Meditation and Mindfulness

By Lauren Smalley
Jan 24, 2019

Deep breaths. Closing your eyes. Picturing a place you find relaxing. There are numerous ways to center yourself as the day gets hectic or you find yourself in a stressful situation, or in short, to meditate. Many associate meditation with a full yoga practice or by repeating a mantra, but it can be as simple as refocusing your thoughts.

While stress reduction is the number one reason people choose to meditate, meditation is used to do so much more. Some use it to change your outlook and mood, to create self-discipline, to develop healthy sleep patterns, and even increase pain tolerance. There are different types of meditation used to achieve these different end-goals.

Using meditation to reduce stress

Mindfulness meditation is the most common way to meditate and is most commonly associated with stress reduction. The long-term effects of stress usually result in disease due to inflammation-promoting chemicals called cytokines. So beyond in-the-moment benefits of meditation and refocusing during a stressful situation, you could be preventing disease at the same time.

Using meditation to promote emotional health

The same chemicals that can cause inflammation (cytokines) can also lead to depression. Numerous studies have shown that mindfulness meditation can reduce depression and increase positive thinking. These studies also found an ongoing habit of meditation will help promote positive thinking and optimism. When you are more positive and optimistic, these feelings can turn into being more kind to yourself and others, which is definitely a welcome side effect.

Using meditation to create self-discipline

Focused-attention meditation is great for increasing mental strength. This method has been credited with many different benefits like lengthening your attention span to fighting addiction. Being able to hone in on your thoughts and understand why you act a certain way or do certain things is a very powerful tool for being able to reshape your everyday actions. This increase in self-control and awareness spills over into controlling numerous unwanted impulses.

Using meditation to improve sleep

Mindfulness meditation wins again when it comes to decreasing instances of insomnia. This one may be our favorite. Using meditation to control your “runaway” thoughts during bedtime will help you redirect your focus and to be able to hone in on the task at hand, which is relaxing. Relaxing your body and releasing tension will help you drift off to dreamland faster and increase your sleep quality once you get there.

How do you use meditation in your daily life?

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