There are so many benefits to meditating. There was a time that meditation was thought to only be for the spiritually enlightened. Thanks to many scientific studies in recent years, we now know that everyone can experience these numerous benefits when meditating regularly.

I’ll keep this section fairly succinct for ease of reading. However, if you want to delve deeper, I’ve added links to many research papers on numerous studies.

Scientifically proven benefits to meditating

• Reduces stress

This is possibly the most common reason people take up meditating.

• Decreases Depression & Anxiety

A number of studies have shown how well mindfulness practices can help in the reduction of the effects of depression and anxiety.

• Increased brain matter

In a study at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, at UCLA School of Medicine, it was found that people who meditated had larger volumes of grey matter in the parts of the brain that are responsible for emotional regulation and response control. This can lead to experiencing greater positive emotions as well as having greater self-control.

• Increases emotional intelligence

By giving our mind a time-out, we allow space for our thoughts and emotions to sort themselves out. Over time this will result in greater emotional intelligence.

• Improved introspection

Taking time to examine our own mental and emotional processes is paramount to any self-development. It is how we become more self-aware and learn the areas we need to work on to improve. There is no better tool for this than meditation.

• Increases your physical health

Several studies have shown that through mindfulness practices such as meditation, the body can improve its immune function in positive ways.

• Increases creativity

It has been shown that meditating for as little as ten minutes can improve your divergent thinking, which allows for many new ideas to be generated as well as convergent thinking which is a process for creating a possible solution for a particular problem. Together these form the two main ingredients for creative thinking.

• Improves memory

Many of the studies reported the subjects who meditated regularly gained improved memory along with other mental abilities.

• Increases focus and attention

Believe it or not, the ability to focus and hold our attention is not a gift we are either born with or not. They are skills and like any skill, the more you practice the better you become. Meditation is the practice of focusing your attention. The more you meditate, the better you will become. This increased focus and attention will then trickle down into every other aspect of your life.

• Improves your ability to multitask

With increased focus, attention and improved memory come a greater ability to hold more information in your mind at once which can result in a greater ability to multitask.

• Reduces fatigue

Meditating for even a short time can refresh your mind and reduce fatigue and tiredness for the rest of the day.

• Increases positive emotions

This is directly related to how meditation physically changes the brain and develops the area for experiencing positive emotions.

• Improves breathing & heart rate

By focusing on your breathing you will be able to take control of it; speed, depth and quality. By slowing your breathing, you can also slow your heartbeat.

• Reduces blood pressure

If you are taking control of your breathing and heartbeat, it makes sense that you can also reduce your blood pressure

• Helps reduce pain

It has been shown that pain-unpleasantness can be reduced by 57% and pain-intensity ratings by 40%. My work in hypnotherapy has shown that it can actually be a lot higher than that in many individuals.

• Lowers inflammation

Meditation can significantly lower the inflammatory response in our bodies. Inflammation has been found to be at the root of many diseases. By lowering inflammation, you can also lower the risk of disease. This also covers conditions like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, eczema, alopecia and urticaria.

• Reduces the effects of fibromyalgia

A study showed significant improvements to the overall health of those managing fibromyalgia with meditation.

• Increases social connection

The feeling of connectedness is something we all crave if we acknowledge it or not.

• Feeling less lonely

Of course, if something helps you feel a greater connection, one of the side effects is that you’ll feel less lonely too.

• Makes you more compassionate

Not only towards others but to yourself as well.

• Quality of life increased

Even if you only benefit from a few of the above results, that would be an improvement in your quality of life would it not?