7 reasons why you should meditate regularly

Summary:

An age-old practice that pulls one into the zen mode. Read this article to know how else meditation can help someone who regularly practices it.

It is a simple process of relaxing and letting go of all the stress and worries piling up during the day. Originated in India, this is an age-old practice that has been passed down for many millenniums now, used widely all around the world in the present time to help a person de-stress and calm themselves, be mentally stabilized, and get rid of physical ailments. The word comes from the Latin word ‘Meditatio,’ meaning ‘to ponder.’

The meditation process requires next to nothing equipment other than a quiet place to relax and find peace of mind. It may or may not involve bodily movements, but that is up to the practitioner. The process essentially requires the person to relax in a comfortable posture and practice mindfulness by concentrating on anything with closed eyes, an object, a particular word, or even the breathing pattern. The mind could go adrift during this process, but that is entirely normal, and the focus should go back to concentrating on the focal point.

Why Meditation?

Meditation has proved to be helpful for mental as well as physical health. Here are a few of those health issues that Meditation can help with.

Anxiety

Many of us feel anxious worrying over things — career, education, family, the list goes on. Prolonged anxiety can cause serious physical problems eventually. This could affect our mental health and possibly impact our lifestyle choices, thereby plunging us further into the downward spiral. Meditating helps reduce anxiousness and nervousness by allowing the brain to relax and find peace of mind amidst the chaos of the modern lifestyle.

Insomnia

Sleeplessness has become a fairly common problem these days. The lack of sleep could be due to underlying reasons such as anxiety, mental disorders, or pain. While this disrupts sleep and the person’s overall routine, it also reduces productivity at a significant scale. Mindfulness meditation could help the person set aside the worries for a while and help them mentally relax and finally fall asleep.

Pain

Bodily pains are a hassle when it comes to a normal functioning lifestyle. The pain gets challenging to endure at times, and it eventually hampers the individual’s lifestyle. Studies have proven that mindfulness meditation helps take the mind off the pain and shifts the focus from the pain to the Meditation’s focal point, thereby reducing the pain to an extent, giving the individual a sense of relief.

High blood pressure

Hypertension has also turned into a fairly common health issue in recent times. There are 9.4 million deaths worldwide every year due to complications developed by hypertension. The primary reasons behind high blood pressure are an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, and a high sodium intake. While changing the lifestyle can bring about a significant change in artery health, a fair amount of Meditation has been proved to be pretty helpful in controlling hypertension. Slow breathing relaxes the central nervous system, which relaxes the cardiovascular system and the healing process. So, breathe in, breathe out, and relax away.

Lack of concentration

Concentration is required at all life stages, whether studying, working, or watching their favorite TV show or a big game. Concentrating could be an issue even for people without ADHD. Studies say that meditating has significantly improved the ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand without drifting away to other wandering thoughts. Meditation is a practice that involves relaxing and breathing while being comfortable, getting into the Zen mode.

Smoking habits

Smoking habits are hard to quit as nicotine in tobacco tends to be quite addictive. People from all age groups have either struggled to quit the habit or have given up on stopping. It generally requires willpower and a lot of self-control to give up on the deadly craving. With a thorough training of mind and the body, it has been observed that it is possible to give up on smoking and eventually quit.

Physical ailments

Meditation has been known to cure many other bodily issues that are not essentially associated with mental disorders. Some of them include back pain, respiration issues, and stomach problems, to name a few. It all traces back to training one’s mind to concentrate on a particular target rather than focusing on the pain and the discomfort, which eventually trains the body to reduce and ultimately eliminate the problem.

If done correctly in the long run, Meditation could be highly beneficial to one’s body and mind. It can cure many diseases, making the practitioner healthy from the inside out. What’s best is that it doesn’t come with any known side effects. Anyone of any age group could do it except maybe some optional exercises that go with it could be difficult for someone who’s physically limited. But overall, Meditation is incredible. After all, one needs to calm the mind and relax the body after a long day of hustling. Bonus on keeping the body healthy without moving a muscle!

Points to remember:

• Meditation has numerous benefits. Try to engage in it as much as you can.
• It has mental as well as physical benefits.
• Regular practice of yoga can get rid of a lot of long-term ailments over time.

References:

• Rubia K. 2002. The neurobiology of Meditation and its clinical effectiveness in psychiatric disorders. Biological Psychology, 82(1), pp. 1–11.
• Tang Y-Y, Tang R, Posner MI. 2013. Brief meditation training induces smoking reduction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(34), pp. 13971–13975.
• Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ, Balderson BH, et al. 2016. Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction vs cognitive behavioral therapy or usual care on back pain and functional limitations in adults with chronic low back pain. JAMA. 315(12), pp. 1240–1249.
• Barrett B, Hayney MS, Muller D, et al. 2012. Meditation or exercise for preventing acute respiratory infection: a randomized controlled trial. Annals of Family Medicine. 10, pp. 337–346.
• Gaylord SA, Palsson OS, Garland EL, et al., 2011. Mindfulness training reduces the severity of irritable bowel syndrome in women: results of a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 106(9), pp. 1678–1688.