Exercising your mind is just as important as exercising your body. And meditation is just that. 

Meditation makes your brain stronger, your mind stronger, and it makes you stronger emotionally and psychologically.

And with this mental health epidemic we are facing in this country, meditation can go a long way to helping  you overcome any overwhelming thoughts or feelings you might be having.

Here are some key health and emotional benefits from meditating:

Reduces inflammation - Stress causes inflammation by releasing this stuff called cortisol. Meditation has been shown to reduce stress and reduce cortisol levels, thus relieving inflammation. 

Reduces Pain - Meditation has also been shown to increase pain tolerance and the sensation of pain. It didn’t make the source of chronic pain go away, but it allows victims of pain to deal with it better.

Reduce blood pressure - Meditation has been shown repeatedly to reduce blood pressure. I think this is because of the relaxation of the blood vessels and the “fight or flight” instinct. 

Here are some Emotional Benefits:

Increases Positive Emotions - Meditation is shown to activate and “light up” the areas of the brain associated with positive emotions. 

Decreases depression as much as medication - It's been studied that meditating has the same amount of effect against depression as prescribed medications. 

Decreases anxiety - By decreasing cortisol (like I mentioned above) meditation also reduces anxiety. It also reduces the brain density in the areas that control anxiety and fear response (more on that later).

So if you consistently practice meditation for 15 minutes a day, it can completely rewire your brain.

Simply by sitting and thinking about your breathing. 

That s**t is crazy to me. But in a very good way. 

Meditating increases your awareness of your thoughts, emotions, and actions and noticing when you are stuck so you can purposefully pause, reset, and shift your attention. A meditation practice allows you to actively choose what you pay attention to so you feel in control of your mental activity

Start doing it 15 minutes a day for the next month and see what happens.