Number One: Slower Aging

As you age, your body gets slower, and you start to lose your edge, but meditation can actually slow down the aging process in your brain. This comes from a 2015 study from UCLA. They found that long-term meditators had healthier brains than non-meditators. You know the crazy thing is even the researchers were shocked by their findings. They expected a small difference, if any, in the size of their brains, but instead, they found significant changes in brain volume.

By meditating regularly, these people developed more gray matter, and their brain volume stayed far more consistent. In other words, meditation held back many of the most detrimental effects of aging in the brain, awarding them a healthier, more productive mind for years to come.

Number Two: Structural Transformation

But meditation doesn't just make your brain bigger; it can change the physical shape of your brain, too. According to a 2011 study from the Journal of Psychiatry Research, meditation transforms specific structures in the brain: the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The first, the hippocampus, is a tiny structure located in your temporal lobe. Despite its small size, your hippocampus plays a major role in critical cognitive functions like memory and learning. Without your hippocampus, you couldn't even remember your own name. After eight short weeks of meditation training, researchers found that participants had a larger, thicker hippocampus, which means faster learning and a much more efficient memory.

The second structure, the amygdala, is the emotional center of your brain. Known for its almond-like shape, the amygdala processes fundamental emotions like fear and anxiety. But the same 2011 study found that meditation reduces that negativity. It shrinks areas in your amygdala related to stress and other damaging emotions. In other words, by meditating frequently, you may actually transform the shape of your brain and change your life for the better.

Number Three: Deactivating Your Network

Your brain is full of systems and networks, like the default mode network or DMN. This large pack of neural structures spans across the majority of your brain, and it handles all kinds of cognitive functions from the creation of selfhood to episodic memory. It even covers theory of mind. To put it simply, your DMN helps you understand the past, the future, and the people around you, so you couldn't really live without it.

But your DMN isn't always your friend. An overactive network leads to something called mind wandering. Mind wandering is when your brain gets caught up in a cycle of what-ifs, worries, and doubts. These self-referential ideas come directly from your DMN and can really bring you down. In fact, a 2010 study from the Journal of Science explains that too much wandering makes people unhappy and unfocused. Luckily, meditation may be the answer.

A 2011 study from Yale University found that people who meditate have less activity in their DMN. Why is that? Well, because meditation slows down this neural network. It encourages you to live in the moment, to focus on the present, and spend less time worrying about your past or your future. That can really lift your spirits. The same 2011 study found that meditation can significantly improve your mood. Participants felt happier overall, and when their minds started to wander, they were much quicker to recover.

Number Four: Perception of Pain

Meditation is more than just a mental process. If you practice meditation on a regular basis, you can reduce both mental and physical pain. Let's say you took a long hike yesterday, and your legs are aching. Is there anything you can do to minimize that pain? Well, meditation may do the trick. This was discovered in 2011 by a study in the Journal of Neuroscience. They found that meditation directly impacts pain mechanisms in your brain because pain, in many ways, is a mental process. While injury isn't something you can control, your experience of that injury takes place in your brain.

So if you can control your mental states, you may be able to control your pain, too.

Number Five: Finding Your Flow State

Have you ever been so absorbed in your work you forgot the outside world even existed? This state of mind goes by a few different names. Some call it the zone, others say absolute focus, but most call this a flow state. It's a short period of time when you're 100% focused on one specific thing. Most people just can't snap in and out of this flow state whenever they want, but meditation makes that transition a whole lot easier.

By practicing mindfulness, you can isolate yourself in any environment, and you can focus the entirety of your attention on small tasks like breathing. Regular meditators are amazing at this kind of attentional isolation, which can boost their concentration, their performance, and their time in a state of flow.

Number Six: Unexpected Happiness

The next major benefit of meditation hits you when you least expect it. According to a 2008 study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, many people who meditate experience a small boost in their mood. It's one of the most reliable ways to increase well-being and quality of life. Ah, but here's the part most people don't expect: meditation can also help you find happiness in the world around you.

Frequent meditators view people and places in a new light. Their meditation helps them discover new perspectives. They find joy in small, unexpected events, and they learn to appreciate everything that life has to offer.

Number Seven: Social Gratitude

Gratitude comes naturally when you meditate. You'll begin discovering value in many of the things you once took for granted, especially the people who matter the most in your life. Meditation provides a newfound appreciation for the connections you've made and the bonds you've built. You may even reflect on all the ways your life has been shaped by your relationships, for better or for worse.

As you discover yourself and learn to live in the moment, you can truly enjoy the time you spend with your friends and loved ones because the unfortunate truth is many people don't know how. You see, they're so focused on making new friends, they never develop the ones they have. So by meditating regularly, you can learn to value the people in your life and appreciate the power of real human connection.

Number Eight: Bonding with Compassion

There's another reason meditation creates these deeper social bonds. Yeah, you can learn to live in the moment, and yeah, you're more appreciative of the people that love you, but you also care more about people in general. Meditation makes you a more compassionate individual, someone who listens, empathizes, and truly invests in the people you meet.

In a 2012 study from the Clinical Psychology Review, researchers tested whether or not this was actually true. Does meditation make people more compassionate? Well, to test this, they used two different meditation techniques: one was called loving-kindness meditation, and another called compassion meditation. In theory, these practices should develop areas in your brain related to kindness and compassion. So what did they find?

Researchers found significant increases in those exact parts of the brain, resulting in a higher capacity for both compassion and empathy. Hey, that's already impressive, but there's more. These two techniques gave people more than they bargained for. By increasing their capacity for empathy, meditation eased their social anxiety and reduced any pent-up anger. So meditation doesn't just help you bond with others; it teaches you to be more compassionate toward yourself.

Number Nine: Accelerated Concentration

Meditation is a great way to tighten your focus. A 2013 study published by the Association for Psychological Science found that mindfulness meditation helps you retain more information. It helps you learn faster and stay on task for longer periods of time. They tested this hypothesis with two groups of standardized test takers applying either to college or graduate school. One group was taught how to meditate, and the other wasn't.

If meditation really does improve focus, the first group should out-focus and outperform their counterparts. Hey, and that's exactly what happened. The meditating test takers were significantly more accurate, and they received better overall scores. But that's not all. These students were also much better at something called concentration correction. When they felt themselves getting distracted, they quickly caught themselves, redirected their attention, and got right back to work.

So what's the secret? Meditation doesn't actually change the way you concentrate; it simply trains your brain to ignore distractions. Because your brain has this bad habit of jumping from one new stimulus to the next, obviously that scatterbrain thinking can really impact your memory and your performance. So try meditation to help yourself stay focused when it matters most.

Number Ten: Lasting Confidence

Few people realize how much meditation can affect your self-confidence. This comes from a 1995 study from the General Hospital of Psychiatry. They found that meditation has a neutralizing effect on social anxiety. As little as fifteen minutes a day can soothe your general nervousness and reduce self-inflicted stress, which gives you more confidence in all kinds of nerve-wracking situations.

But this burst of confidence is not just a one-time thing. No, meditation can soothe your nerves years after you stopped practicing. In that 1995 study, participants took an eight-week course on mindfulness meditation, and it did decrease their anxiety. But those improvements held up over three years later, even if they hadn't practiced meditating since their original training.

My point is a short stint of meditation can have lasting effects on your attitude, your anxiety, and most of all, your self-confidence.

Summary of Meditation Benefits

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