Meditation is one of the easiest ways to free yourself of stress and worry. For years, there have been several studies that had proven the benefits of meditating regularly.
Some of the benefits include improved concentration, decreased stress, reduced anxiety, and depression symptoms, and lower blood pressure.
While there are different types of meditation, they all offer the same set of benefits for physical and mental health.
Better focus and concentration
Meditation can help you focus on the present. This can help improve your concentration on your other tasks. A study in 2011 conducted by the Harvard Medical School examined the overall effects of mindfulness meditation on the brain, and they found a connection between processing new information and mindfulness.
In 2016, a study done at Carnegie Mellon University showed how mindfulness meditation can improve the decision making and concentration of a person.
Also Read: 5 Sure-Fire Ways to Help You Cope with Mental Health Disorder
Improve self-esteem and self-awareness
Meditation encourages you to slow down, and it allows you to self-reflect. It can also help you discover attributes about yourself that you never knew about.
Dr. Brian Wind, the Chief Clinical Officer at JourneyPure said that meditation helps increase self-awareness by increasing the ability to examine one's feelings and thoughts; it eventually improves a person's self-esteem.
In 2009, in a study published in the Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, around 14 participants with social anxiety disorder participated in two months of meditation training. The research reported decreased anxiety and improved self-esteem after the participants completed the program.
Reduce stress
Meditation can help lower the levels of cortisol, which can help you feel more relaxed. Cortisol is stress hormone. In a 2013 study, researchers analyzed more than 200 studies of mindfulness meditation among participants and found that it can reduce stress.
Repeating a mantra during meditation can have a calming effect, and concentrating on your mantra can help you shift your focus away from any distracting thoughts.
Manage anxiety or depression
Meditation can help you train your mind to focus on the present to prevent you from thinking about negative thoughts. Any negative thought can fuel depression or anxiety.
Research in 2014, published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that meditation can help ease anxiety and depression and be a part of a comprehensive mental health treatment plan.
Control pain
Numerous health professionals recommend meditation as part of a comprehensive pain management plan. A 2020 study with more than 6,400 participants found that meditation can help reduce pain in those suffering from acute, post-surgical, or chronic pain.
Fight addiction
Meditation can help alter the brain receptors that are associated with drug and alcohol addiction. It can help reduce one's cravings for these substances. Meditation can also help increase your awareness of cravings, and it can allow you to manage them better.
A study in 2018 published in Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation found that mindfulness training can help prevent future relapses for those with substance use disorder. It can produce a therapeutic effect that can help regulate how the brain experiences pleasure.
Related Article: Tips to Keep Your Mental Health in Check During the COVID-19 Pandemic from BetterHelp
