Meditation is a powerful tool. In fact, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Some view this as a foreign concept, but it is an ancient practice that has been essential in many religious beliefs. Through meditation, people find increased self-awareness as they train their minds to focus on the present. While it creates awareness and mindfulness, meditation also imparts breathing lessons that improve overall physical fitness.
Recent studies on meditation have exhibited a positive correlation with mental and physical health. It also lowers resting heart rate, improves sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety, significantly contributing to good physical health.
Below are 5 of the most important and relevant reasons meditation makes us fitter.
Builds Mental Grit
If you’ve participated in any fitness challenge, you know that mental and physical strength go hand in hand.
Just as exercising makes the body stronger, meditation makes the mind stronger. It helps build resilience and mental grit, which are essential for pushing your limits while training. Creating mental fortitude will ultimately help you power through physical challenges and grow stronger in ways you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
Improves Breathing Techniques
At its core, meditation focuses on getting rid of the noise around you so you can listen to the sounds within you. It uses breathing techniques to get rid of external clutter and bring in relaxation.
This patterned breathing also helps in the proper flow of oxygen to your muscles. So, you can finish your training sessions stronger without gasping for breath. Instead of getting breathless as you reach the final reps, you can do rhythmic breathing and complete your workout efficiently through meditation.
Breathwork techniques used in meditation are also helpful in recovery and healing, thus reducing physical fatigue and improving muscle recovery post-training from vigorous workouts on magnetic resistance spin bikes and heavy-duty exercise bikes.
Acts As Pain Relief And Makes You Tolerant
Studies have shown that people who practice meditation are better at handling chronic pain than those who do not meditate. It uses the brain’s pain-reducing opioids to tackle pain and helps improve mental health. It is observed that mindfulness meditation strongly breaks the brain’s association pattern with pain and alters the brain’s structure to reduce the intensity of the pain.
This remarkable ability to cope with pain can be a great tool to push your overall fitness. Meditation can be used as a tool to revitalize your mind and body to prepare you for a tough and grueling workout session on your favorite exercise bike with arms.
Improved Health – Lower Blood Pressure, Reduced Stress & Anxiety
Amongst the many benefits of meditation, physical health is one of them. Meditation improves the functioning of the heart through reduced stress and anxiety. It puts the mind in a state of zen, allowing the brain to send signals to the rest of the body to relax. It not only controls blood pressure but also helps in lowering the resting heart rate.
Of the many physical benefits, meditation also has the prowess to reduce stress and anxiety levels. Meditation is also about managing and clearing away the information overload that could lead to stress. It helps you react to stress better and offers anxiety-coping skills.
Improves the Quality of Sleep
Our thoughts are the strongest during bedtime, and the struggle to fall asleep quickly is pervasive. Quality of sleep is more essential than hours of sleep for physical fitness. This is especially true in the social media era, where the mind is subjected to information overload. One of the ways to get the mind to rest and control thoughts is through meditation. Few of the breathing techniques used in meditation allow the mind and body to relax simultaneously.
Meditation lowers the resting heart rate and prompts slower breathing, increasing the chances of sound sleep. And individuals with good and sound sleeping patterns exhibit endurance and stamina throughout the day.
Conclusion
People who meditate regularly are the ones who are physically and mentally robust and also have a great sense of self-awareness. Meditation is a practice, a skill, and an experience that can positively impact your overall health and happiness.
Meditation and exercise are a powerful combination to elevate overall fitness levels. Consistently practicing them provides the agility required to face everyday challenges and delays the onset of many diseases and illnesses. The beauty of meditation is that it is accessible to all, and it can be done at any time and any place. You don’t have to be dressed as a yogi or a monk or go to the serene mountains to begin your meditation journey. You can start NOW!
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