https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/benefits-of-meditation/

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6 Compelling Bene ts of Meditation,
According to Science
BY JANE CLAIRE HERVEY (HTTPS://WWW.RD.COM/AUTHOR/J-HERVEY/)
Don’t dismiss this practice as hippie hogwash until you consider
these medical reasons for giving meditation a chance.
Meditation might be a more powerful painkiller
than morphine.

2. ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK
Wake Forest Baptist University researchers found that meditation reduces pain intensity by 40
percent, which is significantly higher than morphine’s pain reduction rate of 25 percent, as
reported by Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2011/04/07/meditation-leads-to-
greater-pain-relief-than-morphine/). In the 15-person study, participants’ were tested for their
reactions to pain before and after meditation sessions; every participant saw a decrease in sensed
pain after the sessions.
An “om” a day could keep your blood pressure at
bay.

3. ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK
According to NPR (http://www.npr.org/2008/08/21/93796200/to-lower-blood-pressure-open-
up-and-say-om), a doctor in Massachusetts asked patients with high blood pressure to try a
meditation program for three months, and two-thirds of them showed significant decreases in
blood pressure levels at the conclusion of the 12-week study. Don Joseph Goewey, author of The
End of Stress, has written, "When people in various high-pressure organizations try these mini-
meditations (https://www.rd.com/slideshows/relieve-stress-meditations/), more than 90 percent
experienced a change in their stress levels; more than 75 percent experienced improvement in
creative problem solving, well being, and work and family relationships."
It might make you smarter.
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In a study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22149237) published by the U.S. National
Library of Medicine under the National Institutes of Health, researchers concluded that another
benefit of meditation might be that it prevents cogntivie loss associated with old age. In the report,
20 long-time practitioners of meditation fared much better on cognition tests than 20 non-
meditators. (All of the participants were 55 years old or older.)
Meditating could improve your genetics.

5. ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK
A group of Harvard yoga scientists concluded (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-
22/harvard-yoga-scientists-find-proof-of-meditation-benefit.html) that practicing meditation has a
biological effect, specifically influencing gene expression. Published in the medical journal PLOS
One, the study showed that energy metabolism and insulin secretions genes were heightened after
one session of mindfulness meditation, while inflammatory response and stress genes were
suppressed. A few minutes “in the zone” may have the potential to reduce your probability of stress
and disease.
CONTENT CONTINUES BELOW AD
You’ll actually relax.

6. ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK
Marianela Medrano, PhD, a member of the American Counseling Association, says that she
recommends mindfulness meditation to her patients who experience emotional turbulence and
anxiety. “When you’re breathing, more oxygen goes to the brain, and when your brain is well-fed
with oxygen you think better. They report the ability of being more in control of themselves,” she
explains.
Meditation makes you happy.

7. FUSE/THINKSTOCK
A pilot study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22407663) published by the U.S. National
Library of Medicine under the National Institutes of Health found that practicing meditation could
reduce depressiveness and improve mental functioning. In the experiment, 39 dementia caregivers
were instructed to either relax or meditate for at least 12 minutes a day for eight weeks. At the end
of the two-month period, the meditation group had better scores on depression and health
composites tests than the relaxation group. The meditators also showed a 43 percent improvement
in telomerase activity (the enzyme that keeps cells from aging) compared to the relaxers’ 3.7
percent improvement. Although the researchers plan to experiment further, they maintain that
meditation is linked to better cellular activity and lower levels of depression.
View as Slideshow (https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/bene ts-of-meditation/1)
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