Meditation is a popular practice to improve your mood, reduce your anxiety, and help you destress. In fact, meditation has been around for thousands of years and has become a popular topic of research among scientists. We can all use a little relaxation from time to time, but there are many benefits of mediation that you might know about. For instance, did you know that meditation can help lower your blood pressure and reduce balding? If that comes as a surprise to you, then you will love learning the other lesser known benefits of meditation that will have you ready to get your mindfulness on, today.
Meditation Improves your Immune System
Did you know that meditation can improve biological functions too? Studies have found that regular meditation can reduce cell ageing, inflammation, and improve your immune system. Your immune system is incredibly smart and it is affected by what you eat, what you think, and how you handle stress. So it makes sense that a regular meditation practice can enhance your immune function.
Meditation Can Help you Manage your Weight
As we get older, it becomes harder and harder to stay in shape, so it might come as a surprise and a relief that meditation can help with your weight management. A regular mindfulness practice can rebuild your relationship with food, help deter emotional eating, and support awareness of the foods you put in your body. Meditation also helps lower cortisol levels in the body, a known factor for weight gain. Overall, mindfulness can help support your mindset which is arguably one of the most important factors of weight loss success.
Meditation can Improve your Focus
Do you ever find yourself struggling to focus? Well, meditation can help with that. Think of meditation as a workout for your brain. Studies have found that a regular meditation practice can improve your performance on tests, reduce mind wandering, and even enhance your memory.
Other Great Benefits of Meditation
If these benefits didn’t convince you to add mediation to your daily routine, here are some other amazing benefits of meditation.
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves chronic pain
- Increases compassion
- Improves relationships
- Reduces hair loss
- Improves your sleep
- Improves overall wellbeing and health
How to get started
Hopefully you are reading about all of these amazing benefits and are ready to add meditation to your daily life. However, you might be wondering how to get started. The good news is, there are lots of resources out there for mediation including free Youtube videos, in-person mediation sessions, and great apps like Headspace, Chopra, and Calm.
You can choose to spend 10 minutes meditating before bed, or even when you first wake up. The goal is to work towards a consistent mindfulness practice, even if it’s just a few minutes at a time. If you want to enhance your mindfulness practice even more, try adding some other supplemental mindfulness practices to your daily routine like: yoga, journaling, and daily gratitude. These supplemental practices can support your mindfulness journey and help support a healthier and happier you.