The Purposes And Benefits of Meditation For Physiological Health!
What are the Purposes And Benefits of Meditation For Physiological Health?
Meditation is a mind-body practice in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). There are many types of meditation, most of which originated in ancient religious and spiritual traditions. Generally, a person who is meditating uses certain techniques, such as a specific posture, focused attention, and an open attitude toward distractions. Physiological
Meditation may be practiced for many reasons, such as to increase calmness and physical relaxation, to improve psychological balance, to cope with illness, or to enhance overall health and well-being. This Backgrounder provides a general introduction to meditation and suggests some resources for more information. Physiological
Meditation,
was originally used for spiritual growth, to become more open to and aware of the holy and the guiding presence of the holy. Today, though, meditation has become a valuable tool even for those people who do not consider themselves religious. It can be a source of peace and quiet in a world that is seriously lacking in both.
It can be used for healing, emotional cleansing and balancing, deepening concentration, unlocking creativity, and finding inner guidance.
Nearly all forms of meditation have one thing in common, that is relaxing the body. When the body relaxes, the mind follows. Directly experiencing the inter-relationship of the body and mind, is then a significant benefit of meditation. This awareness is a doorway to increasing self-awareness and self-empowerment.
The Relationship,
between body and mind is a parallel direction of a scientific and medical study. That they do affect each other in positive and negative ways is now pretty much undisputed, and the complexity of ways and means continues to be revealed. With this understanding has emerged the significant role that stresses place in the development of illness and dis-ease.
Combine,
Then the positive benefits of regular, conscious relaxation and the development of self-awareness, including the presence of stress and you have a winning formula. It is this latter point that means that there is a whole dimension of greater benefit from meditation over simple relaxation practices.
Let us now,
look at the relaxation component, in order to understand its health benefits.
To do this justice we need to understand the autonomic nervous system or ANS. The ANS governs and regulates involuntary functions of the body, which means all the wonderful things your body does on autopilot.
We do not have to tell our bodies to breath, or our heart to beat, or have our food digested, our immune system to protect our biological environment, or our pupils to adjust as the light source changes. All of these things and more, are handled for our best interest and well being by the ANS. The purpose of all these functions of the ANS is to maintain homeostasis – a stable constant condition.
There are two aspects to the ANS,
- The Parasympathetic.
- And Sympathetic systems.
Which we can view as two different survival functions that have the opposite effect on the ANS. Most people will know the Sympathetic system as ‘fight or flight’ which occurs when there is the perception of imminent danger. When this response is activated, all available energy is readied to fight or flee for survival.
In this state,
the function of the immune, digestive, and reproductive systems decreases or stops. At the same time adrenalin is pumped into the body, heart rate and breathing speed up and blood move to the exterior of the body to power the muscles.
In addition,
The higher functions of the mind give way to the powerful emotional impulses that drive survival. This is more or less what happens when we are ‘stressed out’.
The Parasympathetic is then the opposite, it is the creation of homeostasis I described earlier, in which each bodily system function to its best current capacity.
It is easy to see then how the regular and accumulative experience of stress, depletes the body’s ability to maintain the healthy function of its systems. On the other hand, we can also understand how conscious relaxation is a beneficial factor in maintaining health, both physically and mentally. But there is more.
Neuroscientists
have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the brain. Activity in the stress indicating the right frontal cortex moves to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift reduces the negative effects of stress, and indeed mild depression and anxiety.
There is also less activity in the amygdala, the flight or fight center, where the brain processes fear. Multiple studies have shown that participants who meditated for even a small amount of time develop more alpha waves with decreases in anxiety and depression.
Study:
In 2003 Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, did a research study of stressed-out employees of a high-tech company in Madison, Wisconsin. The subjects were separated into two random groups. One group of 25 people learned meditation for two months. Sixteen others were used as the control group.
The Brain,
Activity of all those taking part was scanned three times during the study: first, at the beginning of the experiment, second, when meditation lessons were completed eight weeks later, and finally again four months after that. The brain scans showed that the meditators had a definite transfer in brain activity to the left frontal lobe, the brain’s happiness, and the joy center.
Types Of Meditation:
Most types of meditation have four elements in common:
1. A quiet location:
Meditation is usually practiced in a quiet place with as few distractions as possible. This can be particularly helpful for beginners.
2. A specific, comfortable posture:
Depending on the type being practiced, meditation can be done while sitting, lying down, standing, walking, or in other positions.
3. A focus of attention:
Focusing one’s attention is usually a part of meditation. For example, the meditator may focus on a mantra (a specially chosen word or set of words), an object, or the sensations of the breath. Some forms of meditation involve paying attention to whatever is the dominant content of consciousness.
4. An open attitude:
Having an open attitude during meditation means letting distractions come and go naturally without judging them. When the attention goes to distracting or wandering thoughts, they are not suppressed; instead, the meditator gently brings attention back to the focus. In some types of meditation, the meditator learns to “observe” thoughts and emotions while meditating.
Things to Avoid When You Start Meditating:
When you begin your meditation, put your expectations aside, and don’t stress out about the ‘right’ way to do it. There are many ways to meditate and there are no fixed criteria for determining the right meditation. What works for you is the right method for you. And finding out what works may require some experimentation and adjustments.
There are, however, a few things to avoid when you start meditating:
Don’t,
- Try to force something to happen.
- Over-analyze the meditation
- Try to make your mind blank or chase thoughts away
Remember, there is no one “right” way to meditate. Just concentrate on the process and find the best way for YOU!
To Start Meditating,
Choose a time and a place where you won’t be disturbed. That in itself may seem like an insurmountable task.
- Unless you are a hermit, there are probably people in your life demanding your time and attention.
- You may want to tell these people that you will help them find their socks, get the gum out of their hair, listen to their rants about the people at work, or whatever AFTER you’ve had a few minutes of peace and quiet.
- Let them know that this is something that you need to do for yourself but they will also benefit because you will be more relaxed, more energetic, and more loving.
When you’re starting out,
You only need 10 or 15 minutes for your meditation session. This is plenty of time when you are beginning and it may well be that this is all the time that you feel you can pry out of your busy schedule for yourself. That’s fine – it’s much better to spend a few minutes a day meditating than to put it off completely.
Over time,
You may find your meditation time so beneficial that you want to increase the amount of time you spend in a meditative state. That’s completely up to you. A good goal is to work up to two 20 minute meditation sessions each day. Research has shown that spending this amount of time meditating leads to better health and can help reduce the stresses and strains of daily life.
The process is helped if you can make it a habit to meditate at about the same time each day. Some people find that meditating first thing in the morning works for them. Other people meditate the last thing at night before going to sleep. There is no exact time that is best for everyone. Whatever works for you is good! Just make sure that you practice on a regular basis.
The Actual Place,
- Where you decide to meditate is again up to you. A few people set aside a room in their house as their meditation room but if you’re just starting out, that’s probably a bit too extreme.
- Instead, you may decide to meditate in your bedroom, the lounge, the kitchen or even the garden – wherever you are least likely to be disturbed.
- It is, of course, better if you don’t try to meditate in the living room while the rest of the family is watching TV.
- Other than that the exact place where you meditate doesn’t matter – it’s much more important that you actually start practicing meditation.
If you find,
That the original place you chose isn’t working for you, don’t be afraid to change it. The same goes for the time and the method that you chose. The ultimate benefit of meditation far exceeds the precise method of meditation that you use to reach the benefit. Physiological
One of,
- The easiest way to start meditating is to use a guided meditation.
- This is a CD or MP3 that contains all the instructions you need to achieve a state of meditation.
- All you need to do is to find somewhere that you won’t be disturbed, sit or lie down and play the audio file.
Major Benefits of Meditation:
Let’s look at some of the major benefits of meditation:
Meditation has many benefits. The most important one for many people is reaching enlightenment in the Contemplation phase, but this may not be important to everyone. Physiological
Some people only want to use meditation as a way to become more spiritual or do control stress or panic attacks or treat physical pain or illnesses. Physiological
You don’t have to meditate for the purpose of enlightenment or spirituality if that is of no interest to you. In fact, there are many people who don’t even believe in spirituality of any kind but still use meditation as a way to relax and heal their minds and body.
Some Executives,
use meditation as a way to ease their minds the way sleep does. In their busy lives, they may not get as much sleep as they really need, so they can use 5-10 minutes of meditation to refresh their mind when they feel stressed out, tired, distracted, or have trouble concentrating. Physiological
Parents,
Often use meditation as a way to calm the stress of daily life so they don’t end up angry at their children. This is a great way to stay calm. Meditation is a very good anger management tool. If you have anger issues, you may use meditation as a way to get the condition under control. Physiological
Meditation Helps You:
- Focus more clearly. You’ll be more efficient and you’ll get more done in less time.
- Reduce your stress levels.
- Learn to be more sympathetic to other people, and more understanding.
- Become a kinder, more compassionate person.
- Communicate with others on a better, more effective level.
- Improve blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration, and even assist in managing heart disease.
- Boosts your immune system by lowering your stress levels.
- Boost your memory and concentration by boosting oxygen levels.
- Your mind achieves the kind of clarity you never thought you could experience.
These are just a few of the different benefits you may achieve through meditation.
Here’s a list of The Most Important Physiological Benefits of Meditation:
- It stabilizes the autonomous nervous system.
- Blood pressure drops.
- It reduces the heartbeat.
- The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) increases.
- It reduces the speed of breathing.
- EMG activity increases. (the electrical impulses of muscles at rest and during contraction.)
- Cardiovascular effectiveness goes up.
- Breathing effectivity increases. Physiological
- The skin receives more blood.
- Stomach function and bowel function improve. Physiological
Also,
- The endocrine function is heightened.
- Muscle flexibility increases.
- The intake of oxygen gets stronger.
- Mobility and flexibility increase.
- Hand-eye coordination increases.
- Reaction-speed increases.
- Body posture is improved.
- Strength and resistance increase.
- Stamina increases. Physiological
There is A,
- Heightened energy level and vitality.
- Lessened degree of muscle tension.
- A heightened degree of relaxation.
- People’s weight is stabilized at an ordinary level.
- The ability to sleep increases and the time people need to fall asleep decreases.
- Pain is weakened.
- Stability is improved.
- Depth perception increases.
- The production of serotonin increases.
- Menstruation pains are softened.
- It enhances the immune system.
- Increases serotonin which influences moods and behavior. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression, headaches, and insomnia.
- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
- Decreases muscle tension (any pain due to tension) and headaches.
- It helps in post-operative healing. Physiological
After any meditation technique,
Allow yourself a moment to savor the sense of floating and calm that surrounds you. Take a deep breath, gird your loins (figuratively), and venture forth into your daily rounds with renewed energy and a deep sense of peace.
There are so many additional benefits that are experienced by different people it would be very difficult to list them all here!
Summing Up:
Meditation is practiced by millions of people because it provides numerous advantages that everyone can benefit from. The great thing about meditation is that you do not have to be an expert in meditation to start feeling the benefits it provides.
After a week of meditation, you will start seeing and sensing first meditation benefits like reduced stress, inner peace, and inner strength. When you keep meditating for longer, you will notice many more benefits including the ones that I have mentioned in this article.
If you find this article useful, don’t forget to share it with your friends and family, as you might help someone in need. Thanks.
Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment of any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”
