It is more important than ever to develop coping skills that can reduce stress and anxiety. Often you hear people suggesting practicing self-care, this usually entails taking a bath, doing something you enjoy, and unplugging. All of these are great suggestions, however, there is a long known traditional practice that can help quell anxiety from within. Meditation can help you to improve your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Let’s see how and why it can.
History of Meditation
The oldest known evidence of meditation is from India, “approx.. 5,000 to 3,500 BCE, in-wall art depicting people sitting in meditative positions with half-closed eyes”. Written evidence shows up around 1500 BCE in India when students were sent to Gurukuls or schools in the forests to learn under a Shishya or teacher. (1) We do not know too much more about it that far back, however, almost every Hindu religious book mentions meditation in some form.
By the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, early Buddhism in India and Taoists in China developed other forms of meditation. From the 7th century AD, Japanese Buddhism when a Japanese monk Dosho learned of Zen in China and opened the first Japanese meditation hall. There are also known practices of Jewish meditation, meditation in Islamic mysticism or Sufism, and Eastern Christian mediation.
In the West, meditation gained popularity and interest at different points in history – the 1890s, the 1920s, and then again in the 1960s. This is when transcendental mediation was popularized in the West known simply as yoga although they were primarily forms sourced from hatha yoga and ashtanga vinyasa yoga (a form of classic Indian yoga) schools.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is a practice where someone uses a technique and trains the mind to focus or use mindfulness to gain awareness and calmness. The word meditation is from the Latin word meditation, which means “to think, contemplate, devise, ponder.” However, because there are so many different traditional uses and approaches to meditation, it has been difficult to concretely define.
According to Yoga International, “Meditation is a precise technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is different from the normal waking state.” It is a time to feel awakened inward, silent the mind, and focus on your internal world rather than the external.
Health Benefits of Meditation
So what are the health benefits of meditation? How do your body and mind respond to meditation?
There is a long list of science-backed health benefits of meditation:
It reduces the default mode network in the brain – this is the area of the brain responsible for being active when our minds wander from thought to thought with no real purpose. Mind-wandering can include worrying about and regretting the past, negative thinking, self-deprecating thoughts, and ruminating – all things that can affect our happiness. It can help reduce depression, anxiety, and pain symptoms – studies show that when meditation is used as a tool to train the mind, it can increase awareness and approach things differently – to cope using mindset.
Mindful meditation has been found to “actually change the structure of the brain” – a study at Harvard showed that after eight weeks of mediation participants were found to increase the cortical thickness in the hippocampus – the area of the brain responsible for learning, memory, and emotional regulation. They also found a decrease in the cell volume of the amygdala – this is the area of the brain responsible for anxiety, stress, and fear.
Improve concentration and attention with meditation – research showed that after only a couple of weeks of meditation. They found that focus, memory, concentration, and attention all improved. Mediation has also been found to improve problem-solving and decision-making.
Helps with addiction – meditation helps the self-control areas of the brain, which can help people to overcome addictions including smoking, drinking, and drugs.
Meditation helps increase empathy and helps with social anxiety – during meditation neural connections ignite emotions like empathy and kindness helping us be more connected socially and more affectionate.
Natural Stress Relief – This is probably the most popular reason to meditate. So much so it is often seen in popular culture on TV, in movies, video games, and books. We have all seen the reminders to meditate as a stress buster across social media. It is used widely for this reason and it works. But how? Your body’s stress response or fight or flight response can increase the stress you feel because it pumps your body full of the stress hormone cortisol. Meditation triggers the body’s relaxation response and returns the body to a relaxed and calm state. Furthermore, it helps give your body time to repair and heal while also reversing the stress response protecting you from chronic stress and the detrimental effects of it.
Take away the pain – studies show that mediation can help build endurance against chronic physical pain.
Fertility and Meditation - Studies show that stress has a negative impact on ovulation including “fertilization and implantation in the uterus” Stressed women who undergo IVF have less success, fewer eggs retrieved, and implanted. Meditation can help keep stress low and fertility increases.
Postpartum depression – meditation can be an excellent additional coping skill for new mothers experiencing baby blues has it helps to regulate hormonal flushes, mood changes, and helps new moms develop a secure connection with their baby. It can also help reduce the symptoms of postpartum depression. Besides, it can help all new moms deal with feelings of uncertainty, stress, and even help to increase milk production in moms breastfeeding.
Improve sleep with meditation – Studies show that mediation can help reduce insomnia, fatigue, and depression that can affect sleep quality. By boosting the relaxation response and deep breathing portion of meditative practice, it can help people to let go and relax and focus on calmness to get a good night’s sleep.
Physical health benefits – in addition to the brain, meditation can improve energy, motivation, and strength as well as the following:
- Slows down breathing and heart rate
- Normalizes blood pressure levels
- Helps your body use oxygen more efficiently
- Improves immune function
- Decreases sweating
- Slows aging of the brain
- Less cortisol produced by adrenal glands
- Can help with weight loss
- Reduces fatigue.
Consistency is Everything
Don’t worry about the duration of meditation but the consistency. Meditating even a few minutes a day 5 to 10 minutes – is more effective than meditating once a week for an hour.
Don’t worry about being perfect, do what is comfortable for you and allows you to focus on the task on hand rather than worry about how your sitting
Your mind is supposed to wander. Many people think that meditation requires their minds to be silent and still, it is the opposite. Your mind is meant to drift and wander – noticing it is more important and redirecting your thoughts back to your meditation is best.
Meditation can be hard for everyone, even those who have practiced for years. Keep trying.
How to Do Mindful Meditation
Mindful meditation can help achieve a state of mind that is not transcendent, like the meditation we are familiar with, but rather a state of complete awareness. It is achieved by paying attention to whatever is in that moment; focusing on it without thinking of the past (even the moment before) or what will happen in the future. By experiencing the awareness of a moment, in turn, helps us to embrace that moment no matter what else is happening at the time. By doing so, the habits of rumination such as wishing things could be different, and distractions can be thwarted by a strengthened ability to live literally "at the moment".
While it is nice to create a small, quiet spot where you can light candles or incense and create an oasis for yourself, this is not necessary. All you need to do is:
1 Find a chair, bench or cushion and sit in a way that you find comfortable. 2 Cross your legs comfortably in front of you. 3 Straighten your back, but don’t stiffen it. 4 Let your hands fall to your side and let your body remain slack but in position. 5 Lower your chin and let your eyes gaze on whatever is in front of you, gently falling downward. 6 Now be there: feel your breath and relax. 7 That’s it. You're done!
If you feel you are stressed again during the day, simply do it again.
Essential Oils Best for Meditation
Many people use a lit candle to help them focus, but using essential oils as aromatherapy during meditation can also help to relax the body and mind. These are some of the oils that can help the transition to a meditative state easier.
Sandalwood – this oil is often used in mala bracelets for meditation because has calming properties, gives one a sense of inner peace, and helps one to focus on breathing.
Atlas cedarwood – from an evergreen tree native to the Atlas mountains in Morocco. Cedarwood has been used for thousands of years by the Greeks, Romans, and the Egyptians. It is often used while meditating during moments of chaos because it helps dispel negativity, grounds one, and helps bring the focus inward.
Patchouli – Traditionally used in East Asia as incense and used in meditation for its grounding and calming properties. The scent is earthy and woodsy and helps one center.
Clary sage – is made from an herb in north Africa. It has been used medicinally since the 4th century BCE. Clary sage is used for stress relief and is perfect for times of emotional turmoil, exhaustion and when work is causing you to be burned-out.
References
1 Giovanni (15 August 2018). "The History of Meditation (A 5,000 Years Timeline)". Live and Dare. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
2 Yang CC, Barrós-Loscertales A, Li M, et al. Alterations in brain structure and amplitude of low-frequency after 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation training in meditation-naïve subjects. Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):10977. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47470-4
3 Yang CC, Barrós-Loscertales A, Li M, et al. Alterations in brain structure and amplitude of low-frequency after 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation training in meditation-naïve subjects. Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):10977. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47470-4
