Benefits of Meditation

I regularly suggest meditation as both a form of stress relief as well as a way of re-training your body how to react to stress.  It’s fantastic if you can just sit quietly and clear your mind of thoughts, but I can’t.  Personally, I prefer guided meditation because it gives me something to think about and focus on during my meditation time.  Even having a voice to listen to I still find that my mind wanders, but I am conscious to just bring it back to the words I’m listening to – non-judgmentally.  Meditation can be helpful during stressful times, but it is beneficial for many other reasons:

1. Helping lower blood pressure
2. Decreasing heart and respiratory rates
3. Increasing blood flow
4. Enhancing immune function
5. Reducing perception of pain and relieving chronic pain due to arthritis and other disorders
6. Maintaining level mood
7. Bringing awareness and mindfulness to everyday aspects of life
8. Insomnia

My favorite source for guided meditations is www.elibay.com.  I put them on my iPod and try to plug myself in on a daily basis!