Back to Blog Posts
“The mind is a terrible thing to waste” may be one of the truest sayings we know. Your mind controls your body, after all. It dictates how we communicate with others and how we perceive ourselves. With that in mind, you want to take great care of your brain. One of your most effective tools for mental maintenance is simply meditation. While it won’t replace medications or professional treatment, meditation can be highly useful in managing mental disorders, stress, and recovery from addiction, especially when combined with medical help. Meditation can be a powerful source of energy and mindfulness that helps you be prepared to handle anything that comes your way.
Take a Deep Breath
Meditation enhances your oxygen intake, which promotes better circulation and nutrient flow. When you inhale, it creates a vacuum-like effect that pulls air into the lungs. The breathing exercises found throughout different meditative practices help with your diaphragmatic breathing. The diaphragm is the main muscle of the respiratory system, and meditation helps keep its movement nice and smooth as you breathe.
Stress affects everyone’s life in some say, and can trigger issues with asthma in some. People with asthma may search for different methods for reducing stress in order to prevent inflammation of the lungs. For many, finding effective ways to cope with stress will make living with asthma more manageable.
Destress by Practicing Mindfulness
While meditating and doing breathing exercises, it is quite helpful to practice mindfulness. This requires you to pay close attention to your surroundings in that exact moment. Mindfulness means appreciating the moment you’re in, and realizing how singular it is to be alive in that exact place and time.
A large amount of our stress and anxiety can stem from worrying about the future and its potential problems. In the current world, stress and depression are at an all-time high. Not knowing what the future will bring can be intensely stressful and induce destructive feelings. When you reach the point of excessive worry, try using meditation to regulate your breathing. Take a deep breath and recognize the sensations flowing through your body. Pay close attention to how your body moves while you breathe. Repeat this until you feel completely still.
Meditate to Get Sleep Better
The amount of sleep you get can directly affect your productivity throughout the day. If you are not getting enough sleep, you will be more tired, making simple tasks more difficult to sustain. If you are not getting enough sleep, you are more susceptible to depression and anxiety. Stress can also play a huge role in not being able to follow a regular sleep schedule. When you are stressed, your melatonin levels fall, which makes it harder to fall asleep, and can also cause numerous additional mental, emotional, and physical problems.
If your goal is to sleep well, you’ll do yourself a service by finding an efficient way to lower your stress levels. If you use mediation to manage your stress effectively, your melatonin levels will rise just before bedtime, providing you with a good night of sleep. Practicing meditation may help raise your melatonin levels enough to help you sleep better at night. A quick 10 to 15-minute meditation before bed just might do the trick.
Develop Mental and Emotional Strength
On top of the benefits we’ve already discussed, meditating can help to improve your self-image and provide you with a more positive outlook on life. It allows you to slow down and reflect on life more deeply. When you take the time to sit with your thoughts, you may begin to notice more positive attributes and develop a more favorable way of perceiving yourself. While we can be quite judgmental of others, we are often our own worst critics. Part of achieving mindfulness includes the ability to self-examine without the heavy judgment that normally follows. Practicing meditation helps you become more capable of coping with negative emotions that can drag you down and pull you away from productivity.
Meditation is more than its buzzword popularity may imply. It’s a tool you can use to overcome stress, focus on your goals, and even decrease the negative neurological connections that form in the medial prefrontal cortex of your brain. By adopting meditation and mindfulness practices, you will gain better emotional regulation, improve your self-perception, and develop healthier problem-solving skills. Your mind is precious; make sure you’re taking good care of it!
Meditation is a great way to reach a state of mindfulness and peace. This practice can be used as a tool to prepare you for the problems you face in everyday life. Stress, anxiety, and depression can all be positively managed by taking the time to become in tune with yourself. The best thing about meditating is that you can do it anywhere, at nearly any time, and it doesn’t cost a dime. Meditating can serve as a great compliment to your life and enhance your human interactions. People who are overwhelmed with stress and anxiety are often consumed by thoughts of the future. Meditation in the morning can be a key factor in starting off your day on the right foot. Although meditation can be an effective way to handle depression, stress, and anxiety, it does not replace professional help on its own. If you or a loved one are struggling with stress, depression, addiction, or a mental disorder, and are ready to learn how to break free, contact START UP RECOVERY at (310) 773-3809.