Meditation is a great way to center yourself and put aside the stresses of daily living. Unlike what many assume, though, it isn’t merely wishful thinking – it is an ancient practice that is still popular around the world. Additionally, science continues to back up claims that meditation can improve both our minds and bodies.
1. Stress Reduction
Study after study has shown that meditation reduces stress, allowing us to keep our cool in even the most difficult situations.¹ While stress reduction is great for mental health, blood pressure and overall quality of life, it also has one unexpected side effect – beauty preservation.
2. Fewer Wrinkles
Stress has a terrible way of aging our skin, and no, we’re not just talking about frown lines! When we encounter a stressful event, our cortisol levels spike. Cortisol damages our skin on a biological level, halting elastin and collagen production, which makes it harder for our skin to bounce back.²
3. Less Acne
Pimples tend to pop up and linger longer when we’re feeling stressed out. During the stress response, our bodies become more inflamed, worsening acne. They also produce a chemical called corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which increases skin oiliness. Stress can make us itchy, too, and if we touch or pick at our faces, it can gunk up our pores and cause scarring.³
4. Better Beauty Sleep
A bout of nerves can easily send us into a shut-eye slump. That sleep deprivation is awful for our skin, causing puffiness and dark circles under the eyes that make us look unhealthy and unattractive to strangers.⁴ Luckily, a type of meditation called mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia (MBTI) may decrease the severity of insomnia.¹
5. Fuller Hair
About three months after a stressful event, people can experience telogen effluvium, or an unusually large amount of hair loss. This occurs because your hair has prematurely exited its growth period (anagen) and skipped to the resting and falling out part of the hair cycle (telogen and exogen).⁵ People with more severe stress may also develop trichotillomania, an urge to pluck hair, or alopecia areata, bald patches.⁶
6. Practicing Meditation
Now that you know all the beauty benefits of minimizing stress, it’s time to start meditating! You can try concentrating on your breathing, doing a body scan, repeating a mantra, imagining a place that makes you comfortable or staring at a flickering candle flame. Work your way up from a minute of meditation to longer sessions. Beginners who find this difficult may want to try a guided meditation app first.
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Sources:
1. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
2. https://www.olay.com/en-us/skin-care-tips-and-articles/anti-aging-can-stress-really-cause-extra-wrinkles
3. https://time.com/5014072/stress-pimples-acne/
4. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-39933232
5. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/why-stress-makes-your-hair-fall-out/471771/
6. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/expert-answers/stress-and-hair-loss/faq-20057820
