Meditation: Ultimate Guide to Productivity and Mindfulness

Whether it’s five minutes or 20 minutes, finding time to meditate throughout the day can help you feel happier and more at peace. And, your mind and body will thank you. Meditation offers a wealth of benefits to improve your physical health and well being.

Benefits of Meditation

1. It lowers cortisol levels: Research shows that mindfulness meditation lowers levels of cortisol, the hormone that causes stress. Reducing cortisol can decrease general stress, anxiety and depression.

2. You can better deal with stress: Meditation brings a sense of calm to the mind and body that can reduce stress.

“When the mind relaxes and lets go, the body follows. We want our adrenaline and our nervous system to take a break at times, to unplug, to recycle, to rejuvenate.”

3. It eases anxiety: Meditation is literally the perfect, portable anti-anxiety treatment. Taking just a few minutes to close your eyes and do breathing exercises can turn off the mechanisms in your brain that cause anxiety.

4. It reduces depression symptoms: Depression is a series mental health condition often triggered by stress and anxiety. Research suggests meditation can change areas of the brain, including the “me center” and “fear center,” that are linked to depression. People who meditate also show increased gray matter in the brain’s hippocampus, responsible for memory.

5. You’ll get a mood boost: Meditation helps you deal with stress, anxiety and difficult situations, which makes you happier and feel better. We’re just able to deal with difficult things without letting it affect your mood.

6. You can retrain your brain: The brain tends to develop as it’s used. Meditation may retrain the brain to use the prefrontal cortex, known as the “me center,” to regulate the amygdala, or “fear center".

This means that when faced with a stressor, when we are not meditating, we will have gotten in the habit of using our prefrontal cortex to direct our minds back to think more calmly and clearly focus, rather than letting our impulsive reactions direct us.

7. It’s good for your heart: Research shows meditation can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Meditation positively impacts blood pressure, heart muscle effectiveness and general cardiovascular mortality.

8. It lowers blood pressure: High blood pressure affects about 30% of U.S. adults and is considered a worldwide epidemic that heightens the risk of stroke and heart attack. Meditation may improve blood pressure naturally, without medication, research shows.

9. It enhances serotonin levels: Serotonin is a chemical produced in nerve cells that works as a natural mood stabilizer. When you meditate, you’ll increase serotonin levels, which acts like a natural anti-depressant.

10. You’ll break bad habits: Whether it’s smoking or shopping too much, meditation brings awareness to your actions in that moment and help you break the cycle of a bad habit.

"Most habits form unconsciously. Over time, (meditation) brings awareness to what we’re doing, so we’re not acting out unconsciously. Mindfulness interrupts the habit.”

Health benefits of meditation

With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change, and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.

On a physical level, meditation:

• Lowers high blood pressure
• Lowers the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks
• Decreases any tension-related pain, such as tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle, and joint problems
• Increases serotonin production that improves mood and behavior
• Improves the immune system
• Increases the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy

Mental Benefits of Meditation

Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into an alpha state that promotes healing. The mind becomes fresh, delicate, and beautiful. It cleanses and nourishes you from within and calms you, whenever you feel overwhelmed, unstable, or emotionally shut down. With regular practice of meditation:

• Anxiety decreases
• Emotional stability improves
• Creativity increases
• Happiness increases
• Intuition develops
• Gain clarity and peace of mind
• Problems become smaller

Meditation sharpens the mind by gaining focus and expands through relaxation . A sharp mind without expansion causes tension, anger and frustration . An expanded consciousness without sharpness can lead to lack of action/progress

The balance of a sharp mind and an expanded consciousness brings perfection

Meditation makes you aware - that your inner attitude determines your happiness.

Spiritual benefits of meditation

Meditation doesn’t have a religion and can be practiced by anybody regardless of the faith they follow.

Effortless transition from being something to merging with the infinite and recognizing yourself as an inseparable part of the whole cosmos.

In a meditative state, you are in a space of vastness, calmness and joy and this is what you emit into the environment, bringing harmony to the Creation/planet.

Meditation can bring about a true personal transformation. As you learn more about yourself, you’ll naturally start discovering more about yourself and love yourself.

Hope that this complete guide on meditation and its benefits would give some value and bring mindfulness to your lives.

Good Luck !!