What is the Effect of Meditation on Human Body and Mind? – 30 Best Effects
People who meditate daily have so many benefits. Have you ever wondered about the effect of Meditation on human body and mind? How does Meditation work on human body? Or why are meditators healthier than no meditators? Or how does Meditation reduce stress? This is because Meditation has so many good effects on the human body and mind, making them physically fit and emotionally strong than others. Here, read my article and learn how Meditation is effective for you and why you should meditate? What are its benefits?
Contents
- 1 What is Meditation?
- 2 Effect of Meditation on human body and mind
- 2.1 Helps in treating Depression
- 2.2 Helps in reducing panic disorders
- 2.3 Treatment for migraines
- 2.4 Improves Memory
- 2.5 Reduces risk of Alzheimer
- 2.6 Increases Grey Matter concentration in brain
- 2.7 Helps in regulation of mood and treats anxiety disorders
- 2.8 Reduces alcohol consumption or any other substance abuse
- 2.9 Decreases muscle tension
- 2.10 Enhances immunity
- 2.11 Improves Focus and attention
- 2.12 Ability to work under stress increases
- 2.13 Improves decision making
- 2.14 Makes you stronger against pain
- 2.15 Increases Self-awareness
- 2.16 Helps in managing ADHD
- 2.17 Improves psychological well being
- 2.18 Treats insomnia
- 2.19 Increases levels of serotonin in the brain
- 2.20 Increases the dopamine levels in the brain
- 2.21 Fosters Creativity
- 2.22 Reduces risk of heart diseases
- 2.23 Effects on Blood pressure
- 2.24 Treat Menstrual problems
- 2.25 Helps people with HIV feel better
- 2.26 Helps to overcome loneliness
- 2.27 Reduces Emotional eating
- 2.28 Meditation improves communication skills
- 2.29 Improves Academic result
- 2.30 Increases Compassion
- 3 Final words
What is Meditation?
To learn about the effects of Meditation on human body and mind, you first need to know what is Meditation. Meditation is an activity, a medicine for mind and body, that people practice and regularly follow to stay mentally and physically healthy. Meditation helps minimize every negative random thought that kills your peace, making you feel happy.
Effect of Meditation on human body and mind
After studying a lot of research papers and surveys, I have arranged some extremely great and useful effect of Meditation on human body and mind which helps humans to feel happy and regulate their emotions. Reading these amazing effects will make you feel that you should also start Meditation in order to stay healthy.
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Helps in treating Depression
Depression is one of the mental health conditions that is very common and its symptoms start worsening with time if not treated on time. The effect of Meditation on human body and mind includes that it may help you in treating Depression because it gives peace of mind and it stops you from all types of negative thoughts.
According to a recent research, practicing Meditation can help you improve Depression if you start incorporating into your life.
In simple words, it will be more effective if you practice it continuously than as a temporary fix.
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Helps in reducing panic disorders
The effect of Meditation on human body and mind includes that it helps in reducing panic disorders and decreases their occurrence rate. It is a practice known for its benefits. During medication, all functions of the body become relaxed. There is no permanent cure for panic disorders, but Meditation will surely help decrease its effect.
According to a survey in 2002, NIMH, at least 2.4 million adults have panic disorders in the United States and it has become a serious problem now.
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Treatment for migraines
Migraine is serious and painful kind of pain and its most common cause is stress. Meditation can help in treating migraines because it may calm down the part of the brain and nervous system that causes stress.
According to the research of Helen P. Klenchuck (A.B.), Herbert Benson (M.D.), and John R Graham (M.D.), regular practice of Meditation can headaches occurrence by at least 37%, and some forms of Meditation seems to eliminate and kill headaches in some people. This is one of the biggest flex and effect of Meditation on human body and mind.
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Improves Memory
The effect of Meditation on human body and mind is that it increases the flow of blood towards the brain and this strengthens and improves memory. Using mindfulness meditation teaches you to focus your mind and once you are able to focus better, you automatically become better to solidify more concepts in your short-term memory. This is great news that now you can increase your memory effectively by 100 percent naturally.
A professor from the University of Illinois, Art Kramer Ph.D. said;
“You are able to make new memories better if your hippocampus is bigger.”
The Hippocampus is the part of the brain that deals with soring memory and retrieving any information. Meditations help in boosting your memory.
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Reduces risk of Alzheimer
Alzheimer’s is a disease and a brain disorder that destroys the memory and eventually decreases the ability of an adult to do even the simplest tasks. Elder people or senior people suffer from this disease. Meditation and any type of spiritual activity decreases the chances of Alzheimer’s disorder. Those seniors who feel isolated and lonely all the time should do Meditation to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s. Meditation helps in making memory strong so those people who do Meditation are safer than the people who don’t practice it.
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Increases Grey Matter concentration in brain
The central nervous system of human body has two types of tissues that are grey matter and white matter. Grey matter is responsible for sensory perceptions as it consists of nerve cell bodies and one of its functions is muscles control. A decrease in grey matter causes so many diminished brain functions and impairment but Meditation can increase it. By regularly doing mindfulness meditation for 10 to 15 minutes, you can increase grey matter concentration in your brain. The effect of Meditation on human body and mind includes that it also improves clear thinking.
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Helps in regulation of mood and treats anxiety disorders
The effect of Meditation on human body and mind includes that it helps in the regulation of mood and treats anxiety disorders. Meditation manages emotions by two mechanisms. One is Attentional Control by controlling the focus and attention, while the second is Cognitive control by balancing control over thoughts and sentiments.
According to a research in 2013, a trail was conducted with 93 people who are diagnosed with Generalized anxiety disorder and comparing it with an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction group (MBSR) with a Stress management education. The MBSR had significantly greater number of people with reduction of anxiety.
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Reduces alcohol consumption or any other substance abuse
Many studies proved that one of the strong effect of Meditation on human body and mind is that it helps reduce and decrease alcohol intake or smoking. One of the studies explained the behavior of heavy drinkers after practicing Meditation. Out of 68 drinkers, half were taught mindfulness techniques while the other half were taught only relaxation training and both of them didn’t know what was the training called. After seven days, those that followed the meditation technique drank about 9.3 units less alcohol than a week before this experiment. And those who followed relaxation techniques did not show any difference. Meditation is also used for the treatment of substance abuse or addiction.
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Decreases muscle tension
Muscles tension can be caused by lack of rest or mental stress. So, the effect of Meditation on human body and mind contains the release of physical tension, and meditation allows the mind to become calmer. Meditation helps in relieving muscle tension because by definition of Meditation we know that it is also known as relaxation of body and mind. It helps in relaxing muscles tension and also improves the circulation of blood all over the body. Due to this, the brain and muscles get more oxygen because there is no blockage or clogging in blood and this is one of the most essential effects of Meditation on body.
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Enhances immunity
One of the most significant effects of medication on body and mind is that it enhances immunity.
According to the new research led by the University of Florida, Meditation is considered an effective treatment for numerous conditions linked with a weak immune system. It improves human health and wellbeing. Dr. Vijayendran Chandran said that; Both physical and mental methods for the wellbeing of a human being are integrated by the holistic disciplines of yoga and medication. Regularly calming your mind helps you in building up resistance against various diseases.
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Improves Focus and attention
Researches proved that one positive effect of Meditation on human body and mind is that it improves focus and attention. According to research by Maclean et al. In 2010, they found that 3 months of proper meditation training can improve the performance on different tasks of sustained visual attention and perceptual discrimination.
Business people mostly use a technique known as focused Meditation, some self-improvement Gurus or athletes to remain committed to their dreams and goals and become more motivated. Meditation helps you focus on your thoughts and increases your concentration.
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Ability to work under stress increases
Many people want to know the answer to how does Meditation reduces stress and anxiety? It is very simple and easy to understand effect of Meditation on human body and mind that Meditation increases the ability to work under stress. Stress reduction is optimal to perform better but sometimes you don’t have time to reduce your stress but all you can do is to improve your ability to work under stressful situations so that it does not affects your work. Now employee wellness has become a trending topic among many employers so they ensure that their employee is mentally healthy. For that purpose, you should do mindfulness meditation in order to stay fit and fine.
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Improves decision making
Mindfulness is found to be very useful. The effect of Meditation on human body and mind is that it improves the mental performance and the efficiency of other parts of the brain that are linked with the decision-making of one person.
In Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, a study was conducted. They found out that those who meditate on a regular basis use different areas of their brains while making a decision. The effect of Meditation on the mind involves that it helps in the mental clarity of a person and strengthens the brain’s main functions.
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Makes you stronger against pain
One of the significant effect of Meditation on human body and mind is that it makes you stronger against pain. Pain is a part of life and nobody can save themselves completely from pain. It can be any type of pain like physical pain, mental pain, or emotional pain. Meditation is not the permanent cure for any kind of pain but it has significant effects on human body and mind. You should try to meditate if you experience any kind of pain. There are many kinds of meditations that are used for chronic pain relief.
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Increases Self-awareness
Meditation teaches self-awareness by making people more conscious and aware of the world around them. It effects your mind in many ways that it deepens your levels of thought processing, boosts up stimuli processing ability and many other psychological and physical benefits. Meditation teaches to live in the present and forget the bad experiences from past. It makes a person more self-aware and they become powerful. Some people can achieve relaxation and state of peace with any type of repetitive mediative activity.
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Helps in managing ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that consists of extreme distractibility of a person, hyperactivity, or great impulsivity. It is not easy to fight this disorder. Especially when your symptoms are so extreme. And you cannot sleep or do your work with concentration and get distracted easily. But the effect of Meditation on human body and mind consists that it helps in reducing negative self-talk.
According to a review in 2018 which is based therapies of Meditation across children, teens and adults, which concluded that Meditation could do a good job in reducing hyperactivity and impulsive behavior of kids. It can be a huge challenge for people suffering with ADHD but it helps.
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Improves psychological well being
It is proved by the study the effect of Meditation on human body and mind includes the good psychological wellbeing of a person, Meditation helps a person to increase calmness and physical or emotional relaxation which causes psychological wellbeing. It improves the balance between mental and physical health and helps cope with any illness by enhancing a person’s overall health. Meditation helps in overcoming any psychological trauma that is not good for your emotional health.
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Treats insomnia
Meditation can help treat insomnia, especially in those who are suffering from difficulty falling asleep because they have any sort of emotional burden on their heart. Sleep meditation is easy to implement and it works really fast for people suffering from insomnia. Many kinds of research have proved that Meditation improves the quality of sleep and reduces the daytime disturbance people face. It is a very easy, simple, and affordable method without using medicines to fall asleep on time.
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Increases levels of serotonin in the brain
Serotonin is a chemical that is known for regulating mood and emotions of joy and happiness and due to this it is also known as “the Happy Chemical”. The deficiency of serotine can cause Depression and stress in many people. Meditation helps in increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain, which indirectly regulates emotions and desires. It helps in good Learning, good appetite, and a night of peaceful sleep.
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Increases the dopamine levels in the brain
Dopamine levels in the brain are the neurotransmitters that help a person feel good and regulate emotional responses.
In one study the effects of Meditation on the human body and mind said, a 64 percent of increase in dopamine was seen in eight regular meditators after an hour of practice which was higher and better compared to just resting quietly.
These neurochemical changes keep the meditator in a good mood and make them motivated to continue meditating for a longer time.
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Fosters Creativity
When a person practices meditation regularly he feels relaxation which enables him to think more progressively. Meditators are very calm as compared to those who don’t meditate. And They are very creative when it comes to suggesting any idea. Meditation fosters creativity as it helps meditators in clear thinking, thus finding more suitable and good ideas. Their creativity can be in any work like office, household, or even studying. The people who meditate are more creative than those who do not meditate. As non-meditators are always tired.
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Reduces risk of heart diseases
People who meditate regularly are at lower risk of heart strokes or any diseases related to the heart. Meditation helps in the circulation of blood all over the body and makes the heart more active.
The cardiologist, Dr. Deepak Bhat, who is a professor at Harvard Medical school says;
“I recommend Meditation alongside proper diet and exercises. It decreases stress, anxiety and it is considered a useful factor in cardiovascular risk reduction.”
It decreases the chances of any type of blood blockage in the heart. Meditation lowers the chances of heart failure as it helps in calming the heartbeat rate.
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Effects on Blood pressure
Meditation helps in lowering high blood pressure and treating it. It is an activity that calms down the brain and mind, making meditators balance their blood pressure. Meditation can calm the activity of the sympathetic nervous system which narrows the blood vessels when there is stress. It increases the activity in the parasympathetic nervous system which promotes the expansion of blood vessels. By using Meditation, humans can save themselves from high blood pressure and avoid many chronic kidney diseases and heart problems.
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Treat Menstrual problems
The most helpful effect of Meditation on human body and mind is that it treats menstrual problems. Women from all over the universe are dependent on the menstrual cycle and they face many problems and troubles caused by irregular cycles of menstruation. These problems can cause acne, abdominal pain, cramps in the stomach and legs, mood swings, and many more. Menopause, irregular cycle, or any menstrual disorders can be treated by Meditation and many women practice Mudras and yoga to relieve their period pain. Meditation helps women in calming their emotions during their cycles and lowers their pain.
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Helps people with HIV feel better
Meditation is the only thing that can help patients suffering from AID or HIV feel better as there is no cure for this disease. People suffering from HIV are already in a very traumatic state and they are on the verge of mental and emotional attack. They feel lonely or even they feel that they should not live anymore. Meditation helps them in developing their confidence back.
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Helps to overcome loneliness
One of the effects of Meditation on human body and mind is that it makes people feel good as it increases the level of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. It helps people overcome loneliness and makes them open to their surroundings.
Meditators always feel good and they never feel alone or isolated.
It helps make your mental health stronger, enabling you to overcome lonely thoughts and feelings.
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Reduces Emotional eating
People who are feeling low sometimes start emotional eating whenever they face stress or Depression. Meditation helps in reducing emotional eating in human body. It works very well for women who are pregnant and they have cravings. Meditation helps in feeling amazing and it is useful in reducing the chances of overeating or emotional eating.
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Meditation improves communication skills
People who are socially awkward or feel lonely and have nobody to talk to should start Meditation. Meditation helps in improving communication skills in introverted people and makes their interacting skills good. Good communication skills are one of the most needed requirements nowadays that everybody wishes to have.
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Improves Academic result
Students who meditate always have good academic records because they have a good memory and learn new things are great. Meditation helps in improving academic results as it makes your memory good. Which helps in memorizing difficult lessons and learning new concepts and skills easier for meditators.
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Increases Compassion
It is scientifically proven that People with emotional disorders should start Meditation because it improves compassion. It is passion and sympathy or you can say that it is a motivation . Compassion is just like showing concern and care . By Meditation, compassion increases.
Final words
My closing words for this article are that if you feel low, stressed, or have any other problem, you should start mediation. Because it has no drawbacks. After reading my article about the effect of meditation on human body and mind. I hope you feel motivated to start doing Meditation.