Fight inflammation with meditation

Meditation calms your mind and nourishes your soul, but did you know it can also improve your health? So how can you can fight inflammation with meditation?

Meditation can reduce stress and anxiety, and help you chill out after a horrible day.  But you probably know this already! But you may not know that meditation can actually fight inflammation in the body. Meditation positively affects not just your mind, but also your body at a molecular and cellular level.

Imperceptible, protracted inflammation can contribute to a variety of diseases including cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and even cancer. Meditation may be the key to reducing your risk of developing these conditions.

Meditation increases telomerase, which directly regulates inflammation
A study published in the Journal Psychoneuroendocrinology notes that meditation can increase the activity of an enzyme called telomerase in your body. Telomerase is responsible for the growth of telomeres (protective cap-like structures at the end of each chromosome) whose length is considered to be a reliable indicator of immunity and cellular aging. The shorter your teleomeres, the more likely you are to develop aging-associated gene expression and increased inflammatory responses. Telomeres respond well to healthy diet and positive lifestyle changes. After 30 days of intense meditation, the participants showed increased telomerase activity.

Meditation reduces pro-inflammatory gene expression
When you meditate, you are in fact altering the expression of a variety of genes which are involved in diseases. A study led by J. David Creswell, Carnegie Mellon’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, found that mindfulness based meditation reduces loneliness and risk of disease in older adults. It significantly brought down the pro-inflammatory gene expression and C-Reactive Protein in their blood. High CRP levels indicate inflammation.

The studies help to further understand the link between lifestyle and health. Even though many diseases have a genetic origin, isn’t it good to know that there are things that you can do to positively impact your genes? Even a single day of meditation can positively affect the genes that control stress and inflammation. So it only makes sense to make meditation a part of your lifestyle in order to achieve health naturally.

So, how do you meditate?
Meditation is an overall term that indicates a wide variety of practices that are intended to help you focus your attention and modify your thoughts.

Mindfulness meditation is a practice where you focus all your attention on whatever is happening at the moment. You pay attention to the flow of breath in and out of the body and also bring awareness into each and every sensation that you are experiencing at the moment.

Transcendental meditation makes use of chanting of a particular word or sound, or a silent mantra, in order to prevent other thoughts from entering the mind and enter a profound state of aware relaxation.

Mindfulness can be practised anywhere, any time. You can cultivate mindfulness even when you’re out for a stroll. In fact there are walking meditation techniques that are practised by Buddhists.

No matter what your preferred method of meditation is, the best thing is that even 10 mins of daily meditation can bring about significant benefits. We’re converts – you’ll find us in the lotus position looking serene!