Meditation is usually associated with balance and peace of mind. A wider audience sees this technique only as a means of reducing stress levels, and it may come as a surprise that it has numerous other pretty visible benefits that aren’t just spiritual. Treating depression, regulating mood and anxiety disorders, helping you focus and improving your attention, learning and memory, as well as preparing you to deal with stress, are known effects of meditation that many people are aware of. But what about those lesser-known meditation benefits which are usually neglected?
Down With Weight
A fast-paced lifestyle of millennials has its perks, but unfortunately it has its downsides. Fast food, too much work, little sleep, and computer/smartphone/internet addiction, apart from causing other health issues, inevitably lead to gaining weight. People battle with weight problems every day, and many of them turn to dieting or exhausting exercises as an attempt to shed a few pounds. No wonder they soon give up and return to that vicious circle of carbs, TV and sedentary activities. Meditation can be a secret ingredient that can help your brain fight off the urge to grab comfort food every time you feel down. It also reduces levels of cortisol – the stress hormone which is strongly connected with diabetes and abdominal gain weight.
Radiant Skin
The connection between the mind and skin is already established as a scientific fact. Everything that you go through during the day can be seen on your skin. Stress is the main trigger for many chronic skin conditions including eczema, acne, psoriasis or even vitiligo. The order of things is pretty simple – when you’re under a great deal of stress, your immune system suffers and you become prone to various inflammatory processes, which lead to the said skin conditions. Meditation can ameliorate the symptoms of all those dermatological disorders and make your skin look pretty again. Experts from Insight State claim that meditation is very important for your immune system, and that it’s the missing piece of the puzzle necessary for healing your skin.
The Fountain Of Youth
Collagen injections, Botox, plastic surgeries – people would do anything just to make their skin young again. Still, all those procedures have some side-effects or can be painful, not to mention that the final result can be disappointing due to an unnatural or frozen look. Once again, meditation can slow the effects of ageing and make that irreversible process be less harsh on your skin. As you may guess, chronic stress is the archenemy of youthfulness, and meditation helps you cope with it. Recent research studies show that meditation slows ageing at a cellular level. The shortening of telomeres –proteins that protect the ends of chromosomes during division – finally results in a cell no longer being able to divide so that it eventually dies. Needles to say, chronic stress is responsible for the shortening of telomeres. There’s evidence that people who practice meditation have longer telomeres, which means that their cells have a longer lifespan.
The Science Of Sleep
Many people have trouble sleeping due to various factors. Everyday life can be tiring and exhausting, thus the lack of inner peace and balance is reflected in our sleeping patterns. Sleeping pills can be a short-term solution, but that method of dealing with insomnia isn’t recommended as pills cause addiction, and sometimes they can even increase tolerance and become ineffective. Meditation helps us achieve inner balance and harmony which in turns makes us calm as well as more content and happy. Naturally, when you’re relaxed your sleep will be better and you’ll be able to actually have some rest and wake up fresh.
Meditation Each Day Keeps The Flu Away
Do you know that meditation is also an excellent cure for colds and flu? It may sound surprising to a layman, but this has been scientifically proven. According to research conducted by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, meditation can significantly reduce the incidence of those annoying winter ailments by boosting your immune system. Meditation and mindfulness training reduces duration and severity of respiratory infections by a staggering 40-50%.
As you can see, meditation and mindfulness exercises aren’t limited to just making you feel better psychologically and spiritually, but they can also significantly improve your overall physical health as well as your looks.
