05 Nov Using Meditation to Improve Your Health
In addition to working out and watching what you eat in order to achieve a healthier body, you might also want to consider engaging in meditation to help alleviate stress and enjoy other health benefits. Although many people associate meditation with new age hocus pocus, it is actually a scientifically-based method for alleviating stress and can certainly go a long way toward helping you keep your body looking great and feeling healthy.
Benefits of Meditation
By helping to alleviate stress, meditation can offer a number of different health benefits. Some of these include:
- · Building up your immune system
- · Improving your sleep
- · Increasing blood flow in your body
- · Increasing your energy levels
- · Increasing seratonin levels
- · Increasing your alertness
- · Relieving PMS symptoms
- · Reliving tension in your muscles
In addition, studies have found that feeling too much stress can actually lead to a build up of fat in the mid-section while also damaging a person’s overall physical and mental health. Therefore, there are many reasons for you to give meditation a try in order to reduce your stress and enjoy the many health benefits that have been associated with meditation.
Forms of Meditation
There are actually several different ways you can choose to meditate. In fact, you may already be engaging in meditation to a certain degree without even realizing it. Some of the types of meditation you may want to explore include:
- · Walking meditation
- · Prayer meditation
- · Visualization meditation
With walking meditation, you simply walk with a certain pattern that helps your mind relax as you walk. Not only does walking meditation help to relieve stress, it also adds to your physical activity and can actually be part of your workout routine.
Prayer meditation involves communicating with a higher power in order to help relax your mind and become more focused on your thoughts. Visualization meditation, on the other hand, involves picturing yourself in a relaxing place where you feel happy and stress-free.
Regardless of the form of meditation you use, it is important to be in a comfortable position within a quiet area where you can relax. When engaging in prayer and visualization meditation, many people choose to kneel or sit in a comfortable chair in a comfortable position. Regardless, focus on breathing in a relaxed manner and allowing your mind to rest so you can enjoy the full benefits of meditation.
How long or how often you meditate is a personal decision, but you should try to work in at least 10 minutes per day. After you get more used to it and as you start noticing the benefits, you may wish to meditate for longer periods of time. In fact, some people choose to meditate for hours at a time!