Meditation is all about your thoughts and controlling or focusing them. It’s becoming more and more popular as a way to relax. That’s because there’s no particular length of how long you have to do it, you don’t need any special equipment, and you can do it anywhere.
Meditation has scientifically proven benefits to your mental and physical health.
So how about that science?
In numerous studies, meditation is showing moderate affects on anxiety and depression. They think this is because it helps lower the body’s cortisol levels.
Cortisol is a hormone that gets released in reaction to stress, but it increases blood sugar levels, hurts bone growth, and can increase your metabolism. While that last part might sound great, this also means it can disrupt sleep patterns and make it difficult to relax.
Lowering all that stress and anxiety, even in small amounts, can positively impact your sleep and emotional health — both of which impact your mental and physical health.
Helping keep your blood sugar in check and balanced means positively impacting your heart health and metabolism.
If you’re still not convinced
Studies have also shown meditation to help people break habits and lose weight.
What’s called mindfulness meditation, in particular, has been shown to help ease food cravings, binge eating and emotional eating. That’s because meditation is helping people gain control over their awareness — awareness of their habits and thoughts — and figuring out how to “quiet” them or discipline them.
There’s more
Meditation can help:
- Improve your immune system
- Increase energy levels
- Lower blood pressure
- Slow aging
- Ease PMS symptoms (now you’re listening)
So give it a try. Sit anywhere you feel comfortable for just five minutes and focus on your breathing. Read this article if you have no idea how to get started.