In this article, we are sharing amazing health benefits of daily meditation which are also proven by science.
1. Reduce stress
Doctors often recommend that you should do meditation when you’re struggling with stress.
Many people think that avoiding stress things will give them relief. But physical and mental stress can come from anywhere. It can come from our jobs, our finances, even our friends, and family. So it may not be something that you can’t avoid.
Meditation can significantly reduce your stress without any major changes to your lifestyle.
How can sitting in silence for ten or fifteen minutes have such a huge impact on your life?
When we’re stressed about anything, our bodies produce a hormone called cortisol. And cortisol is responsible for many common negative side effects associated with stress.
Negative effects of cortisol:
- Impair your memory
- Increase your blood pressure
- Disrupt your sleep
All of these can make you feel fatigued and unmotivated.
Cortisol can also lead to depression and chronic anxiety which can bring your productive lifestyle to a crashing halt.
What does Science say?
A 2013 study found that mindfulness meditation effectively deals with stress by decreasing the negative side effects of cortisol production.
A second study that examined over 1,200 participants found that regular meditation lowers stress more than medical or psychological treatment.
In both of these studies, the results were consistent for people of all ages and experience levels. So it can be an effective way to reduce your stress.
2. Build self-esteem
Self-confidence is something that almost everyone struggles with on a daily basis.
Mindfulness meditation can help you build a kind of self-esteem.
Mindfulness meditation is actually a pretty simple concept. To practice mindfulness, all you need to do is bring your complete attention to the present moment, by focusing exclusively on “where you are” and “who you are”.
Benefits of mindfulness meditation:-
- Calm
- Relaxed
- Aware
- Reduce anxiety
- Think clearly and rationally
The ultimate goal of mindfulness meditation is to get you in touch with your senses and emotions.
What does Science say?
A 2005 study showed that this deeper understanding often results in the development of self-esteem. Now in this study, researchers had a group of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer practice mindfulness meditation for 12 weeks. At the start of the study, each participant was tested and showed very low levels of self-esteem. But after 12 weeks of meditation, the entire group showed dramatic improvements despite their chronic illness.
3. Avoid depression
Mindfulness meditation also has been used as a form of therapy for individuals struggling with depression.
Not only does it reduce the production of chemicals in our brains associated with depression. But meditation also fosters a more stable emotional mindset by decreasing the presence of unhealthy behaviors.
What does Science say?
A study by the University of Exeter looked for this kind of behavior in two groups of people who were recovering from depression. The first group used only depression medication while the second group practiced mindfulness meditation at least once every day.
The researchers found that about half of the medication group ended up relapsing because of unhealthy behaviors like brooding which prevented the medication from doing its job. On the other hand those who practice meditation were significantly less likely to relapse because they were less likely to engage in any of these depressive behaviors.
4. Increase attention
For most people, the hardest thing about meditation is keeping your mind from wandering.
You’re so used to constantly thinking about your work and all your responsibilities that it can be hard to focus on something simple like your breath or the present moment.
But by practicing this kind of concentration you’re actually increasing your attention span so that you’ll be clear-headed and productive when you refocus your mind on work.
How much can meditation really affect your attention?
In 2007, a study answered this question by testing the concentrated skills of people before and after an eight-week course on mindfulness meditation. The researchers found that meditation dramatically improved their speed and performance despite having never meditated before the eight-week course.
A number of other studies have shown the same overwhelmingly positive results. Suggesting that daily meditation can heighten your focus and increase your productivity.
5. Get better sleep
How long does it take you to fall asleep at night?
Generally, it should take between ten to twenty minutes for your body to relax and shut down.
What does it mean if it takes you an hour or more to fall asleep?
Well, it could mean you’re just going to bed too early. But difficulty falling asleep can also be a sign of insomnia.
Over half the population has dealt with insomnia which can last anywhere from a few days to a few years.
Most people would think to resolve the issue with sleeping pills but these can have a number of nasty side effects including addiction and fatigue. So psychologists have begun recommending meditation as a healthy and safe alternative.
By meditating before bed you give your body and your mind the time to reduce stress and physically wind down.
What does Science say?
According to a 2015 study, this short period of relaxation can significantly improve the quality of your sleep even for chronic insomniacs. It can help you fall asleep sooner, stay asleep longer, and stop you from randomly waking up in the middle of the night.
6. Control pain
The amount of pain that you feel is often based around your own perception. In other words, if you can learn to control your state of mind you can often lessen the amount of pain you’re feeling at any given time.
Daily mindfulness meditation is an effective way to hone that controlled mentality which will allow you to cope with and lessen the amount of pain that you’re feeling.
What does Science say?
A 2011 study found that individuals who meditate every day seem to experience less pain than everyone else. They discovered this by looking at the activity of their brains while in pain finding that they reacted significantly less to painful stimuli in comparison to people who had never meditated before.
Another study tested pain tolerance and over 3,000 participants who were struggling with chronic pain. They found that those participants who practice daily meditation were far better at coping with their pain. Whether you struggle with a chronic illness or just won a lesson the amount of pain that you feel the next time you get hurt. Daily meditation can potentially decrease your perception of pain.
7. Improve memory
Daily meditation can have a huge effect on the parts of our brain that store and recover memories.
What does Science say?
A study in 2013, in which a group of researchers examines the brains of people who had never meditated versus people who meditated every day. They found that the brains of longtime meditators were more developed in a number of different areas. The regions associated with memory were some of the most prominent. These regions were thicker more intricate and more active than their counterparts which the researchers attributed to daily meditation. This means they not only have an easier time recalling events from their long-term memory but can also store information much more efficiently.
