Benefits Of Meditation

Meditation Reduces Stress

Chronic, unmanaged stress can make you sick and accelerate ageing. As many scientific studies have found, prolonged stress contributes to the development of high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach ulcers, autoimmune diseases, anxiety, cancer, insomnia, chronic fatigue, obesity, and depression.

In meditation, your body releases stress and reverses the effects of the flight-or-fight response – that ancient instinct we all have to either run from perceived danger or take it on in battle. Intended as a short-term protection mechanism, fight or flight causes our body to speed up our heart rate, increase our blood sugar, suppress our immune system, reduce insulin production, pump out stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, and reduce the blood supply to our digestive organs. All of these reactions happen so that our body can focus on either running away as fast as it can – or staying to fight. Although few people reading this article face daily threats to their bodily existence, many live in a prolonged state of fight or flight, generating stress in response to bad traffic, criticism from a supervisor, or a workplace disagreement.

Meditation Helps You Create Harmonious RelationshipsWhen you’re feeling balanced and centred, it is much easier to respond rather than react, to be present with a client or co-worker and really listen to what they are saying and what they may need.

As you meditate on a regular basis, you develop what is known as “witnessing awareness” – the ability to calmly and objectively observe a situation, notice when you are being triggered, and consciously choose how you want to respond. The ability to be present and aware is valuable in the workplace and every other area of your life.

Meditation Improves Focus and Concentration

Many people feel frazzled because they’re trying to do more than one thing at a time. As neuroscientists have discovered, the conscious brain cannot multi-task. If I'm speaking to you and checking my emails at the same time, I'm doing neither. Meditation helps us to train our brain to stay focused on the task at hand rather than letting our attention be pulled away by every passing thought and distraction. This one-pointed attention makes us more productive and less stressed.

There is a lot of interesting research showing how meditation and mindfulness improve the brain’s focus and concentration. A study found that when people meditated for at least ten minutes before a meeting, they were much better at focusing, listening, retaining information, and completing tasks. The next time you’re leading or attending a meeting, you may want to suggest just a few minutes of meditation for everyone to get centred and present. It doesn't have to be complicated – just have people close their eyes and focus on their breath for a minute or two.

Meditation Improves Health and Vitality and Enhances the Power of the Brain

When we’re feeling healthy and energetic, it is much easier to stay focused and meet the daily demands of work. Meditation is now recognized as a healing tool with numerous benefits for the mind-body system. In the state of restful awareness created by meditation:

• Your blood pressure normalizes
• Your heart rate slows
• Your immune function improves
• You use oxygen more efficiently
• You produce fewer stress hormones, such as adrenaline, cortisol
• You make more sex hormones particularly DHEA
• Your pituitary gland release more growth hormone (an anti-ageing chemical)

In addition to all of these benefits, the deep state of rest produced by meditation triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters that enhance feelings of well-being, focus, and equanimity, including dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. Meditation choreographs the simultaneous release of these neurotransmitters, something that no single drug can do – and all without side effects.

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.