The Benefits of Mindful Meditation

Mind Full or Mindful?

In our modern day lives we are constantly busy and our minds tend to be racing, overthinking and we often don’t feel present in the moment. 

The autonomic (or automatic) nervous system looks after all of the processes in the body that we are not consciously aware of. For example, when was the last time you thought actively about your pancreas secreting insulin to help your blood sugar?! The autonomic nervous system branches into two separate nervous systems that work together concurrently: the sympathetic nervous system, and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Due to the faster pace of life we lead; our constant connectedness to emails/social media/our favourite osteopathic clinic’s blogs; diets high in refined foods, and pesky global pandemics- our bodies tend to function predominantly in one side of our nervous system- the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as the fight or flight nervous system. Conversely, we spend less time with parasympathetic nervous system at the forefront. This is also known as the the rest and digest or feed and breed nervous system.

The parasympathetic nervous system is important as this allows our bodies to relax and restore. 

The sympathetic nervous system used to only be switched on when humans were in a life or death situation- like being faced in the wild with a huge animal that they had to escape!

Once escaping this, our bodies would switch back to our parasympathetic nervous system.

In modern day life, we are hardly ever in these life or death situations; however, our body may perceive dangers in our life (i.e. late for a meeting, rushing a to meet a deadline, or going to Coles) and switches on our sympathetic nervous system!

Since these are not actually life threatening dangers- and they don’t really ever go away- our body may have a hard time switching back to our rest and digest nervous system and we inadvertently stay with the sympathetic nervous system dominating the balance. 

This is when mindful meditation may be a useful tool for us!

What is mindfulness meditation?

Mindfulness meditation is the practice of being present in the moment with an open, accepting and non-judgmental disposition. It isn’t about emptying your mind or stopping your thoughts altogether but rather paying attention to your physical sensations, thoughts and emotions without making assumptions or stories up in your mind. It may help you feel more control of a situation and not be overwhelmed by what is going on around you. 

So with all of this is mind it seems obvious that meditation may help with stress levels.

But did you know that it has many other benefits?

Benefits of meditation- What is meditation good for?

Changes in areas of the Brain

The practice of mindfulness meditation has been found to increase areas in the brain involved in emotion regulation, learning and memory and decrease brain cell volume in the amygdala which is responsible for fear, anxiety and stress. These brain changes correlated to increased feelings of wellbeing. 


Anxiety reduction

Mindfulness meditation has also been shown to reduce anxiety. This mechanism seems to be mediated by changes to the self referential “me-centred” thoughts. 


Helps control pain!!

Meditation can help lower the perception of pain in your brain and also induce your body’s own opioid system that may help with reduction of pain. 

Reduces blood pressure

Meditation may decrease blood pressure by relaxing the nerve signals via reducing the sympathetic response which affects blood vessel tension and heart function. 

Improves sleep

Meditation may help control racing thoughts that may interfere with falling asleep. It may also help relax your body and place you in a more peaceful state to be able to fall asleep. 


For beginners: How to get started

Some questions you may have are, am I meditating correctly? How long should I meditate for? What is the simplest way to meditate? There are many meditation apps available that can help getting started on meditation accessible and less daunting. 

Some that you may want to try include: 

The above are all best used by following the links to download the relevant app via the app store for Apple or Google Play for Android.

A little nudge…

There is no such thing as a bad meditation. And thinking “I don’t like meditating, because my brain just keeps going all the time!” is EXACTLY why you SHOULD be meditating. That would be like saying, “I’m not flexible enough to go to yoga”, or, “I am not strong enough to go to the gym”!! It is SKILL that you can TRAIN to make coping with the bumps of life MUCH easier! Be consistent, we recommend 10 mins a day.

Have a go- you’ll be great.

Emily Nelson and Georgia Ellis,

Osteopaths

Summit Osteopathy