How can meditation help with mental health?
I’ve seen and met several people with mental problems. That led me to wonder what are some things people with mental problems can do other than taking medication? While searching I came across meditation but I can’t just believe anything I read on the internet so I felt like I had to dig a little deeper. Now I am left with the question of how meditation can help mental health? Before I really go deep into that I have to have a good understanding of what meditation is and how to do it. I first started by researching the different types of meditation and what they were. The first type of meditation was guided meditation which is basically when you are led by someone or something. For example if I am listening to a video of someone describing a scenery to bring me a relaxing feeling I am partaking in guided meditation. Then there is breath based meditation where I would focus on your breath to help relax me and clear my mind which is the general type of meditation that most people know about and is the easiest to participate in. The last one I learned about was body scan where it was described to me as “Sitting comfortably, taking a deep breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth. As you breathe out, close your eyes. Notice how the body feels right now. Starting at the top of the head, gently scan down through the body, noticing what feels comfortable and what feels uncomfortable”.
Is there a specific time to meditate? According to Bockstock they did a study where “ The app offered 45 prerecorded 10- to 20-min guided audio meditations. Participants were asked to complete one meditation per day.” Based on this research the average amount of times to meditate a day is one but is not limited to that.(Scott) You can meditate any time of the day based on the reason you are meditating, if it is to help you calm down and relax your mind you would most likely do it earlier during the day but if you want to do it to help you go to sleep then you would do it in the night time. That also led me to wonder if there are specific things to do while meditating?
Why do people touch fingers when meditating? “This gesture is used to improve intuition, alertness, and sensory powers. It also purifies your emotions and thoughts. Method: This mudra is performed by touching the tip of the middle finger to the thumb tip, while keeping the other three fingers straight and relaxed. You have to bring your index fingers and thumbs to touch. This specific mudra is said to generate knowledge, wisdom, receptivity and calmness. A variation of the position is to lower the index finger onto the thumb knuckle’s crease. This variation is said to generate a more active and protective energy”.(Leo) That just means that there are studies to prove that it improves your meditation. It would be better just to do it than not. Now that I know these things I should figure out how meditation directly helps me.
That leads me to my question: what are the benefits of meditation? According to Denise “there are just a handful of meditation benefits that both medical experts and yoga practitioners have reported: Reduced stress level, Less anxiety, Improved emotional health, Enhanced self-awareness, More gratefulness, Better focus, Improved sleep, Helps control pain, Decreased blood pressure, and Increases productivity with there also being different types of meditation which are Concentrative Meditation… Mindfulness Meditation… Active/Dynamic Meditation”. This shows how meditation has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, improve emotional health, increase self-awareness, and improve focus and sleep. All these different benefits make it so that there isn’t only one use or reason to meditate but several different times when to.
Are there studies that prove that meditation helps mental health? A study done by Iqbal was made public which stated “The analysis of mental health dimensions showed mixed results. On one hand, significant improvement was found in integration of personality, autonomy and environmental mastery, and on the other hand, no significant change was noted on the dimension of perception of reality, positive self-evaluation and group-oriented attitude. Overall, it can be concluded that dynamic meditation was effective in improving the mental health of the subjects in the experimental group.” This basically shows how dynamic meditation was found to improve certain aspects of mental health, such as personality integration, autonomy, and environmental mastery, but not perception of reality, positive self-evaluation, or group-oriented attitude. Overall, the findings suggest that dynamic meditation can help improve mental health. Now to go further, how does meditation affect my brain not only mentally but in general.
How does meditation affect my brain? “These studies have reported various positive effects of mindfulness meditation on emotional processing, such as a reduction in emotional interference by unpleasant stimuli87, decreased physiological reactivity and facilitated return to emotional baseline after response to a stressor film88, and decreased self-reported difficulties in emotion regulation89. Consequently, lowered intensity and frequency of negative affect90,91 and improved positive mood states14,91,92 are reported to be associated with mindfulness meditation”(Tang). This shows how mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve emotional processing by reducing emotional interference, decreasing physiological reactivity, and improving emotional regulation. These effects have been linked to decreased negative affect and increased positive mood states. I feel like you can get the same thing with resting.
What makes meditation different from sleep? “Meditation appears to provide at least a short term improvement in reaction time performance, and may also provide a longer term reduction in sleep need roughly equal to the time spent in meditation”(Kaul). This is saying that at least in the short term, meditation has been shown to improve reaction time performance. It may also result in a longer-term reduction in the need for sleep, with the amount of time spent in meditation roughly equaling the reduction in sleep requirement meaning that they are very similar to each other. Since they are similar then why didn’t the person who came up with it just sleep instead of meditating?
Where does meditation originate from, like What is the history like what religion started it? According to Wynne “Having identified early material that goes back to the Buddha himself, the author argues that the two teachers of the Buddha were historical figures. Based on the early Brahminic literature, namely the early Upanishads and Moksadharma, the author asserts the origin of the method of meditation learned by the Buddha from these teachers, and attempts to use them to identify some authentic teachings of the Buddha on meditation”. What this is saying is based on early texts and Brahminic literature, the author of this material states that the Buddha’s two teachers were real historical figures. The author also claims that the Buddha learned the method of meditation from these teachers, and he uses this information to try to identify authentic Buddha meditation teachings.
In conclusion meditation is a practice that entails focusing the mind in a specific way to achieve a state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation comes in many forms, including guided, breath-based, and body scan meditation, and it can be done at any time of day depending on the reason for meditating. Specific techniques, such as the use of mudras, can also be used to enhance the meditation experience. Meditation has numerous potential benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, improved emotional health, increased self-awareness, and improved focus and sleep. Meditation has also been shown in studies to improve certain aspects of mental health, though the results are mixed. Overall, meditation appears to be a beneficial tool for improving mental health and overall quality of life.
Bibliography:
Bostock, Sophie, et al. “Apa PsycNet.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 1 Feb. 2019, https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Focp0000118
Iqbal, Naved, et al. “Effect of Dynamic Meditation on Mental Health – Journal of Religion and Health.” SpringerLink, Springer US, 16 July 2015, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-015-0082-x
Tang, Yi-Yuan, et al. “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 18 Mar. 2015, https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3916
Kaul, Prashant, et al. “Meditation Acutely Improves Psychomotor Vigilance, and May Decrease Sleep Need – Behavioral and Brain Functions.” SpringerLink, BioMed Central, 29 July 2010, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1744-9081-6-47
Wynne, Alexander. “ABSTRACT.” The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Routledge 2009, London and New York.
Scott, Steve. “When Is the Best Time of Day to Meditate?” Happier Human, 17 Feb. 2021,
https://www.happierhuman.com/best-time-meditate/
Carver, Leo. “10 Powerful Meditation Mudras and How to Use Them.” Chopra, Chopra, 23 Aug. 2022,
Everheart, Denise. “The Scientific Benefits of Meditation: Head to Heart, Body to Mind.” Art Of Living (United States), 2022, https://www.artofliving.org/us-en/meditation/benefits/benefits-of-meditation
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