The Invisible Benefits of a Daily Meditation Practice
Posted: Sep 27 in Healthy Lifestyle by Staff
Meditation is becoming increasingly popular among people who want to better themselves. Practitioners tend to feel more calm and joyful after they’ve meditated, and there are even claims that it can help treat and prevent diseases. Since meditation is mostly a solitary practice, it can be difficult to verify such claims. Is it that people who meditate already have better immune systems, or does meditation help an immune system to become better? The research is a bit fuzzy. However, there are scientifically-supported benefits of meditation that may not seem as huge as cancer prevention, but that extend to multiple areas of your life. Even if meditation isn’t a cure-all, it certainly helps.
The three primary benefits of meditation are emotional, intellectual, and physical. Ready to learn more? Read on to find which benefits appeal to you the most.
Meditation benefits you emotionally.
Many people are drawn to the emotional benefits of meditation: reduced anxiety and depression, and increased gratitude and self-love. What’s more is that these benefits actually compound each other: the more gratitude you have in your life, the less anxious you become; the less anxiety you have, the easier it is to cultivate gratitude and self-love. Once you’ve nurtured your love for yourself, depression begins to loosen its hold on you. While meditation is not a substitute for professional mental health services, many therapists encourage meditation as a way to support the other therapy methods. Meditation won’t fix the problem, but it may make the problems easier to get through.
Meditation benefits you intellectually.
Although often overlooked, the intellectual benefits of meditation are important, too. Meditation is an exercise in mindfulness and awareness, and it helps to cultivate better problem-solving skills. As you become more used to being aware of your thoughts and emotions without actively trying to change them, you can apply this knowledge to other areas of your life as well. Looking at the big picture as well as the small details will help you come up with solutions that are practical, manageable, and compassionate. This, in turn, allows for more experiences that help build your intuition, your intellect, and your mental ability.
Meditation benefits you physically.
Last but not least, meditation offers a number of physical benefits, too. A regular meditation practice can improve the quality of your sleep, help promote weight loss, and encourage better breathing. Better sleep means more energy, which allows you to maximize your physical exercise. The mindfulness your meditation practice has developed will make it easier to deny temptations when they arise (and will make it easier to forgive yourself when you do give in). When combined with calming breaths that allow for better oxygen absorption, your weight loss efforts will be more noticeable, faster. Even if weight loss isn’t a goal, everyone wants better sleep and more effective oxygen use. Why not pick up a practice that helps both?
No matter what it is about meditation that draws you in, you can benefit from the many positive effects that it has on your mind and your body. The more experienced you get, the greater the benefits will be. Why wait? Get started today and see what meditation can do for your life.