The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation

Abstract

Meditation has many physical and psychological effects on the human body. Meditation originated from ancient Eastern culture and has been practiced for centuries. Meditation back then was considered a religious practice; however, it is not necessary to be religious to meditate. Trials conducted and respected research show that meditation had moderate evidence on improving emotional symptoms such as anxiety, stress, depression, and physical symptoms such as pain (Goyal et al., 2014). Meditation was also found as an effective method of lowering hypertensive blood pressure (Hi Park & Sun Han et al., 2017). People with high blood pressure can benefit from meditation as it aids in bringing it down to a healthy level. Meditation is also proven to bring improvements on better sleep, heart function, and improved focus (Cleveland Clinic, 2024). The focus of this paper will be to explore the effects that meditation has on the human body both physically and psychologically.