“Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.” Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh said. Plus, a regular practice of meditation offers us peace of mind, vibrant health and incredible joy. Physical benefits include improved immunity and an increase in energy. In terms of mental prosperity, meditation can boost creativity, while lowering anxiety. We explore 100 mind, body and spirit benefits of the practice, below.

Did you know that people who meditate for a short time each day are much happier than people who don’t?

Meditators are much healthier with greatly extended life spans, too. As a matter of fact, their health is so much better that a number of insurance companies have reduced premiums for people who meditate.

Did you know that experienced meditators have developed many latent abilities that they never knew they had, abilities that exist within every person? And they have gotten much closer to answering life’s mysterious questions?

They are much smarter, too. In fact, meditators brains have been proven to function at a superior level on every single test, measurement, and assessment that the scientific community has generated. That is one reason why top level executives and CEOs meditate.

Were you aware that meditators produce immensely more pleasurable brain chemicals, the same chemicals that flow through your system on the days when you feel very good, and these pleasurable brain chemicals are produced constantly?

Did you know that they also sleep much better? As a matter of fact, they need fewer hours of sleep every night because their mind and bodies are completely refreshed and rejuvenated during their highly pleasurable meditation sessions. Meditation is many times more powerful than sleep.

Also, meditators have far superior mental and emotional health. They have less anxiety, depression, anger, sadness, fear, and they have more friends, healthier relationships, and feel a great deal more satisfied and content with their lives.

Physiological benefits:
1- It lowers oxygen consumption
2- It decreases respiratory rate
3- It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate
4- Increases exercise tolerance
5- Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation
6- Good for people with high blood pressure
7- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate
8- Decreases muscle tension
9- Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc.
10- Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms
11- Helps in post-operative healing
12- Enhances the immune system
13- Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress
14- Enhances energy, strength and vigour
15- Helps with weight loss
16- Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage
17- Higher skin resistance
18- Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease
19- Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing
20- Decreases the aging process
21- Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
22- prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases
23- Makes you sweat less
24- Cure headaches & migraines
25- Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning
26- Reduced Need for Medical Care
27- Less energy wasted
28- More inclined to sports, activities
29- Significant relief from asthma
30- improved performance in athletic events
31- Normalizes to your ideal weight
32- harmonizes our endocrine system
33- relaxes our nervous system
34- produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity
35- Cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation)

Psychological benefits:
36- Builds self-confidence
37- Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour
38- Resolve phobias & fears
39- Helps control own thoughts
40- Helps with focus & concentration
41- Increase creativity
42- Increased brain wave coherence
43- Improved learning ability and memory
44- Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation
45- Increased emotional stability
46- improved relationships
47- Mind ages at slower rate
48- Easier to remove bad habits
49- Develops intuition
50- Increased Productivity
51- Improved relations at home & at work
52- Able to see the larger picture in a given situation
53- Helps ignore petty issues
54- Increased ability to solve complex problems
55- Purifies your character
56- Develop will power
57- greater communication between the two brain hemispheres
58- react more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event
59- increases one’s perceptual ability and motor performance
60- higher intelligence growth rate
61- Increased job satisfaction
62- increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones
63- decrease in potential mental illness
64- Better, more sociable behavior
65- Less aggressiveness
66- Helps in quitting smoking, alcohol addiction
67- Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals
68- Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation
69- Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia
70- Increases sense of responsibility
71- Reduces road rage
72- Decrease in restless thinking
73- Decreased tendency to worry
74- Increases listening skills and empathy
75- Helps make more accurate judgements
76- Greater tolerance
77- Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways
78- Grows a stable, more balanced personality
79- Develops emotional maturity

Spiritual benefits:
80- Helps keep things in perspective
81- Provides peace of mind, happiness
82- Helps you discover your purpose
83- Increased self-actualization.
84- Increased compassion
85- Growing wisdom
86- Deeper understanding of yourself and others
87- Brings body, mind, spirit in harmony
88- Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation
89- Increased acceptance of oneself
90- helps learn forgiveness
91- Changes attitude toward life
92- Creates a deeper relationship with your God
93- Attain enlightenment
94- greater inner-directedness
95- Helps living in the present moment
96- Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love
97- Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego
98- Experience an inner sense of “Assurance or Knowingness”
99- Experience a sense of “Oneness”
100- Increases the synchronicity in your life

Originally posted on BodyMindSoulSpirit.com.

-Art via Whole Living