Most people tend to think of mindful meditation as an exercise where you engage in meditation to relax your mind even when remaining acutely aware of your surroundings instead of trying to switch your mind off to attain calmness. Mindful mediation, according to experts, has multiple health benefits that make it an ideal pursuit for people suffering from a large variety of physical and psychological ailments. Some of the health benefits of mindful meditation that are also scientifically proven:
Mindfulness Meditation – Jonah Engler Reveals Health Benefits That May Surprise You
Most people tend to think of mindful meditation as an exercise where you engage in meditation to relax your mind even when remaining acutely aware of your surroundings instead of trying to switch your mind off to attain calmness. Mindful mediation, according to experts, has multiple health benefits that make it an ideal pursuit for people suffering from a large variety of physical and psychological ailments. Some of the health benefits of mindful meditation that are also scientifically proven:
Jonah Engler Health Benefit No. 1 – Better Quality of Sleep
Those who have suffered from sleepless nights will know how excruciatingly painful it is to toss and turn in the bed trying to get some sleep and rise the next morning feeling completely drained, feeling fuzzy with gritty eyes, and a jabbing headache. Mindful meditation has been proven by several studies to have an extremely beneficial effect on the ability to get so sleep that is so important for health and vitality. Research involving older adults especially has revealed the practice of mindful meditation resulted in a significant improvement in their quality of sleep even in the short-term and improved the quality of lives by reducing the sleep-related impairment faced by them during the daytime.
Jonah Engler Health Benefit No. 2 – Contributes to Weight Loss
Almost everyone has, at one point in time or the other, struggled to lose weight to effectively address multiple health problems ranging from diabetes to impaired mobility. Quick weight-loss techniques and fad diets are not as effective as they are projected to be. It can be very motivating to learn that mindful meditation has been proven to an effective solution for your weight loss issues. A research study on overweight women suffering from obesity revealed that while it was not intended to induce a significant loss of weight, mindful meditation did result in less stress eating, which acted to stabilize their weight. According to researchers, eating mindfully a larger number of times had a slight bearing on weight loss. The study went on to observe that participants could experience actual weight loss if they ate a higher proportion of their meals mindfully. A survey carried out by Consumer Reports on psychologists licensed by the American Psychological Association discovered that mindfulness, along with problem-solving and cognitive therapy were good to excellent strategies for losing weight. The reason being dieters should also take into account their emotions and not merely rely on calorie-control and exercise for losing weight.
Jonah Engler Health Benefit No. 3 – Reduces the Level of Stress
There is no denying the fact that the exceedingly fast pace of our lives contributes to and aggravates the level of stress. To maintain overall health as well as mental wellbeing, it is important to learn how to control the level of stress on both body and mind, observes Jonah Engler. That mindful meditation is a very effective way of reducing the impact of stress has also been confirmed by a review of as many as 47 clinical trials that established what people already knew. The review revealed that participating in mindful meditation programs resulted in a small reduction in the level of stress and improved the quality of life. Yet another study established that by focusing on what was happening in the present by practicing mindful mediation, it was possible to reduce the level of the stress hormone, cortisol.
Jonah Engler Health Benefit No. 4 – Lessens Lonesomeness in Senior Citizens
It is well known that growing older can be a challenging process especially when it concerns relationships. It can be very tough for seniors who have enjoyed personally enriching and deeply satisfying relationships with their spouses or partners to lose them. For many of them, the loss of the spouse or partner makes the resulting loneliness worse when they may be having existing psychological or medical problems. According to one study involving older adults, it was found that undergoing a stress reduction program based on mindfulness served to reduce loneliness as well as associated expression of pro-inflammatory genes.
Jonah Engler Health Benefit No. 5 – Expels Negative Feelings Temporarily
Contemporary workplaces require people to put in extended hours sitting at a desk and invariably staring at a computer screen. It is very well established that by doing so for long hours, it can harm both physical and mental health. This is the reason why it is usually advised that you should get up from your chair now and then to stretch your muscles and give your spine some relaxation. Getting up to talk to a colleague instead of making a telephone call or going to the coffee machine to spend a few moments lounging around with colleagues can be very useful in reducing physical and mental stress. The impact is even more heightened if you can incorporate mindfulness into these activities so that you can savor and feel each moment. This has the effect of increasing your blood circulation, avoiding muscular cramps, and improving the level of attention besides reducing negative feelings that invariably tend to build up when you are working for long hours.
Jonah Engler Health Benefit No. 6 – Helps to Reduce Anxiety
Given the many stresses and strains of modern living, it is not unusual for people to feel anxious due to several events like health issues, loss of a job, paying off bills, dealing with unexpected events, etc. However, the good news is that research has revealed that it is possible to reduce the level of anxiety significantly by undergoing even a single session of mindful meditation. The study also suggested that even one session of mindful mediation can have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular health of people suffering from moderate anxiety. According to https://edition.cnn.com, practicing breathing meditation i.e. focusing attention on the process of breathing can help to reduce anxiety and stress.
Conclusion
With its multiple proven health benefits, many consider the practice of mindful meditation as important as eating, exercising, and bathing. People who can build it consciously into their routine benefit from a large assortment of positive impacts on their physical and mental health. Also, it has been found that mindful meditation can help to manage chronic pain, including the effect of post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) or serious health issues. Many people also have reported it to be effective in preventing the relapse of depression and causing an increase in brain matter.