The 7 Benefits of Meditation Backed by Science

If you have ever been interested in meditation, you may have realized that it is a practice whose fruits are not reaped overnight. Meditating requires months of practice, perseverance and, although it may not seem very physically demanding, it also requires effort.

If we add to this the fact that the supposed benefits of meditation are not always well supported empirically and sometimes consist of simple New Age proclamations, it is not strange that some give up after the first days of practice, exhausted and demotivated by the apparent lack immediate incentives.

However, among the oceans of opinions and value judgments about meditation You can also find some scientific publications that serve to shed light on the issue that everyone wants to know: what are the benefits of meditation that have a scientific basis?

Some benefits of meditation that probably exist

Although meditation has been engendered in a philosophy and culture far from Western rationalism, there are some studies that show possible effects of meditation, surely due to its possible therapeutic application at very low prices. Below you will find listed some of these possible benefits of meditation that are supported by scientific research groups.

However, it must be taken into account that these scientific articles used to describe correlations and give them an interpretation, although it is not well known how changes occur in our body through these centuries-old practices.

1. Mitigate the effects of stress

Some research indicates that continued meditation practice helps combat stress and its adverse effects. For example, research involving cancer patients showed improvement not only in stress, but also in symptoms of depression, confusion, and other scales, in both men and women.

2. It could have positive effects on the immune system

It has been proven how a series of volunteers undergoing a Mindfulness program developed more flu antibodies, which means that one of the benefits of meditation can have an impact on the immune system. The article was published in Psychosomatic Medicine.

3. Improves attention span

It has been proven in multitasking tests (doing several things at the same time) and in a study on the attentional blink, which occurs when a stimulus is eclipsed by another that precedes it with a short margin of time between them and therefore the individual only notices the first one. People who had been meditating showed a reduction in attentional blinking, which means that they learned to better manage the brain resources on which attention depends.

4. It is useful to empathize and connect with others

Another of the probable benefits of meditation is found in the relationship with others. A few minutes of meditation have proven effective in predisposing one to closer personal contact with strangers.

5. Increases pain tolerance

Four days of Mindfulness have been shown to be sufficient to reduce the sensation of pain and produce changes in the brain structures associated with pain processing.

6. Improves memory and other cognitive functions

A few sessions of Mindfulness can translate into an improvement in working memory and visuospatial processing.

7. Enhances the appearance of positive thoughts

Among the benefits of meditation, one cannot be missing that relates to positive psychology, one of the currents that most uses relaxation practices. A certain type of meditation has been shown to be helpful in keeping maladaptive beliefs at bay, maintaining habits with important meaning, and generally thinking positively.