Nearly 8% of American adults have tried meditation.
Want a free, relatively simple way to relieve stress and increase self-awareness? Try meditation.
Why meditate? Here are 5 science-backed reasons to implement this practice in your daily life.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is not about stopping thoughts or zoning out into another world. It’s a skill that you develop to become aware and present.
There are different types of meditation such as mindfulness meditation or Zen meditation.
Anyone can practice meditation and at any time. For beginners, you should start with a few minutes of meditation at a time and you can build up from there. There are online tutorials and top books on meditation that can help get you started.
Ready to see the benefits? Here are 5 reasons to start meditating.
1. Reduce Anxiety
If you suffer from anxiety or symptoms of anxiety, you know how debilitating this disorder can be. Anxiety symptoms can interfere with your daily life. However, meditation can help with your symptoms.
In a study of 2,466 participants, meditative techniques were shown to reduce anxiety symptoms.
Other scientific studies have shown this practice to help with symptoms such as paranoid thoughts, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and panic attacks.
2. Relieve Stress
Stress can increase blood pressure, ruin our sleep, and lead to us feeling fatigued, exhausted, and burnt out.
A study showed that an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program helped decrease participants’ post-stress inflammatory response. The study concluded that behavioral interventions such as mindfulness meditation can be a therapeutic benefit to physical symptoms of stress.
3. Decrease Blood Pressure
Meditation can help with your blood pressure as well. In fact, the American Heart Association agreed that meditation can benefit your heart health and can be considered in addition to your cardiovascular treatment.
4. Increase Self-Awareness
Meditation can help you learn more about yourself and develop a strong sense of self-awareness. This can help you recognize negative or self-sabotaging thoughts.
In fact, meditation can help you practice the process of bare attention which is awareness without thought. This helps you develop nonjudgmental attention.
For example, you want to apply for a job but you’re afraid to submit the application. You might think you’re not good enough for the job. You can recognize this self-sabotaging thought and allow it to pass rather than allow it to control your actions.
5. Better Sleep
Do you find yourself have trouble sleeping at night?
A study of 49 adults who had difficulty sleeping had half of them participate in mindfulness meditation for six sessions. The other half joined a sleep education class.
After both programs, the half in the meditation group had less trouble sleeping. They also experienced less fatigue and depression.
Meditation helps you to evoke the relaxation response by focusing on the moment. Instead of worrying about what happened in the past and stressing over what might happen in the future, you can learn to focus on the present.
Why Meditate? Final Thoughts
Need more reasons to answer the question of why meditate? Meditation can help you create a balanced self. It can help reduce physical and mental feelings of stress.
Want to read more wellness tips? Read more articles in our wellness blog section.
.
