What are the benefits of meditation on health and longevity?

For thousands of years, humans have meditated because they found a particular interest in this practice, indeed throughout the ages many have reported various benefits…

Today, science has been able to provide explanations for these intuitions and feelings of fullness that accompanied meditative sessions.

My Movements In this article I want to motivate you to try meditation , because I think that this practice will bring you much more than you hope.

Happy reading…

What is a meditative state?

First of all, let's get to the root of the word...

Med expresses the idea of ​​measure and order .

Everyone has their own definition of what meditation is, and it will depend on your practice, your beliefs and your feelings.

For some, meditation means silence, for others it means calming their flow of thought .

For my part, if I have to give key words, I would use the terms observation and present moment.

The observation of these thoughts , of oneself.

Go down into yourself, observe yourself without judging yourself .

The present moment because the meditative state tends towards this, it is about being here and now, without projection into the future, nor vision of the past.

A meditative state can also be compared to states of Flow , which can be found in many sports and artistic practices, but also in working with the earth, for example.

As you will have understood, the meditative state, meditation, has as many meanings as there are human beings on earth who practice it...

How can meditation help me reduce my stress?

Now let's focus on the benefits that a daily meditation practice can bring.

Meditation is known for its ability to reduce stress by promoting relaxation and decreasing the production of cortisol , the stress hormone.

It helps to calm the mind and face challenges more calmly.

After several meditation sessions you will be able to see your problems for what they are, without all the mental parasites you have attributed to them.

Because by meditating you will develop a capacity, you will be more aware of your thoughts, your feelings, and your emotional movements.

How can meditation help me improve my concentration?

When you meditate, you must bring your attention to the present moment , whether it is a landscape, a sound, your breathing, etc.

No highly optimized ten-second TikTok videos or highly addictive TV episodes here.

You will have to concentrate on your feelings, on your physical sensations.

Meditation will therefore strengthen your attention and concentration, because it trains your mind to focus on what you are experiencing at that moment.

Regular meditation practice will help you increase your ability to concentrate on everyday tasks.

In fact, neuroscientists talk about the construction of gray matter in the parts of your brain dedicated to concentration.

You will be able to improve your ability to do deep work for example...

Deep work is a state that allows you to stay focused on a single task for a period of time, without distraction.

Such a state will allow you to advance in your projects in a spectacular way!

How can meditation help me manage my emotions?

When you sit down to meditate, you will need to pay kind attention to your emotions.

You must neither reject them nor judge them.

This self-centered moment will give you the space you need to understand your emotions without being overwhelmed by them.

To achieve this state of calm, breathing plays a large part, make sure you breathe slowly and deeply.

Meditation gives you a space to explore your emotions in depth…

For example, if you feel angry, regular meditation practice will help you understand the underlying reasons for this emotion .

Additionally, it will give you the ability to choose how to react rather than reacting automatically,

The famous hot flush!

Indeed, between consciousness and mind, perception and reaction, we have a space where we can choose the response .

Dr. Victor E. Frankl said this very apt sentence, which I am sure will help you:

“There is a space between stimulus and response, in that space remains our power to choose our response, and in our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

In short, regular meditation practice will allow you to have more precise and fluid management of the emotional states that pass through you.

Your emotions will take their places, they will be simple information , and you will no longer be under their influence.

How can meditation help me strengthen my immune system?

In the West, we like to separate the body and the mind.

Whereas in Eastern philosophies, and in particular Buddhist philosophy which we often associate with meditative practice, this separation is obsolete.

Mind and body are the same thing .

When there is a disturbance in your environment, your entire being is impacted.

So, it makes sense that by improving your awareness, refocusing on yourself in the present moment, reducing your stress, and letting go of things you have no control over, your biological factors will improve.

And especially your immune system .

Studies have shown that regular meditation can boost the immune system, strengthening your resilience against illness and infection.

But more broadly, meditation will help you improve your overall health, especially if you are naturally stressed.

Because stress is extremely harmful, the more stressed you are, the more cortisol you will generate.

Cortisol is a hormone that is not negative, it is even essential for the proper functioning of your body, it is what will allow you to flee when you are faced with a dangerous situation.

But in too large a quantity and chronically it will alter your health, leading to psychiatric disorders, skin manifestations, excess weight, inflammatory pain, and of course weaken your immunity.

So by reducing stress, you will improve your immunity.

How can meditation help me experience more positive emotions?

To meditate is to know how to appreciate the present moment .

When we are in a meditative state, the past and the future no longer exist, as Eckhart Tolle, a best-selling author in the field of personal development, likes to point out.

So when you sit down to meditate, you will be able to focus your attention on the emotions that are going through you at the moment.

You will be able to feel gratitude , love and inner peace, and focus on that.

You will also realize that meditation teaches you to savor the little moments of happiness.

The beauty of a flower, of a cloud, of a lover.

The taste of tea, the song of a bird, the softness of fur, the smell of freshly fallen rain.

Studies have shown that meditation can increase feelings of happiness, love, and compassion.

You will have understood that if you want to gain wisdom, my Mouvers, this is the right path to follow...

Can meditation help me live longer?

Meditation improves your state of happiness, so it can help you be happier on a daily basis. From there, you don't need ten years of study to understand that regular meditation practice will increase your longevity...

However, it is always interesting to go into details.

Meditation first has a direct effect on the aging of your cells , because it impacts the expression of genes within them.

Meditation is therefore not only a practice that will improve your health on the surface, it will actually have a deep impact on the billions of cells that make you up.

Yes yes, these little biological factories that do not exceed 0.005 centimeters!

Also, in a world where older people are increasingly affected by cognitive disorders, meditation will protect against these disorders by greatly improving memory skills.

And for that, you don't need years of practice, a study has proven that just a few sessions are enough!

Meditation is also associated with reduced blood pressure and heart rate , which helps maintain heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Finally, sleep , one of the pillars of longevity , can be improved by meditation.

Because a good night's sleep can never be replaced by anything else.

Even with 1 liter of coffee...

Sleep will allow your body to recover from the day that has just passed, both psychologically and physically.

A person who has difficulty sleeping will quickly see their health impacted, on the contrary, someone who succeeds in having quality sleep according to several parameters will see their life truly elevate.

I actually wrote an entire article about this if you want to delve deeper into the subject...

How to meditate to get all the benefits?

Meditation is a practice that is much more effective when practiced regularly throughout the week.

Many practitioners meditate at least once a day, even if it's just for a few minutes.

With this moment of calm each day, you will be able to reap all the benefits mentioned above.

Stress reduction , improved concentration, better management of emotions, strengthening of the immune system, impact on your longevity, etc.

What specialists recommend is to meditate in the morning when you wake up , often a few minutes are enough.

If you have not been able to maintain your concentration on the present moment, or have had little success, do not beat yourself up; this back and forth between the here and now and abstraction is completely normal; it is even inherent to human cognition.

For the most motivated, an evening session can also be interesting, it will help you fall asleep.

Choose a quiet and comfortable place where you can be sure not to be disturbed.

To begin, it can also be interesting to do guided meditation. There are dozens of YouTube videos for this, as well as applications such as Petit Bambou.

Thank you for your attention, my Mouver!

And if you want to bounce back or simply share your experience concerning your meditation practice, I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section 😉

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS