Monday Wellness Reflection: Meditation

Initially, my partner, Kailas, and I had planned to do our Monday Wellness presentation on running as it is something that we can both relate to. We had to decide between doing running, meditation, and yoga, but we decided to go with running as it seemed like more people would relate with it. After hearing another group was doing running, we decided to switch to meditation as it was something that we could both relate more to. I have an interest in meditation because my grandfather always used to teach me different meditation techniques. We would always practice pranayama, especially nadi shodhana pranayama. When I was younger, these breathing exercises wouldn't mean much to me, but as I grew older, I would catch myself unintentionally practicing these breathing exercises when I felt stressed. We wanted to share with the class this technique of relaxation that could come in handy in stressful environments like Saratoga High School. Before preparing for this presentation, I only knew that meditation had positive effects on our bodies and reduced stress levels. I didn't know what effects it had on our bodies specifically in relation to specific bodily systems. While we were creating this presentation, I learned specifically how meditation can improve the nervous system and the immune system. It increases connections in the brain as well as stopping the decline of CD4 T-cells (which is what occurs in HIV). The thing that I found coolest was that even though many say that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, mindfulness meditation can be seen as something that slows down the progression of this terrible disease that affects millions worldwide. Our topic relates to health and wellness because meditation has many important effects on our everyday lives. Not only does it reduce stress and cortisol levels in our brains, but it also increases connections between different parts of the brain. Meditation also changes density of grey matter in our brain: decreasing the amount of it in our amygdala (the region which controls fear, negative emotions, and sadness), and increasing in areas that correlate with learning and memory. Meditation also increases the number of antibodies in our body. Antibodies are essential to our health as they help us fight pathogens which enter our body. Meditation not only helps the different systems in our bodies, but it also helps our overall physical well-being. Meditation stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system, which helps our body return to a calm and normal state after a certain stressor has passed. Meditation can also clear your mind so you can sleep better and it slows your respiration for longer and deeper breaths. It also improves your athletic abilities. On a scale of 1-10, I would give myself a 9 because I put in a lot of effort to make this project work. Kailas and I both worked equally on the slides, and we both did as much research as we could on the topic. Overall, I believe that our project turned out extremely well, and although we could have made it longer, I believe that we have covered all of the necessary information to teach the class about the benefits of meditation.