Meditation, a technique being practised for thousands of years, was originally meant to help deepen an individual's understanding of life's sacred and mystical forces. Over time, meditation commonly became a way of relaxation and stress reduction. This technique is considered to be a type of complementary mind-body medicine where it produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. There are a lot of benefits of meditation that you should know of if you're someone who hasn't gotten around the effects of meditation yet. We're here to tell you all about the advantages of meditation that might encourage you to start doing it right away.
People practice meditation majorly to reduce stress in their daily lives. Mental and physical stress can cause increased levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which leads to many harmful effects of stress like disrupted sleep, anxiety and depression, fatigue and cloudy thinking and increased blood pressure. Mindfulness meditation helps reduce the inflammation response caused by stress. A few benefits of meditation include improving the symptoms of stress-related conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.
When you practice focused attention meditation, it helps increase the strength and endurance of your attention. It can even reverse patterns in the brain that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying and even poor attention span. Aren't these some of the best meditation benefits for the brain? Even if you meditate for a short duration each day, it can significantly enhance your attention and memory.
When you meditate consistently, it improves awareness and you are then less likely to blame others and indulge in negative emotions like anger. The way you hold onto events also reduces drastically, making you the person who lets go of negative feelings easily. One of the many benefits of meditation is that you start feeling more love in your relationships as this technique helps release more oxytocin - the hormone that promotes feelings of love and social bonding.
Now that you're clear with the benefits of meditation, let's discuss the distinct features that different types of meditation include in helping you meditate better.
You can meditate in whatever position you like - sitting on a chair, lying on your bed, walking or in any other position that makes you feel the most comfortable. Just make sure none of your body parts gets stiff or uncomfortable while you're meditating. Aim at maintaining a good posture throughout the meditation session.
-
1. Benefits of Meditation on Mind & Body
-
2. Elements of Meditation
-
3. Frequently Asked Questions On Benefits Of Meditation
-
4. Conclusion
Benefits of Meditation on Mind & Body:
Benefits of meditation don't end with your meditation session. This is a technique that helps you carry yourself more calmly throughout the day and helps you manage symptoms of certain medical conditions as well. Let's look at all the advantages of meditation and the benefits of the same physically, emotionally and mentally.1. Reduces Stress:
People practice meditation majorly to reduce stress in their daily lives. Mental and physical stress can cause increased levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which leads to many harmful effects of stress like disrupted sleep, anxiety and depression, fatigue and cloudy thinking and increased blood pressure. Mindfulness meditation helps reduce the inflammation response caused by stress. A few benefits of meditation include improving the symptoms of stress-related conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.
2. Enhances Self-Awareness:
One of the advantages of meditation is that it develops a stronger understanding of yourself, which helps you grow into your best version. There are some forms of meditation that teach you to recognise thoughts that may be self-defeating. When you achieve greater awareness of your thought habits, you have the ability to steer them towards more constructive patterns. All-in-all, experience in meditation cultivates more creative problem-solving skills.3. Increases Attention Span:
When you practice focused attention meditation, it helps increase the strength and endurance of your attention. It can even reverse patterns in the brain that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying and even poor attention span. Aren't these some of the best meditation benefits for the brain? Even if you meditate for a short duration each day, it can significantly enhance your attention and memory.
4. Can Make You Kinder:
Of all the advantages of meditation, one is where it increases positive feelings and actions towards yourself as well as others. Metta is one such meditation type, which is known as loving-kindness meditation that begins with developing kind thoughts and feelings towards yourself. When you practice it consistently, you learn to extend this kindness and forgiveness externally - to friends, then acquaintances and to enemies too.5. Improves Sleep:
Almost half the population has struggled with insomnia at some point in life. Mindfulness-based meditation helps you stay asleep longer and improves insomnia severity. When you become skilled in meditation, it helps you control or redirect the racing thoughts that usually lead to insomnia. One of the many benefits of meditation is that it helps relax your body, releases tension and places you in a peaceful state of mind, which makes you fall asleep at ease.6. May Help Fight Addictions:
You can develop mental discipline through meditation, which aids in breaking dependencies by increasing your self-control and awareness of triggers for addictive behaviours. This technique helps an individual redirect their attention, manage their emotions and increase their understanding of the cause behind their addiction.7. Helps Control Pain:
Did you know that your perception of pain is actually linked to your state of mind and can be elevated in stressful conditions? Incorporating meditation into your routine can be beneficial for controlling pain. One of the benefits of meditation is that you can train your mind into thinking that it is at ease, relaxed and calm, which automatically helps your body feel less pain than it might actually be.8. Decreases Blood Pressure:
When you're stressed, overwhelmed or anxious, your blood pressure can shoot up drastically. This is because your mind and body are feeling distressed and fighting hard to get out of the situation. One of the health benefits of meditation is that it can help reduce blood pressure, and relax the nerve signals that coordinate heart friction, blood vessel tension and the fight-or-flight response that increases your alertness in stressful situations.9. Improves Relationships:
When you meditate consistently, it improves awareness and you are then less likely to blame others and indulge in negative emotions like anger. The way you hold onto events also reduces drastically, making you the person who lets go of negative feelings easily. One of the many benefits of meditation is that you start feeling more love in your relationships as this technique helps release more oxytocin - the hormone that promotes feelings of love and social bonding.
Now that you're clear with the benefits of meditation, let's discuss the distinct features that different types of meditation include in helping you meditate better.
Elements of Meditation:
These elements may vary based on whose guidance you follow or who's teaching a class. Some of the most common features include:1. Focused Attention:
This is one of the most important elements of meditation. Focusing your attention is basically what helps free your mind from all the distractions that cause you stress and worry. You can focus your attention on specific objects, an image, a mantra or just your breathing.2. Relaxed Breathing:
In this technique, you indulge in deep, even-paced breathing where you use your diaphragm muscle to expand your lungs to their fullest capacity. The main purpose of this is to slow your breathing, take in more oxygen and reduce the use of your shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles along with breathing so that you breathe more efficiently.3. A Quiet Setting:
If you're just starting off with meditation as a new practice, try meditating in a quiet spot with fewer distractions, away from radios, cell phones or television. Once you get more consistent and skilled at the technique, you will be able to meditate anywhere and anytime. Acing the quiet setting makes you skilled at meditating even in high-stress situations where you benefit the most from meditation like a traffic jam, a stressful workday or a long line at the grocery store.4. A Comfortable Position:
You can meditate in whatever position you like - sitting on a chair, lying on your bed, walking or in any other position that makes you feel the most comfortable. Just make sure none of your body parts gets stiff or uncomfortable while you're meditating. Aim at maintaining a good posture throughout the meditation session.
