Five reasons to meditate more!
If there was a medicine that would make you feel better without a single side effect, wouldn't you take it? What are you waiting for? Become happier with the help of meditation.
1. You become a better athlete
According to a study published in the Scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports, people who meditate have similar brain function to elite athletes. While sitting in silence every day won't give you peak fitness, it can help you gain the mental strength of an elite athlete. In addition, it can make it easier for you to push yourself during exercise because you have a higher pain threshold. This is because the brain becomes better at controlling pain and emotions. According to a study published in Frontiers in human neuroscience, participants experienced 40% less pain after just four 20-minute meditation sessions, so even if you're new to meditation, you can enjoy the benefits. Perhaps something to try if you're planning to do something extremely strenuous, like running a marathon or tearing through a burpee challenge.
2. It can free you from your addiction
Smokers who meditate for half an hour every day, ten days in a row, are 60 percent less likely to have a cigarette, US research shows. The smokers did not take part in the study to get rid of their addiction and although they said they smoked as much as before, breathing tests showed that they smoked fewer cigars than before. In other words, they had unconsciously reduced the number of sticks per day. Ongoing research at the University of Wisconsin indicates that even alcoholics can benefit from meditation, as it helps them deal with the problems that led them to drink in the first place.
3. It lowers your stress levels
Not only does meditation make you feel calmer, it's a fact that you actually become calmer. Researchers at the University of California have found that the body's cortisol levels are lowered after meditation, after studying participants who attended a three-month mediation retreat. But don't worry. Even people who received just three days of mindfulness training, divided into 25-minute sessions where they were taught to focus on their breathing and the present moment, felt calmer when faced with a stressful task, according to a study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
4. Helping you lose weight
For many people, one of the biggest obstacles to keeping weight off is the loss of character when cravings set in. Now it has been proven that mindfulness and meditation can help you make healthier food choices. As a bonus, it can also make you taste better and appreciate food more. A study conducted at the University of San Francisco found that overweight women who were taught to be in the present moment while eating and meditating for 30 minutes a day were more likely to lose weight than those who did not.
5. Your body will thank you
There is evidence that meditation can help you sleep better, be more effective at work, reduce the risk of cancer recurrence, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and can ease the experience of illness itself. When women with breast cancer meditated (in combination with art therapy), theyras changed stress and anxiety levels in the brain, according to a study published in Stress and health. Mindfulness training has also been shown to help patients with rheumatoid arthritis manage the stress and fatigue that comes with the disease better than those who did not practice mindfulness.
