Your Mind and Your Health: Meditation, Breathing and More
Whether something is called a meditation, a relaxation technique a breathing exercise or whatever else, the bottom line is this: there are ways we can consciously direct our minds that have provable, positive effects on our physical and mental well-being.
As a health and wellness professional with a science background, it’s long been interesting to me how much research there is on the physiology of stress and some proven ways to dramatically reduce it- and its negative effects. Yet, most people aren’t learning these methods, even though there is real scientific evidence, and many techniques are so simple to learn and practice. This is part 1 of a 2-part series on some of this evidence and the related techniques. In this first part, I’ll outline some of the known ways stress damages us and some of the proven benefits of certain meditation and relaxation techniques. There are many ways someone can define meditation. Whether something is called a meditation, a relaxation technique a breathing exercise or whatever else, the bottom line is this: there are ways we can consciously direct our minds that have provable, positive effects on our physical and mental well-being. And, if such practices are done consistently, many of these benefits become lasting- the brain sets a ‘new normal.’ And the best news is this: however difficult or easy you think it would be to do some meditative/relaxation practice, you can become proficient at it. I say this because if your brain functions well enough to read this article, I know you can meditate. I have seen it hundreds and hundreds of times. And people are often surprised at how quickly they adapt to it. And enjoy it!
Without going into too much detail- it probably won’t surprise you to learn that chronic stress can cause anything from high blood pressure, heart disease, decreased immune function and worsened digestion to depression, anger and relationship disharmony and much more. Much of this is well understood physiologically. (If you search ‘stress research’ online, it may amaze you how much comes up.) Some very simple techniques you can learn to do and be proficient at can reduce all of these negative effects as well as your perception of being stressed. And they can do more. Some of the proven benefits of various meditation techniques include decreased blood pressure; increased immune function; decreased inflammation; decreased pain; decreased depression; decreased anxiety; increased brain gray matter; increased brain volume in areas related to emotion regulation, positive emotions, and self-control; increased brain cortical thickness in areas related to paying attention; improved focus, improved memory and much, much more. If this sounds interesting to you, please read part 2 where we’ll discuss some ways to practice. Meanwhile, relax well!