Though meditation has been practiced in several communities (Hindu, Taoist, Zen/Chan, and Buddhist) for thousands of years, it has recently gained immense popularity as an effective way to improve well-being (physical and mental).
Modern science has also shed light on some of its amazing health benefits and has proved it to be one of the best ways to cope with stress. Meditation can also sharpen your memory, help you fall asleep, decrease your blood pressure, promote emotional health, and enhance self-awareness.
Undoubtedly, meditation has existed for centuries, but to this day, few people know much about its benefits. So, if you want to know why meditation is so important, here are seven amazing effects!
Why Is Meditation Important – 7 Facts
Meditation is considered to be an effective technique to reduce stress, but research says it can also offer various other health benefits, as mentioned below:
1. Meditation Helps You Manage Stress
Many people fighting with stress, depression, or anxiety practice meditation. It is so because sitting down to meditate detaches them from thoughts of stress. It has also been found that the part of the brain that regulates anxiety and stress shrinks when you practice meditation.
By focusing on the moment-by-moment experiences, meditators can train their minds to stay calm even though they are facing stressful situations. Besides that, it can also help you cope with other stress-related conditions, including PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), fibromyalgia, and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).
2. Meditation Reduces Age-Related Memory Loss
Meditation can sharpen memory and keep the mind young by improving clarity of thought and attention. Kirtan Kriya combines mantra or chant while the fingers move repetitively to control thoughts. The participants can perform several memory tasks efficiently in various age-related memory loss studies.
Many studies have also proved that meditation improves attention, boosts memory, and enhances mental quickness in older adults. Additionally, it helps fight age-related memory loss and improves the memory of people with dementia.
3. Meditation Enhances Self-Awareness
Apart from helping with stress management and boosting your mood, many types of meditation also help you develop a stronger understanding of yourself and grow into the best version of yourself.
Take the example of self-inquiry meditation, which helps you better understand yourself and how you relate to others in your surroundings. Likewise, tai chi (a person’s belief in their ability) can improve self-efficacy.
Furthermore, meditation helps you recognize self-defeating thoughts and learn more about your habits, which you use constructively to become a better version of yourself.
4. Meditation Improves Sleep
Insomnia is a troubling condition, and unfortunately, the majority of the population suffers from sleep deprivation, whether chronic or occasional. If you are also one of those who stare at the ceiling, meditation can solve your problem. These practices will reduce insomnia and improve sleep quality. They also shorten the time needed to fall asleep.
Remember that meditation is a skill, and by practicing, you can control and redirect all the racing thoughts that result in insomnia. Additionally, meditation relaxes your body, releases tension, and puts you in a peaceful situation where you can easily fall asleep!
5. Meditation Can Decrease Blood Pressure
Meditation improves health by reducing the strain on your heart. With time, high blood pressure makes it harder for the heart to pump, leading to poor heart function. High blood pressure also causes atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), one of the major causes of heart attacks.
About 12 studies on 1000 people were conducted, and the results declared that meditation reduces blood pressure. Another study has also proved that different types of meditation also improve blood pressure.
It also relaxes the nerve signals that coordinate heart function, blood vessel tension, and flight-or-fight mode, increasing alertness in stressful situations.
6. Meditation Promotes Emotional Health
Emotional regulation is the key benefit of meditation, which can be achieved through regular practice. Meditation helps you accept things the way they are. By dropping the obsessive need to control, which usually holds us back in life, we can easily control our state of well-being.
The practice teaches you that you cannot control the world but can control yourself. You will never realize this lesson, but only when you practice meditation.
7. Meditation Helps To Fight Addictions
Meditation affects the self-controlling regions of the brain and can be effective in recovering from different types of addictions. The practice helps you develop several beneficial mental disciplines that help you break dependency by increasing self-control.
Meditation also redirects your attention, helps you control emotions and impulses, and helps you understand what is behind your behavior, ultimately increasing your willpower.
Conclusion
Meditation trains the mind to focus and redirect thoughts. It is a path of self-awareness, emotional awareness, and compassion. In addition, meditation offers various other health benefits. With regular practice, you can combat stress, fall asleep faster, eliminate your addictions, and much more!
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Meditation has become popular because of its benefits, including better mental health, sleep, emotional health, memory, and mood!
