12 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION FOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH - ARTE - 2025

We have all heard of the benefits of meditation. This technique, which has been practiced in Eastern cultures for thousands of years, reached the West a few decades ago; but he certainly did it hard. Today, it is one of the most used techniques in all kinds of practices, from psychology to self-help.

But is this just a fad, which will be out of use in a few years? Or, on the contrary, does meditation really have as many benefits as advertised? Science has been trying to answer this question for several years, and the evidence is very clear.

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According to the experiments that have been carried out on this subject, practicing meditation causes all kinds of improvements both mentally and physically. For this reason, this technique is beginning to be incorporated into some purely scientific disciplines, such as psychotherapy or medicine.

In this article we will tell you what are the main benefits of meditating often. If you have ever been interested in this practice, what you will learn today may give you the push you need to start once and for all.

Main health benefits of practicing meditation

1- Reduce stress

High levels of stress are one of the main reasons many people start practicing meditation. This technique has proven to be one of the most effective in combating this problem, which is increasingly widespread among the population.

The effects of meditating can often be felt in this regard on both a physical and mental level. Several studies suggest that it may reduce the body's levels of cortisol, the hormone that is behind most of the damaging effects of stress. But in addition, on a psychological level it can also alleviate many of its consequences.

Thus, for example, meditating often can avoid some of the more common symptoms such as sleep problems, increased blood pressure, and poor mental clarity and concentration. Interestingly, the beneficial effect of meditation seems to be more marked in individuals with higher levels of stress.

2- Helps control anxiety

We've all heard of emotional intelligence by now. This ability, which unlike traditional intelligence can be improved with effort, appears to be closely related to success in life, happiness, and general well-being. And it seems that meditation is one of the best ways to develop it.

What is the relationship between this ancient practice and the understanding of emotional life? On the one hand, it seems that observing our own thoughts and mental processes can help us better understand what we feel. On the other hand, this will allow us to control them much more easily.

So if you have difficulty understanding what is happening to you, or are often overwhelmed by your emotions, starting to practice meditation may help you overcome these problems more than anything else.

5- Develop your social skills

Another of the most important areas of life are social relationships. Numerous studies have found that having a good support group and a circle of friends is essential for proper mental and physical health. But meditation, which is usually done alone, would seem to have no benefit in this regard.

However, the latest studies on the matter contradict this popular belief. Because it helps us to be more in touch with our own emotions, meditation also helps us to understand those of others. This, which is the basis of empathy, can do wonders for our social life.

In addition, by meditating often, we also become better able to focus on the present moment and pay real attention to what other people are saying to us.

Both skills can be extremely useful when making new friends or deepening relationships with those we already have.

6- It helps you focus better

Because we spend our days surrounded by stimuli that compete for our attention, many of us find it increasingly difficult to focus on just one thing for a long time. In fact, we tend to move from one task to another without finishing looking at just one.

The problem with this is that our effectiveness in everything we do in this way is greatly diminished. Therefore, more and more people are looking for ways to improve their attention and concentration; And meditating on a regular basis is one of the best ways to achieve this.

When you are meditating, you need to pay attention to just one stimulus (for example, your breathing) for a longer or shorter time. If you repeat this routine enough times, you will end up training your brain to be able to focus on a single activity.

After all, our attention span is a kind of muscle. The more we exercise it, the more we can make use of it. So if you have trouble staying focused, don't hesitate: start meditating and you will see benefits in this area almost immediately.

7- Reduces all kinds of pain

Most of the benefits related to meditation are psychological and emotional. However, there are some that have to do with our body, as was the case in the prevention of heart disease. One of the most impressive is, without a doubt, the decrease in pain caused by this practice.

For some reason, meditating regularly is capable of radically reducing our feelings of physical discomfort. In a study in which the effects of this discipline were compared with those of certain drugs, it was found that the reduction in pain it causes is similar to that of morphine, and even exceeds it in some cases.

How can this be possible? Pain, after all, is a signal that our brain sends us when something happens that damages our body. Meditation could influence this process, even reducing the intensity of chronic pain that does not respond well to any type of medical treatment.

8- Increase your confidence in yourself

The development of self-esteem, although it is related to emotional intelligence, is such an important area that it is usually studied separately from it.

Trusting ourselves, our abilities and the possibilities we have to achieve what we want is essential to live the kind of existence we dream of.

According to all the studies on the subject, meditating regularly can boost our self-confidence by large amounts. This effect could be related to the fact that this practice is able to calm our neurotic thoughts, which are one of the greatest sources of insecurities that exist.

9- Higher energy levels

Many are the people who complain that they don't feel like doing anything. They feel listless, unable to do the tasks they know they should do or feel like doing. Luckily for these individuals, meditation is able to influence this aspect as well and increase our energy levels.

Spending the entire day with your head full of uncontrolled ideas, without stopping to think for a single second, can be exhausting. Therefore, being able to stop our stream of thoughts for a few minutes a day can make the difference between always being psychologically tired or feeling full of vitality.

10- Helps improve memory

What we remember is directly related to what we pay attention to. When something impacts us a lot or is important to us, we tend to remember it without problems. On the contrary, if it is something that does not seem relevant to us or that cannot get us out of our thoughts, we will not be able to remember it.

In this sense, meditation can help us develop our everyday memory, by making us able to pay more attention to what happens to us and what surrounds us.

If you start meditating on a regular basis, you will notice that it is less difficult for you to remember what you have to do and what you forgot before.

Some studies even suggest that this practice could somewhat alleviate the memory loss that is normally associated with aging. Of course, this is not an absolute cure for this problem, but the improvements appear to be significant.

11- Helps you enter the state of

If there is a state of mind that has been shown time and again to be related to happiness, it is flow. It is a feeling that appears when we are totally immersed in a task that motivates us and challenges us at the same time. Various studies show that it improves our quality of life and makes us feel much better.

What does meditation have to do with this other state of mind? By helping us to better concentrate on what we have in hand, practicing it regularly encourages the appearance of flow no matter what we are doing.

In addition, mindfulness, a type of meditation that is practiced while performing other tasks, is one of the most direct ways that exist to enter a state of flow.

If both mental states are combined, the benefits for our mind and our emotions can be enormous.

12- Improve your mood

We have already talked about the great benefits that meditation has for our state of mind; but there are so many that it is necessary to make a section just to deal with this aspect.

Performing this practice often will help you in a myriad of ways to be happier, more optimistic, and ultimately make you stronger.

Among the main benefits for your emotional well-being are the following: greater resistance to psychological pain, higher levels of optimism, improved ability to set and meet goals, fewer neurotic thoughts, and reduced worries and feelings worth less than the rest.

Therefore, if you think you need to improve your emotional state, meditation is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

conclusion

Now that you know the most important benefits of meditation, it is time to get down to work. Start practicing five or ten minutes a day, gradually increase the duration as you feel more comfortable, and in a short time you will see how both your physical health and your psychological well-being increase.

References

1. "Scientific benefits of meditation" in: Live and Dare. Retrieved on: October 17, 2018 from Live and Dare: liveanddare.com.
2. "12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation" in: Healthline. Retrieved on: October 17, 2018 from Healthline: healthline.com.
3. "The benefits of meditation you never knew" in: Art of Living. Retrieved on: October 17, 2018 from Art of Living: artofliving.org.
4. "14 Benefits of Meditation that Rewire Your Brain for Happiness & Success" in: Science of People. Retrieved on: October 17, 2018 from Science of People: scienceofpeople.com.
5. "20 Scientific Reasons to Start Meditating Today" in: Psychology Today. Retrieved on: October 17, 2018 from Psychology Today: psychologytoday.com.