Keep Calm and Meditate
Meditation might seem too ‘trendy’ or too ‘hippy’ to be given any serious consideration but given it’s a thousand-year-old practice of calming the mind, there must be something in it right? When you meditate, you shrug off the stress of everyday life and give yourself room to breathe and this can have surprising health benefits. There’s plenty of evidence to satisfy all the sceptics out there and science suggests you may experience the brain benefits related to the practice even when you’re not actively meditating. Let’s examine what meditation could do for you:
Ditch depression
Studies have shown that just 30 minutes of meditation improves depression symptoms, along with anxiety and pain. In fact, the practice could possibly prevent depression and pain altogether as scientists discovered that people who meditate may have more control over how their brains process and pay attention to negative sensations like pain and negative thoughts like depression triggers.
Headache relief
Put away those painkillers as meditation may be an excellent line of defence against those horrid head-pounding episodes. Research has found that the practice leads to major relief of tension headaches through the relaxation involved in the technique.
De-stress
When you meditate, you’re able to override a part of the brain responsible for the flight or fight instinct which releases cortisol, the damaging stress hormone that’s responsible for a whole grab bag of health issues. One study has shown that meditation can reduce anxiety by almost 40 percent. Just 25 minutes of meditation, done three times per week, may make tasks feel less stressful. For a Leicester Osteopath, visit townosteo
Improve your memory
If you are always leaving yourself notes because you have a memory like a sieve and you often find your mind jumping from one thought to another, you may want to turn to meditation. It’s been shown to not only improve memory but to help cut back on distracting thought.
Cold prevention
Seasonal colds are a nuisance that we could all live without but links have been made with meditation and having fewer cold viruses. Also with quicker recovery times when we do catch one, resulting in less sick time from work.
Good for your heart
In a recent study, patients with heart disease who practices meditation were found to be at a reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, and even death. Now that’s pretty awesome!
Get more sleep
Our lives are super busy and most of us are guilty of taking our phones and tablets to bed. Getting plenty of rest has become a bit of a rarity. We seem to have lost the ability to quieten down our minds. That’s why meditation comes in handy as not only does it possibly help treat insomnia, but scientists believe that meditating can help keep your mind in check throughout the day and reduce stress, leading to a better, more satisfying night’s sleep.
Cut down on painkillers
Worried about how many pills you’re popping? Research suggests that meditation may thicken your brain and in particular, the portion that regulates pain, reducing your sensitivity and dependency on medication.
Forever young
People are always seeking the fountain of youth, which turns out to be a bit of a myth! However, meditating may actually help make you younger. A miracle but true – middle-aged participants who practiced meditation had younger biological ages than those who didn’t, according to one study. Further studies have also suggested that meditation may diminish age-related brain deterioration.