Page 1 of 6

Sarah Byrd
Professor Jizi
UWRT 1104
29 April, 2016

The Benefits of Meditation

My interest in meditation sparked recently when reflecting on my freshman year and the
challenges that came with it. I personally have always struggled with anxiety, and since I came to
college it became worse. Panic attacks are more common and sometimes, depression can even
come and go. I want to learn about different methods that could help aid this disorder I struggle
with in any way. I dont like panicking, depression, or weird moods. So I posed the question,
what natural ways could help with anxiety? Thats how I came across meditation. After learning
of meditation, I asked myself, what other benefits can come from meditating?
Meditating has been long known as a mind and body practice used for increasing
calmness and physical meditation and enhancing your overall physical health.(NIH). From what
I learned, I gathered that meditation is a practice that can make you healthier and improve the
quality of your life by making you more positive and joyful. Many people believe meditation to
be a spiritual practice, which it can be, but it can also be a therapeutic practice. Due to this
misconception, many fail to realize the many wonderful benefits that can happen to your body
from meditation. Americans as a society have become swarmed with health issues, possibly
relating to obesity which has rapidly become a problem in its own. We also live in a time where
everyone is constantly going. It seems like everyone is in a rush to be somewhere. So why would

Page 2 of 6
someone not care to enhance their health or to promote relaxation? Meditation is a simple
practice that people can do at their own pace, on their own time, and yet can improve your health
tremendously.
Although meditation can affect everyone, it is most beneficial on young adults. This age
group could be anyone from college students to people who just graduated and are trying to
figure out their next step. Both lifestyles come with stress. While in college, you have so much
going on and so many responsibilities that stress really catches up to you. For example, during
finals week of first semester, I had assignment after assignment piled on. I had final projects, I
had exams, and I had to struggle to keep my chemistry grade afloat. All of this was
overwhelming and often times I found myself so stressed that I forgot to breathe. Students are
often trying to keep up with the many assignments, tests, social events, and anything else, that
trying to live a balanced lifestyle is hard. Immune systems are weakened, sleep becomes
seemingly nonexistent, and many become so frustrated they just want to pull their hair out. All
these factors lead to
People who just

unhappy people because they're so stressed and are running on no sleep.

graduated college and are trying to figure out their next step are tense in a

different way than college students, although they have been through the years of stress from
school. These people are always rushing. Rushing to find somewhere to live, rushing to find a
job, rushing to make money and in the process, these young adults stress themselves out and
don't take time to calm down. Meditation could really balance their lives.
Meditation has been proven to lower blood pressure for those with hypertension. Not
only that, evidence has shown that meditating can lower anxiety and ease symptoms of
depression. (NIH). Anxiety and depression go hand in hand for me. Anxiety makes me feel out of
control and uncomfortable. These feelings lead to depression, sometimes lasting one day and

Page 3 of 6
sometimes lasting multiple days. To be able to lower my anxiety and to not have depression
would make me enjoy life more because I would be more happy. In the Meditation 101 Course
video, the instructor states that meditation increases your happiness and makes your life more
joyful because you tend to think about the positives. Meditating also allows the brain to process
information better, reduces aging, and enhances the way you handle emotions. (NIH). Wouldnt it
be cool to be able to handle emotions better? I personally overreact over little things due to high
levels of stress. To be able to calm down and be happy from meditating sounds ideal. It amazes
me that something as simple as focusing on your breathing can have such a healthy effect on
your brain and your emotions. Studies show evidence that meditating can only do good for your
body and your brain, proving that it aides anxiety and depression. One incident, involving
Michael Mitchell and his heart attack, showed that meditation can boost up your immune system.
(WebMD). After this incident, doctors advised Mitchell to meditate. He recovered quickly and
since then has not gone a day without meditating. Its amazing that meditation can heal your
body and prevent you from sickness. Being in college, sickness goes around all the time and so
building up your immune system would be very beneficial. That way you dont get sick
constantly. The benefits of meditation are so desperately needed that many meditation studios are
now opening up, like MNDFL in New York. This specific studio offers different types of
meditation such as Breath and Mantra and Heart. (NY Times). These classes are helping New
Yorkers to slow down and disconnect which ultimately leads to stress reduction and happiness.
(NY Times). Stress reduction and happiness is something everyone should strive for. We are
always going going going and nobody takes time to breathe.
Not only does mediation effect a persons health, but it also effects the way humans
interact with each other. In an interview conduct with Herbert C. Kelman, Kelman speaks of how

Page 4 of 6
he uses meditation as a peace mediator in the middle east. He wants to bring peace between the
people and he uses meditation to do that. Reading this, I thought it was interesting how this
interview provided such a worldly view. Not only do people practice meditation in the United
States, but meditation is practiced all over the world! This helped me to realize that meditation is
how you make it. There is no specific process to meditate, because so many people do it so many
ways. Its about you and what helps you.
The National Institute of Health was the most convincing of my sources in proving that
meditating has more benefits than most people know. Meditating can change the way your mind
processes data and, although the theory behind why is not known, everyone should want to live a
happier lifestyle with a better way of thinking. The idea that meditating can reduce stress and
lower anxiety and depression just shows the wonders of what meditating can do. I have decided
to try meditating to help aide with my anxiety. I feel like meditating will help me to realize how
to be in the moment and control my breathing. Meditating teaches you how to let go by realizing
that youre not in control.
Through my inquiry project, I learned the endless benefits of meditation. I learned how it
affects my life and how it can affect other people. Meditation has many benefits including lower
blood pressure, reduced stress, and decreased anxiety and depression. If people knew all the
good that comes from meditating, it would make a huge difference in todays society. Meditation
could make society as a whole more calm. We would be focused more on the moment rather than
whats next and where we need to get to. My question that I still have at the end of my project is
how do you meditate? What exactly is the right form and what are the different ways of
meditating? Web MD gives information about where to go to learn to meditate, such as
community centers or local colleges. I want to know more detail about how to meditate. Once I

Page 5 of 6
learn more details, I hope to being practicing meditation. I am hopeful that it will help my
anxiety and give me a more positive look on life resulting in a happier life.

Page 6 of 6

Sources:
Gerszberg, Caren Osten. "No Texts, Please, Were Meditating." The New York Times Company.
The New York Times, 18 Mar. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
Kuchinskas, Susan. "Mediation Heals Body and Mind." WebMD, 25 Feb. 2009. Web. 3 Apr.
2016.
"Meditation: In Depth." National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 16 Mar. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
Waehlisch, Martin (2009): 10 Questions on Peace Mediation. Interview with Herbert C. Kelman.
Berlin: Center for Peace Mediation (European University Viadrina, Humboldt- Viadrina
School of Governance). Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
What Are The Benefits Of Meditation? Meditation 101 Program. Youtube, 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 3
Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d46oUhe53A>.