Meditation is easily missed when it comes to health benefits. However, studies show that meditation can reduce the risk of hospitalization for coronary diseases by 87%.
Life is stressful, and it can be hard to justify taking time for yourself. However, a considerable side effect of stress and anxiety is an increased heart rate. Learning how to meditate can drastically impact your overall health.
If you’re interested in how to lower your resting heart rate, meditation is a great start. Keep reading to learn some meditation techniques!
How Meditation Lowers Your Heart Rate
We all know that a healthy heart rate is important, but a healthy heart rate depends on the person. Generally, a healthy heart rate is around 60 to 100 beats per minute. In times of stress, however, this number can go above 100 beats per minute.
A heart rate above 100 can also indicate an excess of stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine. If you’re drinking a pot of coffee a day, it may be a good idea to cut back in addition to meditation. A heart rate that is regularly over 100 BPM leads to long term damage to your heart.
A huge part of meditation is a focus on breathing. Having controlled, steady breathing is specifically what will help in decreasing your heart rate. Besides breathing, meditation allows you to be more aware of your heartbeat.
Meditation can also help you with identifying stress. You may not even realize that something is stressing you out!
Types of Meditation
Believe it or not, meditation comes in all shapes and sizes. There are several types of meditation that work for lowering your heart rate. Focused meditation and progressive relaxation work the best for lowering your heart rate.
1. Focused Meditation
This form of meditation is exactly as it sounds. It’s a meditation technique that requires you to focus on your five senses. This includes focusing on your breathing.
This type of meditation can include focusing on your external senses. Counting mala beads or focusing on a candle flame allows for your mind to clear. However, for lowering your heart rate, you can focus on your breathing.
When you focus on your breathing, you’ll be able to take deeper, regulated breaths. Over time, this will lower your resting heart rate as you get more used to this deep breathing.
2. Progressive Relaxation
This meditation technique is all about reducing the strain your body is under. One of the biggest benefits of meditation in this way is that it improves more than just your breathing.
Progressive relaxation often entails tensing and relaxing one group of muscles at a time. It’s perfect for stress relief before bed!
How To Meditate
If you’re not sure how to meditate, don’t worry! Everyone has to start somewhere.
The first thing you’ll want to do is to find a quiet space away from your work. This will allow you to turn off and tune out the world around you. If your household is bustling, try using some noise-canceling headphones!
One of the most common ways to begin meditating is with guided sessions. These sessions will give you some direction when you’re just starting out. There are tons of options both on Spotify and on mindfulness blogs.
Improving Your Health With Mindfulness
Learning how to meditate is an easy step to take for your health. Especially if you’re seeing increased stress, take a step back. Taking time for yourself to meditate will help you make sense of the world around you.
If you’re feeling stressed, take a second to read our tips for natural stress relief!