While the idea of spending 20 minutes every day in silence may seem straightforward enough, the effect this has on your body and mind cannot be understated. Not only does daily meditation help alleviate stress and other psychological pressures of modern life, but it also systematically changes your brain structure, immune system, and cell longevity. This list includes 8 scientifically proven benefits of daily meditation backed up by clinical trials and neuroimaging scans.
Silences the Me Center of the Brain
Mindfulness silences the Default Mode Network (DMN), often called the “monkey mind” or the brain’s “me center.” The DMN is at work when the mind wanders, thinks, and worries about past and future events. According to a study conducted by Yale University, meditation decreases the activity of the DMN and allows one to escape the vicious cycle of anxious thoughts.
Reduces the Risk of Executive Brain Exhaustion
Researchers at UCLA conducted fMRI scans on experienced meditators and found that they maintained much greater grey matter volume in their entire brain than non-meditating participants of the same age group, indicating that meditation prevents brain atrophy.
Increases Attention Span and Focus
In essence, meditation is like weight resistance training for your attention span. The study published in Psychological Science was based on the individuals involved in focus training exercises. It was found that meditation had a structural effect on visual discrimination and sustained attention.
Strengthens Biological Response
Daily meditation practice will leave its mark on your body’s biological response systems. As per a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, people who practiced meditation for 8 weeks had higher levels of antibodies in response to the flu vaccine than those who did not practice meditation.
Modifies the Brain’s Response to Pain
Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Health demonstrated in The Journal of Neuroscience that meditation can lower the pain intensity rating by 40% and pain unpleasantness by 57%. This is because meditation disengages the sensory thalamus from the emotional processes in the cortex.
Increases the Capacity of Working Memory
Working memory refers to the mental scratch pad where you store and manipulate information. In a study published in Informa Healthcare, students who were made to practice mindfulness meditation for only two weeks increased their working memory capacity and performed better in the reading comprehension part of the GRE exam.
Aids in Quitting Smoking and Addictions
Since meditation separates an overpowering physical craving from the automatic action of responding to it, meditation can help individuals deal with their addictions. As discovered in research published in PNAS, smokers who underwent a short meditation training regimen had a significant 60 percent drop in smoking levels, regardless of their willpower to stop smoking.
Reduces Loneliness and Stress of Social Isolation
Loneliness can have severe physiological effects because it changes the gene expression of immune cells in the body. Studies carried out in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity discovered that an 8-week meditation program was successful in alleviating the feeling of social isolation among lonely participants.
Fastens Physical Skin Healing (The Mind-Skin Connection)
Meditation can help speed up the healing process of the body in terms of physical healing, specifically the skin. As per a clinical study done by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, patients suffering from moderate to severe psoriasis who underwent ultraviolet light therapy were divided into two groups. The group that meditated while being treated with light therapies healed four times faster than the group that was just undergoing light therapy alone.
