Your health is the most important thing in your life, and you must take good care of it.
After all, we all want to live a long, healthy, and happy life, don’t we?
One form of taking good care of yourself and your mental health is meditation – a very famous technique that has been practiced by several people and is continuing to grow popular.
However, some people may not be aware of the benefits of it, especially for men.
So this one is for all the men out there. Today, we will be discussing how meditation can improve your life for the better, along with some facts and figures to prove it so you won’t have to research much for it! You can get it all here.
What exactly does Meditation means?
It is a set of several techniques that are considered to be mind-body medicine. It comes from eastern traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
Meditation is training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts.
Although many people use it for religious purposes, it is now growing to be famous for peace and well-being by staying physically active.
So grab your boxer briefs and get ready to start meditating!
But, before you do that, look at some of the benefits of meditation, so you are thoroughly convinced about it!
Benefits of meditation:
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Controls your anxiety and helps you sleep better
In a study that appeared in JAMA Internal Medicine, 25 middle-aged, and older adults with sleeping problems went through a mindfulness awareness program where they learned how to focus on in-the-moment experiences and thoughts. And on the other hand, 25 people did a sleep education class where they learned how to improve their sleep habits.
The result? The mindfulness group experienced low insomnia, fatigue, and depression compared to the other group.
Now, men really struggle to sleep because of the burden and pressure of responsibilities that lie on them. Meditation is an excellent way to get your sleep back on track and get that good, good night of sleep. Who doesn’t want that?
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Reduction in chronic pain
You can say meditation is an alternative to painkillers for your chronic pain.
In a Research Gate study published by The Journal of Pain, 89 patients with chronic neck pain were placed randomly in the meditation and exercise program groups for eight weeks.
The result? Both experiences reduced pain; however, you can say the meditation group won by maximizing pain relief and coping with the discomfort.
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May help fight your addiction.
Men are more likely to get addictions than women, so meditation is a good option for them.
Meditation can help you become mentally aware and manage your triggers that can lead to unwanted impulses, leading to addictions, whether they are unhealthy eating, smoking, or any other unhealthy habits.
Research has shown meditation to help people learn to redirect their attention and manage their impulses better.
Another research showed a study where 60 people receiving alcohol treatment found practicing transcendental meditation to help lower stress levels and alcohol cravings.
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Improves your emotional health
Certain meditation types can help eliminate the negative thoughts that fill your mind and won’t let you focus on anything.
Furthermore, they can reduce inflammatory cytokines that contribute to your depression.
A review of treatments given to 3500+ adults showed mindfulness meditation to improve the symptoms of depression. Moreover, a study found people who went through meditation exercise to have fewer negative thoughts when viewing negative images than the control group.
To conclude this point, meditation can help you positively look at your life.
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Control your blood pressure
Having high blood pressure can lead to low heart functioning.
To keep your blood pressure in control and decrease it when needed, you can try meditation. Meditation has proven to reduce strain on the heart.
A meta-analysis of 12 studies found meditation help in reducing blood pressure. It had more effect on the older volunteers and those who had high blood pressure before the study.
By meditating consistently, you can keep your blood pressure in control and prevent the risk of having heart disease.
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You will feel less lonely.
Believe it or not, loneliness can actually lead to various health problems, even death.
But don’t worry! It has been proven by a study that meditation can help you feel less lonely.
The Science Daily study consisted of 40 healthy adults aged 55-85 who went through either no treatment or through the “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program,” which involved meditation exercises for thirty minutes a day.
The latter group participants reported feeling less lonely, and the researchers found from their blood tests that there was less inflammation. (which is good, obviously!)
Meditation is here to help fight your loneliness feeling!
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Can bring kindness and compassion
Let’s be honest; you least expected this point, right?
Well, it is accurate, and yes, there is proof!
Researches from Northeastern and Harvard Universities found meditation makes people more compassionate.
In a Science Daily, participants completed eight weeks of a training session of two different types of meditation. After that, it was tested to see if and which participants would more likely help a person they see in physical pain. At the same time, everyone else ignores – the meditating ones or non-meditating.
And the results showed that up to 50% of meditating participants were likely to help, hence proving it can make you a compassionate person.
Some statistics about meditation
- Practicing meditation can help relieve back pain issues.
- Mindfulness meditation can help reduce post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms about 73% of the time.
- Meditation can increase your attention span after four days of practicing only!
Another fact for you all is that a more significant number of women (16.3%) meditate than men (11.8%), according to the 2017 National Health Interview Survey.
It is now time for you men to start meditation and give yourself some rest and peace too!
The bottom line is that whether you are a man or woman, meditation is definitely something that you need to incorporate into your daily life. It has unlimited benefits that can help you feel better and at peace.
And if you are getting to feel better, what’s to stop you?
