Five Reasons Meditation is Good for You
Key Points(5)
- According to leading Jamaican yoga and meditation teacher, wellness practitioner and cookbook author, Sharon Feanny, meditation is good for everyone.
- “Meditation isn’t just for the airy-fairy, hippie types.
- Nope, the world has caught on,” Feanny says.
- “Corporate execs, celebrities, and millions of ordinary people around the globe have started meditating.
- Scientific studies show that they are a TON of measurable benefits of meditation.” Here are five of what Feanny says are many reasons why meditation is a life-changing practice we should all adopt immediately.
According to leading Jamaican yoga and meditation teacher, wellness practitioner and cookbook author, Sharon Feanny, meditation is good for everyone.
“Meditation isn’t just for the airy-fairy, hippie types. Nope, the world has caught on,” Feanny says. “Corporate execs, celebrities, and millions of ordinary people around the globe have started meditating. Why? Scientific studies show that they are a TON of measurable benefits of meditation.”
Here are five of what Feanny says are many reasons why meditation is a life-changing practice we should all adopt immediately.
Meditation Relieves Stress
“Thank goodness, meditation can help alleviate some of the stress we are all dealing with in this go-go-go world,” Feanny notes. According to a Harvard University study, regular meditation not only helps us better manage stress, but also helps regulate our emotions overall.
MRI results conducted on meditators during the study revealed that the portion of the brain that deals with emotions thickened after eight weeks. The conclusion – meditation aids in our ability to regulate anxiety, depression, anger, confusion, and the things we tend to do compulsively when under pressure – such as overeating. Meditating regularly teaches you to stop, breathe and think before reacting, and even increases mood enhancing hormones.
Meditation Makes Us Smarter
Feanny notes that meditation doesn’t just decrease stress, it also trains your brain to be more focused, and strengthens your ability to navigate both internal and external distractions.
“By stimulating the cerebral cortex and prefrontal cortex, meditation has been found to help up-level memory, attention, and perception so you can make wiser decisions and be better at problem solving,” she says.
Meditation Strengthens Your Heart
“Beyond the psychological benefits of meditation, scientists have also found that meditation has a world of physiological benefits as well,” Sharon Feanny shares.
Feanny points to a 2012 study published in the American Heart Association journal, where research revealed that meditation lowered the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease. The study also found that daily meditation helped lower blood pressure, anxiety, and anger.
Meditation Provides Pain Relief
In 2011, MIT and Harvard neuroscientists found that meditation helps to alleviate pain.
“The study found that meditation elevates alpha waves – the cells in the brain that help suppress unwanted senses, such as pain.”
Meditation Keeps You Younger, Longer
“Last, but certainly not least, researchers at UCLA found that meditation is linked to preserving precious brain function into old age, thus enhancing quality of life among the aging,” Feanny explains. “They found that meditation reduced the risk of the mental illnesses and neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging, which are often caused by the decrease of the brain’s gray matter. This gray matter is responsible for muscle control, and sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making, and self-control.”
“Clearly, meditation is key to a long, healthy life, and it’s something we all should practice daily,” says Feanny
