During our busy lives, we forget that our health is more important than closing the new pharmaceutical deal, driving the kids to their soccer game or picking up the takeaways. If your excuse is that you do not have time to go to the gym or that the restaurants around you not stocked with healthy foods, then what is the quickest and most effective alternative to improve your health? Meditation.
We have gleaned from various reliable health experts, one of which is Mommy Authority, which meditation is good for heart health. Multiple studies have proven that meditation improves hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and high cortisol levels, which is the stress hormone. Once you begin to meditate, you are more likely to engage in other healthy activities as well.
What is meditation?
Although the word gets often used in our society, most people are not aware of what meditation is. Sure people believe that meditation is the mental concentration on an object or an event, while others feel that we meditate when we envisage an experience that gives us great joy. Meditation experts claim that you are contemplating only when you are in complete state of thoughtless awareness. The experts say that you are either in the country or you are not. One can engage in meditation while toiling just as much as a man who is in a lotus position in an Asian forest.
What meditation is not:
- Mental effort
- Exercise
- Loss of control
- Concentration
The experts explain meditation as a state of peace that happens when the mind is serene and silent but is still aware of its surroundings. When you can reach this state, this is the beginning of the transformation that elevates us to a higher level of awareness.
What are the health benefits?
Meditation can reduce stress
We all have to deal with stress from time to time. The biggest problem with stress is that it causes agitation. Researchers have shown that individuals who meditate can be in control of their emotions and their nervous system. These individuals can regulate emotions in their brains.
Meditation increases self-awareness
During reflection, attuned to your surroundings and your temperament. Individuals who meditate on a consistent basis have been able to recognize their negative traits, such as being excessively angry and can detach themselves from those feelings. Meditation practitioners have stated that the practice has enabled them to clear their mind and to calm down.
Meditation slows aging
The researchers who embarked on the study of meditation discovered that the practice could influence the way the brain functions. The researchers stated that meditation changes the brain physiology to slow aging. Meditators have shown signs of being able to preserve their cognitive functions. The studies had shown that meditators have more brain cells at old age than people who did not meditate when they were younger.
Meditation has cardiovascular and immune health benefits
When you meditate, your body goes into a relaxed mode; thereby, it can naturally increase the compound nitric oxide that causes blood vessels to open up, allowing for blood pressure to decrease. A critical study conducted had proven that more than half of individuals who had high blood pressure were able to stop taking their medication after they began meditating.
Meditation improves concentration
Individuals who practiced meditation on a regular basis have proven to be able to multitask more effectively and efficiently than those who do not meditate. Meditation increases one’s ability to focus and improves memory.
Ways to meditate
- Mantra – to hinder thoughts that may be distracting, repeat a word that you construe as serene.
- Qi Gong – this form of practice is related to Chinese medicine and requires you to combine relaxation, meditation, breathing exercises and physical movement to ensure balance.
- Tai-Chi – you need to breathe in deep while performing a series of postures or movements in a slow manner.
- Yoga – the aim is to promote a more flexible body by performing a series of postures.
- Guided Meditation – use your senses to form a mental picture of a place or person that makes you feel relaxed.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
