How Mindful Meditation Can Reverse Depression

Millions of people around the world have learned how mindful meditation can reverse depression . Now you can use this powerful tool to vastly improve your quality of life.

Mindful meditation has the ability to reduce stress, relieve depression and anxiety , and lower your blood pressure, according to research published by the National Institute of Mental Health. Mindful meditation is responsible for reduced high blood pressure and death rates, according to the American Journal of Cardiology. A University of California study found that patients who undertook an 8-week mindfulness meditation program reported fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, a better sense of self control and well-being, and higher scores on a measure of spiritual experiences.

Depression and Stress

People suffering from depression frequently experience unhealthy levels of stress. The physical and psychological effects of depression and stress combined can be far more damaging than either one alone, according to National Institute of Mental Health. Brain imaging scans have shown that one of the main functions of stress is to rewire the brain's emotional circuitry, affecting brain function.

Near the hippocampus, there is a part of your brain known as the amygdala. The amygdala reacts strongly to emotionally-charged experiences, either positive or negative. Stressful experiences trigger your amygdala to produce a chemical response, known as "fight or flight". These impulses normally fade away quickly in emotionally healthy people. Brain imaging studies have shown that long-term stress caused by depression may cause your brain to become easily overwhelmed by fear, guilt, and feelings of hopelessness and impede your brain's ability to produce positive emotions. These impulses linger due to persistent ruminations and emotional flooding in people suffering from anxiety and depression disorders, and can result in the development of chronic disease, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity , and diabetes.

How Mindful Meditation Can Help

Major modern health issues are linked to high levels of stress. Mindful meditation has been proven to be extremely effective in stress reduction. Meditation allows people to release stress, calm the brain, lower blood pressure, and oxygenate the body, lessening and reversing stress-related disorders.

A research study published in the journal Stroke found that practicing meditation techniques for 20 minutes each day resulted in a reduction in fatty deposits in patients' arteries. Even small reductions can reduce the risk of a heart attack by 11%, and the risk of stroke by 15%. Meditation can strengthen the immune system, improve sleep, aid in weight loss, and helps patients suffering from chronic illnesses to cope with pain. It is one of the most effective ways of becoming physically healthy and emotionally balanced. University and medical research studies of people who meditate show that they have higher levels of self confidence , increased energy, and improved mental functions at all ages. Meditation appears to slow down the aging process. According to a study published in the International Journal of Neuroscience people who meditated regularly were physiologically twelve years younger than their chronological age.

Mindful meditation helps the brain block the fight or flight response, and allows the brain to redirect your reaction to a constructive or positive experience. This practice reprograms your brain so you can tolerate higher levels of stress, and quickly diminishes the anxiety, guilt, anger, sadness, shame, and emotional addiction that you have been building all of your life. Once you free your mind and restore your body's natural balance, you can see adversity and life's challenges as a catalyst for self growth.

Now you have joined the millions of others who have learned how mindful meditation reverses depression, and gives you the freedom to enjoy the best that life has to offer.