The use and popularity of meditation in the United States has grown. The National Health Interview Survey found that adults' use of meditation tripled between 2012 and 2017 and children and teens using meditation has also increased.
What is meditation?
Meditation is a mind-body practice that helps increase calmness, physical relaxation and improves your overall health and well-being. It originated in ancient religious and spiritual traditions. Meditation is used to reconnect with the thoughts, feelings, and sensations of the mind and body in a non-judgmental way. Meditation is used to improve psychological balance and can even help you cope with illness.
Benefits of meditation
Many studies have investigated meditation for different conditions. It helps ease symptoms of anxiety and depression, and may help people with insomnia. There’s even evidence it may reduce blood pressure, as well as symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and flare-ups in people who have ulcerative colitis.
- Mind-body therapies, such as meditation, have been shown to help relieve anxiety, stress, fatigue, and general mood and sleep disturbances, thus improving quality of life.
- There is some evidence that meditation may reduce blood pressure.
- A growing body of evidence suggests that meditation-based programs may be helpful in reducing common menopausal symptoms.
- Some studies suggest that mindfulness meditation helps people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but there’s not enough evidence to draw firm conclusions
- Meditation is generally considered to be safe for healthy people.
Different types of mediation
There are lots of different types of meditations. However, they all usually share these common elements:
- a quiet location with as few distractions as possible
- a specific, comfortable posture (sitting, lying down, walking, or in other positions)
- a focus of attention (a specially chosen word or set of words, an object, or the sensations of the breath)
- and an open attitude (letting distractions come and go naturally without judging them)