By Jade Doherty
Discover these five unexpected meditation benefits of breath-based meditation that will transform your life, mind, body, and soul.
Chances are you've heard that meditation is a good thing.
Maybe your colleague has told you how meditation has changed their life, perhaps your yoga teacher has been encouraging you to add some meditation after your yoga practice, or perhaps you've hung out with us here at The Art of Living Foundation for a while and have heard us extolling the life-changing benefits of a regular meditation practice.
You've probably heard that meditation can aid in stress reduction, reduce anxiety, and calm the mind - which is true - but in this article, let's look at some of the less well-known benefits of meditation.
It's one thing to reduce stress and calm the mind, but what is the long term effect of that? That's what we'll be looking at, and we'll also discuss how you can begin your meditation journey to experience some of these benefits for yourself!
What actually is meditation?
Ah, yes, good question! Before we dive in, let's clarify what "meditation" means, at least for the purposes of this article.
Meditation can be a bit of a vague, catch-all term, that doesn't really tell you much about what the person is actually practicing.
There are many styles of meditation, from the Buddhist Zen zazen practice of simply sitting, to mantra repetition, to guided meditation, to breath-based meditation, and many more!
For the purposes of this article, we'll be focusing on the benefits of breath-based meditation.
Breath-based meditation is where you actively engage the breath as part of your meditation practice, and by doing so are able to get amazing results!
The reason for focusing on breath-based meditation - like SKY Breath Meditation - rather than other styles, is that there are specific benefits I want to share with you that you don't get in other styles of meditation.
There are some very specific benefits you can achieve by working with your breath, so, for the purposes of this article, let's think of meditation as a practice involving the use of breath, and focus to achieve desired results.
OK, let's talk benefits!
Boosted immune system
That's right, you can boost and support your immune system literally by breathing!
This works in a variety of ways. Firstly by reducing stress and anxiety your body is able to nourish and restore itself. Meditation has also been shown to increase both T Cells - which help coordinate the immune system - as well as increasing Natural Killer cells, which, asides from sounding quite intimidating, are the cells that fight infections for you and keep you healthy!
So, a regular practice of meditation can help make your immune system stronger. Hurrah.
Better sleep
How many people struggle to sleep? I think we've all been there, staring at the ceiling, doing the "Sleep Math" where we calculate how much sleep we'd get if we fall asleep right now. Chronic stress often leads to difficulty sleeping.
Meditation can also improve the quality and quantity of your sleep.
By reducing your stress level and anxiety, you can dramatically improve the quality of your sleep in the long run, as well as having breathing techniques you can do to help you relax.
The benefits of good sleep are huge. Good sleep gives your body the chance to heal, your cells the time to repair, and help you to feel refreshed and focused the next day. Basically, good sleep equals a good life, and meditation helps you get that good sleep!
Processing and healing PTSD
For people living with PTSD, life can be very difficult. Whether we're thinking of a war veteran who is struggling, a now grown-up survivor of child abuse, or someone who recently suffered an acute trauma, PTSD is very hard to live with.
SKY Breath Meditation has actually been taught to U.S. Vets, and resulted in "significant reductions in PTSD symptoms (were found) in 6 weeks and the 60% reduction was sustained 6 months later without any follow up"
So if you, or someone you know, are struggling with PTSD and the results of trauma, breath-based meditation can help from the very first session.
A healthier body
It might seem strange to think that meditating can make your body healthier. You're just sitting there, right?
Not quite!
By working with your breath, you can create all kinds of amazing physical benefits too. Meditation isn't just for your mind, it's for your body too.
Some physical benefits include reduced blood pressure, reduced heart rate, and improved cardiovascular health. All that deep breathing can really aid your lungs and heart!
Other benefits also include a reduction in chronic pain, as well as irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, and improved brain functioning.
Meditation isn't just good for reducing anxiety, it can reduce chronic pain, and physical issues too.
Improved well-being and positive emotion
The benefits of meditation compound themselves in a beautiful way. You start meditating, and your stress level starts to decrease. So does your anxiety. You feel happier.
Your body produces less cortisol (the stress hormone) and your nervous system is able to relax, moving from "fight or flight" to "rest and digest".
You also sleep better, which means you have more energy in the morning and are better able to focus and stay alert during the day.
Because of this, your daily life improves. You have more energy to see friends and do the things you love. Stress and anxiety become things of the past. You're doing better at work, and are less frustrated with your loved ones.
Your body is healthier, your immune system is strong so you don't get sick so often. Your mind feels clearer, and you start to love your daily practice.
Before you know it, meditating has changed your life. You're less stressed, you feel much happier, when problems occur you can handle them with more grace and focus than before. You experience deep inner peace, and life as a meditator is wonderful.
You become one of those people telling everyone they know how a regular, daily meditation practice has changed their life! You want everyone to meditate in order to feel as good as you do!
Next steps
So, now you know some of the less well-known benefits of a regular meditation practice.
What's next and how do you get started?
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are many meditation styles, but, many of these benefits are specific to breath-based meditation. That's not to say that a guided meditation isn't useful, it is!
If you already have a meditative practice, then breath-based meditation can be a great addition to your meditation session, and if you don't have a practice, then breath-based meditation is a great place to start!
Either way, if you want to tap into these particular benefits (and more!), breath-based meditation is what you'll want to practice.
SKY Breath Meditation
SKY Breath Meditation can give you all of these results. Created by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, SKY is an evidence-based meditation program and has benefitted the lives of millions of people all around the world! From veterans to housewives, to spiritual seekers and students, everyone can learn, practice, and benefit from SKY.
If you'd like to get started, we're thrilled to invite you to join Beyond Breath, a free intro session to SKY, where your instructor will teach you a breathing technique, and introduce you to this amazing practice.
Click below to sign up and try it for yourself.
Jade Doherty is a freelance copywriter, meditator, and traveler, who is currently exploring and learning to surf in Goa, India.
