Benefits of Meditation: 9 Useful Effects on Brain and Health

If we go in the past, meditation is only limited to religious people. But all thanks to the benefits of meditation that people started to realize gradually.  It has now been actively accepeted by the common people in the country and around the world.

Whether you’re a student, working professional, entrepreneur, housewife, or an old age person, every one of us needs to do meditation. Before moving on to the benefits of meditation, let me give you a small introduction about meditation.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is an exercise that people do to make their mind stronger and healthier. It is done regularly to attain a better state of mind. Meditation is usually done in a quiet place and when someone excels in doing this, then he/she can do it anywhere.

In meditation, we generally focus on just one thing, it can be breathing, thoughts, or some visuals that we are imagining. It helps people to stay in the present and be conscious of what is occurring around them.  

Benefits of Meditation

1. Meditation Improves Attention and Focus

Nowadays, getting attentive and focusing on one thing is becoming very hard. In this fast-moving world, our attention span is getting lower. And here comes the meditation for our rescue.

Among the benefits of meditation, it also helps in increasing the attention span of our mind. Meditation can help us to be in the present and stop wandering in the future and the past. Daily meditation also helps in enhancing the cognitive part of our brain, which strengthens our focus.

Meditation does not need to be done for hours especially if you are a busy person. A 10 minutes meditation can also give you better attention and focus.

2. Meditation Makes you Self-aware

Do you know yourself? It might be a, No. This is a very common issue, which sometimes results in making wrong choices. One of the most common practices a beginner meditator do is to notice their thoughts. This helps in becoming a more self-aware person.

This is amongst the most popular benefits of meditation. It is the best way to introspect. People can discover unquestioned answers about themselves. You can know the why and the way you do things.

As you develop an understanding of your thoughts, you can identify and eliminate negative thoughts. Among other advantages of meditation, this one is very important for your growth. Also, you can consciously make positive affirmations to your brain.

3. Meditation Improves the Physical Health

There are lots of health benefits of meditation that should not be ignored. First of all, it helps in strengthening the immune system of our body. It boosts the production of certain cells that helps in fighting viruses and bacteria.

It also helps in lowering blood pressure, which can reduce the risk of some heart diseases. Other than that, it also aids in sleeping properly, which reduces the risk of insomnia.

Other health benefits of meditation include a boost in energy levels, reductions in ulcers and headaches, better healing of pain, and so on.

4. Meditation Reduces Stress and Anxiety

If you ask anyone why you started meditation, then the most probable answer is to reduce stress. Let us admit, we can’t eliminate stress and anxiety from our lives. But, it can be reduced. The advantage of meditation is that it helps in decreasing the everyday stress and anxiety from your life.

By meditating, the prana level (energy) in our body rises, which helps in anxiety and stress reduction. Also, it reduces the cortisol hormone, the hormone related to stress. Whether you are a student, businessman, working professional, or anyone, you can feel the positive effects of meditation.

Ok, so are these 2 benefits of meditation, not enough for you to add meditation to your morning routine? Don’t worry, we have more reasons for you.

5. Meditation Makes Fighting Addictions Easier

Other than becoming self-aware, meditation can also improve your self-control. This helps in fighting with the addictions and at one point, also in defeating it. Anyone can weaken their drinking or drugs addiction by daily meditation.

The advantage of meditation is that it makes a person self-disciplined and increases the control of the self. An indirect advantage is that it also reduces stress and anxiety, which is the reason for drinking for many.

It also helps in fighting addictions like eating chocolate, using social media, watching porn, etc.

6. Meditation Sharpens Memory

How about a sharp memory in the list of the benefits of meditation? Students might get more excited. But not only students, everyone one of us should have a sharp memory. Meditating regularly can make it easier for anyone to memorize things fast and for a longer time.

Another benefit of meditation for the brain is that it helps in enhancing the gray matter found in the brain. This sharpens the memory and we can memorize things in a better way.

Memory is a serious problem for old-age people as they have a higher risk of dementia, a term for weak memory. Based on the studies, meditation can help in limiting it to a certain extent as you can get a hold of your thoughts. People who meditate daily have a lower risk of dementia, and also limit the effect if it happens.

7. Meditation Improves Empathy

Another use of meditation is that it helps a person being empathetic to others. You can develop empathy for others, whether you know them or not, by daily meditation.

It becomes easier for you to understand another person’s perspective and don’t blame anyone for silly things. Meditation also benefits in increasing the oxytocin hormone that makes you a more loving person.

Many people go through relationship fails. I hope you don’t. By developing empathy for others and also a loving personality, your relationships become stronger and happier.

8. Meditation Gets You in the Flow

Sometimes when we do certain things, we feel like we’ve soaked into it. There are some tasks that we like so much that we lost in doing them. This can be singing, dancing, working, or some other things.

That’s exactly what meditation will make you feel. If you meditate, then also you have experienced that. It helps us to be in the present and focusing on just one thing for a while. You can also develop that flow with daily meditation.

9.Holistic Fitness and Meditation

People think that they’re fit because they follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Yes, but you’re physically fit and might not be mentally fit. There are many meditation benefits for brain that you’ve already read here. There are major effects of meditation on our mind. So, if you want to attain holistic fitness, then add meditation to your schedule.

How to Meditate for Beginners?

After reading the benefits of meditation, now it’s time to know how to meditate? Given below are some easy steps to meditate.

• Find a calm and peaceful area where you can meditate daily.
• Set a timer for better execution. As it is a beginning, set it for a shorter period like 5 or 10 minutes.
• Sit in a comfortable posture. As meditation is done for relaxation of our mind, sit in a relaxed manner. But make sure to keep your back straight.
• Focus on your breathing. Breathe in a normal way and try to focus when you breathe in and breath out.
• Your mind will wander around. Whenever you feel that your mind wanders, again start focusing on your breath.
• Don’t be hard on yourself while meditating. It is not easy to focus on your breath at the start, but it will gradually become your habit. That’s what you’re trying to achieve, a laser focus.
• When your alarm rings, don’t rush in opening your eyes. Gently and slowly open your eyes.

These are some simple steps to start daily meditation. Even a 10 minutes meditation daily is not a bad start, then you can increase the time eventually.

Final Say on Benefits of Meditation

So, how do you like these benefits of meditation? I think you like that. But I want to tell you something important. If you’re consistent, then only you feel the positive effects of meditation. Think of becoming more focused, less stressed, self-aware, peaceful, calm and being in the present. This way it will become easier for you to start daily meditation.

All the best for your meditation journey!!