The Benefits of Meditation: Reduce Stress and Depression

Relax. Breathe. Repeat. Feel better.

Millions of Americans seek out meditation to reduce stress and improve their mental and physical health. And that number is growing. 

From 2012 to 2017, the number of mediating adults increased by more than 300%. Over the same period, the number of children who mediate increased by over 400%.

Why is meditation becoming so popular?

Part of meditation’s growth comes from easy access. Phone meditation apps like Calm and Headspace provide quick programs and instructions for people who can’t easily travel to a meditation center.

Another factor is that more schools and businesses accept meditation as part of their program. For instance, Coleman Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland leads their students in daily meditation exercises and has seen school suspensions drop to zero.

Furthermore, more employers are providing meditation training and meditation space to attract employees and increase their productivity. 

A final reason for the growing rise of meditation is that people are discovering meditation’s health and mental benefits. Let’s take a look.

The Benefits of Meditation

The most popular benefits of meditation include:

• Decreased stress and anxiety
• Weight control
• Addiction cessation
• Improved sleep
• Sharpened focus

However, not all meditation techniques work the same way. Oftentimes, meditation is linked and inseparable from religious practices, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, rather than focused on benefits. Some schools add complexity, like Zen, transcendental, and vipassana meditation.

While thousands of years of history and countless teachers and schools of practice give you many options, it makes understanding mediation difficult. 

For simplicity, we’ll look at broad categories of meditation and the benefits of each, including:

• Mindfulness
• Movement
• Focused
• Heart-centered
• Progressive Relaxation
• Visualization

Mindfulness Meditation 

This is the most popular and well-known form of meditation. It focuses on breathing, letting the mind wander, addressing thoughts without judgment, and then returning to your breath. Mindfulness meditation is used to:

• Lower stress
• Control weight
• Boost the immune system
• Combat addiction
• Regulate anxiety

Mindfulness meditation’s greatest benefit is stress reduction. Studies have found that long-term mindfulness meditation can decrease the size of the amygdala—the part of the brain associated with the “fight or flight’ response that triggers a stress reaction.

In addition, claims have been made that mindfulness meditation restructures the brain, but these statements require more evidence. In general, meditation is under-researched and existing studies lack adequate randomization and controls.

Other well-known meditation types include:

• Movement Meditation: This type of meditation includes fluid movements and a focus on the body. Tai chi, qigong, and yoga are the most popular forms. Movement meditation helps keep muscles toned and maintains balance.

• Focused Meditation: To undergo focused meditation, you concentrate on a single topic and slowly explore all your thoughts about it. This leads to discovering new insights and/or feelings about the topic. Focused meditation can also take the form of body scanning, which involves paying attention to the sensations in parts of your body. Body scan meditation is often used to address chronic pain.

• Heart-Centered Meditation: Similar to focused meditation, heart-centered meditation involves focusing on emotions. But instead of going deeper and exploring them, you let go of negative emotions and shift to a place of empathy and love while meditating.

• Progressive Relaxation: Designed with a specific structure, progressive relaxation meditation provides a guided way to relax your body. Typically, it provides instructions for a series of breathing and muscle tension/release exercises to calm your body. It can help you fall asleep or relax when experiencing acute stress.

• Visualization Meditation: Another guided type of meditation is called visualization meditation. Using guided imagery can be as simple as focusing on a color or as complex as imagining a whole world. Visualization meditation uses your imagination. It can involve imagining completing a task to improve future performance in that task, which athletes regularly do to prepare for competition. It can also help people fall asleep by imagining a peaceful scene.

Meditation Programs

Within these types of meditation, there are specific meditation methods and programs. One such example is the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). As the name states, MBSR is designed to reduce stress and pain. Ideal candidates include people with:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Chronic pain

Another example of a meditation program is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This program combines aspects of clinical psychology with mindfulness meditation to help people suffering from depression and unhappiness.

The Risks of Meditation

While meditation offers immediate benefits, it can have unintended consequences. Prolonged periods of mindfulness meditation, such as attending a retreat, can backfire, creating hypersensitivity to sights or sounds and disrupting sleep.

Moreover, mindfulness meditation can help those with PTSD relieve their trauma. However, it can also trigger PTSD symptoms and overwhelming flashbacks. Therefore, if you are receiving care from a mental health provider, ask if meditation is right for you before starting a practice.

The Future Benefits of Meditation

Beyond the health benefits of meditation, there could be more benefits waiting to be discovered. Future research could include brain imaging to reveal how meditation might affect the brain. As meditation practices become more structured, they become easier to test.

Given all the known benefits and potential future benefits, it makes more sense why so many people are turning to meditation. All you need to get started is a quiet space and time. So, what are you waiting for? Get started with a basic progressive relaxation meditation technique and see how it can benefit your life.