Why is Meditation good for your health?

When we look at the topic of Health and Wellbeing we might consider this being really a discussion

about a human being having a good and balanced state of Physical and Mental health.

Emotional and social factors come into the topic of wellbeing as well, and their relationship is relevant because the limbic system, key to what regulates and controls our emotions, is a specific part of the physical brain. And social factors such as environment, connection to others, and how we interact with the world is related to our awareness of ourselves, our mind, thoughts and how in balance the emotional part of the brain is.

This discussion covers 5 separate topics and areas of life experience where the practice of Meditation delivers good results.

A healthy emotional brain

One psychosocial approach (Human Givens Institute) states that if we have our innate emotional needs met healthily and in balance as much as we can - even in a toxic environment - that there is less need for the negative stress chemistry in the body to occur. The stress response occurs when the Limbic system needs to step in and take over temporarily, generating physical symptoms as strong as when other innate needs aren’t met such as hunger, thirst or tiredness.

Physical and mental illness, inflammation, the experience of pain, sleep disruption, addictive behaviour, a poor immune system, cardiac issues, Fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression are all greatly influenced by stress and how well we respond to the events that bring it into our lives.

Balance and Contentment

Meditation can help us to get these needs met quickly, effectively and by assisting the person in taking responsibility for their lives and wellbeing has long term as well as short term benefits. So, if we consider how the practice of Meditation helps us to take control with getting human innate needs met, then we can see that it truly helps the human psyche at a deeper level.

These human givens, or innate needs are Being in Control and there is more available to us. There is Feeling Secure, Having Privacy (to consolidate thinking), Connection (where there is acceptance of who we are), a Sense of Achievement, being part of a Community (connection to mankind), Feeling Purposeful (feeling stretched).

These are seven of the nine needs suggested and it seems obvious that a practice such as meditation - by easily meeting these needs healthily - can lift someone out of discomfort and unhappiness and into a world of feeling contentment and happiness.

The remaining two needs are Status and Attention (giving and receiving) - there is plenty of time in all of the other hours of the day to look to get those needs well met also. Arguably the byproduct of Meditation of being more understanding of ourselves and others, and being more comfortable in our own skins helps with these two also.

Happiness and Joy

The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DPFC) region of the human brain is where self control and discipline comes from within us. In here lies our ability to manage our state of mind and concentration.

Positive emotional states that we associate with happiness and joy rely on denser neural connections developing in the DPFC.

Because Meditation and Mindfulness stimulates and exercises this area it effectively becomes stronger, bigger and more adept at working in response to life events - everyday ones or even when mishaps occur.

Helping with Pain

This was fundamentally one of the motivations behind Mindfulness, to help alleviate suffering from chronic pain. There is scientific evidence that meditators have higher pain thresholds and this is because the brain structure alters during - and because - of long term meditation.

A major factor also may be because pain does not actually exist in the physical body where it is being experienced. Pain is an output of the brain, messaging

through the nervous system to protect and warn us and oftentimes to ensure we do not repeat an action that previously caused an injury.

As pain without a clear physical cause is still real to the person, we might consider that reframing the experience and becoming adept at stepping back, perceiving this nervous system response differently may help with our level of suffering with this symptom.

With more presence of mind, clarity and self awareness we might even spot and understand the stories and experiences behind our physical suffering and clear a trauma that may be stuck in our mind or body. The calming and objectivity of a meditation practice can at times facilitate this.

Responding to external conflicts

Life can be unpredictable and curve balls can come our way. Dealing with challenges, tricky people and unexpected discomfort is part of how we learn and become more resilient.

Living a life with some spare capacity and having a regular meditative practice helps us to respond to difficulties more objectively and deal with hard experiences calmly and patiently.

Having quicker access to our natural perspective and noticing our own responses based on what we know about ourselves, listening to others and seeking to understand their behaviour from a place of kindness and compassion can help us resolve conflicts.

Equally we can learn to be boundaried enough to know where a problem lies and removing ourselves physically and / or emotionally at times from situations or a person can be more helpful, for all parties. Meditation can teach us that we can be comfortable with having boundaries as they should come from a place of respect for ourselves as well as others.

Ultimately being more calm, we can be less upset quicker or even manage to avoid the emergence of uncomfortable situations in the first place. It’s not just about words and actions though, If we are genuinely calm, the tonality of our nervous system portrays this.

Through neuroception other people, should they feel heard and understood will likely join us and calm down. When people are calm, the black and white thinking

style changes to one of perspective where shades of grey are possible. Then solutions can be found.

If we can develop the habit of being able to naturally access the present moment through a meditation practice this means we will not be stuck in the past or fixated on the worries or obstacles of an imagined future. Evidence surely of the perfect state of good health and wellbeing.