If you're one of those people who "just can't meditate," you may want to give it another shot.
A new video from ASAP Science, a YouTube channel that focuses on "fun and interesting science," lists some pretty solid benefits of the practice.
"During meditation, brain scans see increased activity in regions directly correlated with decreased anxiety and depression, along with increased pain tolerance," the clip explains. "The Default Mode Network, in particular, is activated when one's mind is at rest and not focusing on the outside world, and has been found to improve memory, self-awareness and goal-setting."
Those who practice meditation also have higher levels of alpha waves, "which have been shown to reduce feelings of negative mood, tension, sadness and anger," according to the video.
Another benefit? Meditation can also improve sleep.
At the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, researchers, citing their work, argued that meditation can help with insomnia. "Results of the study show that teaching deep relaxation techniques during the daytime can help improve sleep at night," said Ramadevi Gourineni, M.D., director of the insomnia program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Enough reading; start meditating! Don't know where to start? Check out these apps.
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