You've seen the typical ads. Stressed-out parent trying to fit in some me-time in the middle of chaos: screaming kids, phone ringing off the hook, dog tracking mud on the white carpet. Whether it's an ad for noise-canceling headphones or Headspace, meditation seems to be the key to destressing, unwinding, diminishing anxiety, and (especially in the case of Headspace) falling asleep faster. However, there’s more to meditation than just rejuvenation.
Reducing Age-Related Memory Loss
Meditating helps to enhance our concentration, clarity, and attention span by allowing thoughts to flow freely through our minds as we relax. It also helps to increase blood flow to the brain, keeping our minds young.
One study was conducted with 15 participants ranging in age from 52 to 77. Each participant had memory issues such as Alzheimer’s and was instructed to take 12 minutes a day for 8 weeks to perform a specific meditation called Kirtan Kriya.
Each session consisted of repeating four sounds (Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa) while touching their thumb in turn to their index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie finger. It would be said out loud for two minutes, in a whisper for another two minutes, in silence for four, in a whisper again for two minutes, and out loud for the final two.
The results of this study showed that cerebral blood flow was increased to the frontal and parietal lobes, which affect memory retrieval. The participants also improved on memory, cognition, and attention-based tests in response.
Easing Addiction
About 21 million Americans suffer from some sort of addiction: drug use, alcohol consumption… videogames! Although being mindful of (and controlling) these habits is difficult, mindfulness-based interventions can give you a whole new approach to quitting.
Our cognitive control capacity is what affects our habits and behaviors. It allows for the altering and regulating of what we do on a daily basis. Being in high correlation with our metacognitive awareness, we can use mindfulness-based interventions to alter our cognitive controls. In other words, we use meditation to enhance self-control and to become more trait mindful, which can help to disengage attention from substance use and cravings.
Controlling pain
How many of you believe in the whole “mind over matter” concept? It turns out there may be some truth to that. The way we perceive pain is connected to our state of mind. This means that our stress levels can affect the way we feel physically, especially since stress and anxiety can affect our adrenals, immune system, and blood pressure, increasing pain.
But it works both ways. By calming our nerves with mindfulness meditation, we can alleviate much of the stress in our everyday lives and in turn, can reduce pain and even decrease symptoms of depression.
Wait, There’s More!
Other meditation benefits include….
Promoting emotional health
Enhancing self-awareness
Lengthening your attention span
Developing extensive kindness
Improving sleep
Whether meditation is working side-by-side with the memory-enhancing app on your phone or your 12-step AA meetings, everyone has their own specific reasons for meditating. So find which meditation technique is right for you and make a change that will benefit your future starting today!
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