In recent years we’ve heard a lot about meditation and the many benefits of this mindful exercise. But like so many other passing fancies, we have to wonder: what does science say about this? Which brings us here to our list of a few science-based benefits of meditation. Let’s take a look.
Meditation does in fact decrease stress. For many people, stress reduction is the number one reason people even try meditation. Now, allow us to get technical real quick, mental and physical stress cause increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes a lot of lame things to happen to your body and mind when you’re feeling stressed (like making your stomach feel all kinds of bloated when you’re already at the end of your rope) but it also releases a chemical called cytokines, and the effects of this chemical cause sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, cloudy thinking, and a lot of other effects nobody really likes. However, after just a couple of months of meditation, studies have shown that the side effects of these cytokines have been significantly less so. Meditation can also have positive effects on stress-induced conditions such as IBS and/or PTSD.
Meditation may actually rival certain medications being used to treat depression and anxiety. Johns Hopkins conducted a study that looked at meditation and how it can reduce depression, anxiety, and pain. Researches found that the effect size of meditation was at a 0.3, and while that may sound like a very low number, that is the same effect size of antidepressants. Head researcher Madhav Goyal said this of meditation: “A lot of people have this idea that meditation means sitting down and doing nothing, meditation is an active training of the mind to increase awareness, and different meditation programs approach this in different ways.” So while meditation isn’t a cure for depression and anxiety, it can certainly be used as a tool to help you manage your symptoms.
Meditation can promote emotional health. Certain meditation can lead to a more positive outlook on life. Mindfulness meditation has been proven to help symptoms of depression, and studies have shown that people that have completed mindfulness meditation have thought fewer negative thoughts after.
Meditation can improve concentration and attention. Whether you have a diagnosis or not, a really large portion of adults have difficulty focusing and paying attention, but studies show that after just a couple of weeks of meditation, these areas improved significantly. It’s no surprise when you stop to think about it since meditation involves perfecting the art of strong focus of attention.