The popularity of meditation is on the rise, with 14.2 percent of Americans practicing mindfulness  in the past year. The majority of people who meditate do so to improve their emotional and cognitive wellbeing, however, meditation can be highly beneficial for your physical health as well.  Studies have shown that meditation can reduce sensations of pain and unpleasantness by as much as a 57%, and can lower levels of cellular inflammation and improve immune function. If you’re living with chronic pain or in the process of recovering from a long-term illness, meditation can improve your overall health and quality of life. The physiological and psychological benefits of meditation make it a crucial component of self-care when you’re dealing day-to-day with the stress and discomfort of an illness.

Meditation Helps You Cope with Pain

If you’re dealing with chronic pain, you may have already  tried a slew of prescription medications, physical therapy and other treatments to cope. Chronic pain can affect all areas of your life, and can take a toll on your mental health. With the use of MRIs, scientists have determined that certain forms of meditation can activate and reinforce neural pathways in the brain associated with processing pain. Pain disorders that occur without the presence of tissue damage, like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, are highly responsive to meditation.  Meditation also stimulates the brain to release chemicals like endorphins and dopamine, which work as natural pain relievers.

Meditation Reduces Stress To Improve Cardiovascular Health

Reducing stress is crucial for better health whether or not you’re living with an illness. Stress plays a role in causing inflammation throughout the body through the release of hormones like cortisol. When you are stressed, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, and your muscles become tense and stiff. Meditation shifts your focus away from external stressors to achieve an inner sense of calm. As a result, your sympathetic nervous system can relax, as your body no longer exerts its total energy in a flight-or-fight response. This allows you to enjoy better sleep, a better mood and better cardiovascular health.

Meditation Improves Your Mental Health and Overall Attitude

There is a significant correlation between chronic disease and mental illness.. The impact of dealing with pain in everyday life, as well as the financial, social and occupational challenges  can take a toll on your mental health. The effect can be cyclical; as you become depressed, you are less likely to attend doctors appointments, exercise and make the right nutritional choices necessary to care for yourself. Meditation helps you overcome distracting or obsessive thoughts that may hinder your path to joy. Focused patterns of breathing, visualization techniques and engaging the senses encourages you to stay present in the moment and feel in control of what’s to come. To bolster the mood enhancing benefits of meditation, involve friends and family in a meditation session and make it a group activity. Finding ways to spend time with loved ones is important when you are dealing with an illness, and meditation can be a safe, relaxing and beneficial activity you can all enjoy together.

The physiological effects of meditation can improve your health and facilitate faster and easier healing. Taking time out of your day to center your mind can also help alleviate the stress and emotional burden of dealing with an illness. Used in conjunction with your doctor’s prescribed methods of treatment, meditation can be a valuable tool when you’re living with or recovering from an illness.