5 Valuable Reasons Why You Should Consider Meditation

Meditation is an ancient art that first originated in India in 1500 BCE. Ever since, meditation has gained more and more popularity among people. The thousand-year-old practice of calming the mind can offer multiple mental and physical benefits, which is why you should consider meditation.

You have most likely already heard about the multiple health benefits of practicing meditation daily, even if only for a short period, the positive developments can be profound.

People turn to practice meditation for multiple reasons like spiritual growth, alleviate physical ailments, a means of relaxation, ease the symptoms of anxiety, reduce stress, etc. Daily practice of meditation besides offering multiple mental benefits, also helps improve your general well-being.

Meditation has multiple mental and health benefits, discussed below are five valuable reasons why you should consider meditation daily. Other than these major five benefits, practising meditation daily can also help you gain the energy required to spend the rest of your day in a positive mood.

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5 valuable reasons why you should consider meditation

1. Helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression

In today’s modern world mental health illness is a very common problem among many people. The hectic life schedule coupled with extreme competition have made people incredibly busy. It often becomes tough to maintain a work-life balance and as a result people can be more and more overstressed, anxious, and depressed.

Prescription medicines can help treat these states, but they can come with multiple side-effects that may interfere with your overall health and well-being. For some people, meditation can be a better option: simple breathing can help relax your nervous system and make you feel better.

Mediation techniques, when performed on a regular basis, can help alleviate much complicated chronic psychological conditions like anxiety, stress, and depression [1, 2, 3, 4].

2. Helps protect your heart and reduce cardiovascular disease

Our daily life and unwanted work tension result in an increased secretion of stress hormones that can further lead to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

Bringing yourself to a relaxed state of mind through practising yoga, followed by breathing techniques, can reduce the level of stress hormones and reduce your risk of stress and tension-related diseases such as stroke, heart attack, and high blood pressure.

Even 5-10 minutes of meditation a day can show significant results.

According to researchers, patients with coronary heart disease who did mediation daily reduced their risk of stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, hypertension, and even death [5, 6, 7].

Besides doing meditation, combining your diet with additional supplements can help you get the most out of your routine meditation and breathing techniques.

3. Helps improve concentration and prevent memory loss

The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain that helps regulate various acts such as decision making, cognitive behaviour and personality expression, but this part reduces with age and with it the brain activities that are regulated with it.

However, engaging in routine meditation techniques can help reduce these age-related changes to some extent. If meditation is done regularly for a prolonged period, the thinning of the prefrontal cortex can be reduced. Hence problems like memory loss and concentration will stay at bay [8, 9, 10, 11].

Whether your purpose is to reduce mental stress and anxiety, alleviate the symptoms of certain physical ailments, or maintain a sharp mind even at an old age, doing regular meditation can help you achieve all.

Getting started with meditation may be a bit tricky, but with the right guide and instructions from experts and finding the best time of the day to meditate – as explained at Healthcanal.com – you may enjoy the many benefits of meditation.

4. Helps improve sleep

Experiencing sleep disorders and not getting the required hours of undisturbed quality sleep is a common problem among many young adults. A good night’s sleep is extremely necessary to repair the damage caused to the body tissues after a whole day of activity or training.

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A minimum of seven hours of sleep is also extremely necessary to promote overall health and feel fresh, but many of us often face difficulty in getting these seven hours of restful sleep. This as a result can increase the risk for diseases like diabetes, heart disease, inability to make decisions, lack of concentration, bad memory, etc.

Studies have shown that people who practice meditation regularly get better quality sleep than those who don’t. Breathing techniques involved in meditation can also help you fall asleep faster, besides improving the efficiency and quality of your sleep [12, 13, 14].

5. Helps enhance your immune system

Engaging in mindful meditation for a few minutes every day can also help enhance your immune system besides just improving your emotional and mental well-being.

Researchers suggest that negative thoughts and mental stress can interfere with your immune system to fight illness, hence engaging in meditation techniques can help improve immune function [15, 16, 17].

Why you should consider meditation

Meditation has innumerable benefits to offer if practised regularly. We recommend you practice under expert advice if you’re only starting out. Above mentioned are the most valuable reasons why you should consider meditation as an accessible tool to improve your health.

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Note: All content within this article is provided for general information only and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional.