Managing Mind and Body through Meditation

Ways to Manage Your Symptoms

Scientific studies show that meditation restructures the brain providing many neurological benefits. These exciting benefits can be seen in a few short weeks and can have a dramatic impact in your life. For people with challenging symptoms of illness or aging, the benefits of meditation can negate or lessen the need for medication and make the symptoms more manageable. Documented physical changes in the brain include: changes in the volume of grey matter; regulation of emotions and cognitive ability; decreased activity in parts of the brain that increase anxiety and cause our thoughts to wander; enhanced synapses or connections within the brain. These enhanced synapses improve memory, spatial reasoning, problem solving and the ability to juggle multiple tasks. The changes in the brain improve overall function and how you respond to stimuli. Through meditation we can train our brain to better manage symptoms of illness and aging. Here are 6 areas where meditation techniques are proven to improve the quality of your life.

Concentration and Memory

Research shows that meditation practices focusing on a mantra, gazing at an object or focusing on your breath causes changes in the brain that make concentration easier and improve information storage and recall. Studies show that regular meditation can thicken the brain’s cerebral cortex by increasing the size of the blood vessels which in turn increases the blood flow to the brain. This supports cognitive functions such as concentration, memory and learning. Performance on tasks that require attention and focus is improved by regular meditation. According to recent studies, after just a few days of practicing a focused meditation technique, standardized test scores improved in study participants.

Depression and Anxiety

As meditation changes the brain structure, improvements are seen in the ability to regulate emotion, anxiety and wandering self-deprecating thoughts that bring us down. Decreases in cell volume in the amygdala reduce fear, anxiety and stress levels. This changes the meditator’s self-perception and feelings toward themselves. These structural changes improve mood and well-being. Meditation changes the way the brain responds to negative thoughts. Whether depression is situational or caused by chemical imbalances meditation can be a helpful tool to help emerge from a depressed state and prevent relapse. Mindfulness meditation is effective in managing depression and anxiety symptoms. This technique involves being aware and present in the moment, releasing distractions and bringing yourself back to the present moment.

Addiction

More and more studies show that mindfulness meditation also affects the self-control regions of the brain. After several weeks of meditation practice, the brain is more able to separate the feeling of craving from acting on the craving. The intensity of the craving lessens making it easier to resist. Mindfulness meditation heightens the ability to work through the craving until it passes. Mindfulness meditation is sometimes defined as ‘a non-judgmental form of observation.’ Mindfulness training is not only a useful technique for breaking addictions but is also used with success to prevent relapse. It increases self-awareness, ability to manage discomfort and increases compassion toward self and others. It also increases our ability to be non- judgmental with others and with ourselves. Mindfulness meditation trains the brain to be better at living in the moment and to increase our sense of connectivity to others.

Pain Management

Meditation has been shown effective in helping those with chronic pain to manage their symptoms without using drugs that impair their basic ability to function. After five days of mantra or breath focused meditation, some studies have shown up to a 40% reduction in pain intensity. As our brain begins to restructure itself, our stress levels reduce and the way our brain perceives pain changes. This changes the way we process pain stimuli, giving us more control over our emotional reaction to pain. The Arthritis Foundation suggests meditation therapy to manage the pain and stress of arthritis. Both independent and group meditation practices have been demonstrated to be effective in pain management. Visualization and relaxation meditation, deep breathing exercises, yoga based meditation, chanting or use of mantras, guided imagery and contemplative walking mediation are all types of meditation that have been documented as very successful strategies for pain management.

Aging

Meditation not only slows the aging process but also improves the body’s ability to regenerate. Elizabeth Blackburn won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 2009 for her research regarding aging. She identified the enzyme telomerase that protects and rebuilds the telomeres which are protective caps on our chromosomes. Overtime the telomeres get shorter and cells start to malfunction. This is a key factor in the physical aging process. The brain creates changes during meditation that have a positive impact on cellular aging and on our longevity. Meditation slows the process of aging by protecting the telomeres from the effects of stress therefore slowing their shortening. Trials suggest that meditation may also facilitate regeneration and lengthen the telomeres again. As a result, daily meditation can revitalize the body. Meditation helps to improve sleep, digestion and energizes the immune system. All of which have a positive effect on aging. Meditation is also now proven to slow the progression of mild cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s. Mindfulness meditation has been found to be most effective for age related concerns due to its ability to reduce stress.

Disease

Any disease and its symptoms are exacerbated by stress. Meditation reduces the production of stress hormones and energizes the immune system supporting our bodies in managing chronic disease. Meditation calms the mind and body helping to restore balance. Breathing or ‘wind’ meditation can increase local blood flow, metabolic activity and oxygenation. As these physiological changes occur the body’s ability to fight bacteria increases as well as its ability to heal itself. Wind meditation is done by visualizing a wave of energy moving down and through your body clearing blockages and impurities, then visualizing the wave flowing to specific areas of the body on a smaller scale repeating the cleansing process. This visualization cycle is repeated over and over for the duration of the meditation. Metta meditation, also known as the Loving Kindness meditation, is also very effective in managing disease. This meditation is practiced by stating phrases of loving kindness while first focusing on yourself, then others, then all beings. The goal is to not only to repeat the words, but to embrace the intention of the words with meaning from your heart.