Benefits of Meditation
If the world of meditation is new to you, the idea of sitting still and quieting your mind may feel intimidating or outright impossible.
What about the woman who lives live on the go, running out of the house with coffee in hand and trying to make it to work on time or to make it to barre class after work. Or what about the Mom who is coraling toddlers all day? I mean, when is there time to sit down and pause? We often don’t HAVE time, but we MAKE the time for things we prioritize. After you gain a better understanding of how meditation can enhance your life, you may want to make it a top priority. When I first started my practice, it was encouraging to hear successful people rave about the impact it had on them.
“It feels good. Kinda like when you have to shut your computer down, just sometimes when it goes crazy, you just shut it down and when you turn it on, it’s okay again. That’s what meditation is to me.” -Ellen DeGeneres
“It’s like, imagine the ripples on top of an ocean. And I’m in a rowboat, reactively dealing with the waves and water coming into my boat. What I need to do is dive into the deeper solace, the calmness beneath the surface.” -Dr. Oz
Tim Ferriss, author, and motivational speaker found that more than 80% of the world-class actors, CEOs, and athletes that he interviewed were using meditation to get better results. They felt less stressed as they effectively recovered from the feeling of “being in a trench on the front lines” of their demanding careers. Most of us can relate to this feeling of overwhelm and drain, even if we are not a CEO. Momming is hard. No kids? Managing a job, a home, a social life and not to mention meal prep and spin class is hard. We often turn to Netflix or wine to help us unwind at the end of a long day, which is great escapism and something we all need at times. If you’re looking to add a more intentional form of self-care with sustainable effects, definitely start a practice. Side effects including feeling more centered, less reactive, an increased sense of calm and all the amazing effects listed below. What I love is that these findings aren’t woo woo, they are backed by Science.
Why you may become addicted to meditation
Stress Relief
Meditation can lessen your cortisol levels and build your resilience to stress. Neurologists have found those who meditate have less of the stress hormone, cortisol which is known to cause disease. A study from Harvard Medical School found that, after practicing yoga and meditation, the participants had improved mitochondrial energy production, consumption, and resiliency, which leads to a higher immunity and resilience to stress.
Increase Brain Function
Learning, memory, regulating emotions, & sense of self were all enhanced with a consistent meditation practice. A group of Harvard Neuroscientists studied 16 people who underwent an 8-week course on mindful and meditation techniques. Their MRI’s showed that meditation actually increased the grey matter in their brains that is involved in learning and memory, regulating emotions, sense of self, and having perspective.
Dr. Richard J. Davidson has found that experienced meditators produce more gamma brain waves. Gamma waves are associated with intense, clear thinking and heightened cooperation between various parts of the brain. So basically, meditation is like exercise for your brain and keeps it healthy.
Immunity
This one blew my mind. Meditation can build a stronger resistance to illness. In a study by Davidson and Jon Kabat Zinn, meditators showed reduced anxiety and stronger immune function after just 2 months of meditation. Some even produced twenty-five more antibodies in response to the flu virus.
Change negative thought patterns
Depressed people treated with meditation are 50% less likely to relapse than people without meditation, according to a study by Dr. Zindel Segal of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Meditation helps retrain the mind to derail negative thinking patterns. He explains: “Thinking the same thought over and over cuts a track in your mind, making it easier to think the same way in the future.” In other words, if someone is prone to self-critical and/or self-defeating thoughts, her neurons get used to firing along those pathways, and those thoughts become a habit that gets harder and harder to break. “Meditation provides a technique for retraining our reactions to certain situations,” Dr. Segal says. “It gives us a way to change.”
Weight Loss
Be more mindful about what, how, and when you eat. Meditation teaches you to be mindful and in the moment. For people who are emotional eaters or who eat an entire meal without really tasting it, these skills will help to be more aware of what you’re choosing to nourish yourself with and actually enjoying the flavor, texture, and experience of eating.
Anti-Aging
Meditation prevents and reverses the effects of aging on the brain. Those who meditate regularly are shown to have thicker pre-frontal cortexes, which is responsible for attention and sensory perception. People who meditated daily for at least four years had longer telomeres—the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes—than people who do not meditate. Short telomeres are believed to be markers of accelerated aging, according to the study’s lead author, Elizabeth A. Hoge, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
How amazing right?! Not to mention, it’s really peaceful to take a few moments out of your day, allowing yourself permission to pause.
