Meditation Benefits Your Heart

Physically

Research on meditation benefits has exploded in the past two decades. There's almost no condition that meditation doesn't impact in some way.

On this site I will feature different aspects of the research with an emphasis on heart-related benefits.

Meditation's immediate benefit is the relaxation response, a physical state of deep rest that changes physical and emotional responses to stress. You are putting your attention on your body which is healthful.

Did you know that 90% of disease is caused by or complicated by stress. Reducing or managing that stress leads to a reduction in every category of disease. Reducing stress can lead to an 87% reduction in heart disease. (American College of Cardiology). See a video presentation about this.

In Heart Rhythm Meditation we use a full breath. Immediate benefits are decreased heart and respiratory rates Your breathing will slow and so will your heart rate.

Full, rhythmic breathing increases lung function, raises the oxygen level of the blood, improves circulation and reduces fatigue. This will be felt as energy circulating through your body.

Slowing your breathing rate is now being taught as a key technique for lowering blood pressure.

Irregularities in the heartbeat (arrhythmia) can be reduced or eliminated this way as well.

Simply slowing your breathing rate can significantly reduce stress and anxiety.

20 minutes of meditation can leave you feeling as though you've had a refreshing nap. Worries slip away. Mood improves. A feeling of calm and gratitude appear.

Connect with your breath right now. Notice that you are breathing. If you can follow your own breath patterns (inhales and exhales) for a few minutes you will notice that your breath becomes slower, deeper, quieter and more rhythmic. The relaxation you feel from this simple exercise has real physiological benefits.

Meditation is an important component of Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease.

Studies by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and others at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center have found that mindfulness meditation can benefit people with chronic pain and anxiety disorders.

In addition, research suggests regular meditation practice can help ADD/ADHD. Read the article from HeartMath Research which describes a possible link between ADD/ADHD and Arrhythmia, and the role emotions play.

Through meditation you can learn to manage depression and maybe even experience great joy and satisfaction with your emotional body. This is a transformational experience. Heart Rhythm Meditation works on the emotional, energetic body and will lead to deep healing over time.

A recent Alzheimer's Disease study showed that meditation improved cognition in people with memory loss. It also increased brain activity in areas central to memory.

Meditation can help with the pain of fibromyalgia, hot flashes, irritable bower syndrome, and PMS.

Meditation has been shown to improve mood and reduce symptoms of stress in cancer patients.

Meditation benefits you by helping reduce the negative effects of stress. Heart Rhythm Meditation is particularly effective in creating coherence and entrainment between the breath, heart-rate, and brainwaves. Basically, the more heart coherence you can create the less stress you feel.

If you practice meditation you will feel healthier, have more energy and feel better emotionally. You will also look better! Your skin will look smoother after meditating, from the increased oxygen and blood flow you will create.

Learning how to meditate will help you quiet your mind. If you follow the practices described on this site you will learn to focus your awareness on your breath and heartbeat. You will be amazed how easy it is to do this and you'll see that this quiets your mind, allowing for creative perspectives on issues of importance to you. You feel different after Heart Rhythm Practice, even doing it the first time.

By keeping your attention on these two fundamental body rhythms (breath and heartbeat) you will remove your attention from anxious thoughts and mental chatter that can often fill your head. I can tell you that this works amazingly well. It is one of the meditation benefits I have enjoyed the most. I am much more present in my body and less so in my head. I feel much better with this balance.

Meditating before bed is comforting and relaxing. It helps sort out the concerns of the day so that you can relax and sleep. If I awake during the night I do some simple relaxation breathing which almost always helps me get back to sleep.

Additional science about meditation shows that meditation changes brain function. Meditation can increase gamma waves, which are the type involved in attention, memory, and learning. It may also slow brain deterioration related to aging(NeuroReport, Nov 28, 2005)

Another great meditation benefit that comes from HRM practice is that you will learn to feel your heartbeat and pulse. This is one of the valuable skills you will learn through this meditation practice. I like to think of my heart as my best and oldest friend. It's been with me my entire life. I find it comforting to put my attention on my heart and feel its beat.

You will feel the benefits of meditation right away and these will increase over time.

Additional Meditation Benefits

Emotional Benefits of Meditation

Spirituality and Meditation

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