The Many Benefits Of Meditation
Meditation has been practiced by human beings for thousands of years. Arguably, animals have been practicing their unique forms of meditation for a lot longer. There are many benefits to meditation, which is one of the reasons for its longevity. The benefits of meditation affect your health, your emotions and, possibly, your powers of self-determination.
Let's Get Physical
One of the main benefits of meditation is that it helps you learn how to manage your stress. Too much stress is a very unhealthy state to be in. Your body is so keyed up in a flight or fight response that it will not be able to naturally defend itself from illnesses and diseases. Too much stress tends to lead to poor sleeping habits, which negatively impacts on every area of your life because you are exhausted all of the time.
Too much stress also makes you too fat. When the body is under stress, it puts our certain hormones to get the body ready to fight or flee at a moment's notice. These hormones make the body unable to metabolize food at a normal rate. So, an unstressed person can eat the exact same foods as a stressed person, but won't gain as much weight as the stressed person. Weight loss and a reduction of cellulite may be other benefits to meditation.
Let's Get Metaphysical
Doctors are finally admitting that there defiantly is a mind-body connection in regards to health. If you are generally a happy, calm person who does not overreact to every little event in your life, you are generally healthier than if you were completely stressed out. But what good is having great health if your emotions are in turmoil?
Another benefit of meditation is learning how to get a handle on your emotions. You learn to keep focused on the present moment instead of dwelling on the past or brooding over the future. You get the full flavor of the present moment. With practice, you can learn to get into meditative states even in really stressful situations. It is said that Gandhi began to meditate by chanting his mantra as he died.
Getting control of your emotions and your health gives you great self confidence. This shows you that you do have some power over what happens in your life. You are not just a victim of chance events. In this writer's opinion, that is the best benefit of meditation that you can find.
