Meditation trains attention and awareness, and it has been associated with a multitude of benefits including reducing stress and anxiety, enhancing sleep, as well as improving our body's immune and cognitive functions. But did you know that it also helps to improve digestive health? Find out more.
Having a calm and resilient mind is often associated with a holistic sense of well-being and happiness. But oblivious to many people, mental wellness actually has a huge bearing on our body's physiological functions as well — an important aspect of which is our gut health.
Ever wondered why the idiom "butterflies in the stomach" is used to describe a sense of fear and anxiety? That's simply because our emotions have a direct impact on our gut health. This implies that weak mental health will directly affect our digestive health, among other factors like dietary and lifestyle habits.
In fact, medical research shows that when a stress response is activated in our body, digestion is suppressed or shut down by our central nervous system by the slowing of contractions of digestive muscles and the decreasing of secretions for digestion. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, for instance, is a chronic digestive disorder that's widely known to be associated with mental stress.
And that's not all. Dubbed the "second brain" of our body, our gut is lined with some 200 to 600 million neurotransmitters (this is known as the "enteric nervous system" in medical terms) and it's intricately connected to our brain through what is known as the "gut-brain axis". So, poor gut health could also adversely affect our mental well-being.
After all, 95% of serotonin — one of the four types of "happy hormones" in our body — is found in our gastrointestinal tract. And more than 50% of another "happy hormone" — dopamine — is synthesised in our gut.
That goes to say that eating healthily and exercising regularly are equally important for preventing a vicious circle of a weak mental-physical state of health from developing.
Meditation builds a calm & resilient mind
Our mind works in mysterious ways. While it's capable of achieving amazingly great things when it's performing optimally, it can also bring about the downfall of our health if it's plagued by fear, anxiety, and stress for a protracted period of time. That's why taming our mind through meditation is so important.
Meditation trains attention and awareness, clears the mind, brings about a sense of calm, peace, and balance; and it builds a resilient state of mind over time. In addition, a 1967 Harvard Medical School study on meditation also revealed that people who are meditating used 17% less oxygen, had lowered heart rates, and produced more brain waves that could enhance sleep.
Meditation is believed to have been practised from as early as 5000 BCE, but the earliest written records actually date back to around 1500 BCE found in the Vedas. These are ancient religious text found in India that are related to Hinduism and forms the foundations of Yoga and Ayurveda.
Since then, the practice of meditation has travelled far and wide across different geographies and religions, sprouted into different schools, and now takes many different forms.
The word 'meditation' has its roots in Old French and Latin, which could mean "to ponder", "to contemplate", "to reflect", or "to consider". Little known to many, it's actually an umbrella term used to describe the many ways of achieving a relaxed state of being, and not just a single type of mental training.
How meditation helps with digestion
Meditation helps to increase blood oxygen levels and improve blood circulation in our body, which in turn leads to better digestion, less bloating, and fewer instances of stomach cramps.
Research has also shown that meditation can significantly increase the levels of good bacteria in our gut, which keeps invading pathogens at bay and produces vitamins like B12 and K that are essential for good health.
In addition, studies have also proven that meditation increases our body's levels of dopamine, which helps to move food through the digestive tract. This form of mental training also increases the levels of serotonin in our body, which influences many aspects of our gut health, including how fast food moves through our digestive system and how much fluid or mucus is secreted in our intestines.
How to start meditating
Among the many types of meditation, the easiest meditation technique that's also very popular among the beginners would be mindfulness meditation.
And when I say that it's the easiest, it doesn't mean that meditation is easy. It actually takes a lot of practice and discipline to stay unperturbed in a meditative state — if you manage to get into it in the first place. What it simply means is that mindfulness meditation comprises just a few steps and you can choose to do it anywhere. I personally started meditating with this technique.
To start, follow these steps:
Choose a quiet and well-ventilated location for your meditation session
Sit on the floor with your legs crossed or on a chair with the soles of your feet flat on the floor; gently keep your back in a straight posture
Alternatively, lie supine on your back
Gently close your eyes and put aside all your fleeting thoughts
Take three deep breaths by inhaling through your nose and exhaling via your mouth
Feel your stomach (not your chest) inflate and deflate as you breathe deeply
Return to your normal breathing pattern but try to breathe slowly
Put aside all judgments, emotions revolving your past, and worries about the future
Focus and stay conscious of the present moment by focusing on each breath
Consciously bring yourself back to the present moment from any distraction
Set a timer with a gentle beep to end your meditation, say after 30 minutes
For beginners, it's always useful to do this with a guided meditation recording or play some soft meditation music to help ease you in. I personally prefer the guided meditation recordings on the InsightTimer app as well as the wide range of meditation music available on Spotify.
Some practitioners suggest that mindfulness meditation can also take many other forms at various locations, such as: driving without music or with calming music; exercising without any music or sound distractions, and just focusing on your breaths; or even, when brushing your teeth. But the method I've shared above works best for me. And I believe that you should also give it a shot.
May aid weight loss too
Interestingly, meditation may also help you shed some kilos.
The rationale behind this is that meditation helps to lower your body's levels of cortisol (commonly known as the "stress hormone") and this helps to prevent overeating or binge eating which leads to weight gain, as suggested by medical studies.
Get into your right mind soon
Believe it or not, all of us would be in some state of mental disequilibrium as we navigate the flurry of things happening in life and deal the harsh blows to the realities. That makes maintaining a healthy state of mind critical to helping us stay calm and resilient in the face of life's challenges as well as maintaining a healthy gut and body.
Given that the mind and the gut are intricately connected and affect each other to a large extent, it's definitely worth exploring ways to help our mind build calmness and resilience. And meditation is one important way to achieve these objectives.
Trust me, it's never too early to start meditating. Only too slow to reap its benefits, if you don't.
References:
EatingWell: How Poor Gut Health Can Increase Anxiety and Depression Risk & What to Eat to Help
EOC Institute: The "Happy Neurotransmitter" — How Meditation Boosts Serotonin
Healthine: 10 Best Ways to Increase Dopamine Levels Naturally
Scientific American: Think Twice: How the Gut's "Second Brain" Influences Mood and Well-Being
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