Meditation and Its Role in Weight Loss

Om…

Meditation has a lot more going on than just repeating “om” over and over again and taking deep breaths. The benefits of meditation positively impact numerous facets of one’s life; it doesn’t just play a role in helping you feel peaceful. Meditation can play an important role in weight loss.

Losing weight and maintaining that weight loss is about more than just eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. It’s about a change in behavior. That is the reason why many people struggle to keep off the weight they lose. Following a diet, as opposed to just making a healthy lifestyle change, can cause people to feel anxious and low even after they’ve lost the weight. They are then at risk of returning to unhealthy coping mechanisms and gaining the weight back. More often than not, one of our biggest barriers to weight loss is ourselves, but we don’t always recognize that. Traditional weight-loss programs or fad diets certainly don’t address that maintaining weight loss is reliant on changing our behavior, not just our diet and exercise routine.

The mind acts as a person’s foundation; by opening our minds to meditation, the right behavior follows. Far too often, people ignore the inner work that needs to be done as a part of maintained weight loss. There are numerous challenges you’ll face while trying to lose weight, and having the right mindset will help you navigate. Meditation allows you to confront all of the habits you’ve developed through the years that have led to unhealthy coping mechanisms. These unhealthy coping mechanisms may have led to weight gain or a negative relationship with food and exercise. Meditation gives you time to confront how you perceive yourself. It gives you the chance to confront your feelings.

With meditation, you are free to challenge your beliefs and restructure your standards. Ask yourself what behaviors are hindering your weight-loss success or what behaviors are contributing to it. Meditation will help you figure out your motivations for detrimental behaviors. It will also help you get to the place where you’re mentally prepared to accomplish your goals. Some studies are showing that it can even help rewire parts of your brain that can help you lose weight. In addition to positively impacting your mind and behaviors, meditation can positively impact your physical body. After regular meditation, you may notice less chronic pain, decreased inflammation, and increased immunity.