Meditation has attained such widespread familiarity that nearly everyone is either acquainted with it or has been recommended to try it by a friend or a therapist.
Almost about 14.3% of Americans have tried meditation. There are so many types of meditation having different, yet similar benefits. From mindfulness meditation to manage stress and anxiety and metta meditation to generate kindness, to progressive relaxation for better sleep, every meditation aims for a peaceful, happy state of being. If you thought meditation was all about sitting still, tai chi, also known as meditation in motion, will prove you wrong. It’s a flow of gentle movements done without pause and has shown some benefits in reducing the risk of falling, easing arthritis pain, and more in senior adults.
Mindfulness also has numerous benefits. While meditation and mindfulness share similar characteristics, they may differ in the way they are practiced. Mindfulness is about intentionally being aware of the present without judgment. Meditation can involve mindfulness but is also a more structured practice where you focus in the moment to enhance your state of mind. It usually starts with deep breathing techniques.
Let’s find out about the benefits of meditation.
Physical and Mental Benefits of Meditation
Anxiety
Would meditation work as well as a medical drug? That’s what this study found. An 8-week meditation course was taught to people, and at the end of the study, they reported the same results as people who took medicine. The participants were engaged in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a practice based on Vipassana meditation principles. It involved direct attention to one body part at a time and non-judgment of their negative thoughts.
Attention Span
Meditation changes the brain in many ways, one of which is expanding the areas related to focus. Mindful meditation, which comprises paying attention to body sensations, strengthens the connection between areas of the brain related to stress and focus. A study found that people who practiced mindfulness were better at shutting out distractions and focusing for long periods of time. Meditation also helped participants split their attention between two different things and improve their memory to keep and recall information. This is especially helpful as we grow older.
Emotional Regulation
When you’re stressed, your emotions go for a toss. Seemingly small things trigger you, even your partner or co-worker simply talking too loud would be enough to make you annoyed. You seem to always be angry, annoyed, or simply too tired to process any emotions.
Sometimes, people get afraid of their emotions. Afraid of accepting them and processing the fact that they’re angry or frustrated. At times, it’s difficult to even know we’re having big blown-out reactions.
So where does meditation come in? Long periods of meditation help control emotions, even when the person is not actively meditating. A survey showed how participants were less afraid of their feelings, and were able to reduce stress and anger. Meditation helps people be more stable and help them navigate the ups and downs of the present with more ease.
Stress
It may feel like stress is everywhere in your body. When you feel an ache, you probably don’t realize that you have clenched your jaws and teeth. Those are your responses to stress. Stress is when things overwhelm you, and your body is trying to fight or fight its way out of the situation.
What does meditation do? Research shows that meditation reduces the volume of brain cells in the amygdala (which handles your flight or fight response). This would mean that you have improved attention span and emotional regulation, both of which are needed to manage stress. It’s also shown to help you reduce the amount of negative thoughts in reaction to stress. Further, stop them from repeating over and over again, which eventually enables you to focus on the present situation and stay aware.
Sleep
Prolonged and untreated stress usually starts a domino effect of other physical and mental issues, one of which is disturbed sleep. Meditation helps with better and deeper sleep and for longer hours too. It does so by calming down racing thoughts, triggering a relaxation response, and drawing your attention to the present. Meditation also affects parts of your brain involved in mood regulation and more. What’s more, it may also increase melatonin, the sleep hormone, and activate parts of the brain that regulate sleep.
Blood Pressure
When your body is stressed, it releases a bunch of hormones that cause your heart to beat faster and narrow your blood vessels. This increases short-term blood pressure, which may lead to damaged arteries, heart attacks, strokes, etc. So, it’s in your best interest to calm down.
Meditation seems to calm activity in the part of your nervous system, which narrows blood vessels and increases activity in the part of the nervous system that widens blood vessels. Nitric oxide, a molecule, helps to widen these blood vessels. A small study showed that people who meditated and practiced relaxation techniques had a higher amount of this molecule compared to others.
Pain Management
Pain management is difficult. Not only do you have to deal with the initial pain, but everything else that follows. You stress about how much pain you’re in, and wonder how it has negatively impacted your life. The intensity and persistence of pain can also put a strain on relationships. It can create a haze, and you don’t think about anything else. So, how does meditation help?
Mindfulness meditation can reduce chronic pain by 90%. It has been shown to reduce overthinking related to pain, improve relaxation, reduce stress, improve emotional awareness, and help you stay aware of the moment. Your brain calms down, and in turn, you get better at pain management.
It also increases cortical thickness (cerebral cortex in the brain responsible for memory and learning) in long-term meditators, which lowers pain sensitivity.
Immune System
A study conducted on participants of Inner Engineering, a course offered by the Isha Foundation, showed a significant improvement on their immune system. The results found activity in genes responsible for interferons (a protein), which warns your immune system to defend against incoming viruses, bacteria, etc. It was further elaborated that this improvement was because of meditation and not other factors like diet, sleep, etc.
Slows Down Aging
Our DNA (chromosomes) contains a small protein tacked on its end called telomeres. As we age, it shortens. Factors like chronic stress, diet, sleeping habits, and more influence the size of the telomeres. An enzyme called telomerase rebuilds the telomeres. Several studies have shown that long-time meditation results in longer telomere length and increased activity of telomerase. Loving kindness meditation, zen meditation (Zazen), chanting meditation (kirtan kriya), etc. have been employed in these studies.
Meditation and Depression
Depression is triggered by anxiety and stress, both of which can be tackled with meditation. It can also help prevent a relapse of depression. Meditation is especially helpful for people suffering from mild-to-moderate depression. It helps you break out of that cycle of negative thoughts by focusing on the present, and accepting your thoughts without judgment. It also helps you prepare for stressful situations in life.
Depression causes an increased activity in a part of the brain that processes information about self (prefrontal cortex), the part that’s engaged when you think about your worries and future. There’s also the amygdala which releases stress hormones to a perceived danger, which doesn’t exist for real . Meditation interrupts the connection between these two regions.
Improve Performance at Work
- Meditation can help you focus and sustain attention. Increased attention means you develop better problem-solving capacity, critical thinking skills, and more. With a decluttered mind, you can get much more done!
- It helps you deal with job-related stress and anxiety in a workplace that’s filled with distractions. Annoying pop notifications, work emails, and loud conversations across another cubicle are part and parcel of a workplace, but you can get better at blocking them out.
- Meditation done in a group setting can help improve teamwork and collaboration.
- It can also improve empathy and compassion toward other people.
- All these above effects can gradually lead to improved job satisfaction at work.
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