Meditation: Now a Heart Healthy Exercise

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Nov 24, 2012

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It’s the one thing you can’t do while texting, typing, or driving and there may be good reason for this. Meditation is a relaxation technique more and more people are using in their daily lives as a way to de-stress, but studies now suggest that it may be doing more for your health than was ever known before.

Time maazine reports a new study published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes that suggests meditation can actually reduce heart attacks, stroke and early death from heart disease.

The study focused on over 200 African American men and women practicing a form of meditation called transcendental meditation where participants learn to briefly shut out the outside world and focus thoughts inward. After about 5 years of taking part in the study, the participants who regularly practiced transcendental meditation saw a 48% reduction in heart attacks, strokes, and early death than the group that attended a heart-healthy class to educate them about eating right and exercising.

Robert Schneider, lead author of the study, explains how meditation can have a positive effect on the health of our hearts and should be considered a viable addition to medical care. Schneider says, “The main finding [of our research] is that, added on top of usual medical care, intervention with a mind-body technique — transcendental meditation — can have a major effect on cardiovascular events.”

What do you think of the new study that suggests meditation can lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or early death from heart disease?

Would you be willing to add meditation to your health regimen?