HOW MEDITATION IMPROVES YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Meditation is simply an act of meditating and to meditate means: To focus one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.

Distractions are everywhere. Notice what takes your attention, acknowledge it, and then let it go.

@Headspace, #mindfulmoments

Mental Health simply DESCRIBES emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, perceive, or act, and determines how we handle stress, and make healthy choices. Mental health is not constant, it is a changing variable. There are a variety of factors that influence changes in one’s mental health; Most of which will produce negative impact, and a few have positive impact.

In this article, we will focus our gaze and attention on a very important factor that is usually underrated — Meditation! One of the benefits of meditation is that it can teach one to stay centered and maintain inner peace. This can have a useful impact on one’s mental health as we will soon see.

Meditation is an ancient practice that originated from India (so they say) several years before civilization. This was then adopted by neighboring countries because of its effectiveness and later formed the foundations of many religions. The term “meditate” comes from a latin word called meditatum, which means “to ponder”. Because of its effectiveness in managing stress and improving overall well-being, it has become a common practice for a lot of people, even with its religious meaning removed from it.

HOW MEDITATION WORKS

“It is a practice of turning one’s attention to a sole point of reference by eliminating the distracting and stressful thoughts caused by one’s external environment”, says News Medical. According to the same article, the underlying reason behind meditation is that happiness is a state of mind and a product of internal thought.

There are two central important terms to remember which are sole point of reference and attention. Let’s talk about them in details:

  • Sole Point of Reference – During meditation, there is usually something that stands as the central focus of the meditation. Once one focuses on that topic of attraction, it removes every other thought caused by the external environment. Within those moments of meditation, one is simply disconnected from their natural environment and…
  • Attention – Their center of attention becomes the sole point of reference. During this moment, they are trying to restore their mind to a state of peace and happiness that originates from inward thoughts around their sole point of reference.

Research to support the positive effect of meditation on mental health is increasing and this is true because stress can have devastating effects on one’s mental health.

According to research, there are four important elements that fosters meditation. They include:

  1. A Quiet Environment – This can be very important especially at the initial stage of meditation.
  2. A Comfortable Posture – You as a person know which position is a comfortable position for you and can employ this position during meditation. Just remember that you have to maintain a straight spine as this is a necessity.
  3. An Object of Focus – This can range from a physical object to the rhythm of your breath. Ensure that this object of focus separates you from those thoughts that are products of external interactions. This object of focus must produce inward peace and happiness (after all that is the purpose initially).
  4. An Open Attitude – Though you should be receptive to external thoughts that can produce stress at the moments of meditation, you must have an open attitude that can permit thoughts to pass through your mind without judgment.

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

Some of the benefits of meditation according to Mayoclinic includes:

  • Reducing negative emotions
  • Increased imagination and creativity
  • Improved sleep quality
  • Increasing patience and tolerance
  • Lowering blood pressure

And many more…

Meditation therefore is a powerful tool that has proven to improve mental health.

According to who.int, multiple individual, social and structural determinants may combine to protect or undermine our mental health and shift our position on the mental health continuum.

These determinants may include (but not limited to):

  • Psychological and biological factors such as genetics, emotional skills
  • Unfavorable social, economic, geopolitical and environmental circumstances such as poverty (a prevailing one in most african countries), violence, environmental deprivation
  • Harsh parenting and bullying, which occurs mostly at early childhood, can be very detrimental to mental health.

Suicide is one of the aftermath of deteriorated mental health.

Most of these negative determinants result in mental stress which can greatly impact the health of an individual. This is where meditation can play a vital role. Since the major purpose of meditation is to promote inward happiness and peace, it can help reduce mental stress. Most medical conditions can be worsened by stress, and meditation helps to reduce stress, whether mentally or physically.

Do note that some researchers believe it’s not possible to draw conclusions about the possible benefits of meditation to mental health just yet. But some research suggests that meditation may help people manage symptoms like Anxiety, Asthma, Tension headaches, Sleep problems, Depression.

Also do note that in some extreme cases, meditation may worsen symptoms associated with some mental health conditions.

In conclusion, meditation can help relieve one’s stress both mentally and physically, hence its benefit to mental health, but it is not meant for everyone. If you have any thoughts about this, I will love to hear from you in the comment section. Shallout!!!.