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Exercise For Your Mind: Four Benefits of Meditation
Health | January 27, 2014
Fitness and wellbeing are not just about diet and exercise. Our mind plays a vital role as well. Various academic studies now show that meditation is perhaps the best way to train the mind and provide it relief from daily stress and anxiety. Meditation also allows us to better focus on the important aspects of our lives rather than fixating on things of lesser importance like traffic or drama at work. We don’t necessarily have to follow a specific religion or spirituality to gain the benefits for meditation either though it’s perfectly fine if you do. In fact, Sam Harris, a popular neuroscientist, is a staunch atheist who also happens to be a dedicated practitioner of meditation as well. Here are four reasons to consider meditation as a part of your overall fitness routine:
Focus – Meditation allows for greater concentration in our lives. A recent study out of University of California, Santa Barbara, demonstrated that meditation decreased wandering, aimless thoughts and improved memory, especially when associated with specific tasks such as studying or learning a new skill.
It’s Good For Your Body Too – Aside from benefiting our minds, meditation can be important for our physical health as well. Current research suggests that consistent meditation may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by 48% compared to those who do not meditate.
Increased Brain Function – Researchers at UCLA found a greater increase in the cerebral cortex in participants who meditated. This growth in this specific area of the brain also indicates that those who consistently meditate may be able to process information at a faster rate than those who do not.
Stress! – More than anything else, meditation is a great and healthy way to manage stress. When done correctly and consistently over time, one can essentially breathe away the daily worries that often bother us during the day and keep us up at night.
There are a variety of ways to meditate. Some chant, some pray, some simply breathe. Find a method that suits your lifestyle and beliefs. Mindfulness Meditation is increasingly popular and relatively simple, but, by no means, the only method out there. If you meditate already, let me know what your practice is. Like diet and exercise, meditation is not always easy, but it may very well be worth it.
Best,
Zuzka
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I just wanted to thank you for this post and for the Sam Harris reference. I’m in a non-fiction fase now and I think I’m going to love his work. It’s been almost three years since I first started working out at home with you, but this year I’m turning 30 and I’ve gotten a bit more serious about following your nutrition and fitness advice, so I decided to join the zgym and I’m loving the 30 day workout program! Big hug from a very grateful warrior.
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Taking up the habit of daily meditation is the single best thing I’ve done for myself… EVER. I practice vipassana meditation (also called insight meditation) which focuses on the touch of the breath in and out and ‘seeing things as they really are’…
Having done this regularly for a couple of years I can say my outlook on life, people, drama (none) and how I feel about myself in relation to others has changed dramatically. I could seriously fill an entire book about how radically different you can begin to feel about your world and how much wisdom and clarity you can gain by doing this.
At the same time there’s no actual ‘goal’ really, just sit, breathe and realize that the dramas of your mind are not who ‘you’ actually are 😉 Also be aware that various parts of your being will furiously resist you taking up this path. It’s not without it’s own challenges but it’s massively worth it!!
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I love this. I try to take at least 5 minutes each day to meditate. I usually meditate throughout the day when I have a quiet moment, or when I am feeling stressed. I will just sit, breathe, and clear my head. Whatever I am thinking about, I stop, slowly through each breath. I like to think about a light traveling through my body starting with each charka and it’s color. Sometimes at night I love to sit and practice focusing and clearing my head with a candeling. I will just try to focus on the candle with out blinking sometimes, or just focusing on the flame itself. I really love fire, and all the elements of nature, and life. I can really get in tune with all of it sometimes. One time I made the birds, and everything be quiet and still. I was so amazed. one time I was really trying to be still and quiet because my mind really becomes scattered sometimes, so I just tried to keep my eyes closed as long as possible, with some blissful music playing, I was completely lost in the moment and felt as if I was flying.
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I also like to say to myself I am Relaxed, or I am here to relax. inhale, I am exhale, here. I have practiced Meditation for most of my life, but really became in tune with it the past 4 years.
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Please can someone tell me how you can shut your mind OFF? I know breathing,thinking about something(somwhere) nice,etc. Easy to say,very hard to do mainly when you are under a lot of stress and I mean a LOT. Thnx and BE WELL,everybody 🙂
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In my experience and from what I’ve learned from my many yoga teachers is that you don’t really shut off your mind completely, but what you’re supposed to do is let the thoughts just happen, but not pass judgement on the thoughts. Let them happen, then let them go. Meditation is all about existence and finding yourself in the moment. Don’t be critical of something that happened or be planning something that will happen, but if you find yourself slipping into that, it’s okay. Just let it happen and try to find a bit of quiet space even if it’s just for a few seconds.
It takes practice!!
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Hi Sarka, You might call it defocusing more than anything else. It does take practice and patience with yourself.–Chris
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So happy you made this post today. I was just thinking how I should be more dedicated to my meditation – in the same way people are dedicated to their daily workouts. Isn’t it ironic…for some reason it is harder to sit still and do nothing, than to push yourself through a challenging workout.
Whenever I have practiced meditation I have felt really positive effects from it, I just haven’t been able to stick with it consistently.
Is anybody out there into TM? (transcendental meditation). I’ve read a lot about it online (the benfits of it, all the celebrities that do it, etc.) – but the actual method of practicing it seems to be kept “off-line”, I think because they want you to pay $1,000 to take a weekend course on how to do it. Anybody know where I can get some free info on how to practice TM?
BTW – Zuzka, I’ve been following your workouts for years now (this is my first post) and just wanted to say I love them! and you – keep up the good work! You are an inspiration to so many… thank you for being who you are and doing what you do.
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Yo Tim – any sort of meditation is of benefit since it’s all geared towards cultivating the same inner peace.
My suggestion would be the book ‘Breath by Breath’ by Larry Rosenberg. It’s a bit of a classic and won’t set you back $1000. Look for someone in your area, meet them and learn from them if they seem genuine.
Be aware that there’s aspects of your ‘being’ that won’t want to change so this is the resistance pushing you off the path.
In the early stages I’d be meditating at 1am ’cause I’d spent the whole day avoiding sitting. Do at least 5 minutes EVERY DAY and make it consistent/part of who you are over time and you’ll make progress
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You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are just thoughts..You can acknowledge them but you don’t have to ride them out. If they create a secondary emotion you can acknowledge that too and let it go. Emotions alone generally last for around just 20 seconds-it’s the clinging to the thought behind them that makes them last longer. This is the yoga of the mind, letting the thoughts flow in and out without attachment.
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Great article Zuzka!
I think it’s important to not worry about the little things in life, but the overall picture.
What is your preferred way to meditate?
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I love to drive. When I’m traveling I use this time to reflect on life and decisions to make. The beach is also the most relaxing place on earth for me. Watching the waves roll in and out or experiencing the sunset on the ocean is amazing. It’s the best time for me to meditate.