Benefits of meditation

Meditation provides space for reflection and for taking a crucial ‘step back’ when things go tough.  Staying calm and grounded allows for a quick return to an equilibrium. Then it’s possible to:

• Work with stress
• Focus
• Achieve clarity
• Cope with change
• Have increased effectiveness at work
• Gain new perspective on life events
• Enjoy improved health
• Acquire insights into relationships

In the last decades there has been research into these benefits. There are many types of meditation around. Hence it’s not immediately obvious how to study them, and how to compare results obtained by different research methods and groups. One of the quickest ways is to check meta-analysis articles.  An excellent example is a comparison of results found in different meditation programs for psychological stress and wellbeing: M. Goyal et al., JAMA Internal Medicine 174 (3): 357–68, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4142584/