How Regular Meditation Can Increase One’s Lifespan
There is very solid scientific proof that meditation helps people to live longer and healthier lives. Researchers from Spain, working with the Navarra Institute for Health Research, have added to the growing body of evidence that regular meditation increases lifespan.1 They specifically showed how long-term meditation correlates with increased telomere length. Telomeres are a protein structure that protect the chromosomes in our DNA from damage. “Intensive meditation training has been associated with… longer telomere length in blood cells.” Long-term meditation practitioners had far less telomere shortening as they aged, meaning their chromosomes were better protected from damage.
Transcendental Meditation Decreases Risk for Cancer and Heart Disease
Regular meditation can result in healthier blood pressure levels in people who struggle with chronic high-blood pressure. Healthier blood pressure levels mean decreased risk for stroke, heart attack, and cardiovascular disease in general, which leads to improved longevity. A 2019 article in Psychology Today, explaining a 2005 study done by Schneider et. al which was published in the American Journal of Hypertension, said, “In the first study, elderly subjects with high blood pressure were randomly assigned to learn Transcendental Meditation (TM), mindfulness meditation, mental relaxation, or progressive muscle relaxation. After 3 months, the TM group demonstrated significantly lower blood pressure than the other groups. When researchers examined the lifespan of long-time TM practitioners they were 23 percent less likely to die, 30 percent less likely to die of cardiovascular disease and 49 percent less likely to die of cancer when compared to a control group.” For those interested in living longer and healthier lives, a long-term TM practice offering protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer, is a hard offer to turn down.
- Mendioroz, M., Puebla-Guedea, M., Montero-Marin, J., Urdánoz-Casado, A., Blanco-Luquin, I., Roldán, M., Labarga, A., & García-Campayo, J. (2020). Telomere length correlates with subtelomeric DNA methylation in long-term mindfulness practitioners. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61241-6
