Keeping your head in the here and now is trickier than ever. Many of us grab our phones at the first signs of boredom, finding it hard to focus on the present. This might seem minor, but when we’re feeling stressed or anxious, it can be a big deal. Meditation can help us get back that ability to stay in the moment, benefiting both our mental and physical health.
Here’s some of the awesome stuff meditation can do for you.
1. It lowers stress:
So many of us don’t notice how stressed we are. Long-term stress isn’t just annoying – it can wreck your sleep, make you overeat, and could even thin your hair. If unchecked, it can cause heart issues and stomach problems. Meditation helps because it decreases stress, directly battling the effects of the stress hormone cortisol, which includes inflammation. Try meditating if you’ve been feeling stressed out.
2. It can help manage pain:
Did you know over 50 million Americans deal with chronic pain? Living with constant discomfort can make even basic tasks tough. As more doctors are steering away from addictive opiate painkillers, alternatives such as acupuncture and physical therapy are being researched. Meditation is another one, and studies show it can increase pain tolerance and even provide short-term lower back pain relief. Talk to your doctor before adding meditation to your pain treatment plan.
3. It can reduce depression:
Living with depression can ruin the joy in activities once loved; it can even make finding life’s purpose hard. Meditation can combat stress and anxiety, often the triggers for depression. This is achieved by controlling destructive thought cycles about oneself and the inability to see a hopeful future.
4. It can lower blood pressure:
Heart disease is a leading cause of early death around the world. Everyone should work towards good heart health, reducing blood pressure is a great start. High blood pressure makes your heart work harder and can cause the arteries to narrow, leading to a heart attack or stroke. Meditation, along with a healthy diet, can gently lower your blood pressure as it calms your brain and body, broadening arteries and reducing inflammation in the process.
Why not give it a go yourself? It’s super easy to learn meditation these days, with loads of instruction videos online to show you the ropes.
Tags: Benefits, Meditation, Mental Health, Physical Health
