Meditation and Health
These recent, taking care of mental health went viral. That’s why mental health specialists and coaches are using that to raise awareness on some issues and to draw attention to easy practices to deal with them. Meditation is one of the recommended trainings to enhance the quality of daily life for a better performance under stressful circumstances. It also helps to filter the racing thoughts causing stress to promote general health.
What is Meditation?
Meditating is a group of practices that focus on improving concentration in order to control thoughts and reach a high level of awareness and a deep level of inner peace or tranquility.
The main purpose of meditation was originally to observe life and metaphysical powers to strengthen faith. These days, many practice it as a relaxation and healing method.
Some of these methods are: focusing an following the breath, repeating one word and staring at a candle flame.
It is accessible everywhere and doesn’t require specific tools.
Benefits of Meditation
Meditation has benefits on the body, the mind. It is a healthy coping mechanism that increases mental strength, promotes emotional health and increases self-awareness. It helps, as well, with physical health by lowering blood pressure, providing the ability to control pain and giving energy.
Hereby, experts came to prove scientifically some positive effects of meditation on managing:
- depression and loneliness,
- anxiety, social anxiety and stress,
- post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd),
- obsessive-compulsive disorders (ocd),
- symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd),
- insomnia,
- overthinking and phobias,
- addiction, cravings, and emotional eating,
- negative self-image.
Types of meditation
The main types of meditation are:
- Mindfulness,
- Body scan,
- Walking,
- Loving and kindness,
- Transcendental meditation.
Meditation and mental health
Meditating could be sorted as a sort of brain workout. Subsequently, the techniques showed permanent changes in the brain and behaviors with long term practices as they become a part of the personality and require less effort of application.
Bottom-line
Just like any other improvement, meditating takes time. It needs patience and persistence, and the positive changes will eventually show.
Don’t forget to set yourself realistic goals and take it easy in order to build a healthy pattern to start any activity. Dr. Carla is always here to support.
