With the launch of Meditation on the Hill, we are going to share with you 7 benefits of a regular meditation practice. It may seem as though meditation is something only buddhists and yogi’s do, but having a regular meditation practice is a part of many successful entrepreneurs and athlete’s daily routine. So how can it change your life and how can you start meditating? Read on to find out more!
- It Improves Mental and Functional Health
In a study out of Australia they compared the health of Sahaja Yoga Meditators to the general population. The practitioners and the non-practitioners were asked to fill out a questionnaire and that gave researchers insight into their general pain, social functioning, general health, and mental health – to name a few. There were very strong correlations between frequency of mental silence and vitality, mental health, and general health.
- You can achieve greater emotional control
This form of Sahaja meditation has also been tested down to the gray matter on the brain. Participants were asked to achieve deep mental silence in an MRI scanner. For any of you who have had an MRI done you may have experienced some anxiety as the space you have is very small.
The participants who were able to achieve greater mental silence in the machine presented more gray matter in the medial-fronto-insular striatal cortex of the brain – try saying that 10x fast! This area of the brain is linked to emotions and attention and therefore the individuals who were very good at reaching the state of mental silence have a stronger connection, and therefore control, of their attention and emotions.
- You can relax your parasympathetic nervous system and decrease cortisol levels
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the different subsections of the nervous system, we have the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The parasympathetic nervous system control our vital functions like breathing and heartbeat – the functions that need to occur involuntarily in order for us to stay alive.
When subjects were asked to practice inward-attention meditation, results showed that their parasympathetic nervous system responded to the slow and controlled breathing. Our PNS reacts to outside stimulus and adjusts heart rate, breathing rate, and hormone levels accordingly. This means that in times of stress, the PNS kicks everything into high gear. Heart rate goes up, breathing rate goes up, and cortisol levels (your stress hormone) skyrocket. Knowing that inward-attention meditation can actually help us control the PNS means that when we recognize we are in a situation that is highly stressful, we can take a moment to bring the body back to a more relaxed state.
- The many forms of meditation have been prescribed as medicinal therapy
In Japanese culture there it is common for medical practitioners to prescribe a Forest Bath. This is a form of meditation in that it asks the patient to go out into a forest and just take in their surroundings. Quietness is encouraged and some healthy introspection is expected.
So how can a walk through the park improve your well-being? Japan spent a good amount of money researching this and discovered that trees, plants, and even some fruits and vegetables emit an essential oil called phytoncide that protects them against disease and infection. When subjects of the study were brought in for the research their natural killer cell levels were tested before and after their forest bathing session. Results showed that the bodies ability to fight off disease and infection improved after the walk through the forest and the natural killer cell levels stayed elevated for about month.
- It can potentially slow aging
Scientists have observed that individuals who meditate show signs of aging much slower than those who do practice. This could be due to the fact that individuals who meditate have good heart health, low stress levels, better emotional control, and better immune systems and thus do live in a healthier body that will show fewer signs of weathering.
One of the best things about meditation is that how you meditate is completely up to you. There are so many techniques and forms of meditation out there that you are likely to find one, or many that fit your lifestyle.
It can take as little as 2 minutes, or as long as several days, but no matter how long it lasts meditation can bring you the sense of relaxation and quiet that you have been looking for in this crazy, busy world we live in.
If you’ve got a lunch break from 12pm to 1pm on Monday’s, then why not try out meditation on the hill this summer!
