Physical Benefits of Meditation

Many people now know that meditation can alleviate stress and promote a positive mood. We often associate meditation with self-care, mental health, and as a means of practicing spirituality. However, there are many physical benefits of meditation that are often overlooked.

Meditation can have a positive impact on your immune system. It can decrease inflammation and increase the proteins in our body that work to protect our cells from dying. In turn, meditation extends the life of the living cells within our body. Cell death is what causes the body to age. As the body ages, it becomes less effective in fighting off things that are harmful to it. This is why there is often an increase in risk for sickness, diseases, and cancer as one ages.

Multiple studies have proved that meditation has a positive impact on diseases that are considered multi-factorial. Multi-factorial means that multiple factors are associated with the onset of the disease. Some examples of multi-factorial diseases are diabetes, hypertension, and fibromyalgia. Studies show that those that practiced meditation in addition to taking their medication, or who did not take any medication at all, had a significant reduction in blood pressure and stress than those that did not practice meditation.  

When researchers view meditative brains through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, they can detect positive changes in the brain and improvement in multiple functions of the brain. Some of these functions include attention, response selection, and sensory processing. The more experienced the brain was with meditation, the greater the function of these areas was. With all this in mind, why not try it out?

If you would like to speak to a professional counselor or psychologist about meditation and reside in Illinois, please contact Olive Branch Counseling Associates, Inc. at 708-633-8000. We are located at 6819 West 167^th Street in Tinley Park, Illinois 60477.

Hillary R.,

Masters Level Intern, 2024

Sources –

Jamil, A., Gutlapalli, S. D., Ali, M., Oble, M. J., Sonia, S. N., George, S., Shahi, S. R., Ali, Z., Abaza, A., & Mohammed, L. (2023). Meditation and its mental and physical health benefits in 2023. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.40650