The Positive Effects of Meditation
Life will always have its stressful moments. It is how you manage your stress that has a big impact on your cognitive health. Letting the stress get the best of you can lead to all sorts of serious health problems, including putting yourself at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Many studies have revealed that the simple act of meditation can have a wide range of positive effects, including on your brain health. According to reventive medicine physician Roxanne Sukol, MD, MS at the Cleveland Clinic, meditation can…
- Improve your focus.
- Stimulate all the parts of your brain.
- Reduce genes causing stress and inflammation.
- Improve blood circulation.
- Reduce anxiety and depression.
Tips for Meditation Beginners
Meditation might sound like a luxury at first, but that may be due to misconceptions you have about it. Following are a few recommendations from meditation experts to get you started.
1) Start small. Even just one minute of meditation can have benefits. Breathe in for five seconds, then breathe out for five seconds. Continue for one minute, and then you can eventually build from there.
2) Focus on the breath. While you may have distracting thoughts enter your mind while meditating, focusing on your breath will help you return to the calm.
3) Find a few minutes in each day to practice your meditation skills. It can be in the car before you leave for the store or even while you’re doing the dishes. Setting a daily reminder on your phone to meditate will help you to make meditation a healthy habit.
Soon you may find that meditating is an important part of managing your life’s stressful moments…and your brain health will thank you.
Be sure to check out next month’s cognitive health article for another great brain health tip!
Want to view all my past cognitive health articles? Click this link – https://pameladixon.com/news/category/cognitive-health/.
