Have you ever thought about which tasks are essential and which are not so important? Stress and anxiety occur when you feel unable to handle the pressures brought upon by adverse situations of everyday life. Once you find yourself in this situation, meditation and the different ways to practice mindfulness help provide relief.
What does Meditation Involve?
Meditation involves being in a relaxed position and clearing your mind. In some cases, you focus your mind on one thought while ridding it of all others. You also have the option to focus on a specific sound, your own breathing, or none at all.
While techniques vary, one thing you must do on each is train your mind to stop following every new thought that comes to the surface. For starters, you’d want to make sure you have at least five to twenty distraction-free minutes to yourself. Although extended meditation sessions tend to reap more significant benefits, it’s best to start slow so that you can sustain the practice in the long-term.
A few things to keep in mind: there’s no wrong way to meditate, and though it’s helpful to have silence and privacy when meditating, you’ll find that you can do it anywhere with practice and more experience.
Meditation and Stress
Our bodies have an automatic reaction to stressors in ways that prepare us to either fight or run. Although this response, more commonly known as fight or flight, is helpful, especially in dangerous situations, staying in this agitated state for an extended period is harmful and can cause damage to our body.
Researchers are now discovering that prolonged stress causes the body to be at a much higher risk of developing health problems, including:
- High blood pressure and heart disease
- Autoimmune illnesses
- Depression and anxiety
- Obesity
- Memory loss
- Some types of cancer, among others
Meanwhile, meditation affects the body by triggering its relaxation response, which is the exact opposite of what stress does. It helps our body repair itself and protects it from further damage by restoring it to a calm state.
Specifically, the following are ways in which meditation helps you reduce and manage stress more effectively:
1. Meditation reverses the effects of your stress response
As we mentioned, you journey from activity to silence when meditating. Then, you’re able to go beyond the noise in your head and enter a state referred to as “restful alertness.” In this precise moment, your body will start to experience healing effects, including:
- Decreased heart rate
- Reduced production of adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones
- More efficient oxygen usage
- Normalization of blood pressure
- Heightened immunity and more.
2. Meditation increases the body’s well-being Neurotransmitters
The state of deep rest that you’ll achieve through meditation triggers your brain to release neurotransmitters that help you gain an enhanced feeling of well-being and inner calm while staying focused. These well-being neurotransmitters are:
- Dopamine – helps make sure the brain is able to experience pleasure, feel rewarded, and maintain focus. It is also responsible for regulating your circadian rhythm and mood.
- Serotonin – is responsible for the calming effect that eases tension and helps you feel more relaxed, focused, and less stressed.
- Endorphins – create a feeling of exhilaration and help reduce the side effects of stress and pain.
- GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) – inhibits nerve cell activity and enables you to control fear and anxiety during situations when your neurons become overactivated.
3. Meditation stimulates relaxation and restful sleep
Sleep deprivation increases your stress levels and irritability when it occurs chronically. According to studies, meditation proves useful in treating insomnia and helps you achieve a restful sleep, which is critical to maintaining your physical and emotional well-being.
During meditation, your brain produces more alpha, theta, and other brainwaves associated with deep relaxation. When it’s time for bed, you become more likely to fall asleep and stay that way instead of thinking about what took place during the day.
4. Meditation improves focus and attention
Neuroscientists have proven that the conscious brain is unable to multitask. This finding explains why you feel stressed when trying to accomplish multiple tasks at once.
Meditation aids in training your brain to remain focused on the task at hand and not get easily carried away by distractions of any form. Improving your attention and ability to focus makes you less stressed and more productive in everything you do.
5. Meditation helps release emotional baggage
Meditation enables you to develop a subjective experience known as witnessing awareness, which allows you to observe your thoughts and feelings with greater objectivity. Instead of emotional reactivity, a spontaneous calming of your inner commotions occurs as the negative sensations begin to dissolve altogether.
Tips for your Meditation Practice
- Start Small and Work Your Way Up
You can begin with a mini-session that lasts for up to five minutes. Afterward, you may gradually move up to 10 or 15-minute sessions until such time you’re comfortable meditating for up to 30 minutes.
As with other things, meditation becomes more effortless and effective with constant practice. Eventually, your sessions will be a breeze, and you’ll come out of meditation feeling relaxed, refreshed, and ready for the day.
- Give it Time
As we mentioned, meditation takes practice — a whole lot of it. In case you’re after it, there’s no such thing as a perfect meditation session. Working with an expectation of perfection will only create more stress than relief.
- Set Goals and Track your Progress
While meditating, two minutes can already feel like an eternity, especially when you’re just starting. It’s easy to lose track of time when you start worrying if you meditated long enough or if you still have time.
These negative thoughts defeat your purpose of attempting to clear your mind. One simple way to counter this is to set a timer. You can use a phone app to indicate how long you want the meditation session to last.
Protip: Use a gentle tone or set your phone to vibrate to avoid getting startled when the time’s up. Sitting down on a traditional meditation pillow can also be very helpful.
Once you’re more comfortable, you may skip the timer and let your meditation sessions last as long as needed.
- Try Another Meditation Style
Finally, when a specific meditation style frustrates you to the point that you no longer want to continue, you may try other meditation types in which you may find more success.
Without a doubt, meditation has become a go-to method to relieve stress among people from differing backgrounds and walks of life. By engaging in frequent sessions and applying the different ways to practice mindfulness in your everyday life, you’ll reap even more significant benefits over time.