meditation

Meditation was originally developed to help achieve the ideal meditative state as a way to enlightenment. Modern science has discovered that meditation has a positive effect on the mind and body that can improve various medical and psychological conditions. Discover these meditation benefits for yourself and make daily meditation part of your healthy lifestyle.

One of the main benefits of meditation is stress relief. We live in such a busy, fast-paced world and stress is becoming part of everyday life. Having a technique that you can use to relieve stress and tension, like meditation, is a valuable asset in maintaining optimum physical and mental health. Science has proven that meditation releases stress and reduces the risk of developing stress-related diseases like high blood pressure, ulcers, insomnia and heart disease.

The scientific community has concluded that meditation benefits include the slowing of alpha brain wave activity. This is different than the brain wave activity that goes on during sleep or hypnosis. During meditation the heart rate, respiration rate, and metabolic rate are considerably lower when compared to sleep and hypnotic states. And all of this happens while we’re in a completely alert state, unlike sleep and hypnosis. Though brain wave activity is still a bit of a mystery to the medical experts, many believe meditation awakens intuition as well as other extrasensory benefits.

Another benefit of meditation is improved concentration and clear thinking. Because meditation calms and quietens the mind, you feel free of the confusion of thoughts and self-talk that we often live with everyday. Meditation also strengthens the mind and helps to bring it under our conscious control to improve focus and determination. Control of the mind also helps us maintain a positive attitude and control our incessant self-talk, which is so often negative and nonconstructive. Considerable research has been done on the control the mind has over the body, which is the reason many top athletes use meditation as a way of improving their sporting performance.

Meditation has long been practiced to receive spiritual benefits like spiritual awareness, closeness to the Universe, connection to the source of life and opening of the mind to receive guidance. Meditation techniques are now being used in the fight against life-threatening disease, in treating mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders and panic attacks, for problem solving and managing lifestyles.

Certain changes have been noted in the body during meditation. The rate of breathing and heartbeat slows, there is an increase in the flow of blood around the body and a reduction in blood pressure. These changes create benefits like release of tension in the muscles, lessening of headaches and digestive discomfort, an improvement in hypertension patients, improved mood due to increased serotonin being released, improved exercise tolerance in people with heart problems and reduced incidence of anxiety attacks.

Patients who have been meditating regularly before they’ve had surgery have been shown to heal faster and recover in less time than other patients. Meditation has also been shown to have had a positive effect on the physical and mental state of patients with terminal diseases. The power of meditation extends to the immune system by increasing the cells that naturally attack bacteria, viruses and disease.

Deep relaxation and contentment are typical results of a meditation session, which helps to improve self-image and self-confidence. Meditation also helps those who are struggling to find their unique identify and sense of who they are. It allows us the freedom from everyday life to think and feel.

These many meditation benefits are backed up by research and science. Learn and practice the technique of meditation, and experience for yourself the results that thousands of people around the world have discovered.