5 Surprising Health Benefits of Meditation

Mindful meditation is the exercise of tuning into one's environment and consciousness. This ancient practice which used to be limited mostly to Eastern culture has gained widespread global attention for its profound benefits to the mind, body, and spirit. Mindful meditation benefits are so well regarded that it is now actually recommended by some conventional medical practitioners as a form of treatment and in pain management. In celebration of this wonderful exercise, we have listed 5 awesome benefits of this ancient yet advanced practice.

Mindful meditation boosts your immune system by increasing the number of antibodies available in the blood.

A study by the University of Wisconsin believes it is the electrical activity generated during meditation that offers its immune-boosting properties. The study was held over a 2-month period and the participants who practiced daily meditation versus the control group those who didn’t practice showed a significant increase in antibodies. A quote from the study is below:

“A meditation habit can strengthen the body’s immune function, plus increase brain performance in the form of electrical activity.”

Mindful meditation boosts brain power including improvements to memory, empathy, and concentration, and a marginal decline in age-related brain shrinkage. Watch this video taken at TEDX 2011 showing a talk given by Sara Lazar a neuroscientist who discovered these profound findings using scientific technology. The findings are enough to get even the harshest critic intrigued.

Mindful Meditation enhances sleep patterns with meditators experiencing more nourishing slow-wave sleep and showing higher theta alpha waves when monitored. REM sleep was also significantly extended; this is the part of sleep that helps store memories and replenish the nervous system.

Mindful meditation Improves your libido by enhancing focus (stops that wandering mind of yours) boosts circulation and increased sexual energy by balancing your chakras. Don’t believe this then we prescribe 30 days of 10-minute practice for life-changing benefits.

A common cause of pain is headaches It cures these by increasing blood flow (dilation of blood vessels- blood vessel constriction is a common cause of headaches) and slowing heart rate. The calm state that is obtained during meditation can alleviate tension and release pain in the head. By controlling the mind one can manage pain better through self-talk, controlled relaxation, and bodily focus.

I think we could all do with a bit more meditation in our life! This is only a snippet of the vast array of benefits that come with practice. Do you meditate? Have you experienced any of the above benefits or perhaps you have had more surreal experiences? Drop us a comment we love to get the conversation flowing on all things health-related.