Meditation is often confused for strictly a spiritual experience, but there is also legitimate scientific backing to prove the health benefits of meditating.
There is a bit of a misnomer among some people that meditation is only a pseudoscientific way to gain some sort of spiritual awakening, but that in a scientific lens there are no real proven benefits of meditating. However, this could not be further from the truth, as there are plenty of scientifically proven advantages that meditation can give a person, specifically to boost one’s mental health. Here are a few of these benefits.
Takes Charge of Anxiety
Countless studies show that people with clinical anxiety can benefit significantly from consistent mediation. This one in specific shows that consistent meditation for 8 week periods can reduce these symptoms as well as increase self-positivity and self-awareness. Other studies show us that meditation may dial down job-related anxiety in specific even more so than other forms of anxiety.
Battles Depression
Meditation can work to battle depression by its elimination of chemicals such as cytokines, which area response to stress which also can lead to problems with mood and depression. This particular study shows us that meditation helps to eliminate negative thoughts, or at least have people draw a more positive conclusion from negative outcomes and images that they were shown in comparison to a control group.
A Catalyst for Better Sleep
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that many people will experience in phases during their lives. Meditation can help with insomnia, as it shows us that its control of racing thoughts that can lead to insomnia will help us fall asleep easier and stay asleep. This is also crucial for other aspects of our mental health, as sleep acts as the basis for other problems that may arise.
Improves Heart Health
Because of the properties meditation has in terms of stress relief, this also means that it can decrease our blood pressure. Maintaining healthy blood pressure is crucial for long-term cardiac health, and several studies such as this one show us that participants who meditate regularly have reduced blood pressure in comparison to people who did not.