Our current lifestyles make us live a lot of stress and anxieties, which has a considerable impact on our health. It is important to take the time to find, from time to time, calm and serenity for our physical and mental well-being.
Research over the past 40 years has shown that meditation has measurable psychological and physiological benefits.
Here are 10 reasons to take the time to meditate:
1. To avoid depression
According to a study published in 2015 in the medical journal The Lancet (1), mindful meditation is as effective an alternative as antidepressants against relapses of depression.
In addition, a study conducted on 91 women with fibromyalgia published in 2007 (2) reported a significant reduction in depressive symptoms in patients who participated in 8 sessions of 2.5 hours of meditation.
2. To learn to stop
Nowadays, we don’t really take the time to stop, we always do something during the breaks that we take, such as using our smartphone, watching a series or smoking a cigarette.
Meditation allows you to be more present to yourself and to the world around us by becoming aware of the simple fact of being there. To practice mindfulness meditation is to stop for a moment and return to the present moment.
3. To be happy
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports (3) shows that meditation increases the volume of gray matter in the precuneus, a region of the brain that is more voluminous in people who tend to experience positive emotions in an intense way and perceive a real meaning. to their lives.
4. To decrease stress
One of the most well-known benefits is the effect meditation has on stress.
In 2008, a study found that mindfulness meditation (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) was effective in reducing stress and anxiety (4), in both healthy people and those with chronic illnesses.
5. To sleep better
Some people show a reduction in insomnia through mindful meditation techniques. Thanks to its relaxing effect, meditation can be an effective solution against insomnia when it is caused by stress and anxiety.
6. To avoid migraines
According to research published in the medical journal Headache (5), meditation may relieve migraine. This research subjected a panel of 19 chronic migraine sufferers to the MSBR (Mindfulness-based stress reduction) method, for 8 weeks. The result: a reduction in the frequency of migraines for patients who followed the mindfulness relaxation method.
7. To control your emotions
Beginning in 1998, psychology professor Paul Ekman, who heads the Human Interaction Lab at the University of California, conducted various experiments, including one on startle (6). He found that the more prone a person is to negative emotions, the more they jump.
During his research Ekman equipped the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard with sensors and electrodes and made him hear a deafening noise, equivalent to a large firecracker which would burst next to the ear, and asked him to suppress his start. The monk did not move and claimed to have heard only a small noise.
The daily exercise of meditation, which leads to great serenity, can help us control all of our emotions.
8. To reduce blood pressure
When one reaches a state of relaxation through meditation, it causes a drop in blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels.
In a study from the Benson-Henry Institute for Mental Health in Boston, patients with high blood pressure tested daily meditation with the help of a cardiologist. After 3 months of practice, 40 of the 60 study participants reduced their medication for their blood pressure. Meditation increases the body’s production of nitric oxide (a gas that helps blood vessels expand, allowing better blood flow).
9. To avoid burnout
Burnout is a disease that results directly from chronic stress linked to the professional environment, different from depression.
American researchers have tested a meditation technique on doctors, a profession very affected by burnout. For this study (7), 70 physicians followed mindfulness meditation sessions for 1 year.
The meditation sessions have had the effect of reducing the symptoms associated with burnout. By the end of the program, participants’ emotional exhaustion had decreased by 25.4%.
10. Because it’s free!
You can of course practice meditation during a private or group lesson that you will pay for, but meditation can very well be practiced alone, at home, for free!
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