What Does Science Tell Us About Meditation?
But meditation is not a religion : you don’t have to have faith for meditation to work. There is neither magic nor luck.
Let’s take a look at the most remarkable benefits of meditation reported by researchers in recent years. Research into the benefits of meditation continues, so the benefits discussed below are probably just the beginning.
Meditation makes us more creative
One of the most interesting benefits of meditation is that it encourages, and therefore increases, creativity. A 2012 study by Leiden University in the Netherlands and a subsequent study by the same university in 2014 showed that certain meditation techniques can promote creative thinking.
According to these studies, in the meditation they called “open watch”, in which participants are receptive to all thoughts and feelings without focusing their attention on a particular concept or object, it had more aptitude for divergent thinking tasks and generated more new ideas than before.
These findings support the idea that meditation can have a lasting influence on human cognition, including the way we conceive of new ideas and the way we experience events. Not only experienced meditators, but beginners can also reap the benefits of meditation.
Meditation reduces stress and anxiety
One of the most salient benefits attributed to it is that it helps reduce and prevent stress. A study published in January 2017, conducted by Georgetown University, USA, found that inflammatory hormonal reactions to stress were reduced after meditation training, especially after practicing mindfulness. This rigorously designed clinical trial found objective physiological evidence that mindful meditation fights anxiety.
The researchers found that patients with anxiety disorders significantly reduced stress hormone responses and inflammation to a stressful situation after taking a mindful meditation class, while patients who took a course in mindful meditation. stress management courses without meditation have seen these responses compounded.
Another study published in May 2017 by researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada found that just 10 minutes of meditation helps worried people concentrate better. The study, which assessed the impact of meditation on 82 participants with anxiety, found that developing present moment awareness reduced incidents of repetitive thinking, a hallmark of anxiety.
Researchers explain that the wandering mind makes up almost half of every person’s daily flow of consciousness. For people with anxiety, repetitive thoughts can interfere with their ability to learn, complete tasks, or even work safely.
mindfulness
arouses
Our thoughts Sometimes life hits us hard. Everything happens as if our happiness had totally escaped our hands.
