6 Ways Daily Meditation Can Improve Your Mental Health
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During the past years, the impact of daily meditation on our mental health was observed and analyzed during lots of clinical and scientific studies.
It was discovered that this habitual process of training your mind to focus and calm your thoughts down can greatly improve your mental health due to the fact that it boosts your awareness and diminishes the effects of stress. I’ve been meditating daily for a long time now and can safely say that daily meditation is one of the best ways to control anxiety, depression, sadness, and even grief.
But don’t just take my word for granted!
I want to share with you my little research on how exactly daily meditation can help to improve your mental health – according to science.
What Is Daily Meditation?
Daily meditation is an ancient practice of breathing deeply, concentrating on your breath or inner self, and controlling your thoughts for a significant period of time. The purpose of daily meditation is to encourage a feeling of relaxation and inner peace, minimize tension and feel mental relief that can turn out to be beneficial for your mental health.
1. Daily Meditation Strengthens Your Brain
Many studies reveal that mindfulness-based stress reduction through daily meditation is an effective way to lower the effects of stress, depression, anxiety, or even PTSD symptoms. A particular study was done by Harvard scientists also showed that daily meditation has the ability to strengthen your brain, particularly influencing the so-called “grey matter”.
The grey matter represents an essential component in our brain responsible for feeding nutrients and energy to neurons.
Through daily meditation, the grey matter is boosted, leading to a decrease in the activity of the amygdala, the one responsible for fear and anxiety responses to various situations.
2. Daily Meditation Gradually Calms The Mind Down
Daily meditation proves helpful in dealing with various mental health issues due to the fact that it can gradually calm the mind down and prevent strong emotions from reappearing. By meditating daily, a patient struggling with symptoms of stress, panic or depression learns how to calm the mind and achieve mental balance. As a result, daily meditation lowers the stress in your body, along with its effects such as insomnia, prolonged anxiety or stress-induced nausea. By enrolling in a daily routine of mindfulness meditation, these effects can be diminished greatly.
Other stress-triggered medical conditions can be reduced, too.
3. Daily Meditation Improves Your Sleep
Other ways daily meditation can improve your mental health are related to sleep improvement.
Daily meditation practice helps the whole body relax, and this benefit continues even after the session is finished.
By training the mind to focus attention on the breath, other thoughts or emotions are encouraged to just float by.Â
For those struggling with poor sleep or insomnia, learning how to relax is essential to improve sleep quality.
In other words, by meditating daily, you will be able to train your brain and encourage it to relax, which will lead to better sleep and stress relief.
4. Daily Meditation Prevents Memory Loss
Some studies reveal that daily meditation can even reduce age-related memory loss.
This happens because of improved attention and clarity that aids in encouraging your brain to stay focused. Kriya meditation is said to have the most impressive impact on those that suffer from memory loss as it combines a chant with repetitive motion of fingers.
5. Daily Meditation Trains Your Willpower
Another interesting aspect of daily meditation is that it promotes mental discipline that is very helpful in dealing with cravings, boosting self-control, and improving the awareness of your triggers. Some studies say that daily meditation can improve your mental health by redirecting attention and promoting better control of willpower, which is both helpful in controlling emotions and fighting desires. Besides this, daily meditation can even help you deal with food cravings, which for some people also is a subtle form of dependency.
6. Daily Meditation Helps You To Cope With Pain
Pain is very closely linked to our state of mind.
Our perception of pain depends on our unique situation, yet it was observed that those who practice daily meditation have a greater ability to cope with pain and even experienced a reduction in the sensation of pain.
Moreover, daily meditation proved extremely helpful for those that experienced depression with intense physical pain, as it lowered the number of negative thoughts, along with the pain felt in the body.
Tools That Make Daily Meditation Easier
There are no specific tools needed to meditate daily.
You can do it anywhere, without specific equipment.
However, there are a few things that can turn a simple daily meditation into a complete ZEN session right at the comfort of your home!
Here are some things to consider:
1. A meditation pillow or cushion
Seat Of Your Soul 2019 Meditation Cushion With Buckwheat Filling
2. An aromatherapy diffuser or humidifier
URPOWER Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
3. Some high-quality essential oils
Edens Garden Best of the Best 12 Set
4. A few hanging plants!
RISEON Boho Black Metal Plant Hanger
5. A set of Tibetan singing bowls
Silent Mind ~ Tibetan Singing Bowl Set
Daily meditation is a practice that everyone can do. You too can reap the vast benefits of it and greatly improve your mental health + emotional stability.
Some types of daily meditation focus on self-awareness, self-image, and encouraging a positive outlook on life, which is also helpful when dealing with low self-esteem and melancholy issues.
Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has the most beneficial impact on our mental health as it influences our brain directly and even helps to balance our brain’s neurotransmitters (including serotonin – the one responsible for happiness and feelings of wellbeing). If you are looking for a way to improve your mental health and quality of life, try adding daily meditation to your routine.
You can find tons of guided meditations on Youtube, or you can get a meditation app on your phone – there are hundreds to choose from and benefit from.
… And once you fall in love with daily meditation, you might also wonder How To Create a Deeply Relaxing Meditation Room.
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