Meditation is an exercise for your brain to improve focus and concentration. It refers to a broad variety of practices that support relaxation, build internal harmony in energy, and develop feelings of compassion, love, and generosity. It is a way of training your mind to focus and enjoy a reinforced sense of well-being.

Meditation also has enormous physical impacts, including weight loss.  Training your mind to operate your body better can have a significant influence on your attempts to shed those extra pounds.

Meditation lowers your BMR (basal metabolic rate). This means that as you relax your mind, you decrease your need to consume more calories.  Many studies show the link between stress and eating.  Stress exhausts your mind and body and triggers signals that you need more food to regain your energy. By reducing stress, you reduce your body’s need for extra calorie intake.

Practicing meditation or yoga decreases your desire to consume calorie-rich “comfort” foods because of assimilation. This means that when you are hungry, you will be satisfied with smaller, healthier meals. You will be able to avoid overeating, which leaves your body with extra calories that cannot be used and are converted into fats.

In relaxing your mind, you also relax all your nerves and organs, allowing them to rest and improving their function. These, in addition to resulting balanced hormones, are indications of a healthy well-being. A healthy body has no need to hoard nutrients; hoarding of essential nutrients happen as a defense mechanism to possible starvation.

Meditation helps your body assimilate the food you eat and decreases the desire to eat more food. Meditation increases overall awareness, to include that of your food habits. It strengthens your resolve to avoid unhealthy food because you are focused on being healthy and maintaining your weight loss activity. For example, you may find yourself in a situation being tempted to eat chocolate, and that small voice inside you—your intuition—will make you second guess it, and even turn it down. This level of awareness helps you manage the strongest of unhealthy cravings so you can stick with your weight loss goals.

Regular meditation can be extremely effective in shedding excess weight and maintaining long-term physical and mental health. Take a few moments to catch your breath and save your health.

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