Breathe In, Breathe Out: The Medical Benefits of Meditation
- nakshatrah2
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
We live in a dizzingly fast-paced world.
From waking up in the morning to going to bed at night, we are constantly bombarded with blaring noises, heavy traffic, shockingly bright visual stimulation and hectic work. We’re surrounded by devices and machines that have become the crutches of our daily lives.
All of this can lead to an overwhelming amount of stress and frustration. We’re also provided many solutions to combat this overstimulation. Whether it’s calming teas, scented candles or soothing music, everyone has their own way to relax.
One popular habit that many doctors and health professionals advise is meditation. Meditation is more than just closing your eyes and breathing deeply. Even 10 minutes a day could help calm your mind and improve your health.
So What Is Meditation?
Meditation has a lot of definitions. But simply put, it means training your mind to focus and achieve clarity of thought and peace. While its roots date back to ancient civilizations, meditation has now been adopted as a widely practised technique globally and scientifically.
Types of Meditation:
While different organisations and bodies have various classifications, meditations can be broadly divided into the following types:
1. Focused attention: where the primary focus is on counting and observing the breaths.
2. Open monitoring
3. Loving-kindness or compassion meditation: cultivating compassion for self and others.
There are others, such as mindfulness meditation, which focuses on the present moment, sensation awareness type, and mantra meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation is one of the most popular techniques. It basically has two parts: attention and acceptance.
Attention is all about focusing on the present and letting your awareness hone in on your breathing, your thoughts, what your body is feeling, and your surroundings.
Acceptance is about taking those feelings and sensations and accepting them without questioning or judging them, like plucking your thought out of your head and letting it flutter away harmlessly like a feather.
What are the different health benefits?
Here are some evidence-based health benefits that meditation has been proven to provide:
- For Mental Health: meditation can help deal with stress, anxiety, depression, pain, and improve memory, attention, emotional regulation, and efficiency. MRI scans and EEGs have even shown that meditation can lead to positive changes in the brain, like activating the emotional and cognitive centres. Meditation has also shown positive results regarding brain ageing in young and middle-aged people and improved brain functions.
- For Physical Health: meditation can help individuals by lowering blood pressure, improving sleep and boosting the immune system. It also helps control heart rate, cortisol (controls metabolism, stress, etc) and cytokine (responsible for inflammation in the body) levels.
Other benefits include helping with decision-making, anxiety while travelling, jetlag, adjusting to new places or cultures, staying grounded in hectic situations, and, in general, just a better outlook towards managing stressful situations.
So, Where Do I Start?
Meditation is a fantastic technique because it can be done anywhere, anytime. It doesn’t really require any tools or equipment.
The best way to meditate is to begin with 5-10 minutes daily.
Even if results aren’t visible immediately, you’ll feel refreshed and lighter after a session.
1. Find a quiet place. (It could be your bedroom, living room, or even a peaceful spot in your office).
2. Sit comfortably. You could even lie down if that’s what you prefer. Taking support by sitting up against a wall helps as well. Keep your back straight and your shoulders loose and relaxed. You can rest your arms and hands on your lap or knees.
3. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing and body sensations. You can listen to calming music or even a guided meditation video where the instructor guides you.
4. Drifting Mind: This is a completely normal thing. It’s natural for your mind to wander and think about things. Let yourself acknowledge the thought, and let it go. Gently refocus your attention to your breathing. Pay attention to how your breath feels. How your muscles contract and relax while inhaling and exhaling. Repeat the process until your mind becomes clear.
5. There is no right or wrong: every person has a way of relaxing through meditation. Try different methods to see which one works best for you. Meditation takes regular practice to become a powerful habit.
Tips: You can journal your thoughts, light a soothing candle, or use a guided meditation or breathing app to aid your meditation habit.
Be consistent. It’s better to do it for a short time every day than once in a long while. Consistency is key here.
Meditation is free, accessible and adaptable to everyone.
Try it for just 5 minutes today, and your mind and body will thank you.
References:
1. Matko K, Sedlmeier P. What Is Meditation? Proposing an Empirically Derived Classification System. Front Psychol. 2019 Oct 15;10:2276. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02276. PMID: 31681085; PMCID: PMC6803504.
5. Jamil A, Gutlapalli SD, Ali M, Oble MJP, Sonia SN, George S, Shahi SR, Ali Z, Abaza A, Mohammed L. Meditation and Its Mental and Physical Health Benefits in 2023. Cureus. 2023 Jun 19;15(6):e40650. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40650. PMID: 37476142; PMCID: PMC10355843.
Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board
