Meditation Is an Effective Way to Beat Stress and Enhance Your Immune System
Meditation is something that some people consider to be a religious thing for certain cultures, but that isn’t always the case. Meditating can be beneficial to anyone who wants to do it, because it helps you clear your mind and destress a little bit.
Stress is a much larger component of your immune system than you may have thought, and getting rid of any stress you might have can make a huge difference in the frequency and probability of you getting sick.
Stress can mess with a lot of things in your body. For example, it can cause rashes, it can make you tired, and it can certainly lower your immune system. This is all mostly due to the hormone cortisol, which is released when you’re stressed out.
Cortisol is fine in small amounts, sometimes even helpful, but you’ll start to run into problems once you’re consistently stressed and your body is always used to having cortisol in it.
At that point, cortisol will have many harsh effects on your body. Even cosmetically it can cause breakouts in acne and unsightly rashes, usually due to the fact that it reduces your blood circulation.
However, the issues run much deeper than that. Cortisol actually suppresses your immune system to the point where you’re not very well protected at all if you encounter a virus.
This may have become evident to you if you’ve ever been really stressed for an extended period of time, and you almost always get sick afterwards. The reason meditation helps with this so much is that it’s an incredible way to clear up your mind and alleviate stress.
By taking your mind off of the daily hassle of life and just being in one place for that moment, by not thinking about the deadlines you have to meet or anything else, you’re able to let your body relax.
This helps reduce your stress levels, which will lower your cortisol levels, ultimately boosting your immune system. Meditation is something that seems very easy, but is actually quite difficult to get the hang of for some.
You’re supposed to clear your mind of all thoughts, meaning absolutely nothing. This can be difficult or even uncomfortable for some people. But with time and practice, you’ll find it to be relaxing. It takes practice to get good enough at it that it starts acting as a stress reliever. You can even engage in guided meditation to help you get started.