Meditate anytime anywhere! Quiet time pays in dividends.

One of the main benefits of meditation is stress reduction. Meditating in quite contemplation can help you relax, find peace of mind and ease tension so that you can control and manage your stress levels. Stress causes your heart rate and blood pressure to go up and too much of that can create health issues. Meditating for a few minutes every day helps you to let go of stress to achieve a relaxed state of mind.

Studies have shown that meditating increases your immunity and helps fight off diseases. Meditation causes you to relax, which increases a compound called nitric oxide that dilates your blood vessels and causes your blood pressure to drop. A lower blood pressure improves your cardiovascular and immune health, as well as helps you to have a better night’s rest!

Not only does meditation help with your overall health and psychological well-being, it improves functioning of the brain by increasing memory. Research has shown that people who meditate have more gray matter in their brain in areas related to memory and thought. Furthermore, meditation improves focus and attention. When you meditate, you bring your full attention to an object, idea or activity, which helps you to practice concentration. Individuals who meditate have an easier time eliminating negative thoughts and breaking down information. By practicing meditation, you are essentially gaining cognitive and problem solving skills.

Who doesn’t want to be happy? Studies have shown that meditation reduces negative emotions and thus, relieves anxiety and depression. During meditation, brain signaling increases on the left side of the prefrontal cortex, which regulates positive emotions. Likewise, studies show that signaling decreased on the right side of the brain, which is responsible for negative emotions. Moreover, meditation gives you a sense of self-awareness that helps you to take a step back so that you can look at stressful or upsetting situations and gain clarity. It helps you to focus on the present and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation so that you can tackle problems in a calm manner.

Meditation also helps you feel more connected, boosts social connection and reduces loneliness. Research has also shown that meditation improves empathy and compassion and increases creativity.

In addition to the these five items other benefits from meditating are there for those who take this quiet time.  One of these is the generating of ideas that may bubble up to the conscious mind, many “aha” moments.  I have been one happy recipient of thoughts that pop up in my mind, including titles for articles and a book.