Meditation is the ancient practice of connecting the body and mind to become more self-aware and presence.
Meditation’s most obvious benefit is stress relief. Guided meditation forces the mind to release its hold on nagging everyday worries and focus on a single point. That point allows the mind to finally relax. It releases all that tension and constant planning to focus on the now.
Meditation’s effect on the body is almost instantaneous. With the brain no longer sending fight or flight signals to your adrenal glands, they discontinue producing adrenaline and cortisol. Finally, after constant hours slaving away over a hot stove, producing the hormones they think the body needs to stay alive, they can take a much-needed nap.
As the adrenaline gradually exits from your veins, you find yourself almost miraculously free of stress, feeling calmer, more relaxed and more focused. Your body is no longer in stress-response mode. You finally feel like yourself again.
Here are 8 such benefits, and what they mean for your health and wellness.
Meditation helps you lose weight
When we’re stressed, our adrenals produce an excess of cortisol. Chronically high cortisol levels contribute to the accumulation of fat around the stomach and other areas over time. Meditation helps to lower cortisol levels, thereby decreasing your risk of putting on hormone-related belly fat.
Not only that, studies show that mindfulness meditation can reduce your risk of binge eating. People who are stressed often have a strong tendency to overeat or turn to “emotional eating” as a way of cheering themselves up.
It helps you sleep better
Daily meditation can help you sleep better. Kriya yoga, a form of meditative exercise on people suffering from chronic insomnia helps them cure insomnia and to have better sleep. Also, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep quality and depression all improved in patients who used meditation. And with better sleep, comes better health, faster weight loss and improved brain function.
It helps you build better relationships
The human mind has a tendency to dwell on past events or frantically plan for the future. With your mind always elsewhere, you may find yourself growing further and further away from those you love. It can be frustrating and difficult trying to part with your ever-present regrets and worries for just a moment so that you can pay attention to your family and friends.
Daily guided meditation can help you to live in the present moment. It can als help you focus more on the people and places around you. You’ll find a greater connection with those you love. You’ll also develop more wholesome relationships with the people in your life.
It increases productivity
Meditation can help you work better and get more productivity out of your day.People who did meditation have reported increased job satisfaction, better performance and better relationships with supervisors and co-workers.
It rebuilds you brain
A study conducted MRI scans over the course of eight weeks on people who did meditation and who did not do meditation. The results showed that while the control group experienced no changes in brain activity, the group subjected to regular meditation had a dramatic increase in their brain’s grey matter.
Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system. It is found in areas of the brain which control muscle function, sight, hearing, memory, emotion and speech.
It can make you a morning person
Meditating for just a few minutes when you first wake up can help clear your mind and get you energised for the day ahead. It can help you to focus your mind on the tasks ahead, relax any anxieties you might have about the day, and shake off that sleepiness which never seems to go away.
It relieves anxiety and depression
Researchers have documented the positive effects of meditation on depression and anxiety many times. Experts think that this positive effect on mood comes from meditation’s ability of help people think of more creative solutions to problems, rather than feeling stuck or helpless.
Also, people who practice Buddhist meditation have far greater mental flexibility than those who don’t. This enables them to maintain a more positive outlook on life and more effective at solving problems.
It can improve your sex life
Perhaps the most surprising benefit of all is that meditation can dramatically improve your sex life.
Firstly, meditation alleviates stress, which as we know lowers cortisol. Because elevated cortisol is associated with lowered libido and propensity for orgasm, the more you meditate, the more you’ll enjoy sex.
Next, meditation gives you more energy. And that energy doesn’t just have to be used up going for a run or working more productively; it can also be applied between the sheets.
Finally, it improves your focus and ability to live in the present moment. This is absolutely essential for relating to your partner and really getting into your next bout of intercourse.
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