If you are intrigued in studying how to meditate, but you’re unsure whether it would be beneficial or even possible, there are some benefits of mindfulness meditation. This particular type of meditation is considered to be a powerful tool for enhancing your health and wellbeing. However, you don’t need to be an aspiring monk to benefit from this form of practice.
Anyone can incorporate meditation into their daily life and reap the many positive benefits of it. Even if you want to find some methods for relaxing yourself and taking control of your mental state, this practice may be perfect for you. You can also try a free meditation course to learn whether you like this practice or not.
While most people relate meditation to being a Buddhist monk, several different traditions emphasize the same idea. The word “meditation” originated in Sanskrit. It merely means “to concentrate.” However, researchers have found that the act of focusing your thoughts on an object while relaxing your entire body has genuine physiological benefits. A variety of scientists and researchers have studied these benefits over the past several years.
Combat depression and other mental disorders
One of the most notable advantages of mindful meditation is reducing the symptoms and frequency of obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depression. You can practice mindfulness on your own just by downloading a mindful meditation app online.
Some researchers believe that the disorder may increase due to the lack of attention it gives you. Some of the symptoms associated with these two disorders include anxiety, intrusive thoughts, mood swings, and insomnia.
Many people who experience one or more of these ailments often say that they only become aware that they have these conditions when a medical professional is looking into them.
For these people, the effects of meditation can be extremely beneficial since they can gain more control over their thoughts and improve their mental wellbeing.
Physiological benefits
The act of meditation is also believed to have a positive effect on your physical wellbeing. For example, the practice of mindfulness practice, which is a standard part of most types of meditation, can help you to:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Lose unwanted pounds
- Lower cholesterol
- Improve circulation
- Lower blood pressure
- Decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression
- Improve your immune system
Many people who regularly practice this type of meditation say that they experience fewer physiological disorders and a host of other common ailments. In fact when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, it is common knowledge that eating disorders affect sleep. Therefore it is vital to use this form of meditation to correct poor eating habits.
While this is by no means definitive proof that meditation causes all of these effects, it is undeniable that it does play an essential role in many people’s overall wellbeing.
Possible help for addictive personalities
In addition to the many physiological benefits of mindfulness meditation, according to many experts, there are also several psychosocial benefits.
For example, some psychologists believe that it can reduce the risk of developing addictive behaviors, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, and sex addiction. Additionally, many psychotherapists say that they see a significant reduction in patients currently suffering from severe depression.
Stress reduction
One of the most encouraging research areas on the relationship between mindfulness meditation and depression is its relationship and stress.
According to several studies, including a study published in Psychological Science by Temple Grandin and her colleagues, people who regularly practiced this form of mental training were less likely to exhibit symptoms of both depression and high-stress levels.
In this study, participants listened to a sad speech by a familiar person before responding about their lives and health. The participants also had to complete a questionnaire regarding their levels of physical and psychological stress. The researchers found that the level of stress was related to how participants responded to the sad speech.
Other research has looked at how the mindful awareness practiced during mindfulness meditation may affect memory processes. During the study, participants were given a questionnaire about their physical and mental work levels, which required them to read letters from the computer and respond to basic questions about their daily lives.
Aside from the reduction in work, researchers observed that those who were more aware of their bodily sensations and were more able to respond with cognitive empathy had better short-term memory performance than those who were not.
Summary
The benefits of this type of meditation practice on health and wellness are only the tip of the iceberg. Although it has been shown to have beneficial effects on depression and anxiety symptoms, future research will need to look deeper into the specifics of the practice to draw definite conclusions about its effectiveness.
For now, however, the evidence is very promising. As more people look to mindfulness practices to better maintain mental and physical wellbeing, the field of medical meditation may benefit from a greater awareness of the potential impact this practice can have on our wellbeing.