Did you know you can rewire your brain to perform the way you want it and improve your entire life? According to the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, your thoughts have the power to either affect your life positively or negatively or manifest anything you want in life. Meditation is one of the most effective ways to train your brain to focus on positive thoughts and come out of negative patterns. Meditation is a deliberate awareness and connection with your mind, body, emotions, and your surroundings without attachment. Though there are many types of meditation including Sahaj, mindfulness, yoga, and transcendentalism, the goal is to simply focus your thoughts and attention to one aspect so your mind can calm down. Here are the five major benefits of meditation:
Benefits Of Meditation – Helps Cure Addictions
Everyone has things that they may be addicted to. We have wired your brains to believe that the substances that we are addicted to are the only source of dopamine, which are the ecstatic brain chemicals. Meditation greatly improves your dopamine levels leading to higher and natural levels of euphoria. This makes you to no longer want to use your addictions to fix your low euphoria.
Benefits Of Meditation – Controls Anxiety
Many people suffer from anxiety in different situations that range from talking in public, boarding a plane, social anxiety, paranoid thoughts, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Since meditation trains the mind to focus on positive thoughts, you can be able to redirect your thoughts when you are feeling anxious and be able to do the very thing that scares you. Meditation is also an ideal way to calm your nerves, relax and just focus on anything else apart from your source of fear.
Benefits Of Meditation – Improves Cardiovascular And Immune Health
The primary result of meditation is relaxation. When the body relaxes, there is an increase in nitric oxide which causes the blood vessels to expand and allow more blood flow. In 2008, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a study that showed that 40 out of 60 high blood pressure patients who were meditating were allowed to stop taking blood pressure medication.
An increase in blood flow means better cardiovascular health, improved sexual health, and even better immunity. In fact, people who practice meditation say they rarely get sick.
Better Concentration
For most people, concentrating on a single task is very hard. You often find your mind has wandered to some other strange places and before you know it, its noon and no work has been done. Since meditation trains your mind to focus on one element for a certain amount of time, it becomes easier to concentrate on a single task at work or anywhere else. Meditation is also linked to improved memory and being able to achieve your goals efficiently.
Reduced Stress
A huge percentage of meditators started the process to reduce stress. Fortunately, numerous studies have proven that mediation does indeed reduce stress by calming the mind and reducing the stress hormone cortisol. Stress causes the release of inflammation-causing chemicals known as cytokines. It is these chemicals that are responsible for all the problems associated with stress like insomnia, anxiety, depression, hypertension, and fatigue.
Mindfulness meditation is one of the best ways to reduce cytokines and other stress-related conditions. By training the mind to focus on something else other than what is stressing you or get another point of view on the situation, your stress levels go down significantly.
There are various forms of meditation that have been used for centuries by communities who understood the power of the mind. Meditation increases self-awareness so you know exactly how you feel about certain things and you are able to control your emotions and your reactions.
You will also find that you are more compassionate towards yourself and others instead of being so harsh and judgmental. Finding a quiet place to meditate every day for 20 minutes could be the difference between a happy and anxious life.
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