Meditation: Different Types and their Benefits!
Meditation is a powerful tool for healing and self-awareness. By focusing on the present moment, meditation allows memories and emotions to come to the surface, engaging all of our senses and promoting body awareness. This can help us better understand our triggers and address any underlying issues that may be causing issues in our physical or mental health. It allows us to confront the problems in our mind and body that are impeding our growth toward physical and mental health.
In addition, there is growing evidence that meditation can improve both mental and physical health by reducing stress levels, improving memory and cognitive function, and even affecting gene expression. With regular practice, meditation can truly become a transformative force in our lives, helping us achieve greater self-understanding and well-being. So if you're looking for a way to promote emotional healing and self-awareness in your life, consider incorporating meditation into your daily routine.
There is not just one way to meditate. Meditation can take many different forms, from traditional practices such as focused breathing to more modern techniques such as guided imagery and mindfulness meditation. No matter which approach you choose, the benefits of meditation are clear: increased self-awareness, improved mental and physical health, reduced stress levels, and enhanced cognitive function. To better choose which meditation practice may work best for you, it is helpful to know the different types and their uses.
There are three main forms of meditation:
- Concentrative Meditation- Focusing on an object or sound.
- Awareness Meditation- (Mindfulness) Allowing yourself to be relaxed, engaging senses, and bringing awareness to thoughts, feelings and sensations. An example of this is spending time in nature.
- Expressive Meditation- More traditional meditation techniques including chanting, chaotic breathing, shaking and dancing, etc.
It is also important to note that prayer is a wonderful form of meditation. It brings about awareness, shifts our focus, and calms our nervous system tremendously. The more self aware we become, the more our behavior patterns begin to reflect our internal growth and values. This usually creates a beautiful ripple effect, impacting the lives of those around us and our relationship dynamics.
Whether you're looking to manage a chronic condition, overcome emotional trauma, or simply improve your overall well-being, meditation can be a powerful tool for several reasons. By bringing our attention to the present moment and tuning into our thoughts, feelings, and sensations with openness and curiosity, we are able to better understand ourselves and our triggers. With regular practice, meditation can help us become more mindful of our bodies and minds. This brings about so many benefits including improved immune function and engagement of the parasympathetic state (rest and digest) rather than remaining in a high stress/sympathetic state. Meditation may also improve gut function and motility, decrease blood pressure, and modulate the vagus nerve (the nerve that dictates the autonomic nervous system). Many who make meditation a regular practice note improved sleep quality and an easier time falling asleep as well as increased energy, possibly due to control of the vagus nerve which may spare our stress hormones.
Meditation has even been shown to change gene expression, leading to increased anti-inflammatory and anti-aging genes! Studies have shown that meditation and prayer have shown to increase telomerase activity, leading to lengthened and stable telomeres.Telomeres are like the protective caps on the end of shoelaces, inlets, that serve to maintain the integrity of our DNA. As we age, these protective caps are compromised, leading to DNA mutations, increased oxidative stress and disease, and decreased longevity. Therefore, we can conclude that meditation and prayer are great for our genes and promote long life!
So if you're looking for a way to promote self-awareness, emotional healing, and overall well-being, consider incorporating meditation into your daily routine. Whether you choose to try traditional techniques or more modern approaches like guided imagery, prayer, spending time in nature, or mindfulness, it is guaranteed that your body and mind will thank you!
To start your meditation practice, discover more mind-body tools, and practice mind-body medicine hands-on, contact TCLM to sign up for your choice of group visits or one on one coaching with Mind-Body Medicine Practitioner, Geny Moreno.
Resources :
Meditation and Prayer Boost Gene Expression of Antiproliferative Genes in Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Promoter Region +670 G / A Variant in Women with Breast Cancer - ClinicalTrialsGIDeepDive -NCBI Bookshelf. (2009). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK52930/
Prayer Meditation and Meditation Are Associated with Increases in the Number of T Cells and Improvements in Immune Function - PubMed Health - NCBI Bookshelf. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0065875/
Britton WB, Haynes PL, Fridel KW, Bootzin RR. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy improves polysomnography and subjective sleep profiles in antidepressant users with sleep complaints. Psychother Psychosom. 2012;81(5):296-304. doi:000332755.
Center for Mind-Body Medicine resource: https://www.cmbm.org/
