety and stress, it can also protect the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for memory. Furthermore, you will be able to understand better and control your thoughts and emotions.
A better night of sleep
Meditation can impact how you can sleep and improve the overall quality of sleep too. If you find yourself struggling and unable to sleep, this might happen because of things that have happened during the day, or because you worry about things that may happen tomorrow. Meditation is a way out of that vortex. It can have a long-term positive effect on sleepless nights, daytime sleep, and fatigue.
Increase self-awareness
Last but not least, meditation can help you focus on yourself and be aware of the present. You will start noticing how your thoughts come and go, and you will only focus on yourself at that moment. This is how you can strengthen the connection with yourself and start having that elevated sense of self.
While there is much more to discover on the subject of meditation, this is a good starting point for all who want to experience more of life. If you want to find out more, head over to our online meditation training page.
Namaste Elaina
Thank you for your comment on my blog post on our website! 🙂 I am sorry to hear your brother suffers anxiety and stress. Yes of course, meditation and breathwork are two extremely powerful and effective tools for those working with stress and anxiety. The benefits of developing a meditation practice are incredible. Having the knowledge and skills will empower your brother to be able to reverse the signs and symptoms of the stress and anxiety, before they come to full effect or lead to a panic attack.
If you are interested in joining our training, we actually offer a discounted special on the package combining the two (and both of them are certified teacher trainings too, so you will learn all there is to know about the techniques, the benefits, contra-indications, how to perform each, experience a session for each technique and learn how to guide others too!)
I appreciated learning how yoga and meditation actually help improve symptoms of depression. Since meditation involves breathing exercises, I wonder if it helps with anxiety as well. My brother shows symptoms of anxiety sometimes, and I want to know if meditation might be able to help him.