10 health benefits of meditation
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Chris Mosunic, PhD, RD, CDCES, MBA
Meditation does more than relax the mind. From helping to lower blood pressure to reducing chronic pain, meditation can boost your physical and mental health.
Many of us know that meditation helps reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus, and increase happiness. But what some people may not know is that a regular meditation can also improve your physical health. From affecting blood pressure to preventing disease, here are ten ways meditation can help you live a longer and healthier life.
How does meditation boost your health?
Meditation isn’t just a mental exercise —it's beneficial for your body as much as it is your mind. With regular practice, you're not just enhancing your mental state,you're making a lasting impact on your physical health, too.
The beauty of meditation is that it can be practiced anywhere and at (almost) any time. So, if you're still on the fence about trying meditation, let the range of its potential health benefits be the nudge you need. Your body and mind will thank you.
💙 Remember, the best way to reap the benefits of meditation is to incorporate a practice into your daily habits. Check out Mindfulness for Beginners to learn more.
What exactly are the health benefits of meditation?
1. Meditation can help lower high blood pressure
Hypertension is one of the leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke, and it can be challenging to treat. Since 2013, The American Heart Association has listed meditation as a clinically-proven complementary treatment. In a review of the science, they found strong evidence that practicing meditation can reduce high blood pressure.
Experts still aren’t sure exactly how this works or whether some forms of meditation are better than others, but in this scenario it’s a win-win. Meditation can be an important part of your treatment strategy if you have hypertension (or want to prevent it) but please always consult with a healthcare professional if you suspect you may have high blood pressure..
💙 One way that meditation can help is by guiding you in releasing both mental and physical tension. Check out Shake off your Tension with Jay Shetty.
2. Meditation can slow cellular aging
Amazingly, cutting-edge science is finding that meditation may slow the biological aging process. When our cells divide, the DNA is protected by long proteins called telomeres. As we age, our telomeres get shorter, which increases the chance of cell damage. As cell damage accumulates over the years, our overall health suffers.
While meditation doesn’t stop the aging process entirely, scientists are finding evidence that meditation does slow the shortening of telomeres. Several studies have found that meditation activates genes that produce telomerase, a natural enzyme that helps prevent telomeres from shortening. That means meditation can protect us from age-related health decline at the cellular level.
💙 While there are meditation practices for different life circumstances such as stress, anxiety, sleep, and focus they’re all beneficial for your physical health. Try starting your day with one of our daily guided practices like the Daily Calm, Daily Move, or Daily Jay.
3. Meditation can help prevent diabetes
Research shows that meditation helps the body regulate blood sugar by using insulin more efficiently. The stress hormone cortisol is a major contributor to insulin resistance, and meditation can lead to lower cortisol levels, allowing insulin to do its job. In this regard, meditation may help you prevent Type 2 diabetes if you’re at risk.
Whether you’re trying to prevent diabetes, or you’re already navigating the effects of the disease, meditation can help support your journey by being a key part of your treatment or prevention plan.
💙 Mindful eating is another way to support a healthier lifestyle when it comes to your physical health. Our Mindful Eating series has been designed to show you the ropes so tune in to learn how mindful eating may help you.
4. Meditation may help fight Alzheimer’s disease
Brain imaging studies have shown that long-term meditators lose less brain matter with age meaning those who meditate have a lower risk of cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of dementia. One study found that cortical thickness in the brains of meditators aged 40 to 50 was the same as non-meditators aged 20 to 30.
Even if you’re newer to practicing, meditation can still help. This is especially true in the crucial period when there are early signs of cognitive decline, but dementia hasn’t yet set in.
When we meditate, we exercise the brain in a new way. Learning a new skill, improving concentration, and building more conscious awareness all stimulate the growth of new neurons. In addition, stress reduction protects our existing brain structures from further damage.
💙 New to meditating? Check out our 7 Days of Calm course where you can learn the basics of mindful meditation.
5. Meditation can help reduce chronic pain
Chronic pain and the often-related problem of opioid addiction are some of the biggest public health crises facing countries today. While many have understood the power of meditation when it comes to pain relief, it’s only been over the last few decades that scientific research has been able to back up the pain-reducing effects of meditation.
Meditation helps manage chronic pain by increasing activation [1] in several brain areas that regulate pain perception and by diminishing the negative emotional response connected with the experience of pain. Encouragingly, one study showed that even beginner meditators could reduce pain severity after just a few weeks of practicing mindfulness.
💙 Stress is known to worsen chronic pain, so by reducing stress, meditation dampens pain intensity. Check out our Untangling Physical Pain meditation.
6. Meditation may improve immune system function
The immune system has been called our body’s ‘floating brain.’ It’s an incredibly sophisticated system for identifying and destroying pathogens that threaten our health, and is intimately linked with our nervous system. When we have weakened immunity, we are sitting ducks for infection.
Practicing mindfulness meditation has been linked to reduced markers for inflammation, a signal of reduced immune function. Several studies have also found that meditation increases crucial immune cells that stave off disease. Experts still aren’t sure exactly how meditation works to benefit the immune system, but decreased stress and improved self-regulation may play a major role.
7. Meditation can elevate your mood and emotional state
Emotional wellbeing isn’t just a luxury—it's a necessity for overall health. Mindfulness practices help you become aware of your thoughts and feelings in the present moment and make it easier to change your reactions to them. Research indicates a noteworthy uptick in positive emotions among those who meditate regularly, along with a decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety.
💙 Meditation practices, particularly mindfulness, have been shown to significantly improve mental health. Try out our 7 Days of Happiness meditation series.
8. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and concentration
Think of meditation as a gym for your brain. Just as you train muscles, you can train your attention through meditation. Several studies indicate that meditation can have a lasting impact on your attention span and focus.
Various meditation techniques teach you focused attention, which appears to improve with more practice. Some studies suggest that regular meditation may even lead to structural changes in the brain that enhance sustained attention.
💙 You can use meditation for sharpening your focus and helping you tune back into the task at hand. Explore our 7 Days of Focus course.
9. Meditation can assist in overcoming addiction
Addiction is a complex battle, requiring a multi-pronged approach for effective management. Meditation practice may be helpful as an aid to combating various types of addiction. It can help you redirect your attention, manage your emotions, and increase your understanding of the triggers and causes of addictive behaviors.
💙 Battling addiction can be incredibly difficult and it’s important to reach out for professional support. With that said, meditation can be a great addition to your treatment plan. Check out our meditation on Addiction from our Breaking Habits series.
10. Meditation can enhance sleep quality
Many people struggle with falling asleep. Relaxation-centered meditation practices like body scan or mindful breathing can help calm the mind and make it easier to fall into a deep, restorative sleep. Studies have shown that people who practice meditation regularly experience improved sleep quality and duration.
💙 Sleep meditations can help you settle in for the night and help you to get better sleep. Try Unwind into Sleep with Chibs Okereke.
Reference: [1] See Chapter 3 of Verhaeghen, P. (2017). Presence: How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life. New York: Oxford University Press.
Calm your mind. Change your life.
Mental health is hard. Getting support doesn't have to be. The Calm app puts the tools to feel better in your back pocket, with personalized content to manage stress and anxiety, get better sleep, and feel more present in your life.
