When I tell my friends about meditation, they’re initial reaction is usually disinterest. Meditation seems to be an underutilized therapeutic method that helps release stress and anxiety from the body. If done properly, meditating might just be the fix you’ve been looking for to help balance your chaotic life.
Some might begin meditating for various reasons, like the undeniable health benefits of lowered blood pressure, stress reduction and better sleep. Others might turn to meditation in search of relief from polluting negative and restless thoughts that flood one’s mind.
A landmark study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that as little as eight weeks of meditation will not only help you find peace, but also grow areas of the brain associated with memory, empathy, stress regulation and sense of self.
If you’re anything like me, finding a way to control anxiety is crucial. When thoughts or tasks takeover the mind, it feels like there’s no way to avoid being overwhelmed, and sometimes that can affect the mind’s functionality. The more often we meditate, the less general anxiety we will have as individuals.
By meditating we loosen the connections in certain neural pathways, which releases tension. To better understand how this works we need to understand that there’s a section in our brain’s referred to as the "Me Center," or prefrontal cortex, which processes information relating to our experiences and ourselves. When we experience a scary sensation, such as waking up suddenly from a nightmare, there’s a strong reaction in our Me Center. By weakening this connection through meditation, we’re able to experience frightening situations more rationally rather than fearfully, which as a result, lowers our overall levels of anxiety.
People have been meditating for thousands of years to do just that, move beyond the mind’s stress-inducing thoughts and emotional upsets into a place of serenity and clarity. There’s an infinite amount of techniques used for those who meditate, but the essence is singular, encouraging mindful awareness and expanded consciousness.
As college students especially, our stress levels can be significantly high, but luckily that can change.
For those of you reading this that think they might be interested in learning how to meditate, you can start with something as simple as Headspace, a meditation app invented by a former Buddhist monk, Andy Puddicombe. Think of it like a gym membership for your mind. This meditation is geared towards high stress individuals like you and I. It works by Andy guiding you through 10 minutes of meditation everyday until you’ve mastered it yourself. All you have to do is sit down and listen.
So what are you waiting for? You don’t need to live with unbearable anxiety and frustration, find peace in this world of chaos.
