Meditation has been around for hundreds of years and is still practiced in many different cultures. Meditation does more than clear the mind. Learning how to meditate can also help alleviate the symptoms of certain medical conditions. Keep reading to learn four health issues mindfulness meditation can help with.

Cardiovascular Health
Unfortunately, one of the most common causes of death is heart disease. In fact, about one in four people die from it every year. Reducing the symptoms of this disease can help significantly reduce the death toll. It’s now though that mindfulness meditation can help accomplish this by lowering both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. When stressed, our heart rate increases and our blood pressure rises. Mindfulness meditation has shown to reduce it through muscle relaxation.

Mindfulness meditation affects more than just your physical health. You can also improve your psychological well-being. Many people suffer from anxiety, which can make it difficult to perform activities of daily living. The goal of mindfulness meditation is to teach awareness of a person’s physical and mental state. By having an increase in awareness, it allows you to be more adaptive to specific situations.

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses to date. Symptoms include loss of appetite, feelings of hopelessness, frequent mood swings and insomnia. It can also lead to destructive habits such as drug abuse or alcoholism. According to Harvard, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) becomes too active. They have found that meditation can help alter various parts of the brain that are connected to depression. Another form of meditation that can help is theta healing practice. This specific practice can cause changes to everything physical, mental and emotional.

Chronic Pain Syndrome
Mindfulness meditation has also shown significant results in regards to helping those who suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain syndrome can occur anywhere on the body including the back, neck, and joints. However, studies have shown that people who practice mindfulness meditation is able to about 90 percent of the pain.

Learning how to practice mindfulness meditation comes with many benefits. Some people may chalk it up to someone who crosses their legs, closes their eyes, and breathes deep for a few minutes. And while that’s true in some cases, it’s far more than that. People who practice improve both physical and psychological well-being, making life just a little bit easier.

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