Only 15 Minute Meditation to Nourish Your Heart

One great if you think meditation is an activity that a waste of time and useless. A recent study published the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine indicated that regular meditation can improve health care quality by reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially among adolescents most at risk.

Studies involving tens of black teenagers who have high blood pressure proves that meditation significantly help improve health conditions. Those who meditate twice a day for 15 minutes is likely to have left ventricular mass (LV mass) was lower. In the medical world, an increase in LV mass is known as one indicator of cardiovascular disease in the future.

Half of the adolescents were trained in transcendental meditation and asked to meditate for 15 minutes in the classroom and 15 minutes at home for a period of four months. While other participants were given health education issues on how to lower blood pressure (hypertension) and risk of cardiovascular disease, but not with the practice of meditation.

LV mass was measured by means of two-dimensional echocardiogram before and after the study. Group of teenagers who meditated showed a significant reduction in LV mass.

"The increase in mass of the left ventricle of the heart muscle usually caused by the extra workload on the heart with high blood pressure. Some teenagers already have a higher left ventricular mass due to increased blood pressure. This condition will continue to carry into adulthood," said Dr. Vernon Barnes of the Medical College of Georgia and the Georgia Health Sciences University Institute of Public and Preventive Health.

During meditation, the participants over the rest, the sympathetic nervous system activity is reduced, and the body releases stress hormones less than usual. "As a result, blood vessels relax, reducing blood pressure, and heart work less," he said.

In fact, says Barnes, school records show improved behavior among adolescents who meditate. "Transcendental meditation is much deeper than the rest of the body to sleep," he said.

"Statistics show that one out of every 10 black teenagers have high blood pressure. If practiced from time to time, meditation can reduce the risk of these adolescents with heart disease, as well as other additional health benefits," he said.