Health Benefits of Meditation
Why is the immune system important ?
Our immune system is something that most of
us probably don't give a lot of thought to, but is so important because
it protects us against infection and disease. It has been estimated
that up to 90% of doctor visits are stress related and one reason is
because chronic stress affects our immune system. During
the first few minutes of getting stressed our immune system actually
strengthens, as if we’re in physical danger and we’re about to be sliced
and diced, then its good to have a few more antibodies in our system to
help speed healing later. However if the stress goes on longer, which
can often be the case when we worry, the strength of our immune system
plummets, leaving us vulnerable to colds, flu and worse.
What are the health benefits of meditation & mindfulness ?
Research
is increasingly showing the health benefits of meditation. For
instance, a number of studies have demonstrated that mindfulness
meditation for wellbeing significantly boosts the immune system.
Researchers taught an 8-week meditation for wellbeing course to
stressed-out employees silicon valley company. At the end of the course
the participants, and an untrained control group were given the flu
vaccine to test immune system response. Follow-up blood tests revealed
that the mindfulness group generated a significantly greater number of
antibodies than those who didn’t have the mindfulness training.
In a remarkable study conducted at UCLA, a similar 8-week course helped slow the progression of HIV. People with the disease were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness-trained group or the control group. By the end of the course the control group’s CD4-T cells, the “brains” of the immune system, dropped by 25% - the usual rate for people with HIV. In those with mindfulness meditation for wellbeing training however, these cells did not decline but rather increased slightly, with the greatest increases experienced by those who had the greatest ‘dose’ of meditation (they meditated the most). Pretty amazing stuff, eh?
The health benefits of meditation span across all aspects of living. In addition to reducing the effects of stress on the immune system, Meditation has also been found to help with a number of other physical ailments, such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue and even psoriasis, a stress-related skin disorder. Research at University of Massachusetts Medical School, found that the psoriasis of mindfulness practitioners cleared at about 4 times the rate of the non-meditators.
In a remarkable study conducted at UCLA, a similar 8-week course helped slow the progression of HIV. People with the disease were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness-trained group or the control group. By the end of the course the control group’s CD4-T cells, the “brains” of the immune system, dropped by 25% - the usual rate for people with HIV. In those with mindfulness meditation for wellbeing training however, these cells did not decline but rather increased slightly, with the greatest increases experienced by those who had the greatest ‘dose’ of meditation (they meditated the most). Pretty amazing stuff, eh?
The health benefits of meditation span across all aspects of living. In addition to reducing the effects of stress on the immune system, Meditation has also been found to help with a number of other physical ailments, such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue and even psoriasis, a stress-related skin disorder. Research at University of Massachusetts Medical School, found that the psoriasis of mindfulness practitioners cleared at about 4 times the rate of the non-meditators.
Article by Headspace: http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/wellbeing-meditation.aspx
