Jonah Engler Shares Mental Health Benefits of Meditation

Meditation is an ancient practice. People have practiced or attempted to practice meditation for thousands of years. During the COVID19 pandemic, its popularity and need surged.

Several top-level executives turned to Jonah Engler to learn about meditation, mindfulness, and other practices to ease their stress issues. Engler, being a lifelong educator, was more than happy to help these people establish strict daily meditation practices.

Once they learned the right techniques and set a clear routine, they started reaping various benefits out of the practice. These benefits were both physical and mental. However, the mental health benefits of meditation surprise people the most.

Even a few minutes of meditation a day has helped hundreds of people under Engler’s guidance alleviate stress. Here are some other mental health benefits of following a strict meditation routine –

Induce Alpha Brain Waves that Keep the Mind Relaxed 

Meditation is the art of slowing down the thought-generating mechanism of your mind and focusing on the present moment. Stop the mind from wandering – that’s the ultimate goal of meditation.

That’s why people generally practice this art in a seated position with both of their eyes shut. Whether you meditate for hours or just 5 minutes, you’ll always feel more relaxed after a session of meditation.

Why? What happens in the brain to make us feel relaxed every time we meditate? According to Jonah Engler, the answer is simple. When the mind is in a meditative state, it produces specific types of brain waves.

• The electrical pulses in our brains change with changes in external stimuli. The measurements of these pulses are represented in waves or “brain waves.”
• The unit of frequency Hertz (Hz) is used to quantify these waves. When the mind is in a meditative state, the brain produces theta and alpha waves.
• Scientists have to use electroencephalograms (EEGs) to measure these waves. Theta and alpha brain waves are the most important frequencies for augmenting the mind’s calmness, problem-solving abilities, and creativity.

With regular meditation, you can access these brain waves and frequencies. Regular access to these brain waves will result in lifetime benefits for your brain’s health.

Ability to Manage Anxiety and Stress

Different people focus their minds on different things during their meditation practices. Some focus on their breathing cycles (in and out). Some pay attention to the sensations in their bodies or the sounds in their vicinities.

Others recite mantras (repetitive phrases or affirmations) or visualize beautiful images while meditating. Regardless of what you focus on, meditating will instantly counter the effects of anxiety and stress on your mind.

Do you ever experience overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, and stress? Of course, you do; we all do. When you meditate, you can slow down these racing feelings and thoughts. How? By sitting down, regulating your breathing, and focusing on one thought.

Just by taking these steps, you’ll indirectly calm down your nervous system. You don’t even have to be in a deep meditative state. Just the practice of sitting down and breathing properly will eliminate all physical symptoms of anxiety (e.g., rapid heart rate).

• Since stress is your body’s pre-programmed response to potentially threatening or unforeseen adversities, meditation also alleviates stress.
• When we feel anxious, we feel stressed.
• The level of cortisol (i.e., stress-inducing hormone) production in the body ramps up.
• This hormone then activates the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System), which makes our responses jumpy or uncalm.

Meditation fixes all of that. Whenever you feel a hint of anxiety – meditate. Meditation will lower the amount of cortisol your brain produces in anxious or stress-inducing situations.

No anxiety means significantly less stress. In the long run, your brain won’t contain half as much cortisol as the average person. Hence, you’ll become more resilient and insightful in the future if you follow your meditation schedule.

But, the immediate benefit is gaining the ability to manage your anxiety or stress in crunch situations.

The Best Natural Treatment for Depression 

Countless studies have shown that regular meditation decreases the chances of developing depression. Contrary to belief, people with such mood-related disorders aren’t lazy. Their minds work extra-hard.

• They’re constantly thinking of past regrets, future risks, and all sorts of other negative stuff. When they engage in meditative practices, their mind finally shut off all that chatter. That’s why people think meditation is positive thinking. It isn’t, but it is.
• For a newcomer, meditation can be an immense sense of positivity. But, chasing positivity or happy feelings isn’t the ultimate goal of meditation. The ultimate goal of meditation is self-detachment.
• Can you separate your thoughts from yourself? Can you focus on “nothing” when your brain is full of “everything”? These are the types of questions meditation asks of people in the long run.
• But, in the short run, the overall emotional health of a new practitioner improves radically.

According to Jonah Engler, students can improve their self-image or self-worth within three to four days of practicing meditation.

Self-Awareness and Self-Appreciation

Becoming a meditator is becoming someone who has the habit of focusing only on the present. Meditators notice their thoughts as and when they come up. They don’t judge these thoughts. They don’t attach themselves to these thoughts.

They simply realize that those thoughts are there in their minds, but they don’t represent them. This type of practice ultimately helps people develop self-awareness. Meditators are great at impulse control because they’re constantly aware of their relationships with the people around them.

With awareness of one’s self and surroundings comes appreciation. Meditation will pull your focus away from the past and the future and divert it to the present. Once you’re present in the moment, you’ll realize and appreciate the presents that come with the moment.

Hence, you’ll become a more appreciative person – both to yourself and the world. Plus, meditation helps in decreasing blood pressure. It also strengthens the immune system by reducing the body’s stress response (no stress means no inflammation).

It’s easier to appreciate life when you’re not dealing with fatigue, heart disease, or chronic pain. People who meditate don’t experience these physical challenges. Hence, their mental health benefits immensely.