5 Reasons Why
5 reasons why you meditate, and become a closer version of the real You
1. Your stress is reduced. Meditation will balance and reset our nervous system and therefore reduce stress. More specifically, our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) will be enhanced by meditating. This part of our nervous system triggers a lower heart rate, a lower muscle tone and a relaxed mind. The more often we meditate, the easier it becomes to activate our PNS, but there will also be an immediate effect on lowering stress. A good balance = a good life.
2. Heal or prevent burn-out or depression. One of the main reasons of burn-out is the reduced functioning of the RAS. The RAS is a filter at the entrance of our brain, a gatekeeper who lets only 130 impressions/sec pass, out of the millions of impressions that hit us every second! When this filter does not work properly anymore, the mind gets overstimulated and we can experience burn-out feelings. In order to restore the RAS, and get it to filter well again, he just needs to get a break. By meditating, we give him that break. It is proven that meditation reduces the frequency of our brain pulses (Hz) and bring us from a standard beta-state (13-32pulses/sec) into an alpha-state (8-13pulses/sec). When we regularly do this, our Reticular Activating System has less input to work on. Therefore the amount of info that gets to you, and that might be overwhelming, is reduced. The filter gets cleaned. Similarly for depression, after a series of meditation activities, the person will be able to reason in a more rational way, reduce the panic, stress and emotional overdrive and get out of the vicious circle of depression and anxiety. People who meditate are less thrown around by the ups and downs of life.
3. You live longer, and stay younger ! By slowing down your breathing, you will be slowing down your heart rate, and you will live longer. Research has shown that regular meditators have a breathing rate that on average is 1.6 times slower than the average person. Science proofs that yoga and meditation slows down the cellular aging process.
4. Your heart is in better shape. The HRV (Heart Rate Variability) is an important factor of the health of your heart. The HRV indicates the variation in intervals between 2 heartbeats. The HRV gets his info from the Automated Nervous System (ANS), and this one gets influenced by our meditation activity in a positive way! Proven by studies ( link here) Not only our HRV will improve thanks to meditation, also our blood pressure will be regulated (higher blood pressure will lower, low blood pressure will increase).
Meditation is a cardiovascular healer. Cardiologists can ask people to meditate.
5. You will be happier! As you will meditate regularly, your level of observation will be greater, your will-power will be enhanced by the regular concentration, your feeling of well-being will increase, you will more easily put things in perspective and feel closer to your inner self. You will be a better version of yourself and will be happier overall. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react on it.
Check out this video on physical benefits of meditation.