Meditation is an activity that can have many personal benefits, along with improving your sleep and reducing stress. Increased levels of stress can seriously impact your health, so learning how to manage stress can have a substantial positive impact on your life. Meditation is one of the easiest ways to reduce stress, but many people find it difficult to be disciplined enough to do it.
The efficacy of meditation in reducing stress has been documented in scientific studies. In the 2018 study that relied on the Headspace app, meditation was shown to reduce stress by 14% over just ten days.
Mindfulness-based therapies have shown consistent and clinically significant effects on treating mental disorders. Mindfulness meditation has also shown effective results in stress reduction on first-time meditators as well as advanced meditators. Read on to discover how stress affects the mind and body and how you can use meditation to help alleviate stress.
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What Causes Stress on the Mind and Body?
Stress is your body’s reaction to a stimulus that your mind feels is harmful. When you feel stressed, your body automatically goes into fight-or-flight mode and releases cortisol and adrenaline to help you avoid or deal with the problem causing the stress.
Cortisol is released at higher levels when your body is under long-term stress, and high amounts of it can lead to issues like cognitive impairment, weight gain, and memory loss. It can also affect the immune system and suppress libido.
Adrenaline is what causes your heart rate to speed up when you are stressed or have experienced a high-stress event. When your body releases too much adrenaline, it can cause issues with:
- Digestion
- Asthma
- Sleep apnea, and
- Exhaustion
Long-term stress has also been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other chronic health conditions such as cancer and autoimmune disorders.
How Does Stress Remain Within the Body?
Stress can cause psychological, physiological, and chemical changes that lead to many health conditions. Stress has been found to contribute significantly towards hypertension (high blood pressure). Regular exercise reduces cardiovascular responses during stress, such as higher heart rate and cortisol levels.
Stress can remain in the body when the mind and the body are not in harmony with each other. This can be due to issues such as intense fear, anger, or guilt. Regular increased stress levels can prevent the body from recovering quickly from illnesses.
Maintaining increased levels of stress for an extended period of time can also weaken the immune system and impact circulation, digestion, and sleep.
How Does Meditation Affect Our Nervous Systems?
Meditation is a spiritual practice that helps one to escape temporarily from the reality of life by focusing his mind on your breath, chanting a mantra, or another focal point.
Meditation affects the nervous system by relieving tension in the muscles and increasing blood flow to the brain. Blood carries nutrients, hormones, electrolytes, and water that keep our minds and bodies healthy.
Meditation helps manage physical symptoms like:
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure, and
- Anxiety
Mindfulness meditation has been linked to lower rates of depression while increasing self-awareness. The practice also encourages compassionate behavior towards others.
Meditation reduces cortisol levels in the blood since “stressful” thoughts are replaced with positive thoughts that keep you calm and relaxed. The physiological changes that occur during meditation include an increase in parasympathetic activity (which occurs when an individual is resting).
Evidence Showing How Meditation Reduces Stress
When looking at how meditation reduces stress, there are several case studies and evidence showing the positive effects of the practice on an individual’s mental health.
The Wisconsin University Study on Mindfulness
In a study conducted by Dr. Richard Davidson from Wisconsin University, employees from a biotechnology company who went through an eight-week meditation training were compared to those who didn’t go through the program. The results showed that employees who underwent mindfulness meditation showed lower cortisol levels and reported feeling less stressed even when faced with difficult situations during their day-to-day lives. Employees also experienced improved memory and had better results in cognitive tests.
The study was done where participants were divided into two groups, one of which received mindfulness training while the other did not. The results showed that employees who underwent mindfulness meditation showed lower cortisol levels and reported feeling less stressed even when faced with difficult situations during their day-to-day lives. Employees also experienced improved memory and had better results in cognitive tests.
This new information on the benefits of Meditation is very encouraging for people struggling with high levels of anxiety or stress. It can transform your life by reducing the physical effects of tension while improving overall well-being and mental clarity.
The Headspace App Mindfulness Study
Headspace is a meditation app that helps users reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and increase happiness. The app uses daily guided meditations to help its users achieve their personal goals. The app provides the option to purchase a subscription which unlocks the full meditation library.
The aim of this study was to test the effects of a digital meditation intervention in a sample of high-stress UCR employees. The study randomized UCR employees to 8-weeks of either a digital mindfulness intervention (using the commercially available application Headspace) or a waitlist control condition.
The 2018 study using the Headspace app showed that regular meditation decreases stress by 14% over a 10-day period. Employees also experienced improved memory and had better results in cognitive tests.
The Headspace app has been used in various other studies that indicate the positive health effects of meditation, such as reducing stress levels, increasing focus and memory, lowering anxiety levels, and potentially even slowing down aging.
Final Thoughts
Meditation is a practice that has been around for thousands of years. Today, there are many different types of meditation that have proven very effective in combating stress and other common mental illnesses. From apps to in-person classes, you can choose the best way to meditate for your needs.
Meditation has been shown to reduce stress levels, increase focus and memory, lower anxiety levels, and potentially even slow down aging. Follow the link to learn how meditation helps with anger issues.
