5 Benefits Of Meditation & How It Impacts The Mind.
can meditation help with anxiety and stress?
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I recently interviewed Dr. Janice Walton, a Psychologist and licensed Mental Health Professional, with over 30 years of experience. She’s an author and also writes the Aging Well newsletter. We discussed some of the benefits of meditation, and some ways that you may start implementing it in your day.
What is meditation?
Meditation is the act of reflecting or contemplating. In other words, to think upon. Today when most people think of the word, an image of sitting with legs crossed comes to mind. The ever-growing list of gurus and videos available have contributed to painting this image.
During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process may result in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.
source: Mayo Clinic
5 benefits of meditation
The definition gives an idea of some of the benefits you may get from meditating. But meditating may also help with several health conditions.
Reduce stress
Improve thinking
Better at processing life
Makes you sleep better
Depression
Meditating can help you to identify stress points that you may have overlooked in your life. Here are some types of meditation that you may know.
Guided - accompanied by sound or a voice that directs you to imagine specific things and monitor your breathing.
Tai chi - a Chinese method where you conduct a series of martial arts moves, in a controlled manner.
Mindfulness - being aware of your thoughts, breathing patterns, and other things while you meditate.
Yoga - brings you to the present. you focus on your posture and breathing.
Mantra - try to focus on one thing, and that’s repeating a word or phrase that helps to keep you calm.
Here’s a one-minute meditation by Headspace that you may try.
Meditation is not…
Meditation is not a solution to wipe away all your problems. It’s a way for you to face them. It helps us to accept the things that are out of our control and how we respond to life.
You don’t need fancy methods or a guru to meditate. A quick search will land you some valuable materials to get started today.
Meditation is known to have a significant impact on the mind. To further explain this, check out Sara Lazar’s Ted Talk on how meditation reshapes the brain.
Things to remember
Meditation means to think upon. There are various types of meditations, and they come with health benefits that are worth the effort.
You aren’t obligated to only do it while sitting on a yoga mat with your legs crossed. You can do it in your car, at a park, while you wait in line…
Summary of the interview with Janice
As a recent 83-year-old widow living on her own for the first time, anxiety and stress ran rampant. Five years of caretaking, making all the decisions, the pandemic, and her husband’s death took an enormous toll, but there she was – not sleeping, depressed, and unable to think clearly. Somehow, she had to put on her big girl pants and move forward. She didn’t consider herself a good meditator.
Then she read the article 5 Benefits Of Meditation & Why It's Important For Your Wellbeing. Here’s her take after reading:
“I learned two facts from the article. The first was that there is more than one way to meditate. The second fact is that meditation is not a solution to wipe away all my problems, it’s a way for me to face them, and accept things that are out of my control and how I respond to life. After reading it, I identified three strategies that can work for me.
GUIDED IMAGERY - I picture the outcome of a situation or problem and then listen for guidance.MANTRA - I use the mantra “so hum” to quiet my mind and relax my body. When I am nervous, when I can’t go to sleep, or when I am impatiently waiting in a line.
MINDFULNESS - I am practicing mindfulness – which helps me focus on now - not the past or the future – “the I wished I would have” or” how can I do that?”
Yes, there is still anxiety and stress but I am managing it better.”