Different forms of meditation have been used for thousands of years as a spiritual practice to create inner peace. But today, meditation is just as much scientific and secular as it is spiritual, with loads of exciting studies revealing exactly what meditation can do for our health and well-being.
The truth is this: We can eat the healthiest foods, exercise regularly, and avoid chemicals in our household cleaning products and cosmetics, but if we’re not caring for our minds—we won’t be optimally healthy. Stress is the sugar of the soul; it will wreck your health from the inside out.
Just like with your fitness goals, you have to be consistent with your meditation practice to grow that mindfulness muscle!
- More Social Connection
Meditation is usually a solitary practice, but interesting research demonstrates meditation’s ability to increase our sense of connection to others. This—combined with the group meditation classes will help increase your social connection and heighten your emotional intelligence.
- Increased Longevity
Telomeres are located at the ends of your chromosomes and kind of look like the plastic parts found at the end of your shoelaces. Longer telomeres are correlated with a longer life span, and shorter telomeres are associated with a shorter life span. Studies have shown that meditation can preserve telomere length and reduce cellular stress.
- Reduced Anxiety
There have been many studies showing that meditation helps to reduce anxiety. But how exactly does it work? Well, the part of our brain activated with feelings of anxiousness is known as the posterior cingulate cortex. When anxiety is calmed, the anterior cingulate cortex is activated. Meditation actually activates and strengthens this part of the brain.
- Pain Relief
Because of meditation’s ability to balance inflammation levels and its overall calming qualities, it makes sense that it can also be a natural way to lower pain levels.
- An Immune System Boost
Does it seem like you are always fighting off a cold? Well, meditation improves genetic pathways that control our immune system.
Meditation has a lot of other benefits like Increased attention and focus, maintaining healthier blood pressure, and improved self-confidence. Meditation is a natural stress reliever.
An average of 2.5 hours of meditation per week can be enough to reap consistent health benefits. That equates to only 21 minutes a day! Think about how much time we waste on social media. Certainly, we all have 21 minutes to spare in honor of our health.
