Mindful Meditation – A therapeutic approach to manage lifestyle diseases
editation Is Medicine
When we hear the word ‘meditation’, we associate a certain stratum of people with it. We think of people who want to achieve a zen state of mind, people who want to improve concentration, and the ones who persuade calmness and stability in this ever moving, impatient world.
If you do not know people around you taking a week off, and going away for a meditation workshop or retreat, chances are that you live under a rock. And these people aren’t just retired professionals and the ones who aim to achieve ‘moksha’. Today, even students and young professionals are practicing meditation to improve their mental strength.
However, there might be one more aspect of meditation that you might not be aware of. Not many of us know and that meditation is very useful in tackling lifestyle diseases.
While some of you might be intrigued, and others might write-off the idea, there is some amount of science to this. Let us explore. We know that primary reasons behind lifestyle diseases are sleep, diet and physical activity. Let us see how meditation helps in each of these three aspects: –
- Sleep and Meditation
People who regularly practice meditation will be less insomniac than the ones who don’t. This isn’t a tall claim, a research published at the US National Library of Medicine speaks about a study done on two groups of people. The ones who practiced meditation were able to sleep fast, and had a good quality of sleep through the night as compared to the ones who did not.
Getting proper sleep can control acidity, weight, and keep you active throughout the day. With work timings stretching beyond 9-6, and increasingly deteriorating lifestyles, meditation can help you control your sleep and be productive in the long run.
- Meditation and self-control
A whole lot of health problems are due to diet. Late night snacking, skipping breakfasts, extra consumption of sugar through desserts and binging on foods that contain saturated fats. There is actual evidence which suggests that meditation can help. Eventually it is about controlling your cravings. Mental discipline that you achieve through meditation can help you understand why do you crave certain things at a certain point of time, and empowers you to control your mind at these moments. Breaking the addictive behaviour is one of the biggest things meditation can help with.
- Meditation and Blood Pressure
Stroke, Hypertension, Coronary blockage, and a lot of other diseases are directly related to blood pressure. Meditation is supposed to have a direct relation with your nervous system. When you’re under stress, the heart pumps faster and eventually, it has to work more to get the blood circulated across the body. Meditation manages this, helps you stay calm during pressure situations, and gets you through without having an impact on your nervous system.
Long story short, meditation is a comprehensive, inclusive support for your mind, body, and soul. And the best part about it is, you don’t need a gym, place or equipment to meditate. Meditation can be practised sitting in a restaurant, cab, park or simply your balcony. Try it, it works.
