Meditation: Helps Children & Adults Fight Diseases
Stress is the main trigger for all kinds of health issues. Research has directed us to fight with stress using mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Early intervention is very fruitful for any prevention program. Adding younger individuals in meditation training twice a day morning and evening with light physical exercise i.e. yoga and healthy diet, we can encourage a healthy life through different means. The long-term effects of body scan meditation are seen in a study for the healthy cardiac functioning and better autonomic nervous system among 132 women and men who practiced progressive muscle relaxation [6], a form of stress reduction exercise.
Another study [7] quantified the effects of physical activity using meditation to do a functional analysis of the outcomes to outline the role of the practice for psychological flexibility. Seventy-three studies were reviewed, and the effect size determined significant positive effects on the health of children. This demonstrates that meditation practice may prevent against infectious illnesses.
The preventative effects of meditation were also seen on acute respiratory infections (ARI) and related illnesses. ARI [8] was affected by meditation as the two groups performed meditation. This study was carried out in the USA on those adults from the local community who were not habitual or doing any mental or physical exercise. They took part in behavioral training for eight weeks using MBSR. They concluded that ARI could be prevented using regular meditation program.
The intensity of diseases seems to reduce when chronic pain is managed. Most of the Americans do not prefer to chant any religious spell in meditation still they have tested it for pain in different conditions i.e. anxiety, heart disease, pregnancy and also for elevation in mood and immunity. All those conditions that are battered by stress are possible to cure with meditation. Some other conditions are blood pressure, heart rate, metabolism, muscle tension [9] and many more.
Obesity [10] as a topmost epidemic in the US is increasingly getting help with meditation. Mindfulness meditation is reducing the risk of childhood and teenage obesity among youth and adults. This is also effective in controlling the rate of common eating disorders. The weight loss programs are often using it with their fitness training to maximize the benefits. We also have many meditations focused on mindful eating which we suggest you try!
REFERENCES
- https://academic.oup.com/abm/article-abstract/32/3/227/4631844?redirectedFrom=fulltext
- https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/article/36/4/385/926480
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0197778
- https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/transcendental-meditation#1