Benefits of Meditation

Ram Das, a well-known American spiritual guide, psychologist, and motivational speaker, said, “the quieter we become, the more we can hear.”

Meditation undoubtedly is one of the best ways to calm our mind storms and dissolve the walls of unawareness. It gives us permanent access to happiness, mental peace, and life energy, and opens the real power of our mind.

According to an accomplished meditator and scholar, Trinlay Rinpoche, the real source of happiness lies in the clarity of thoughts. External factors can only be pleasurable as long as we are happy from the inside. According to Buddha, meditation trains the mind to “not dwell in the past or contemplate about the future.” It lets the mind settle in the ‘now’ and allows us to see the beauty of the present.

This article is an effort to understand why meditation works so well and how we can resort to its benefits for becoming a better version of ourselves.

A Look at the Benefits of Meditation

Meditation establishes a secure connection between our internal and external worlds. It awakens the body and benefits all aspects of the conscious and subconscious layers of the mind. Out of the numerous perks that meditation gives, a few are listed below.

1. Meditation enhances empathy

Loving-kindness or compassion meditation fires neural connections to brain sites that regulate positive emotions like empathy and kindness. The deep state of flow that meditation induces builds social connectedness and make us more affectionate and amicable as a person.

2. Meditation improves cognition

Researchers agree that an excellent way for professionals to increase the likelihood of success is to keep meditation practice as a part of their daily routine. Studies have revealed that both transcendent and mindful meditation practices improve the brain’s problem-solving and decision-making strategies, which can bring a desirable shift in our professional life.

3. Meditation is a natural stress stabilizer

Stress is the body’s response to unforeseen adversities. Encountering immediate threats increase the level of cortisol, or stress hormone in the body, and activates the Autonomic Nervous system, which is responsible for fight-or-flight responses. Brain studies of regular meditators revealed that they have lower cortisol level in their brains, which explains their resilience and insightful nature.

4. Meditation promotes emotional health and well-being

Studies have shown that meditation improves self-image and self-worth. When we meditate, we get a clear picture of our mind and become aware of the thoughts that drive our emotions and actions at the moment.

A large-scale study found that regular meditation decreases the likelihood of developing depression and mood-related disorders (Jain, Walsh, Cahn, 2015). Besides some forms of meditative practices which also promoted positive thinking, as researchers stated, and could improve the overall emotional health of an individual.

5. Meditation increases attention by inducing a state of flow

Have you noticed how meditation absorbs you into the moment? Mindful awareness comes naturally to us when we meditate, and we reach ‘flow’ state where our mind is in complete harmony with itself. A study on the effects of an eight-week mindful meditation course found that people who are regular meditation practitioners had heightened attention and concentration span.

Even people who meditated for short durations showed more focus than individuals who did not meditate at all (Jha, Krompinger, Baine, 2007).

What Does the Latest Research and Science Show?

A recent survey on the incidence of meditation in the US population indicated a marked increase in the number of adults and children who practice meditation every day (Black, Barnes, Clarke, and Stussman, Nahin, 2018). Psychologists and allied mental health practitioners agree on the effectiveness of meditation in reducing physical, mental, and emotional disturbances.

1. Meditation and Pain

A study by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) found that mindful meditation reduces pain sensations in the body without using the brain’s natural opiates (Cherkin, Sherman, Balderson, Cook, Anderson, Hawkes, Hansen, and Turner, 2016).

The research suggested that combining meditation practices with medication for treating pain conditions like osteoarthritis, headaches, and other chronic pains can be useful for providing long-term remedies.

2. Meditation and diseases

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) in the US, has conducted studies to explore the impact of meditation on disorders like:

• Pain and fibromyalgia in teenagers.

• Stress-related disorders in adolescents and adults.

• Migraine, headaches, and hypertensive conditions.

• Psoriasis.

• Anxiety and depression.

Most of their research and reviews show that committing to a daily practice improves the overall quality of life, and has long-term benefits for staying emotionally and physically healthy. Furthermore, studies show that meditation had similar effects as medications in treating depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems.

3. More immunity

Studies on the impact of meditation on lowering the risk of cancer suggested that mindful relaxation and meditation practices boost the lymphocyte count in the body, and help in developing a natural shield for fighting toxic cells that create the fatal disease.

Although the study faced criticisms, the findings of this study provided substantial evidence on how meditation can make us more immune to painful infections and illness.

Are there Scientifically Proven Benefits for the Skin?

Our skin is a great communicator of our feelings and mental state. It mirrors extreme emotions such as stress, anxiety, depression, excitement, and happiness, and has a unique way of responding to pressure. For example, our cheeks turn pink as we blush, and our ears feel hot and red when we feel embarrassed and humiliated.

Fear makes the skin look pale, and sadness can often bring dullness and unwanted crinkles in the skin. Together with blood circulation and hormonal ups and downs, the skin is an excellent indicator of our emotions and science has gone an extra mile proving it.

Recent research by Dr. Anthony Bewley, a popular dermatologist, proved that self-healing practices like meditation, breath control, and mindfulness, have profound benefits on skin conditions like eczema, acne, dry skin, and psoriasis.

This branch of study, popularly called psychodermatology, explores how the skin reacts to internal stress and how stress-reduction through meditation impacts it. Some studies revealed that when individuals with psoriasis attended guided meditation sessions or listened to soothing pieces of music, they healed a lot faster than others with the same condition.

Besides the direct impact, meditation also adds glow and youthfulness to the skin by curing allied health conditions. For example, gastric ulcers, insomnia, regular headache or migraine, hypertension or low blood pressure, and chronic pain are common issues that negatively reflect on our skin tone.

Daily meditation helps in reducing these anomalies and subsequently helps in slowing down the aging process of the skin, making us look younger and brighter naturally.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Meditation is a daily practice which isn’t meant to be considered a habit, but a moment of nourishment for your mind, body and soul.