7 reasons : Why you should cultivate the Art of Meditation
We all have that beloved friend who can’t stop talking about how meditation has transformed her life in all possible terms. And we’re here to tell you: she’s absolutely right! Let's discover why meditation works so well and how we can resort to its benefits for becoming a better version of ourselves and enhance our emotional and even physical health.
1. IT’S MEDICINE FOR THE MODERN SOUL
In this fast paced world there’s never been a time where we needed to slow down more than now. All forms of meditation require you to quiet the mind, and this results in making better, more conscious decisions on a daily basis. We can more easily see harmful patterns and then subtly shift. Meditation improves self-image and self-worth. A large-scale study found that regular meditation decreases the likelihood of developing depression and mood-related disorders improving the overall emotional health of an individual.
2. YOU BECOME SMARTER
While people have been meditating for thousands of years, it wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists started focusing on its brainy benefits. Numerous studies suggest that regular meditation (about six hours a week) may actually change brain structure. Scientists have found meditation is associated with a thicker celebral cortex and more gray matter — i.e., the parts of the brain linked to: memory, attention span, decisionmaking and learning.
3. DE-STRESS
In the same studies it was determined that while the grey matter in the hippocampus grew in the test subjects, the grey matter in the amygdala—otherwise known as the brain’s anxiety and stress centre—was reduced.
4. IT IS GOOD FOR YOUR BODY
When humans are in a stress mode, their organs produce a series of physiological responses that can take their toll over time. A good example of this is the fight-or-flight response, where a person’s heart rate and cortisol levels spike to cope with an external threat. Meditating daily, helps your organs slow down this response so that you’re not as negatively affected by hormonal rushes or running an extra risk for cardiac issues. It is also known to help regulate sleep patterns, which is extremely important for your physical health.
5. YOU BECOME MORE CREATIVE
In accessing this resourceful place within us, we get to experience the flow state where the mind is calm and undistracted, allowing us a clearer view of what lies beneath our thoughts and feelings … and it’s in this place that creative-thinking thrives. Meditation and creativity go hand-in-hand. While meditating and your mind is open, and in this state of restful alertness, you’re better able to conceive of abstract concepts that have nothing to do with the ego.
6. INCREASES HAPPINESS
Meditation is the strongest mental practice that has the power to reset your hapiness set point, thus turning you into a more joyful person and literally rewiring major areas in your brain. It sharpens your focus in the moment, allowing you to see happiness in the small things. A regular meditation practice therefore inspires more positive emotions.
7. IT SLOWS BIOLOGICAL AGING
As revealed in The Huffington Post, a 2014 study conducted by the neurology department at the University of California discovered that people who meditate on a regular basis had a brain structure usually reserved for much younger people. Also, regular meditation can slow ageing at a cellular level. A commonly used proxy for cellular ageing is the length of telomeres, the DNA and protein caps that protect the ends of each chromosome during cell division. Researchers found that meditators have longer telomeres on average than people of a similar age and lifestyle.
We could go on for a long time about the surprising benefits of meditating daily but instead, we suggest you get started today !