Can Meditation Heal Your Body?

After completing a meditation practice, your mind should be free from pressure, which in turn, should lead your body to feel relaxed and free of tension. With time, it can even change the structure of your brain (more on that below). Meditation has been known to regulate blood pressure, heart rate, and metabolism. If you practice meditation regularly enough, you may start to experience the benefits of it, such as an increased attention span, improved self-awareness, decreased blood pressure, a reduction in stress and anxiety, greater concentration and memory, and better sleep. 

Meditation may help you heal faster. As a spiritual yet science-backed practice, meditation has been proven to help patients with various health conditions heal. Such conditions include asthma, high blood pressure, anxiety, and coronary defects. It may also help relieve pain for people who struggle with chronic pain ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to chronic lower back pain. That said, you shouldn’t expect meditation to heal you overnight. It takes time and dedication to experience the positive impact of meditation. Though there is no set length of time meditation should be practiced to see the results, longer sessions of 20 minutes or more may be more beneficial than shorter sessions of two to three minutes. Depending on the condition you suffer from, consistency and dedication to a meditation practice may be able to help you heal. 

Regular meditation offers several science-backed benefits. The process of training your mind to bring awareness to the present can positively impact both your physical and mental health. Below is a list of six benefits people may derive from meditating every day.

Meditation reduces stress

One of the most widely-known benefits of meditation is its ability to decrease stress. Almost everyone experiences stress from time to time. Physical or mental stress can increase the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) in our bodies. The increased presence of this hormone can raise blood pressure, increase symptoms of anxiety and depression, and even disrupt sleep. However, studies have shown that practicing meditation regularly can reduce the inflammation response caused by stress, helping people manage or avoid stress-related medical conditions like irritable bowel syndrome. 

Meditation lessens anxiety

Many studies have concluded that meditation can reduce the severity of anxiety in people with generalized anxiety disorder. It can also improve the way we react to and cope with stress and increase positive thinking. 

Meditation helps manage pain

Pain perception is connected to the mind. Therefore, studies have shown that incorporating mindfulness into your routine could work to reduce physical pain, improve your quality of life, and decrease symptoms of depression in people with chronic pain.

Meditation decreases blood pressure

Strain on the heart is a major side effect of high blood pressure. However, meditation has proven to help people reduce blood pressure by relaxing the nerve signals that relate to heart function, blood vessel tension, and the body’s “fight or flight response.” 

Meditation increases attention span

Meditation is about focusing your mind. Therefore, it’s not surprising that with consistent practice, you can increase the strength and endurance of your attention. Some research has even revealed that meditation can correct patterns in the brain that lead to over-worrying, mind wandering, and poor concentration. Consequently, by improving and lengthening your attention span, meditation may also help improve your memory.

Meditation improves sleep

Insomnia is a common issue. If you find it hard to get a good night’s sleep, consider meditation. Research shows that meditation can help your body relax and release tension while helping your mind control the racing thoughts and worries that keep you up at night. Ultimately, meditation can put you in a more peaceful, rested state that may help you fall asleep.

There is no definitive way to tell if meditation is working, especially since the answer to this question is so subjective. Each person has their own goals when it comes to meditation. For some, it might be to relieve stress while for others it could be to alleviate chronic pain in their upper back. However, to know if meditation is working for you, ask yourself whether you achieve a state of relaxation when you meditate. A relaxation response can be characterized by feelings of warmth, calm, and heaviness.

To help you identify whether your meditation practice is working, consider the signs below. These signs may be an indication that your meditation practice is professing in the right direction. 

1. You feel more motivated. If you’ve noticed an increase in your motivation, productivity, and energy levels since beginning your meditation practice, this is a good sign. 

2. You are sleeping better. Meditation has been proven to improve sleep patterns. If you’ve been getting a quality night’s sleep and waking up feeling more rested, this likely means your meditation practice is on the right track.

3. You feel less stressed. One of the key benefits of meditating is stress relief. Stress most often arises when thinking about the past or future. But by practicing meditation regularly, you are training your mind to focus on the present and let go of worry. If you’ve been feeling less stressed than in the past, meditation might be the reason.

4. You look forward to your meditation practice. In the beginning, meditating might just be another task on a long to-do list. In other words, it’s something you feel you “have” to do, but you don’t necessarily look forward to it. With time, this should change. You will start to notice that you actually look forward to meditating, knowing that it helps you recharge and reset your mind. You may also find yourself turning to meditation throughout the day, anytime you become stressed or want to put your mind at ease. 

5. You can meditate wherever, whenever. At the start, meditation might be something you do at the same time in the same place each day. You may even feel that you need certain lighting, music, or candles to set the mood. But with time, you will learn to meditate anywhere. Waiting in line at the grocery store, commuting to work on the bus, or sitting in traffic late are all prime opportunities for a short, impromptu meditation practice. This will allow you to bring peace, calm, and serenity to a whole host of otherwise boring or stressful situations.

6. You have a more positive mindset. The more you practice meditation, the more your mindset will shift from negative to positive. Since meditation forces us to withhold judgment and recognize how much our mindset impacts our mood, you may start to notice that your thoughts become more positive. 

7. You’ve stopped tracking and comparing your practice. The goal of any meditation practice is to let go of judgment. Part of that is not comparing your practice to others or even yours from the day before. The more you meditate, the more natural it will become. 

8. You have a more open mind. Worries, stress, and anxiety are normal parts of life. But through meditation, you can improve your ability to control these thoughts and rein them in. Meditation is rooted in opening up our minds and approaching our thoughts, behaviours, and emotions with compassion and empathy. With regular practice, you may notice your mind becoming more open, not only to yourself but to the perspectives and opinions of others.
   
   If upon considering the signs on the list above, you do not think meditation is working for you, it could mean that you haven’t been practicing for long enough or that you need to practice more regularly. However, it could also be an indication that meditation isn’t the mindfulness practice for you. In that case, you may wish to consider another type of mindfulness practice, such as yoga.

Yes, there is scientific evidence to support the fact that regular meditation can alter your brain structure. Studies have shown that when we engage in meditation, there is an increase in a type of brain activity known as gamma wave activity. Specifically, this brain activity occurs in areas of the brain associated with learning and positive emotions like happiness. Stimulating these parts of the brain are more common in people who practice meditation than in those who don’t. There is a direct correlation between gamma waves and one’s attention, memory, learning, and conscious perception.