How Meditation Contributes to Overall Health 

The season is about to chance. Many of us will feel anxious or even more stressed with the upcoming holidays and end of year deadlines. 

Meditation offers many benefits for your mental and emotional health. Regular meditation reduces stress and anxiety, improves your mood and decreases symptoms of depression. Adding meditation to your daily schedule may also help you lower your risk of some health conditions and diseases. 

Asthma Attacks May Decrease 

Strong odors, smoke, and illnesses often trigger asthma flares, but emotions can play a role too. If you're stressed or upset, you're more likely to experience asthma symptoms. Meditation can help you calm yourself when you begin to feel worried, stressed or anxious. Practicing meditation every day is a simple way to avoid flare-ups and keep your asthma under control. 

Your Blood Pressure May Lower 

Your emotions can also be a contributing factor if you have high blood pressure. The more stressed or agitated you become, the more your blood pressure soars. Unfortunately, uncontrolled high blood pressure can increase your risk of heart attack, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, and other health problems. Meditation, along with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and medication, can help you keep your blood pressure at a safe level. 

After reviewing 19 clinical studies on the effects of medication on hypertension, researchers concluded that non-transcendental meditation was a promising treatment option for high blood pressure. Their meta-analysis appeared in the April 2017 issue of the Journal of Hypertension. 

Tired of Living with Menopausal Symptoms? Try Meditation 

Menopause is referred to as "the change of life" for good reason. The end of your menstrual cycle is just one of the many changes you can expect during this time. Hot flashes, irritability, difficulty sleeping, brittle nails and itchy skin are among the symptoms that can accompany menopause. Meditation may improve your moods, decrease insomnia and reduce the number and intensity of hot flashes. 

Meditation May Offer a Solution for Chronic Pain 

Chronic pain can be very difficult to treat. Medications wear off quickly, can be addictive, and often have side effects. People who have chronic pain may have decreased levels of body awareness, according to a group of researchers who studied the effects of mindfulness on chronic pain and depression. 

Body awareness refers to the ability to understand how the parts of your body function together and how your body occupies the space around you. The research, which appeared in Frontiers in Psychology, demonstrated that mindfulness can improve body awareness. Once awareness improves, pain may decrease. 

Meditation May Decrease Inflammation Responsible for Multiple Conditions 

It's hard to overlook a red, inflamed wound, but inflammation isn't so obvious when it occurs internally. Chronic inflammation may cause or contribute to a variety of diseases and health conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, hay fever, cancer, hardening of the arteries, rheumatoid arthritis, and gum disease. A reduction in inflammation just may be one of the most important effects of meditation. 

Meditation Offers a Simple Way to Prevent Respiratory Infections 

Would you like to avoid colds and the flu? Regular meditation may reduce your risk of developing acute respiratory infections (ARIs), according to research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ARIs are colds, flu, and flu-like illnesses. 

Participants aged 30 to 69 were divided into three groups during the study. One group practiced mindfulness meditation, another participated in an exercise program, while a third group served as the control group. Throughout the four-year study, 120 people in the exercise group and 134 in the control group had ARIs, but only 112 people in the meditation group suffered from respiratory infections. 

Dr. Dias has written a few articles on how to quiet the mind and breathe properly. This is a fundamental practice to successful meditation.  
Click HERE for full article.
 

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Sources: 

Journal of Hypertension: Meditation and Blood Pressure, 4/17 

https://journals.lww.com/jhypertension/Abstract/2017/04000/Meditation_and_blood_pressure__a_meta_analysis_of.5.aspx 

University of Wisconsin-Madison: Exercise and Meditation Appear to Reduce Common Colds and Flu, 7/3/18 

https://www.med.wisc.edu/news-and-events/2018/july/exercise-meditation-reduce-common-colds-flu/ 

Mayo Clinic: Meditation: A Simple, Fast Way to Reduce Stress 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858 

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: 8 Things to Know About Meditation for Health 

https://nccih.nih.gov/health/tips/meditation 

Scholar.Harvard: Frontiers in Psychology: Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Body Awareness in Patients with Chronic Pain and Comorbid Depression 

https://scholar.harvard.edu/sara_lazar/publications/effects-mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy-body-awareness-patients-chronic 

Prevention: 7 Science-Backed Health Benefits of Meditation, According to Experts 

https://www.prevention.com/health/a22679621/health-benefits-of-meditation/