The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation brings numerous benefits to physical and emotional health and enhances wellbeing on a daily basis. Just 10 minutes of regular practice can be life-changing and transformative. People who meditate—whether at the beginner, intermediate, or advanced level—can see the impact of this practice on their health, interactions with others, personal and occupational functioning, and quality of life. We’ll discuss some of the primary benefits of this simple yet powerful and transformation tradition below.

Effects on stress and emotional health.

Mindfulness meditation works to improve the functioning of the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation and slows breathing and heartrate. When we become stressed or when emotions like anxiety take over, the sympathetic nervous system, also known as the fight-or-flight response is activated. This response is meant to help us survive real threats to our physical safety, but our bodies confuse our experience of daily stress, worry, and fears with a need to trigger our innate survival mechanism. High levels of stress and charged emotions are things that we can potentially be exposed on a daily basis; meaning that for many people, the fight-or-flight response is initiated constantly. With time, this heightened state can be harmful to our physical and emotional health. Imagine all the strain on the body when the sympathetic response is triggered any time we worry about finances or we become stressed out in a traffic jam during our morning commute. Mindfulness meditation enhances the functioning of parasympathetic nervous system, which serves to undo the stress caused by the sympathetic response.

The physical health benefits are numerous.

Mindfulness meditation has been found to improve the functioning of the immune system, prevent the onset of dementia later on in life, and even prevent chronic, life threatening illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure. Research for over two decades has provided some pretty compelling evidence of a direct relationship between the regular practice of mindfulness meditation and better physical health.

You’re an overall more pleasant person to be around. When your stress levels are under control, your emotions are in check, and your physical health is in good shape, your manner of interacting with others will be healthier and more positive. This contributes to better relationships with family members, your spouse, partner, and/or children, friends, and co-workers. Mindfulness meditation provides an outlet for stress and tension triggered by a bad day at work, a flat tire, or an argument with a loved one – events that we may otherwise take out on those we interact with.

Creativity. Mindfulness meditation is said to enhance creativity by helping you develop good ideas, problem-solve with greater efficiency, and focus more closely on the task at hand. It is believed that quieting the mind and focusing on the here and now helps you hit an internal reset button, allowing optimal functioning of the regions of the brain that trigger creativity.

You can find more information about anxiety, life transitions, and relationship issues here.