How Meditation Changes The Body
I am delighted to introduce Sarah Jones as a guest blogger on YFJ. Sarah is blogger and is passionate about relaxation, meditation, massage and wellness. Here Sarah tells us exactly what happens to the body when we take the time to meditate.
When seeking the ability to increase focus, improve emotional awareness, self-awareness or to increase our pain threshold, meditation may not be the first thing to come to mind. However, science is starting to come to understand that this one small activity may have immense benefits for people the world over.
Meditation aims to train the mind to stay fully within the present, where we recognize who we are, where we are and what we are doing, while not being overwhelmed or overly affected by the actions of others. The best part about learning to be more mindful of our surroundings and of ourselves is that new research shows that we are actually reforming the structures of our brain through the process of doing it.
While you may be thinking, “But I have no interest in following the lifestyle of a monk and ditching my earthly pleasures!” A lot of the hype around meditation is not actually necessary to achieve the benefits. Meditation is accessible to many individuals and does not require following a specific religion or dietary path.
Benefits acquired from meditation and backed by science:
Pregnant women have a lot on their plate as it is. Worrying about depression shouldn’t have to be one of them. In a pilot study published in Complementary Theories in Clinical Practice, it was found that pregnant women who underwent a ten-week course in yoga and mindfulness had significant reductions in depressive symptoms. Maybe forget the ice-cream and engage in a tree pose instead?
Mental health disorders are very serious during pregnancy and can lead to negative complications such as poor weight gain, preeclampsia, premature delivery, and mothers may have a hard time trying to bond with their baby. The study hoped to highlight the need for further research to show how mindfulness yoga could lead to women being more optimistic and having a greater sense of control over their bodies during the pregnancy.
Mindfulness meditation has been found to alter the structure of the brain, those who engaged in open-mindfulness meditation were found to have far lower levels of grey matter density in areas of the brain known to be associated with anxiety and depression.
But meditation doesn’t just lower grey matter concentration in the regions of the brain that control stress and depression, it can also increase grey matter within parts of the brain that control memory, the ability to learn, the center where emotions are regulated and your self-awareness.
This was found in a Harvard study, where people were placed in an eight-week mindfulness course. They were required to not only take part in guided meditations, but also had to make use of mindfulness techniques throughout their daily activities. The difference in grey matter were observed via MRI scans.
A further benefit of meditation is that it can actually relieve pain to such an extent that it may rival morphine’s capabilities. A study conducted by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center showed that individuals who were completely new to meditating, were better able to experience pain and had better pain-related activity within the brain after a mere hour’s worth of meditation training that focused on breathing.
Research from Nottingham Trent University in the UK found that individuals who continually reported to be stressed and in a negative mental state self-reported greater mental well-being and lowered stress along with negativity after having received meditation training.
A positive outlook is an essential step to achieving not only one’s goals, but also to be able to handle the daily rigors of life. Thus, meditation in the hopes of creating a more positive mind frame for its practitioners had major implications towards better health.
When an event such as a really important business meeting or a visit to the dentist is looming on the horizon, it’s easy to get stressed in advance. However, research from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has shown that individuals who meditate before an event with a negative connotation had reduced stress and anxiety levels.
Conclusion:
It’s easy to get bogged down with stress, negativity, and depression due to the issues of daily life, especially when we are trying to achieve something that almost seems determined to evade us. However, with meditation at your side you might just be able to turn the tide and get back into living the now, embracing the little things, and maybe just indulging in some much deserved me time. So why not take a deep breath and meditate?
Find out more about Sarah:
Ever since she started using the relaxation techniques she learned, Sarah has never been healthier and calmer. To learn more about what she does, she writes about her strategies on Relax Everyday.
