This means not ruminating about what happened in the past or worrying about your to-do list. Focusing on the present, or living in the moment, has been shown to have a wide range of benefits, including boosting mood, reducing anxiety, reducing pain, and potentially improving cognitive performance.
Mindfulness is a skill that can be practiced and cultivated over time. The goal is that repeated practice brings the benefits of a mindfulness practice into your daily life, even when you’re not actively meditating. For example, if you learn that you are not defined by a temporary emotion like anger, you may find it harder to stay angry long term.
The health benefits of meditation and other strategies aimed at reducing stress are thought to be due to increased levels of overall mindfulness through practice. Elements of mindfulness are also present in practices such as yoga, martial arts, and dance that require focused attention and discipline.
The vast body of evidence supporting the health benefits of meditation is too vast to be comprehensively covered. However, the studies I refer to below represent some of the highest levels of scientific data on this topic to date – some of the highest quality and most rigorous summaries. Many of these include systematic reviews and meta-analyses that synthesize many studies on a particular topic.
stress and mental health
Mindfulness-based programs have been shown to significantly reduce stress in a variety of people, from caregivers of people with dementia to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A meta-analysis published during the pandemic found that mindfulness programs are effective in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and more. , including during pregnancy and the particularly vulnerable period after childbirth.
Mindfulness-based programs also hold promise as a treatment option for anxiety disorders, the most common mental disorders that affect an estimated 301 million people worldwide. Although effective treatments for anxiety exist, many patients do not have access to them or have limited anxiety relief due to lack of insurance coverage or transportation to their health care provider. there is.
However, it is important to note that for people affected by mental and substance use disorders, mindfulness-based approaches should not replace first-line treatments such as medications or psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy. That is important. Mindfulness strategies are complementary to these evidence-based treatments and should be seen as a complement to healthy lifestyle interventions such as physical activity and healthy eating.
How does meditation work? A peek inside your brain
Research shows that people who meditate regularly have better control of their attention and better control of the functions of the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary responses in the body such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. I know there are. Studies have also shown that people who meditate have lower levels of cortisol (a hormone involved in the stress response) than people who don’t meditate.
A recent systematic review of neuroimaging studies showed that focused meditation is associated with functional changes in several brain regions involved in cognitive control and emotion-related processing. The review also found that more experienced meditators had stronger activation of brain regions involved in cognitive and emotional processes, suggesting that brain effectiveness improves with practice. Ta.
Regular meditation practice may prevent age-related thinning of the cerebral cortex and may help protect against age-related diseases and cognitive impairment.
Limitations of meditation research
This study has limitations. These include the lack of a consistent definition of the types of programs used and the lack of rigorously controlled studies. In gold standard randomized controlled trials using drugs, study participants do not know whether they are receiving the active drug or a placebo.
In contrast, in trials of mindfulness-based interventions, participants know what condition they are assigned to and are not “blind” so that some of the health benefits may not apply to them. It is possible to expect that it might happen. This creates expectations and can be a confounding variable in research. Additionally, many meditation studies often do not include the necessary control groups to assess how they compare to other treatments.
Advantages and wide range of applications
Compared to drugs, mindfulness-based programs are more easily accessible and appear to have fewer negative side effects. However, drug therapy and psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy, are effective for many people, and a combined approach may be best. Mindfulness-based interventions are also cost-effective and have economic benefits, as they produce better health outcomes than usual care, especially in high-risk patient populations.
Researchers are investigating ways to use computers, smartphone apps or virtual reality to deliver mindfulness tools, which may be more effective than traditional in-person meditation training.
Importantly, mindfulness isn’t just for people with a physical or mental health diagnosis. Anyone can use these strategies to reduce their risk of disease and reap health benefits in their daily lives, including improved sleep and cognitive performance, elevated mood, and reduced stress and anxiety.
Where do I start?
Many recreation centers, fitness studios, and even universities offer in-person meditation classes. For those who want to see if meditation can help treat a physical or mental condition, there are currently more than 600 clinical trials recruiting participants for a variety of conditions, including pain, cancer, and depression. It is being done.
If you’d like to try meditation from the comfort of your own home, there are plenty of free online videos that show you how to meditate, including meditation for sleep, stress reduction, and mindful eating. Some apps, such as Headspace, look promising, with randomized controlled trials showing benefits for users.
Of course, the hardest part is getting started. However, if you set an alarm every day and practice it, it can become a habit and may even be reflected in your daily life. This is the ultimate goal. For some people this takes time and practice, while for others it can be done quickly. Even just a 5-minute session with him can have a positive impact on your health.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization that provides facts and trusted analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.Author: Hilary A. Marsak wayne state university
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Hilary A. Marsak does not work for, consult, own stock in, or receive funding from any company or organization that might benefit from this article, and does not have any academic appointments. No other related affiliations have been disclosed.
