Meditate. It can help you live your life to the fullest.
According to an article on HuffPost Healthy Living, business professionals at big companies such as Google and General Mills are meditating. And Financial Times Magazine cites that companies are providing courses and opportunities for their employees to “find their center.”
Meditating for just a few minutes each and every day can help you change your life for the better. As a matter of fact, numerous studies prove that meditation can significantly improve your physical, mental and emotional health.
Why Should You Meditate?
It boosts physical health. Studies indicate that incorporating meditation into your daily routine decrease pain and enhance the immune function. According to a study published in the April 2011 online edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, practicing mindfulness meditation for just a few minutes each day decreases pain ratings by improving a person’s mood.
Practicing compassion meditation can reduce stress-induced immune and behavioral responses which may lead to reduced stress reactivity, according to a study published in the official journal of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology in January 2009. Another study published in the July 2003 issue of the Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine concluded that engaging in a short program of mindfulness meditation reinforces the immune function.
African-Americans who regularly practice Transcendental Meditation are 48% less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from all causes, according to a study conducted by the American Heart Association. In addition, experts in the University of Calgary in Canada recently found evidence that mediation can alter the cellular activity of cancer survivors, and increase their chances of recovery.
It improves your mental health. Meditation can help you stay mentally healthy by enhancing your memory and attention. Studies indicate that meditation can increase cortisal thickness, especially in areas responsible for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing. The same study also concluded that meditation may offset the subsequent decline in cortical structure among older people. Other studies further suggest that meditation increases the volume of grey matter in areas responsible for memory and thought.
It boosts your emotional health. A study published in the April 2009 issue of Neuroimage, a journal of Brain Function, concluded that meditation can improve a person’s psychological and physiological well-being by altering the brain structure. After examining the MRI data of 44 subjects, researchers discovered that the orbito-frontal and hippocampal regions of the brain (the areas responsible for emotional regulation and response control) of meditators are significantly larger as compared to non-meditators. This may explain why people who meditate on a regular basis are more capable of cultivating positive emotions and retaining emotional stability.?
Furthermore, meditation can also improve productivity by increasing creativity and the ability to multitask. It can also enrich a person’s life by improving social connection, enhancing empathy and compassion, and increasing life satisfaction.
