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Published on April 26, 2023

How Mindfulness and Meditation Benefit Mental Well-Being?

Meditation promotes relaxation by calming the mind and mindfulness, is a meditation practice that reduces stress and anxiety by increasing self-awareness. Practice meditation to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms with improved quality of life.

To know more benefits of these practices, keep reading! 

Highlights:

  • Healthy mind practices improve sleep quality.
  • Meditation helps maintain a healthy weight.
  • Mindfulness and meditation reduce stress.

Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation

Mental health can be improved by observing meditation and mindfulness in several ways. Besides, a few more benefits of these healthy mental practices include; 

  • Help sleep better

Sleep deprivation can negatively impact your mind and body. Research claims people between 18 – 64 years need approximately 7–9 hours of sleep, while those older than 65 require 6-8 hours. Insomnia, which is sleep deprivation can affect your mental health. Yoga, a mindful practice improves the symptoms of insomnia, improving mental well-being. It is better to consult your mental health doctor. Multiple studies claim that yoga promotes psychological health in the following ways:

  • Relax muscle tension
  • Stimulate the autonomic nervous system and induce awakening
  • Increase the production of sleep hormone  — melatonin
  • Raises serotonin levels — a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycling
  • Balances heart rate
  • Lower high blood pressure
  • Improve blood flow in the brain, leading to improved brain functioning
  • Maintain healthy weight

Yoga can help you manage body weight as studies call it a healthy practice, which reduces eating behaviors that might lead to obesity. It is found that people practicing mind-relaxing techniques have a balanced weight, compared to those who don’t.

If you’re obese and have unhealthy eating habits, start practicing yoga every morning before breakfast.

  • Reduce stress levels

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)  — a therapeutic intervention that involves daily home mindfulness exercises and weekly group classes for a minimum of eight weeks promotes mental health by reducing the symptoms of emotional exhaustion, stress, anxiety, and depression. MBSR promotes the following:

  • Current moment awareness
  • Personal attainment
  • Occupational self-compassion
  • Sleep quality 
  • Overall improved mind and body health

Consult a psychologist for practicing mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy.

  • Decrease the symptoms of loneliness

Loneliness significantly impacts your mental and physical health as a research study claims that lonely people older than 50 have an increased likelihood of medical issues — heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, tumors, depression, anxiety, and suicide.

Yoga can help relieve loneliness and reduce the risks of developing chronic medical conditions.

  • Help increase attention and concentration

Yoga can help improve attention and concentration through physical postures and breathing techniques. It improves blood flow and oxygenation to the brain, which enhances cognitive function and perception. Deep breathing or Ujjayi breath during yoga help calm the mind, improving focus.

If you often experience concentration issues, practice yoga every morning with an expert psychologist.

  • Help chronic conditions

People suffering from chronic health conditions — liver diseases, diabetes, heart diseases, kidney issues, or arthritis often need therapies to improve their health. In such cases, mindfulness reduces pain or discomfort and promotes relaxation to them.

  • Reduce the risks of depression relapse

Depression, a serious mental health condition requires counseling and treatment from a professional counselor to avoid relapse. Research claims that cognitive therapy namely Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) involving mindfulness potentially reduces the risks of depression relapse. Another research conducted on university students concluded that those undergoing meditation training got a reduction in the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress levels.

  • Alleviates anxiety symptoms

A survey conducted among the general public believes that extremely anxious people who participate in mindfulness and meditation sessions have shown a reduction in their anxiety levels. Also, such people have reduced risks of developing cardiovascular diseases — coronary artery disease, heart failure, hypertension, arrhythmias, or atherosclerosis. Meditation sessions help reduce stress on different organs — brains, liver, and kidneys. It also improves physical and psychological health by strengthening neural pathways, which promotes healthy brain functioning. 

  • Reduce the risks of cognitive decline

Generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, anorexia nervosa, or autism spectrum disorder — mental health issues may lead to cognitive declines, such as dementia, Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer’s disease. Research claims that mind relaxation techniques promote muscle relaxation and help reduce cognitive decline, especially in older adults. 

  • Boosts memory

People who have poor memory can improve their memory and learning by using mindfulness meditation practices. A research experiment was conducted on meditating and non-meditating military and civilian groups and found that the military group who practiced mindfulness regularly had better memory under pressure compared to the other two groups. 

If you have memory issues  — short-term memory loss, long-term memory loss, age-related memory loss, or episodic impairment, get an immediate consultation with a neuropsychologist.

  • Promote healthy relationships

Practicing mindfulness releases stress and muscle tension which improves mood. A good mood helps you communicate better and build healthy relationships with your loved ones. It also helps you truly express yourself, which resolves relationship conflicts and promotes strong bonding.

How mindfulness and meditation benefit the mental health consultant?

Best Psychiatrist who practice mindfulness are also benefited in multiple ways, as this mental practice:

  • Promotes empathy: Studies suggest that psychotherapists who help stressed people practice mindfulness are more emphatic compared to those who don’t. 
  • Foster compassion: Therapists help patients reduce tension with mindful practices, which in turn makes them more compassionate towards humanity. 
  • Improves counseling skills: The empirical literature shows that practicing mindfulness interventions during psychotherapeutic training helps psychotherapists develop their counseling skills and achieve their professional goals, which promotes mental peace among them. 
  • Reduces stress and anxiety: Research studies found that after participating in an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction practice, psychotherapists were found to have reduced levels of stress and anxiety with improved mental well-being. Helping patients practice mindfulness also alleviates the symptoms of mood swings and fatigue in counselors. 
  • Improved quality of life: Counselors who conduct mindfulness-based anxiety reduction sessions reported a significant reduction in bad mood symptoms — irritability, anger, sadness, nervousness, or hopelessness. Moreover, such mindful practices promote emotional intelligence and social interaction, which reduce stress and improve the quality of life.

Conclusion:

Meditation improves self-awareness, morality, insight, stress management, and overall mental well-being. By reducing psychological distress, it also boosts immunity and physical health.

FAQs

  • What are the 5’Cs of mindfulness?

Mindfulness teaches individuals to control their emotions and actions through the five important skills known as the 5Cs of mindfulness: consciousness, compassion, confidence, courage, and community.

  • What is the ABC of mindfulness?

The ABC of mindfulness guides us to become aware, breathe, and show compassion towards ourselves, enabling us to face bad experiences courageously. 


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