Ten Reasons You Should Meditate 

Scientific research has shown evidence of the benefits of meditation, and it is becoming increasingly popular across the world to meditate. People who meditate regularly, no matter how hard it may first be, find a difference in their approach to life and their overall well-being. Here are ten reasons why you should consider meditation, and make it a part of your everyday life.

1. Meditation Strengthens The Brain

Researchers at UCLA have found that people who practice meditation regularly have greater folds in the brain’s cortex than people who do not meditate.  It is presumed that information is processed faster through these extra folds in the cortex. Another UCLA study showed that there is lesser brain shrinkage and better connections between different parts of the brain in people who practice meditation regularly. 

Researchers at Yale University showed that meditators’ brains had decreased activity in the default mod network of the brain, which is known to trigger the accumulation of beta amyloid plaques in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Although it may not reverse the buildup in patients already with Alzheimer’s disease, meditation might prevent further buildup of plaques. 

2. Meditation Improves Cognitive Function And Focus

Research studies have shown that those people who follow a meditation routine regularly have increased brain connectivity and cognitive ability. Even a brief four-day meditation experiment yielded similar results with improved attention and memory. Meditation was found to decrease people's levels of anxiety and fatigue, and it simultaneously improved their focus (ability to concentrate on tasks fully) and cognitive ability. In a technology-driven world today, we are constantly distracted and pulled in a thousand different directions, and meditation helps us to stay focused and concentrate better on the here and now, on the tasks we are currently engaged in. 

3. Mood And Stress Levels Are Improved 

A recent research study revealed that even 10 to 12 hours of meditation a month can effectively reduce stress levels while elevating mood and cognitive performance. The white matter around the anterior cingulated cortex in the brain, which is responsible for controlling our mood, shows an increase after meditating for a month. 

4. You Become More Compassionate

You calm down and keep your cool when your focus on your breathing and become completely aware of the sensation that passes through your body with each breath. You recognize the positive emotions within you, and are able to direct it with compassion towards others. Meditation increases your ability to empathize toward others. 

5. Strengthens Mental Toughness

Sometimes traumatic events leave a deep scar on people, for example, troops who are engaged in war and return home. They suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and living a normal life becomes difficult. Meditating for two hours each week and practicing mindfulness meditation for eight weeks is part of training for US marines awaiting deployment to war zones, according to a study published in February 2010 in the journal Emotion. The training improved alertness and memory. 

6. Helps You Lose Weight

Mindfulness meditation brings a level of consciousness to your food intake and prevents you from eating unhealthy foods. Researchers found that mindfulness meditation helped obese women who ate excessively due to stress. After daily mindfulness meditation exercises, they were less anxious and more mindful of what they ate. The control group did not lose weight and some participants gained weight.  Meditation can control food cravings and stress-related overeating. 

7. Improves Immune System

Regular meditation reduces your susceptibility to infections from colds according to researchers. The immune system is significantly improved with even a short period of meditation, as less as eight weeks.  In the study, both control group and study group received flu vaccines, and found that the study group participants had a significantly larger antibody-to-influenza ration compared to the control group.

8. Lowers Blood Pressure

Meditation may lower pressure according to a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension. The study found that Transcendental Meditation helped students’ lower psychological distress and increased their coping skills. It also lowered blood pressure in a group of students who were at risk for developing high blood pressure later in life.

9. Improves Sleep

Meditation may help you sleep better and ward off insomnia. Indian researchers studied Vipassana Meditation and found that a study group of participants showed enhanced slow wave or deep sleep and REM sleep irrespective of their age. Non-meditators showed a sharp decline in slow wage sleep with age.

10. Dulls Pain Symptoms

Meditation is widely used to help manage chronic pain, especially in cancer patients. Mindfulness meditation is commonly used to treat pain focusing on the present moment rather than judging or reacting to it. Researchers in Montreal suggest that long-time meditation may alter the physical aspects of the brain that affect pain perception. People who meditate regularly described pain as less unpleasant because their brain is focused on the present rather than the pain, reducing the impact of the pain perception.