Mental Health Benefits of Meditation

Exploring Various Mental Health Benefits of Meditation For Reducing Stress, Anxiety, and Overall Well-Being

Around 40 million American adults are believed to be suffering from an anxiety disorder. Meditation is highly beneficial for mental health, relieving stress, and inner peace,

and rejuvenating the body and mind. It provides a feeling of tranquility and extreme relaxation. Meditation can be performed anywhere in any situation – whether traveling by bus, train, plane, during a meeting or waiting at an airport lounge for your flight. The distinct advantage of meditation is that it doesn’t require special equipment.

The practice of meditation dates back thousands of years. While practicing meditation, you try to concentrate and get rid of unnecessary jumbled thoughts that occupy your mind to cause stress and anxiety. Meditation involves mental training to empty the mind with “restful alertness”.

Types of Meditation

There are various meditation techniques, but all of them have the same goal of attaining a sense of inner peace. Different types of meditation include:

Mindfulness Meditation

This type of meditation is performed by being conscious and mindful of the present. This requires focusing on your experience and observing your thoughts without allowing them to overpower you.

Transcendental Meditation

In this type of meditation, you are required to chant a mantra in a particular phonetic voice. This type of meditation does not require concentration but instead expects you to settle your body to attain inner peace and complete relaxation of your mind.

Guided Meditation

This kind of meditation calls for focusing on an object, imaginary place, or image you find relaxing. This kind of meditation requires a guru or teacher. In guided meditation, you feel sounds, smells, and sights.

Mantra Meditation

Mantra meditation requires chanting a word or phrase to overcome distracting thoughts.

Yoga

Yoga is a powerful series of exercises for different ailments. Its postures follow controlled breathing techniques to attain mental health, tranquility, and enhance the body’s flexibility. In yoga, you must concentrate on your body movement without straining yourself and not paying attention to the day’s happenings.

Qi gong (Chee-gong)

Qi gong is a traditional Chinese meditation encompassing physical movement, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques to attain balance.

Tai chi (Tie-Chee)

Tai chi is another Chinese way of meditating, which involves a series of slow and relaxed movements combined with deep breathing.

Desirable conditions to perform meditation

For performing meditation, the following conditions are desirable:

A comfortable position – Meditation can be performed in different positions – sitting, walking, or lying down. All that is required is to be comfortable to reap the maximum benefits of meditation.

Deep breathing – Meditation requires breathing to inhale more oxygen by reducing the use of upper chest muscles and neck. This breathing technique involves using diaphragm muscles to expand the lungs’ capacity.

Focused mind – Focusing attention is a vital component of meditation. Focusing your attention increases your capacity to overcome negative and disturbing thoughts that cause anxiety and stress. You must pay attention to your breathing, an image, an object, or a mantra.

A quiet place – Beginners of meditation need an uninterrupted, quiet place with no distractions. However, an advanced meditation practitioner can perform meditation in any situation, e.g., walking, waiting in a doctor’s chambers, traveling, or in a long queue at an immigration counter in a busy airport.

Advantages of Meditation

Meditation can provide peace of mind and a sense of tranquility required for your emotional well-being, physical and mental health. Meditation can improve concentration and provide lasting benefits in controlling some medical issues, such as back pain, blood pressure, and insomnia, to name a few. It has no cost; it works as a therapeutic aid and has no side effects, as with some medications.

Some studies reveal that meditation positively relieves people from anxiety and depression by improving their concentration and promoting a feeling of well-being. A study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that long-term meditators had better-preserved brains than those who didn’t meditate.

A study conducted at Yale University found that mindfulness meditation decreases the tendency of the brain to wander and occupy the mind with unnecessary thoughts. The mind-wandering tendency is one of the causes of being unhappy. And meditation is effective in stopping the mind from wandering about.

A review study at Johns Hopkins examined the impact of meditation on controlling symptoms of anxiety and depression. It was found that meditation was moderately effective at 0.3. While the effectiveness of meditation may seem pretty low, the antidepressant was not any better as it was also 0.3.

Mental Health Benefits of Meditation

By meditating, you can eliminate unnecessary thoughts and information that keep crowding your brain and, as a result, cause stress. Meditation can facilitate the following:

• Focusing on the present
• Overcoming negative thoughts
• Improving self-awareness
• Enhancing creativity
• Improving ability to cope with stressful situations
• Improving sleep quality
• Lowering resting heart rate
• Lowering resting blood pressure

Medical Conditions and Meditation

Although there has been considerable scientific research to establish the mental health benefits of meditation, some researchers are skeptical about the benefits of meditation. Nevertheless, according to some researchers, meditation may be beneficial in controlling certain health conditions, such as

• Depression
• High blood pressure
• Anxiety
• Asthma
• Insomnia
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Heart disease

Simple techniques to perform meditation

Deep breathing – Breathe deeply through your nostrils and feel while you inhale and exhale.

Perform your prayers – Prayers are as effective as meditation, no matter what religion you practice. Prayers can be performed in your language or from written scriptures from religious books. Consult with your spiritual leader or priest for guidance.

Meditation while walking – Meditation can be performed in a mall, on a walking trail, or sidewalk. In this method of meditation, you have to stroll by paying attention to the movements of your legs. And while moving your legs, you have to repeat words such as “moving forward” in your mind. At the same time, you have to focus on the surroundings and feel the aroma and objects you encounter.

Reading and listening – Some people enjoy reading religious scriptures and absorbing their meaning.

You may also listen to soothing melodies that you find relaxing and calming.

Chant a mantra – You can chant a mantra in your mind. A mantra can be from a religious scripture or a non-religious one that is your own creation.

In conclusion, meditation requires practice. The brain tends to wander when you are performing meditation. Try to bring your mind within your body by focusing on an object or a place. Try different meditation types and see which is the most suitable for you.

It is advisable and safer to consult your doctor before starting meditation if you have any underlying health issues.

References:

Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005; 62:617.

Walton, G. Alice (2015). Forbes. 7 Ways Meditation Can Change The Brain. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/02/09/7-ways-meditation-can-actually-change-the-brain/?sh=42fda02a1465). Accessed August 30, 2022

Mayo Clinic. Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress. (https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858). Accessed August 29, 2022

Chen, K. W., Berger, C. C., Manheimer, E., Forde, D., Magidson, J., Dachman, L., & Lejuez, C. W. (2012). Meditative Therapies for Reducing Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Depression and anxiety, 29(7), 545. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.21964