Mind, Body, and Spirit: Why 10 Minutes of Meditation Will Change Your Day

By Rachel Burt

Edited by Therese Mulgrew

When people think of  “meditating” many assume they have to set aside 60 minutes of their daily schedule for a successful meditation practice. In fact, that is not true at all. It only takes 10 minutes of sitting quietly and “letting go” to get the proper effect. 

As silly as it may sound, these 10 minutes a day can help alleviate stress and bring many powerful benefits into your life. Imagine, a stress relief practice that only costs you 10 minutes of your time. Who wouldn’t want to at least give it a try?

Miranda Kerr practicing meditation

5 Benefits of Daily Meditation:

1. Stress

Meditation is one of the best ways to help reduce stress.  It is noted to directly impact your entire nervous system by reducing your body’s production of stress-related chemicals such as cortisol. It increases the intensity of the alpha, theta and delta brain-state waves which help give rest to your body physically, mentally and emotionally.

3. Anxiety

Mindfulness meditation, a practice in which you physically change the way your brain responds to negative thoughts, is one of the best ways to help eliminate anxiety. Why? Because this practice can provide profound rest to the mind.  Rest is nature’s way of dissolving stress and anxiety. Also, when we meditate often, the neural connections between bodily sensations and fear in the brain become loosened, so that when we feel sensations of fear or panic, we don’t react as strongly. 

2. Pain

There was 10-week stress reduction program where ninety chronic pain patients were trained in mindfulness meditation.

Statistics show that there were significant reductions found in measures of present-pain, negative body image, mood disturbance, psychological symptoms and pain symptoms. On top of that, active levels of happiness and feelings of self -esteem were increased. A separate group of patients, who did not follow this meditation but instead used traditional treatment protocols, did not show these same improvements. 

4. Cardiovascular Health 

Transcendental meditation is a practice in which you silently repeat a word, sound, or phrase in order to prevent distracting thoughts from entering the mind. This helps to achieve a state of relaxed awareness, where the body can focus on repair and healing. Studies show that this type of meditation aids in reducing blood pressure, improving anger, and has been scientifically proven that it has helped to decrease risk of heart attacks.

5. Insomnia 

The human body is designed to efficiently remove stress during sleep. However, in today’s world, stress is often carried over from day to night. Since our lifestyle is so intense, insomnia is becoming more and more common. Meditation is a practice therefore that also helps to improve a person’s ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Try meditating each day for just 10 minutes. Let go of all the thoughts, judgment, and criticism that may enter your mind. You will be amazed by how it has the ability to transform your life and your relationships.