Cope better with the stress of work, leave everyday worries behind or increase your concentration. That’s what many people expect from meditation. We show you what science says happens when you meditate regularly.
Mediation originally came from the religious and spiritual environment, but nowadays it is also enjoying growing popularity far away from any esotericism. Especially in psychotherapeutic contexts, mindfulness exercises such as guided meditations or certain breathing techniques are increasingly used, since the study situation in this regard is very positive. In addition, many studies show that meditative techniques can also help to cope with the stressful, modern everyday life. At least since the beginning of the corona pandemic, a large number of people have started to deal more and more with the topic of mindfulness and mental health. Find out what benefits daily meditation can offer you.
Table of Contents
This is what happens when you meditate daily
1. Your stress is reduced
Most of us probably associate the practice of meditation with the goal of reducing stress: simply calming down and letting everyday worries fall away. But, do meditation and mindfulness exercises really live up to this claim? According to studies yes. For example, an eight-week study with 238 people showed that daily use of a meditation app on a smartphone led to a significant improvement in mental well-being and a significant reduction in the perceived stress of the job . This was only between 10 and 20 minutes of daily meditationnecessary. And surprisingly, not only the subjectively felt stress was reduced. A typical physical stress parameter – systolic blood pressure – was also significantly reduced in those who meditated daily compared to the control group.
2. Worries and fears subside
If you are frequently plagued by worries, fears or depressive thoughts in everyday life, meditation could be something for you. Because, as a large-scale meta -analysis of 47 studies with a total of 3515 participants found, regular meditation can bring about a small to moderate reduction in anxiety, depression and even physical pain after just eight weeks . Of course, if you experience depression or panic attacks, you should seek medical help as soon as possible. Meditation is by no means a substitute for psychotherapy, but can be used to supplement and support it.
If you can’t fall asleep because of all the thoughts at night, try one of these breathing exercises >>
3. Your cognitive abilities improve
Who doesn’t sometimes wish for a better memory? At least according to this study , you can achieve this with the help of meditative breathing exercises. The researchers used EEG to measure the brain waves of subjects who performed various breathing exercises and found that deep breathing through the nose in particular increased activity in the hippocampus and amygdala – two brain regions that are part of the limbic system for intellectual performance , but emotions are also responsible. In the study, subjects who breathed in through their nose performed significantly better on memory tasks than those who breathed in through their mouth. When meditating, always breathe in through your nose, not your mouth.
