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Over the past few decades, the practice of meditation has grown significantly. Whether you observe them in others or experience them yourself, the health benefits of meditation are undeniable. Today, individuals from all walks of life—entrepreneurs, professional athletes, and children—are learning how to meditate and calm their minds and bodies.
From a holistic perspective, the benefits of meditation are varied: it can help reduce mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, and it can also help us naturally manage our stress and anger levels. These benefits also translate to physical health: meditation can reduce pain, promote heart health, and significantly improve sleep cycles.
These in turn lead to positive repercussions, such as strengthening our immunity and improving mood, sociability and overall well-being.
(( https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/tips-and-support/mindfulness/ ))
Mayo Clinic (American university hospital federation) and Positive Psychology (website dedicated to psychology).
But perhaps the most important benefit of meditation is that it has no negative side effects. Whether it works for you or not, it poses no risks. So, what have you got to lose?
Meditation and Science
Meditation is an ancient practice, observed and studied by numerous religious, spiritual, academic, and scientific groups for thousands of years. Today, meditation sessions can be enjoyed in a gym, with a local group, or even digitally through phone apps.
Yet, defining what meditation exactly is remains tricky, and demonstrating its scientific benefits is therefore complex.
Each person who practices meditation will likely have a different definition, as there is no single way to meditate. The practice varies across religions, cultures, and beliefs, and includes many different types of meditation. You've likely heard of the most common types: mindfulness meditation, transcendental meditation, spiritual meditation, and Zen meditation, to name a few.
Like all ancient disciplines, meditation has evolved to become personal and intimate. However, there is one thing that all practitioners of meditation agree on: The benefits of meditation are numerous and considerable.
The benefits of meditation have only been addressed from a scientific perspective and integrated into conventional medical treatments in recent years.
Madhav Goyal, M.D., a master's degree in public health and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, studies the effects of meditation on overall well-being.
"We now have sufficient evidence to clinically recommend [meditation] either as a treatment or as a complementary treatment for people suffering from anxiety, depression or chronic pain," he explains.
(( https://www.prevention.com/health/a22679621/health-benefits-of-meditation/ ))
According to a report by the international private health and care insurance group BUPA,
“Studies show that meditation is the preferred form of wellbeing therapy in the UK, with more than a quarter (26%) of British adults saying they have meditated to improve their mental wellbeing in the past five years. Men are twice as likely to take the path to enlightenment, with nearly a third of men (30%) practicing meditation during this time, compared to 18% of women.”
(( https://www.bupa.com/newsroom/news/meditation-brits-favourite-wellbeing-therapy ))
The origins of meditation
The word “meditation” comes from the Latin “meditatum,” which means “to reflect.”
The earliest records of meditation refer to Vedantism, a Hindu tradition in India dating back to around 1500 BCE. However, historians believe that meditation was practiced even earlier, as early as 3000 BCE.
Over time, the practice of meditation spread from East to West, and in 1927, the work entitled Tibetan Book of the Dead was published. Meditation began to spread to all corners of the world, attracting great attention from Westerners and generating a keen interest in its practice.
How to meditate?
As a famous quote from Buddha suggests:
“Don't dwell on the past, don't dream of the future, focus your mind on the present moment.”
Meditation helps us achieve this state of mind: being fully and deliberately present in each moment.
It involves turning inward and calming our body and mind to find clarity, serenity and stability.
One of the main benefits of meditation is that it's accessible to everyone. No matter where you are or who you are, with patience and practice, anyone can learn to meditate.
Don't worry if distracting thoughts or your mind starts to wander, as it takes time to find peace and quiet. You're taking this time to relax and tune out the daily noise around you. Even just a five-minute session a day to start will be good for your health.
If you're interested in giving it a try, we'll guide you through the process. Here's how to get started in six simple steps.
- Sit down. Find a quiet spot in a comfortable chair or on the floor. You should feel comfortable while meditating, but you shouldn't fall asleep!
- Set a time limit. If you're new to meditation, it's best to stick to short sessions, ideally five to ten minutes. The more you practice, the longer you'll be able to meditate.
- Become aware of your body. Relax your arms, letting them rest at either side of your torso or on your knees. Uncross your legs and relax them. Relax. Close your eyes, look down, or focus on a fixed point. You can use a candle, for example, and look at its flame, but be careful not to strain your eyes.
- Breathe. Listen to your breathing as you inhale and exhale. Listen to your body calm down.
- Accept that your mind will be distracted. Everyone's mind wanders. If thoughts distract you, don't let frustration take over. Refocus on your breathing and keep going. It may be difficult at first, but the more you practice, the better you'll get.
- Finish your practice. At the end of the session, simply open your eyes or look up. Patience: don't stand up too quickly and go slowly. Become aware of how you feel physically and what is happening in your mind.
Top Ten Benefits of Meditation
By practicing meditation, you'll improve your emotional well-being and overall health through a non-invasive treatment, which is already a huge benefit. But we can talk more about its real, tangible benefits. Here's our list of the top ten benefits.
- Reduction of anxiety and depression
Dr. John W. Denninger, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, discovered that
“Meditation trains the brain to stay focused and to return to that focus when negative thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations arise, which often happens when we feel stressed and anxious.”
In fact, studies have shown that meditation targets specific parts of the brain known to trigger depression and anxiety. Practicing meditation daily can significantly reduce these negative emotions and help relieve symptoms over the long term.
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Stress management to improve health and well-being
Meditation has become an effective treatment for stress management. It naturally stabilizes symptoms commonly experienced by individuals experiencing stress. Research has shown a significant decrease in cortisol levels (the stress hormone) in people who meditate regularly.
A 2019 study by Bostock, Crosswell, Prather & Steptoe found that professionals could work more efficiently, avoid burnout, and gain alertness by introducing meditation into their work routines. -
Pain management and accelerated healing
While the scientific evidence on meditation's ability to reduce pain varies, the fact that it helps manage pain more effectively is well documented. According to a study conducted by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (NCCIH), mindfulness meditation reduces the body's sensation of pain without using the brain's natural opiates (Cherkin et al. 2016).
Stress reduction expert Jon Kabat-Zinn recommends learning to meditate with the mindful body scan exercise, which he considers the best meditation technique for pain relief. The goal of this scan isn't to eliminate pain, but to recognize, understand, and manage it. - Start by lying down.
- Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.
- Focus on the painful area, such as your right foot.
- Feel the pain and any other sensations in your foot, and try to stay focused.
- If your mind wanders, refocus on your foot and your breathing.
- If you feel pain in your foot, breathe with your full attention on your foot, and become aware of the thoughts and emotions associated with this pain.
- Don't try to make the pain go away, just let it be.
- Now slowly and calmly shift your attention to your other foot, then repeat the same process
- on all other parts of your body until the exercise is completed.
- Try to maintain your focus and breathe calmly throughout the scan, without judgment. Remember to be kind to yourself; you are learning.
Jon Kabat-Zinn's complete guide is available here
(( https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/body-scan-for-pain ))
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Improved emotional well-being and mood
There are endless reasons why we experience occasional sadness or negativity, but prolonged episodes where these emotions dominate can lead to long-term mental health problems that can be more difficult to recover from.
Giving yourself the time and space to disconnect from the world and live in the present moment, without distraction, is a very powerful technique. You will see yourself with greater clarity.
Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, explains that
“Meditation is an awareness of our thoughts and feelings as they arise… It allows us to observe the present moment with lucidity. By doing this, we can make positive changes in the way we see ourselves and live.”
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Increased cognition
By learning to declutter your mind, you'll be better able to process and memorize information. Regular meditation practice can help improve your focus and concentration. -
Sleep aid
Although many of us feel tired, even exhausted, some of us have difficulty falling asleep, while others fall asleep easily but find themselves staring at the ceiling for hours in the middle of the night.
Meditating regularly will help you calm your mind and focus on your breathing. Over time, you'll learn to tune out distractions and silence your inner dialogue to find serenity and inner peace. Once mastered, meditation helps restore regular sleep cycles, helping you fall asleep more easily and recover better. This way, you'll be able to fall asleep quickly and enjoy a full night's sleep without any interruptions. -
Improved memory
Long-term research has found that by improving our ability to focus and be more attentive in our daily lives, we can retain more information and memories.
According to a study published online in the medical journal Journal of Alzheimer's Disease , “Meditation can increase blood circulation in the brain and improve memory.” One of the research team members, M.D. Dharma Singh Khalsa, developed a specific meditation technique for each of the test subjects:
"It only takes 12 minutes [a day], it's easy to learn, it costs nothing, and it has no side effects," says Dharma Singh Khalsa in an interview with WebMD, a health news site. He claims the technique "reverses memory loss in people with memory problems." -
Increased focus and mental clarity
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center say meditation can change the structure and function of the brain through relaxation, leading to increased attention and focus for learning.
The simple act of meditating helps us listen to our breathing and stay in the present moment. And if we do get distracted, we train our brain to come back and refocus on the breath, until it becomes second nature. -
Help with addiction recovery
Due to the holistic benefits of meditation, it is increasingly being used as a tool to help people with drug addiction. According to the Maryland Drug Rehabilitation Center,
"In the specific case of drug and alcohol addiction, meditation plays an important role in the healing process because it helps in several areas essential to recovery, including regularity of action, discipline, promotion of mental clarity, physical health, and meditation in general helps slow down the incessant chatter of the mind."
- Increased compassion and empathy
“ If you want others to be happy, be compassionate. If you want to be happy, be compassionate.” Dalai Lama.
Compassion meditation is a powerful practice that helps individuals move beyond their self-centered perspective to become aware of the potential suffering of others. It also encourages us to take action to alleviate suffering.
By practicing this type of meditation focused on the healing and well-being of others, we naturally heal ourselves.
The Future of Meditation
As meditation evolves, some very interesting new practices are emerging. Our favorites are:
“Bedtime Meditation”
It is practiced in the evening or as part of a bedtime routine to relax and sleep better.
(( https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-fitness-studio/bedtime-meditation/ ))
"Techno Meditation"
It is a type of meditation that is practiced while listening to electronic music.
“Meditation on app”
Download an app on your phone and easily meditate on the go. You can access it anytime, anywhere to calm your mind. Some apps rely on soothing music and an introduction, while others offer a calming voice that guides you through your practice.