Here’s How Meditation Improves The Health Of Your Body & Mind

I recommend meditation practices for almost every single person I see in my telehealth clinic, and I practice meditation every day. Daily meditation over a long period of time is one of the least invasive ways to practice self-care and restore your gut-brain connection.

It’s vital to understand the kind of meditation program that works for you to reap the evidence-based health benefits of meditation.

Let’s review the science of how meditation can improve your mental and physical health, and how you can unlock the transformative power of this time honored practice to cultivate a happy, healthy mind and body.

Meditation and the Mind-Body Connection

At the heart of functional medicine - and the main focus of my book Gut Feelings - the mind-body connection emphasizes the profound relationship between our mental and physical health. Meditation serves as a bridge, fostering harmony between your emotions and physical wellbeing. By promoting relaxation and reducing the body's inflammatory response, meditation supports brain health and overall well-being.

Benefits of Meditation

As a functional medicine expert, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits meditation can have on your health and well-being beyond just reducing stress. Without further ado, let's explore some of the most powerful and profound benefits of meditation for the mind and body.

1. Reduced Inflammation

When facing significant stressors in life, your body undergoes many processes that can lead to inflammation. One such process is the way a factor called NFkB is expressed, increasing chronic inflammation (a contributor to almost every chronic health problem in modern society).

NFkB (Nuclear Factor Kappa B) is a protein transcription factor that controls certain genes responsible for inflammation. (1) The way this factor “expresses” itself is one thing scientists often research in connection with inflammatory diseases, especially autoimmune conditions.

A randomized controlled trial found that a meditation program for just 12 minutes each day over the course of 8 weeks reduced the NFkB activity, lowering chronic inflammation caused by stress. (2)

LISTEN: Yung Pueblo: How To Use Spirituality + Meditation To Heal Your Body 

2. Improved Immune Function

Related to its impact on inflammation, meditation may also improve genetic pathways that control our immune system. (3)

A systematic review of studies in 2016 found that mindfulness meditation, in particular, improved several markers of immunity across different conditions, from upper respiratory infection to HIV. (4)

3. Less Chronic Pain

Since meditation can lower inflammation and promote a sense of calm, it makes sense that it can also naturally ease pain. Meditation improves several brain mechanisms that impact how we experience pain, from pain intensity to how unpleasant that pain feels. (5)

When testing meditation techniques for chronic pain, researchers discovered that, compared to placebo, meditation decreased pain, improved quality of life, and even reduced depression symptoms. (6)

Mindfulness meditation may also reduce pain in fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). (7, 8)

Related: 8 Amazing Acupressure Mat Benefits 

4. Better Mental Health

Many studies show that meditation helps to reduce anxiety. This works because the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that calms feelings of anxiousness, is activated by meditation. (9)

The effects of meditation also rival the results of mood-altering medications for emotion regulation. Research over the years has shown that meditation can help treat: (10)

• Anxiety disorders
• Addiction
• Aggression
• Symptoms of depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (11)
• Suicidal behaviors and ideation

One reason this might happen is that meditation increases gray matter volume in the brain in the right angular and posterior parahippocampal gyri areas that control mood. (10)

Through meditation, we can influence the delicate balance of neurotransmitters including serotonin and dopamine to promote an optimal state of mental well-being. Studies have shown (12) that meditation increases serotonin production, leading to improved mood and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression. Meditation has also been linked (13) to increased dopamine levels amplifying feelings of pleasure, focus, and motivation.

Particularly for those dealing with addiction, meditation might also help reduce cravings for alcohol and binge eating. (14, 15)

Read Next: The 15 Best Natural Supplements For Anxiety 

5. Reduced Stress

Stress isn’t just something you feel; it’s measurable! Markers like cortisol (the ‘stress hormone’), heart rate, blood pressure, C-reactive protein, and TNF-alpha are just some of the factors scientists test to identify biological stress.

All of the different types of meditation reduced these markers, according to a 2017 meta-analysis of studies. (16)

Meditative practices positively regulate the area of the brain that controls stress, known as the subiculum area of the hippocampus. (17)

This is just further proof that meditation is not woo-woo — it reduces chronic stress by improving the way your brain operates (no crystals necessary!).

By alleviating stress, meditation also lowers (18) neuroinflammation, a significant contributor to cognitive decline and various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.