19 Science-Backed Reasons to Meditate

By Alexandra Duron

With more and more people touting its life-changing benefits (we’re looking at you, Anderson Cooper!), it’s safe to say that meditation has going mainstream. But unlike questionable cleanses, this practice can do your body, mind, and entire existence a whole lot of good.

Given all the buzz, it’s tempting to see meditation as trendy, but really it’s a thousand-year-old practice of calming the mind and halting day-to-day stressors. And doing so benefits every area of life, says Josh Korda, dharma teacher at Dharma Punx NYC.

See, when you meditate, you put your guard down, let energy in, and get yourself out of a stressful self-defense mode, says Sonia Choquette, a meditation teacher with more than 35 years of experience. “It’s pressing a pause button and giving yourself room to breathe,” she says. “And when you have room to breathe, you access your greater potential and your greater state of being.” It can also even out your mood and energy levels, says Gabrielle Bernstein, a certified meditation teacher and New York Times best-selling author. “We experience more even-keeled energy,” she says. “And that expands to how we show up in the world.”

With those kinds of benefits, why isn’t everyone (and their mother) meditating? Well, skeptics might be turned off by the negative—and false—stereotype that meditation is hippie-dippy and too good to be true. But there’s plenty of solid evidence to satisfy all the naysayers out there. And even better, science suggests you may experience the brain benefits related to the practice even when you’re not actively meditatingEffects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Desbordes G, Negi LT, Pace TW, et al. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Nov. 1 2012. doi: 10.3389.. Plus, it may even help you save money on your healthcareChanges in physician costs among high-cost transcendental meditation practitioners compared with high-cost nonpractitioners over 5 years. Herron RE. American Journal of Health Promotion. 2011 Sep-Oct;26(1):56-60. doi: 10.4278/ajhp..

Need more convincing? Here’s 19 awesome, science-backed benefits of meditation!

1. Ditch depression.

Research suggests that 30 minutes of meditation improves depression symptoms (along with anxiety and pain)Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being. Goyal M, Singh S, Sibinga EM, et al. JAMA Internal Medicine.2014;174(3):357-368. doi:10.1001.. In fact, the practice could possibly prevent depression and pain altogether—scientists discovered that people who meditate may have more control over how their brains process and pay attention to negative sensations (like pain) and negative thoughts (like depression triggers).

2. Stress less.

Nix those nail-biting moments already. When you meditate, you’re able to override a part of the brain responsible for the fear mechanism (which releases cortisol, …read more

Source:: Greatist