Can Decrease Blood Pressure
Meditation can also improve physical health by reducing strain on the heart.
Over time, high blood pressure makes the heart work harder to pump blood, which can lead to poor heart function.
High blood pressure also contributes to atherosclerosis, or a narrowing of the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.
A meta-analysis of 12 studies enrolling nearly 1000 participants found that meditation helped reduce blood pressure. This was more effective among older volunteers and those who had higher blood pressure prior to the study (
How Mindfulness Helps Anxiety
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what were doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by whats going on around us.
Leading expert Jon Kabat-Zinn describes it as awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally, adding: in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.
When you become aware of the present moment, you gain access to resources you may not have realized were with you all alonga stillness at your core. An awareness of what you need and dont need in your life thats with you all the time. You may not be able to change your situation, but mindfulness practice offers the space to change your response to your situation.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction , founded by Kabat-Zinn, the gold-standard for research-backed mindfulness. Developed over 40 years ago, MBSR is an 8-week program, including supported teachings, mindfulness practices, and movement practices that help people work with the stresses of everyday life. MBSR practices allow you to bring kind awareness and acknowledgment to any stressed or anxious feelings in your body and mind and simply allow them to be. A 1992 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that MBSR can effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic even in those with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or panic disorder with agoraphobia.
Mindfulness Works, But Not for Everyone
How Meditation Corrals The Wandering Mind
Moreover, it is thought that meditation disables distraction by filtering stimuli long before it reaches your bottlenecking, gatekeeping “thalamus.”
You know how a river dam ensures the perfect amount of water is always available to downstream households, agriculture, and industry?
In much the same way, meditation upstream filters the less important data, sending only the best information downstream.
As a result, the “gulf” of the meditative mind never has to micromanage the barrage of distracting, happiness-robbing information which directly contributes to chronic anxiety.
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How Meditation Can Benefit Teenage Students
For adolescents, it is not just the educational stress that bothers them. The changing body, emotional ups and downs, identity issues, and often family discord everything impacts their mental health altogether. Battling teenage stress is not an easy task.
The science of meditation has proved that some daily practices can help youngsters get a better grip on their emotions and actions. Teenagers who practice mindful relaxation and meditation practices are less prone to substance abuse, depression, aggression, and self-harm.
We know how meditation impacts the brain, the hormones, and the whole body. Many youngsters who found it challenging to sit at one place or focus on a single task for a long time, improved a lot after practicing meditation daily, individually or within a group.
Besides the core benefits that we all derive from meditating, there are some additional advantages teenage students can get from it.
Meditation Reverses Anxiety Through The Relaxation Response
By using meditation to simultaneously activate the parasympathetic nervous system while deactivating the body’s “fight or flight” stress mode, his patients reversed countless health issues, with anxiety often the first domino to fall.
Dr. Benson’s bestselling book, “Relaxation Response,” has sold millions of copies, providing great momentum to the mind-body movement, and stands as another solid example of hard science confirming age-old mindfulness wisdom.
Note: The relaxation response brings countless benefits above and beyond relieving anxiety and managing stress. The infographic below goes into much more detail:
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How Can I Meditate If I Have Anxiety
You may be wondering how youre supposed to sit quietly and calmly to meditate when youre feeling anxious.
Indeed, you may find meditation challenging at first. But it gets better with time and practice, and the benefits may be worth it for you.
Here are some tips for meditating when youre in an anxious state of mind:
- Let go of expectations. You will probably not sit quietly for an hour on your first try, and thats okay.
- Once youve saved some time for your practice, program yourself ahead of time. This might mean starting to slow down your breathing a few minutes before you sit down, or writing down your phrases if youre doing metta meditation.
- You might want to start with 3 minutes of body scan meditation to release any physical tension.
- You may experience intrusive or persistent thoughts at first. Let them go without judgment or frustration, and try focusing back on your practice.
- If youre having a difficult time releasing your thoughts without judgment, try attaching them to an imaginary balloon. Let go of it and watch as it slowly disappears into the sky.
- Start small. Its fine to start with 1 minute of meditation and work your way up.
If you have a busy schedule or feel the need to do something quick to prevent an anxiety or panic attack, you can practice meditation on the spot, wherever you are.
Here are a few ways you can meditate quickly:
- Headspace
What Does The Latest Research And Science Show
A recent survey on the incidence of meditation in the US population indicated a marked increase in the number of adults and children who practice meditation every day . Psychologists and allied mental health practitioners agree on the effectiveness of meditation in reducing physical, mental, and emotional disturbances.
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How Meditation Deactivates This Anxious Caveman Brain Region
Researchers from Boston University and Harvard Medical School fMRI brain-scanned participants before and after a series of mindfulness meditation classes with staggering results.
In only 8 weeks, along with far fewer “distress signals” transmitted throughout the brain, the meditators’ brain imaging for “fear center” electrical activity had gone silent.
What surprised the scientists the most, however, was that their “anxiety engine” amygdalae somehow managed to physically shrink! This discovery has monumental implications.
Knowing that it is indeed possible to, like the light switch in your bedroom, turn off our primitive caveman brain hardware , we can put a variety of stress related physical, emotional, and mental disorders in our rearview-mirror.
Freshly minted meditators often report drastic anxiety relief as the very first tangible benefit, the first step on a never-ending staircase of incredible transformations.
The first stop on the mindful “highway to happiness” will quickly dump your truck-load of anxiety, no matter how full.
The Benefits Of Meditation In The Workplace
Leading companies like Google and Amazon offer meditation courses to their employees every year. The competitive corporate structure today leaves no space for allowing job stress to fester and take a toll on our health.
The benefits of using meditation in the workplace are multifarious:
- Meditation trains the mind in such a way that workers spontaneously develop the urge to be mindful about their work. They are more connected to the present and aware of their talents and virtues.
- Just like any other aspect of life, meditation helps reduce work-induced stress by regulating the stress hormones and releasing toxins from the body.
- Introducing group meditations at work can promote interpersonal connections among employees and supervisors, and foster empathy and acceptance in the team as a whole.
- Meditation practices like Mindfulness-Based Stress Relaxation therapy, are specially designed for professional executives to build decision-making and leadership skills.
- Studies indicate that commitment to daily meditation improves the general health condition of employees, causing them to take fewer medical leave, and boost productivity manifold. Irrespective of the company type and size, meditation practices at work is universally accepted as one of the best ways to sustain job satisfaction and long-term professional loyalty.
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Moving Meditations For Severe Anxiety
Unfortunately, some people find that meditation makes their anxiety worse.
But that doesnt mean that you should give up on meditation.
Consider moving meditations instead.
One of simplest, most accessible moving meditations is mindful walking.
For a unique meditation experience, try walking a labyrinth.
There are a surprising number of labyrinths open to the public.
You can find a labyrinth near you at LabyrinthLocator.com.
There are also structured moving meditation practices tai chi, qi gong, yoga, or any of the martial arts.
Note that you can train yourself to be mindful when doing any activity.
You can mindfully eat, make tea, do the dishes, or brush your teeth.
Mindfulness And Meditation Can Worsen Depression And Anxiety
Mindfulness involves paying close attention to your own thoughts
Mindfulness and other types of meditation are usually seen as simple stress-relievers but they can sometimes leave people worse off.
About one in 12 people who try meditation experience an unwanted negative effect, usually a worsening in depression or anxiety, or even the onset of these conditions for the first time, according to the first systematic review of the evidence. For most people it works fine but it has undoubtedly been overhyped and its not universally benevolent, says Miguel Farias at Coventry University in the UK, one of the researchers behind the work.
There are many types of meditation, but one of the most popular is mindfulness, in which people pay attention to the present moment, focusing on either their own thoughts and feelings or external sensations. It is recommended by several National Health Service bodies in the UK as a way of reducing depression relapses in people who have experienced the condition several times.
Enthusiasm for meditation may partly stem from a growing awareness of the side effects of antidepressant medicines and the difficulties some people report in stopping taking them. There have been some reports of people experiencing worse mental health after starting meditation but it is unclear how often this happens.
Read more: Lost in meditation: Two books argue over mindfulness
Journal reference: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, DOI: 10.1111/acps.13225
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Meditation Can Change The Way You Think
One of the most common symptoms of depression is debilitating sadness. Medications such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and antidepressants try to combat sadness by boosting neurotransmitters. Mindfulness takes a different approach.
Instead of trying to eliminate sadness, mindfulness works to change the way you think about experiencing negative emotions.
We werent interested in trying to eliminate sadness, therapist Zindel Segal explains. Sadness is also a feature of our universal human experience. We werent interested in trying to get people to not feel sad. What were trying to get people to do is to anchor themselves in their experience so that when a negative emotion comes up in the mind, it can wash over them it doesnt totally destabilize.
Meditation techniques that teach this while helping treat depression include:
Using these techniques can help you to acknowledge and process the debilitating negative emotions associated with depression without triggering your fight or flight mode. The loving-kindness and visualization techniques take it a step further by building your confidence and helping you to focus on images that give you hope, combating worthlessness, and negative self-talk.
How Anxiety And Meditation Change Your Brain
Anxiety doesnt just make you feel bad, it actually changes the structure and function of your brain.
It decreases the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain considered the seat of the memory.
Conversely, it increases the size of the amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for the fear response, causing you to become even more anxious and fearful.
Stress, fear, and anxiety trigger the release of stress hormones and cause imbalances in neurotransmitters, chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other.
Its been known for thousands of years that meditation can help you relax.
But meditation does much more than that.
Meditation, like anxiety, changes the structure and function of your brain but for the better.
Here are some of the powerful ways meditation improves the brain and mental well-being.
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Meditation For Anxiety: Take The Next Step
The evidence is overwhelming meditation is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety.
It does more than temporarily help you relax.
It works on a deep level by changing the function and structure of your brain.
Meditation actually reprograms your brain to be less anxious.
Mindfulness meditation requires no special training and can bring noticeable anxiety relief in as little as 10 minutes a day.
Learning to quiet your mind can be challenging, but guided meditations make it easier.
They let you tap into the wisdom and expertise of the worlds best meditation teachers, often for free.
If you happen to feel more anxious when you meditate, switch to moving meditations.
There are endless meditation options available online, so you can easily experiment to find which ones work for you.
How Meditation Can Improve Your Mental Health
Meditation is the practice of thinking deeply or focusing ones mind for a period of time. While there are many forms of meditation, the ultimate goal is a feeling of relaxation and inner peace, which can improve mental health. And theres a growing body of research to support that.
In a review published in March 2014 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers reviewed more than 18,000 scientific studies looking at the relationship between meditation and depression and anxiety. Forty-seven trials with data on 3,515 patients met their criteria for well-designed research. The results showed that mindful meditation programs over an eight-week period had moderate evidence in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Another study, published in April 2018 in the journal Psychiatry Review, found that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder who participated in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program had a greater reduction in stress markers than a control group.
If you are interested in mindful-based therapy, speak to your physician about incorporating it into your treatment plan. If you are on antidepressants, it is important not to go off them without speaking to your healthcare provider first.
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Calm Anxiety In Three Steps: