It’s been clear for centuries that meditation is good for the mind. That’s why “zen” has become a synonym for calm, clear-headed, and unshakable. You don’t have to meditate like a monk to reap the benefits of meditation, however. Scientific studies have proven that even a few minutes a day benefit physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In fact, meditation may be the single most effective practice for a long, healthy life. Whether you’re dealing with an acute issue, such as insomnia, or hope to boost positive qualities like loving-kindness or gratitude, starting a daily meditation habit will yield major improvements over time. Below are just some of the benefits of meditation proven by science.
Physical Benefits of Meditation
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Relieves stress: Stress is the root of most diseases, and it is an epidemic in today’s fast-paced world. Meditation physically changes the structure of the brain, a process called , to become more resilient to stress. It also raises stress thresholds, so the things that might have triggered a reaction in the past carry less weight.
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Slows aging: Long-time meditators often look much younger than their age, and they live longer, too. Why? The practice boosts glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals in the body. It also increases nitric oxide, a substance linked to life span—one study found that Tibetan monks had ten times the nitric oxide as control subjects. Another factor of aging is in the telomeres of our DNA. Meditation has been found to lengthen telomeres by as much as forty percent, which reduces physical aging.
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Eases inflammation: Stress leads to inflammation, and inflammation is responsible for both physical and mental illnesses. A University of California study found a fifty percent drop in cortisol, the stress hormone that leads to inflammation, in the bodies of meditators.
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Boosts energy: Energy normally expended in stress reactions is utilized in productive ways thanks to meditation. Meditators also report a calm, clear state of mind without consuming caffeine. Finally, meditation increases Growth Hormone and DHEA, two energy-boosting substances in the body.
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Improves heart health: Meditating means a healthy heart. One study showed powerful and long-lasting improvements in cardiac patients in contrast to weak, temporary results for those who underwent counseling. Six patients in the group left the bypass waiting list after the yearlong study, and most of the meditators either stopped or greatly reduced their medication.
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Heals sleep patterns: Meditation positively affects sleep in several ways. It strengthens the part of the mind responsible for regulating sleep and naturally boosts production of the sleep hormone melatonin. It also rewires the brain waves of insomnia into ones that promote deep, restful sleep.
Mental Benefits of Meditation
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Greater concentration: As attention spans continue to decrease in the information age, concentration is key to success. Meditation allows the brain’s higher cortex to function more effectively and also thickens the hippocampus, resulting in more focus.
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Improved memory: Remember the stress hormone cortisol? It affects memory, too—more cortisol means impaired memory. The brain’s thickened hippocampus also positively impacts the ability to remember. Meditation can also be beneficial in preventing Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. One study showed that after a three-month meditation retreat, participants experienced a 280 percent increase in BDNF, a neurotrophin that reverses age-related cell death.
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More creativity: a 2012 UCLA study showed that meditation strengthens the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that connects the whole brain and generates creative thinking. Meditation also encourages divergent thinking and access to the subconscious mind.
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Better mental health: A meditator’s brain is a happy brain. A landmark study by a Harvard neuroscientist found that meditators have a stronger left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for happiness. Meanwhile, meditation shrinks the amygdala, which produces fight-or-flight fear reactions. Neuroplasticity shifts the brain’s propensity for anxiety, depression, ADHD, and OCD. It’s why people from cultures that meditate are among the world’s happiest.
Emotional Benefits of Meditation
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Emotional stability: Meditation helps people become calmer, more centered, and better in control of their emotions. Through the regulation of stress hormones, the brain becomes better equipped to deal with emotional triggers and is less likely to respond with anger.
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Better relationships: A recent study showed that meditation produced immediate improvements in close relationships and greater social support. The longer the patients practiced meditation, the more their personal relationships improved. Part of this is attributed to the ability to see love in the present moment. Meditation also yields inner clarity, so the self-delusion that affects relationships begins to disappear.
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More flow: Flow states are those delicious times when the brain is completely absorbed in an activity, such as running, gardening, painting, or writing. Meditation works in the same way and produces states of in-the-flow happiness.
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Improved PTSD: Meditation teaches post-traumatic stress disorder survivors to detach from events in the past, reducing the emotional charge of them. Meditation is now being taught in veterans’ hospitals and outpatient centers for managing this debilitating condition.
Spiritual Benefits of Meditation
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Creates inner silence: Meditation optimizes brain waves, creating more of the advanced states—alpha, theta, and delta. When the mind’s chatter disappears, there is a profound silence inside. People tap into this space to access God and their own spirit.
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Awakens intuition: A 2014 Wake Forest University study discovered that meditation turns on the brain’s “axis of intuition” and magnified the participants’ gut feelings. Many of the world’s most successful people meditate to increase their intuition.
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Balances chakras: Chakras are the body’s main energy centers and any number of stressors can throw them out of balance. Meditation increases the positive energy in the body and encourages balance.
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Deepens awareness of universal connection: The higher consciousness achieved during meditation shows us that we are all one—there is no separate self from the whole.
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