I’d like to pass on to all of the wonderful benefits that Nick Polizzi (“The Sacred Science “ documentary) has to say about meditation:

“If there is one practice that I’d recommend to anyone who wants to improve their health and overall quality of life, the answer is simple.
Meditate.

By now you’ve probably seen it recommended in major headlines, and that’s because this millennia-old practice is now proven to be extremely beneficial to your mental and physical health. The ancients used it regularly to achieve a better sense of balance and control in their lives — and to heal disease.

While it has many different forms, each with their own nuance, meditation is essentially about creating and then maintaining an alert but calm state of consciousness — where the mind is aware while the body is relaxed. The key here is regular practice, ideally at the same time(s) each day, so that it becomes a routine, or a habit. Once you get to that point, the mind becomes a very powerful tool, and the body is better able to kick-start its natural ability to heal.

Mental Benefits

Since a large part of meditation is about controlling the mind (I would say “watching” instead of “controlling” – ed.), it’s no surprise that many of the outcomes directly affect our mental state in a positive way.
First of all, it enhances your brain function. As a result, this leads to:

• increased mental strength and ability to focus
• better memory, better cognitive skills, and more creativity
• the development of intuition
• a sharper mind that does a better job of processing information, making decisions, solving problems, and ignoring distractions

Recent research from more than 160 different studies shows that meditation actually increases grey matter in the brain (in areas related to memory and thought) while also changing the brain in a way that has a positive effect on anxiety, stress, and depression.

Neuroplasticity from Meditation

Meditation actually alters the circuitry in the brain by changing the brain waves in the left prefrontal cortex — sending more gamma waves through the brain, which leads to more organized information. What’s incredible is that researchers now believe these changes (from meditating) can be permanent, so even a small amount of regular meditation can have quite an impact.

And don’t forget about the increased serotonin production. That’s right, meditating actually can boost your mood, your behavior, and your general level of happiness.

Physical Benefits

If meditation has all these positive effects on the brain, it’s only natural for those benefits to translate to the physical body. Among its many benefits, meditation helps to manage your heart rate and breathing rate, and these positive results last for more than 6 months after each training period.

Additionally, a Harvard Medical School study showed that meditating improves mitochondrial energy production and consumption, which effectively means more energy, a boosted immune system, and a resilience to stress.

Other studies have shown that it reduces blood pressure, and helps to decrease the effects of inflammatory disorders as well as premenstrual syndrome and menopausal symptoms.

Benefits in less time than a nightly news show…

Meditating for 30 minutes a day has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s, and a UCLA study points to how meditation can help treat HIV by stopping the decline of CD4 T-cells in patients.

Finally, more and more research is being conducted on how meditation may have positive effects on the length of telomeres, which affect how cells age — that’s right, it may even increase your lifespan!

Social Benefits

When you combine these benefits with the fact that you are now regularly getting a better perspective and awareness of who you really are and how you function best, it’ll come as no surprise that you will start to see your relationships improve as well. Why wouldn’t they? You’re in better physical condition, with a better mental state, and you’re able to see yourself and those around you in a brand new light. Others will surely be able to see it too and be drawn to it.

Here’s the thing about meditation…

You don’t need to be a brain expert in order to discover or confirm these positive effects. More importantly, you don’t need to be a yogi, a swami, a shaman, or a monk (or spend as much time as they do meditating) in order for it to have a tremendous impact on your life. You just need to experience it yourself a few times, and then you’ll know why millions are embracing this powerful practice.”

Thanks Nick!