MEDITATION
People around the world are finding ways to cope with the daily stressors in their lives, especially during current world events. Meditation is one of the many techniques that are used to relieve stress and has been practice for over a thousand years. This technique will place you in a deep state of relaxation. By eliminating those external stress factors, you will be able to focus all your attention on your own well-being.
Meditation is helpful for certain medical conditions that may get worse with stress. For example, if you are suffering from anxiety, depression, tension headaches, and etc., then by performing meditation you would be able to help manage your medical conditions. (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2020). Meditation also benefits your emotion health as well, which can be found below.
Emotional Health benefits:
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Increasing self-awareness
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Reduced negative emotions
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Increasing patience
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Focusing on the present
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Increasing imagination
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Increasing creativity
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Gaining a fresh perspective on stressful situations
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Building skills to manage your stress
There was one study that was conducted to examine the effects of acute stress, cognitive function, and intelligence with immediate and long term use of meditation. The results of this study showed that there was a significant rise in heart rate and galvanic skin response (emotional arousal) when participants played a computer game. However, with immediate meditation there was a decline in heart rate from 92 bpm to 88 bpm. During the first five minutes there was no change to the galvanic skin response (emotional arousal), but as the meditation continued the emotional arousal decreased. If you perform long-term meditation, the effects are associated with an improvement on IQ, memory test, and etc. There was also a significant decrease in acute stress and galvanic skin response (emotional arousal). In conclusion, practicing meditation for one month improved cognitive functions and IQ significantly compared to immediate meditation. So the practice of meditation is associated with reversing the effects of stress. (Singh & Sharma & Talwar, 2012).
Another study was about brief mindfulness meditation intervention on student stress and heart rate variability. The results of this study suggest that there is a significant effect on anxiety and dysphoric affect of both the mindfulness training and active control compared with no-treatment control. In conclusion, there is a correlation between reducing/coping with stress and anxiety. By practicing mindfulness meditation, high anxiety levels could reduce in the moment and help students to adjust their stress response with the cognitive challenges that present themselves in the college environment. (Shearer & Hunt & Chowdhury & Nicol, 2016).
Cleveland Clinic
Powtoon video
National institutes of health
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020, April 22). A beginner's guide to meditation. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858#:~:text=Meditation%20can%20produce%20a%20deep,physical%20and%20emotional%20well%2Dbeing.
Milanowski, A. (2017, October 25). Evidence-based Mindfulness: What Science Tells Us About Mindfulness Meditation and Its Benefits. Consult QD. https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/evidence-based-mindfulness-what-science-tells-us-about-mindfulness-meditation-and-its-benefits/.
Shearer, A., Hunt, M., Chowdhury, M., & Nicol, L. (2016). Effects of a Brief Mindfulness Meditation Intervention on Student Stress and Heart Rate Variability. 23(2), 232–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039814
Singh, Y., Sharma, R., & Talwar, A. (2012). Immediate and long-term effects of meditation on acute stress reactivity, cognitive functions, and intelligence. 18(6), 46–53.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Meditation: In Depth. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation-in-depth.
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