Top 8 Reasons Why All Superhumans Meditate

Researchers at Harvard Medical School discovered long-term practitioners of meditation and yoga, have many ”disease-fighting genes” active, compared to those who practice no form of relaxation.

The study found genes protecting from disorders like pain, infertility, high blood pressure and even rheumatoid arthritis were “switched on”.

The researchers said the changes were induced by what they call ”the relaxation effect”, a phenomenon that could be just as powerful as any drug without side effects of course.

I find that unguided mantras and soothing music, do wonders for my mental and spiritual well-being,which translates into improved physical well-being. I came across this great musical suite from Deepak Chopra that assists you in creating a more balanced, joyful, and peaceful life. Each track opens and closes with Deepaks gentle repetition of a unique centering thought.

Then you’re able to extend your meditation time with over 10 minutes of uninterrupted, nurturing soundscapes per track. Simply allow the music to help you reach deep relaxation, creative inspiration, and support for overall wellbeing and balance.

The following are the top 8 reasons why you must meditate for great health.

1. Improved Productivity and Efficiency

If you always feel you’re not as productive as you could be, give mindfulness meditation a try.

Mindfulness is a special meditative practice requiring you to sit quietly for at least 10 to 20 minutes as you focus on breathing and other specific physical sensations, without allowing your mind to wander.

If you can manage to do this at least once a day, your working memory will improve significantly. Working memory is a system that plays a major role in holding several pieces of transitory information in your mind for storage and manipulation.

This involves both verbal and non-verbal tasks such as problem solving, controlling emotions, reasoning, optimism, deep thinking, and comprehension.

A clear head allows you to do more tasks in less time because you’ll have the ability to better focus on your work and tune out distractions. You won’t have the burden or guilt of carrying around unfinished projects like so many of us do.

I for one, accomplish much more when my mind is clear.

2. Stress, What Stress?

Even though stress is damn near unavoidable in life, you can at least manage and control it through meditation. Dedicating as few as 15 minutes daily can help you greatly in dealing with any type of nonsense that might come your way.

When your body’s exposed to a sudden stress such as baby mama drama, death of a loved one, lack of employment, change of environment, financial problems, problems with the in-laws, your boss is a jerk, etc, your body responds with an adrenaline rush or fight-or-fight (sympathetic nervous system is activated).

The adrenal glands release hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline), resulting into increased blood flow and faster breathing. But you can avoid all these stresses through mindful meditation.

Mindful meditation is a meditation technique that helps you focus your mind on things happening in the present moment. Through this, you’re able to relax as you avoid worrying about bad things that already happened or those that might happen.

You don’t need any special equipment or fancy gadgets to practice this type of meditation. All you have to do is find a very quiet place free of distractions and sit on the floor or on a chair.

Relax all your body muscles, close your eyes, and then breathe in a slow and natural manner. Be silent and focus your mind on anything that usually interests you such as your favorite music or hobby.

Ignore all intruding distractions and worries to the best of your ability. When you’re through, open your eyes and then allow your thoughts to return to normal.

The entire meditation process significantly reduces the emotional and physical consequences of stress, allowing you to be free from a number of stress-related problems such as memory loss, panic attacks, mood swings, frequent anger, dry mouth, unstable mind, and indecisiveness.

While mediation is great for stress, sometimes we get ourselves too wound up and need something more. That’s usually when I stack my meditation with pure and potent magnolia bark extract. The natural compounds honokiol and magnolol in Magnolia Bark raise acetylcholine levels in the brain and play a key role in promoting positive mood and defending against stress and its negative effects on the mind and body.

3. Guaranteed a Healthier Heart

According to recent research, patients with heart diseases can halve their risk of heart attack, stroke, or death by practicing either Zen or Transcendental meditation. These techniques are very capable of regulating your circulatory system and lowering your blood pressure, all of which enhance cardiovascular wellness.

To practice Transcendental Meditation, find a quite place or room and sit comfortably.

Close your eyes and repeat a mantra a phrase, sound, or word – to help you stay focused. Even though this technique is rooted in Hinduism, it doesn’t require you to change your religious beliefs or lifestyle in any way.

Other forms of meditation such as Zen encourage you to focus you mind through mantra and other methods such as gazing at a particular object like a cup or paying attention to your heartbeat.

Transcendental and Zen techniques will increase the flow of blood to your heart, reduce the level of cholesterol in your body, and minimize atherosclerosis – the accumulation of plaques in the blood vessels that can cause stroke or heart attack.

A healthy heart allows your body to function more effectively. This means you’ll be able to handle all your duties and responsibilities comfortably and enjoy many more years on this beautiful earth.

4. Respond Better To Pain

Research reveals that Zen meditation is very active in relieving different types of pain without the harmful side effects often brought about by many synthetic pain killers.

It thickens part of the brain responsible for controlling the way the body reacts to pain. Once that part of the brain gets thick, your sensitivity to pain is lowered to a considerable level.

This can be particularly beneficial to you if you’re attacked by fibromyalgia, hemorrhoids, or any other uncomfortable condition. Meditation for pain relief encourages you to avoid focusing your mind on the present pain and instead, concentrate on other things such as sounds, objects, or places.

This helps so much in lessening the feelings of pain giving you problems or sleepless nights. It’s very important to note that meditation for pain relief is a slow process that initially takes time to be effective.

Therefore, you should be determined and not ready to give up easily in your quest to fight pain. The more you continue practicing meditation, the more you benefit.

5. Solves Your Sleep Problems

If you have trouble getting a good night’s sleep regularly, you should try vipassana, mindful breathing, or binaural sleep meditation.

Here’s are two of my favorite tracks to fall asleep to:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi7BM8XPTfA &

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdH0x2npm4

These meditation techniques are very effective in reducing the anxieties, stresses, frustrations, and restlessness that prevent you from sleeping well.

They increase the levels of serotonin and allow you to have a very relaxed mind so you always sleep like a baby. In binaural sleep meditation, you lie on the bed and listen to a very soothing soundtrack through a set of headphones or earplugs.

The soundtrack is composed of two beats of different frequencies: one is high and the other is relatively lower.

As each ear listens to a different frequency, the brain’s sub-cortical auditory system induces a deep state of relaxation and a peace of mind. Mindful breathing technique requires you to concentrate so much on breathing until you become tired and fall asleep.

Begin by lying on your bed at a comfortable position and stay focused on the rhythm of your breath.

Watch your abdomen as it moves up and down and avoid looking at your chest.

Ignore your inhalation and start counting each exhalation until you fall asleep.

6. Shed Excess Weight

When practiced regularly, meditation can be a great tool to help you lose weight. Relaxing and focusing your mind on an object, phrase, or sound for an extended period of time can relieve stress and suppress urges of the body.

For successful weight loss, consider combining visualization/imagery with meditation on an empty stomach:

Look for a very quiet place and sit comfortably.

Close your eyes and gently repeat a phrase or sound, ignoring any form of negative thought that might come into your head. Imagine yourself slim and fit as you walk along the street.

See your slim and perfect reflection as you pass the magnificent shop windows on your way to buy your favorite sports gear, herbs, music system, smartphone, cologne, shades, video game, or laptop.

Convince yourself that you’re very light in weight and lively as you walk from one point to another.

Alternatively, you can picture yourself eating smaller portions of food and feeling satisfied before stomach even gets full. You can also imagine yourself eating healthy foods, working out, having high self-esteem, and feeling proud of who you are.

Try practicing this vision at least 30 minutes before meals. As you meditate, your mind will get rid of negative emotions that may lead you to overeat.

7. Maintain a Youthful Image

Meditation not only helps the body to relax, but also acts as an excellent form of brain exercise. Research reveals that periodical deep meditation affects the production of common age-affecting hormones such as cortisol, melatonin, and DHEA.

It increases the production of DHEA by about 63%, increases the production of melatonin by about 250% and decreases the production of cortisol by about 55%.

DHEA is a strong anti-aging hormone that guards your body against harmful diseases, boosts your sex drive, and improves your youthful appearance.

Apart from being a sleep hormone, melatonin is also a powerful anti-aging agent, anti-depressant, antioxidant, and immunoregulator. It improves energy, minimizes cell damage, and can even subdue the growth of cancer cells.

On the other hand, excess cortisol in the body causes the skin to thin and dry. It also inhibits the growth of new cells, changes your hair color, decreases libido, and interferes with your memory.

To stay younger, develop the habit of practicing meditation at least 30 to 40 minutes a day.

Whether you’re at the workplace or at home, find a quiet place and sit in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and start repeating your favorite phrase or sound gently.

Ignore anything that distracts you and focus you mind on what you’re doing.

You can always listen to a guided meditation CD with soft and soothing music capable of allowing your mind and body to relax so you can fall into a deep sleep. You’ll meditation CDs from your local bookstores or online.

8. Enhanced Immune System

Forming a good meditation habits is a sure-fire way of strengthening your body’s immune system.

As a normal human being, your body responds to negative thoughts and stress by shutting down the regenerative, healing, and digestive processes (activating the sympathetic nervous system) so all the attention can be focused on how to escape from the cause of alarm (aka fight or flight).

This prevents you from sleeping, eating, and maintaining a functional immune system, which in turn exposes your body to dangerous infections and diseases.

As you meditate, you relieve your mind of stressful thoughts and save yourself from the daily pressures of life. This creates a very positive state, allowing blood and oxygen to flow freely in your body to improve the much-needed immunity.

With a good immune system, your body will capable of fighting different types of diseases for you to maintain a healthy life.

These are the top 8 reasons why I meditate every single day, often multiple times throughout the day. If you have questions or feedback, drop me a line below.

Health by choice, not by chance.

-David Aston