Meditation Is Good for Your Mental and Physical Health

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

Some of the research I’ve done on meditation has convinced me that it holds one of the keys to achieving better health and better pain management without turning to pharmaceuticals. The power of the mind is often discussed, but I don’t think people take it as seriously as they should. Meditation, a form of biofeedback that allows you to use your own mind in order to consciously relax your body and let go of mental stress, can be a tool used to improve your health and manage pain.

But meditation does more than just lower stress; multiple studies have demonstrated the ability meditation has to improve your sense of well being, to help manage pain during and after medical procedures, and to impact the overall condition of your health.

Meditation does not have to be intimidating or difficult; it doesn’t require the pretzel twisting of yoga. To truly benefit from meditation, though, you need to be willing to isolate five to ten minutes of your time each day just for you that you can spend in a quiet space. The difficulty of meditation comes in being able to still your mind from all of its stresses. It takes practice and a willingness to keep trying to still your mind even when you’re not successful at first.

There is no right way to meditate; do what works best for you. Your goal should be to achieve moments of stillness.