There is no better time to start meditating. Most of us have no excuse as we self-isolate at home and watch Netflix while doing puzzles. We are also under emotional stress as we process the disturbing news updates and contemplate the future. An additional reason to take up meditation is the potential positive impact meditation may have on the immune system.
A large systematic review (they looked at the combined results of 20 different clinical trials with over 1600 participants) by David S. Black and George M. Slavich titled Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials found possible effects of mindful meditation on specific markers of inflammation, cell mediated immunity and biological aging. This means that simply meditating may improve your immune response to illness, injury, disease and age-related functional decline.
Reduce your anxiety, improve your sleep, down regulate your sympathetic nervous system and charge up your immune system. Start with 5 minutes a day of guided breathing meditation and be consistent. Your “monkey brain” will settle and it will get easier. It’s not immediate so stick to it and be non-judgmental as that’s a pillar of mindfulness – you don’t have a positive or negative meditation and you aren’t good or bad at meditating. Just sit or lie and focus on the breath and when your mind wanders gently bring it back to your breath. And be.
Check out the resources tab for links to some great meditations.
All the best and stay healthy!
Therapeutic Mindfulness and Meditation 