Why Meditate?
Broader Comprehension and Improved Ability to Focus
Field independence has been associated with a greater ability to assimilate and structure experience, greater organization of mind and cognitive clarity, improved memory, greater creative expression, and a stable internal frame of reference. The results show that practice of meditation techniques develop greater field independence. This improvement in meditators is remarkable because it was previously thought that these basic perceptual abilities do not improve beyond early adulthood. Perceptual Motor Skills 39:1031-1034,1974, and 62: 731-738
Improved Perception and Memory
College students instructed in meditation displayed significant improvements in performance over a two- week period on a perceptual and short tem memory test involving the identification of familiar letter sequences presented rapidly. They were compared with subjects randomly assigned to a routine of twice daily rest with eyes closed, and with subjects who made o change in their daily routine. Memory and Cognition, 10:207-215, 1982
Increased Relaxation and Decreased Stress
This three-month study of managers and employees who regularly practiced meditation in a Fortune 100 manufacturing company ( Puritan-Bennett Corporation) and a smaller distribution-sales company in Philadelphia showed that meditation practitioners displayed more relaxed physiological functioning, greater reduction in anxiety, and reduced tension on the job, when compared to control subjects with similar job positions in the same companies. Anxiety, Stress and Coping International Journal, 6:245-262, 1993
Improved Health and More Positive Health Habits
In two companies that introduced meditation, managers and employees who regularly practiced meditation improved significantly in overall physical health, mental well-being, and vitality when compared to control subjects with similar jobs in the same companies. Meditation practitioners also reported significant reduction in health problems such as headaches and backaches, improved quality of sleep, and a significant reduction in the use of hard liquor and cigarettes, compared to personnel in the control groups. Anxiety, Stress and Coping International Journal, 6:245-262, 1993
Lower Your Blood Pressure
A recent study published in the American Journal of Hypertension showed that meditation can lower your blood pressure and protect your heart. Nidich S I, Rainforth M V, Haaga D A, Hagelin J, Salerno J W, Travis F, Tanner M, Gaylord-King C, Grosswald S, and Schneider R H. Am J Hypertens. 2009 Dec;22(12):1326-31
Boost Your Immune System
Meditation can boost your immune system. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that people who completed eight weeks of meditation training produced more antibodies to a flu vaccine and showed signs of increased activity in brain areas related to positive emotion than people who didn't meditate.Psychosom Med. 2003 Jul-Aug;65(4):564-70
Have better control over your emotions
A study published in the journal NeuroImage found Meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus - all known for regulating emotions.
"We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behaviour," said Eileen Luders, lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging.
"The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why meditators have these exceptional abilities," Luders added.
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