Doing Meditation Helps To Have A Healthier Heart

By doing meditation we take more control over our breathing and, with it, we can stabilize blood flow and, therefore, reduce blood pressure and improve our health cardiovascular, in general.

Meditation has been shown to be a contributing factor in protecting health. In fact, hundreds of people with conditions, both physical and mental, say that they have recovered or, at least, improved their level of well-being thanks to daily meditation.

There is research indicating that meditation helps reduce stress ; And as is well known, stress is one of the factors that sickens people the most all over the world. The heart is one of the main victims of this emotional and mental state.

Do meditation for better health

Although there is still no medical evidence to support it, what is known is that meditation has a great impact on overall health. Its main benefit is to help balance the mind.

The same happens with practices such as yoga or tai chi. In all of them there is a great emphasis on education to regulate bodily functions. They are methods of exerting greater control over the mind. This, of course, has a positive impact on the body.

Meditating not only reduces stress, it also has positive effects on anxiety and depression. This practice, along with regular use of medications and a healthy lifestyle, are ideal for maintaining good health for heart patients.

The benefits of doing meditation

Meditation has been established to have positive effects on different organs and systems. These are some of its health benefits:

• It helps to overcome insomnia and to have a better quality of sleep.
• Reduces stress, depression and anxiety.
• Helps manage irritable bowel syndrome.
• It contributes to improving the quality of life in people with chronic pain.

• Decreases the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
• It contributes significantly in the treatment of addictions.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Contributes to anger management.
• Improves overall mental function.

Most importantly, meditation promotes a healthy lifestyle. Those who practice it tend to become more aware of the needs of their body; This causes them to abandon unhealthy habits and diets.

Meditation, stress and heart

When a stressful situation occurs, the body reacts by activating the nervous system. A general alert is launched, since stress is a response to threats.

Under these conditions, the body demands more blood. This causes your blood pressure to go up. At the same time, vasoconstrictor hormones are released. These increase the pressure of the heart and vascular walls. If this happens only eventually, no problem.

On the other hand, if this condition appears very frequently, there is a risk of developing hypertension and heart disease.

Long-term stress is a cardiovascular risk factor. It negatively affects hemodynamic, metabolic and immunological functions.

Hence, the vast majority of medical treatments insist on stress control as an essential factor for improvement. There are many alternatives, but, without a doubt, meditation is one of the most complete ways to manage stress.

Meditation prepares a person to regulate those organic processes that are unleashed by stress. Through breathing exercises and specific postures it is possible to calm the mind.  With this, all the functions of the body work normally again.

An eloquent study

A study carried out at the University of New Brunswick (Canada) established the relationship between meditation and heart health.

The results indicated that 15-20 minutes of transcendental meditation a day is great for strengthening the cardiovascular system.

According to this research, meditating for these daily periods reduces heart risks by up to 48% in particular: what is reduced is the possibility of having a stroke and myocardial infarction.

Also, the study indicates that meditating is good for lowering blood pressure. With this practice, the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol (associated with stress) also decreases.

The study was carried out with 201 volunteers, men and women, for five years. They all had heart problems. Half of them practiced meditation and the other half did not. Between 48% and 66% of those who did meditation visibly improved their cardiovascular health.