Discussions on meditation are becoming increasingly common. We are told about many different benefits of meditation. For example, meditation can make you calmer, can increase your compassion, can improve physical health and can even influence cognition.
The whole idea can sound very ‘new age’ and it’s easy to brush it off.
After all, the idea of sitting in silence for 10 minutes or more doesn’t sound very exciting. I suspect that most of us would consider it boring. Perhaps you can think of a variety of ‘better’ things to be doing with your time.
Meditation might seem especially challenging for caregivers – as time is such an important commodity. I noticed that when I was a caregiver myself. It seemed like there was never enough time in the day.
Yet, the benefits of meditation for seniors and caregivers make the practice worth trying. The idea isn’t as difficult as it sounds either.
The Benefits of Meditation
Research suggests a link between meditation and the frontal cortex in the brain. People who regularly meditate tend to have more gray matter in this part of the brain.
In fact, 50-year-old meditators can have the same amount of gray matter in their frontal lobe as people aged 25. That’s a massive difference – especially as the frontal cortex is linked to working memory and decision making.
Other areas of the brain may be affected too, giving meditation the potential to improve cognition in a variety of ways.
That’s not all.
You don’t need to be a long-term meditator to see some benefits. One study found that eight weeks of meditation was enough to create improvements in the brain, along with decreased anxiety.
Studies have linked meditation to other health benefits too. These include decreases in blood pressure, inflammation, headaches, and chronic pain. Meditation may also help to decrease stress, slow cognitive decline and improve memory.
Types of Meditation
There are many individual forms of meditation. People vary in the types that they find to be effective. Your preference may also vary from one day to the next.
- Guided imagery. This technique involves a focus on mental images, including calming environments like a beach or a forest.
- Mindfulness meditation. Focuses on the current moment and/or emotions without judgment. The technique can be a way to increase awareness, along with self-compassion.
- Transcendental meditation. With this meditation technique, you’re focusing on a single sound or word that is repeated regularly.
- Body scanning. This process involves concentrating on a single body part at a time, along with sensations linked to it. Sensations can include the feeling of where the body part interacts with the floor and whether the body part is hot, cold or warm.
- Centering prayer. Prayer can play a role in meditation too and can be a way to focus attention.
- Guided meditation. With guided meditation, someone is stepping you through the process. This could be in the context of a class, a video, a podcast or something else.
- Mind-body exercises. This approach is a variation on meditation, where you use focused breathing techniques, along with static poses or slow movements. Yoga and tai chi are both popular examples. Such techniques don’t have all the features of meditation but can offer other benefits.
Getting Started with Meditation
Meditation doesn’t need to be difficult. You don’t have to sit in an uncomfortable position either. Some people even meditate lying down, which can be beneficial. The goal is to find an approach that works well for you.
There are a variety of ways to get started.
Meditation classes are one of the best approaches. These provide you with all the information that you need, along with practical advice. Senior centers and similar locations may have classes that are designed for seniors, but the classes don’t need to be age-specific to be effective.
Podcasts are another style to consider. They work well for caregivers and seniors, as you can make the sound go through speakers or headphones. Using headphones is ideal for people who are hard of hearing or for times where you don’t want to disturb other family members.
The site Lifetime Daily provides a useful list of 5 meditation podcasts for seniors. Most of these podcasts are free and are well-suited to the needs of seniors.
There are also apps for your phone that focus on meditation. One of these is Headspace. This app provides many different themed sessions, including small meditations for people who do not have much time.
There is a free version of the app, which teaches you the basics of mindfulness and meditation. This version might be enough to get you going on your own. If it’s not, then there’s also a subscription version. The subscription costs $7.99 per month if you pay annually or $12.99 per month if you pay month-to-month.
Guided meditations can be found on YouTube too. The site Live the Life You Love highlights 10 such meditations that you might enjoy.
How to Fit Meditation in Your Day
The beauty of meditation is that it doesn’t take long. While some people meditate for half an hour a day (or more), studies suggest that you may see benefits from 15 minutes of daily meditation.
There are also various techniques that can help you to meditate each day, including the ones below.
Creating an inviting space for yoga and meditation with the right scents, music, colors, and props will go a long way to bringing you putting you in the right frame of mind and keep you motivated to stick to a routine.
Don’t stress if you miss days
While meditation offers the most benefits if you meditate daily, it isn’t an all-or-nothing deal. The reality is that life tends to be unpredictable. You never quite know what is going to happen or when – and that’s okay.
Trying to meditate daily is important. Doing so helps you to develop a routine and you’ll see benefits faster.
Still, don’t worry too much if you miss days. Simply treat each day as a new beginning.
Allow the practice to be variable
The practice of medication often varies over time. You might find that you meditate for half an hour or more some days and just five minutes on other days.
There’s nothing wrong with that. The goal is simply to keep going. Aim to make meditation a regular practice in your life and see what happens as a result.
Make it a priority
Regardless of our time and energy, most of us manage to fit the absolutely essential things into each day. This is partly because we prioritize. We make decisions about our time and money based on what is critical and what isn’t.
This is one reason that caregivers often struggle.
Simply put, we don’t put our own self-care very high in the list of priorities. We tend to view it as something that can be missed if necessary. Yet the idea doesn’t work in practice. Making your own needs a priority tends to mean that you have more energy and you’re more efficient.
Meditation is one particularly powerful type of self-care.
If you simply stick it on your list of things to do, it will easily get missed in the chaos of life. But, if you make it a critical priority each day – you’re much more likely to get your meditation in.
Choose a good time
When you meditate matters too. It’s best to choose a time where you’re unlikely to be interrupted, such as when your family member is asleep.
If at all possible, meditating in the morning or afternoon tends to be better than meditating at night. This is partly because meditating earlier means that you get access to the benefits during the day.
Meditation for Seniors
The benefits of meditation apply to every age group – including seniors. Meditation may even be particularly relevant to seniors, due to the way that cognition can change with age.
Meditation can also help to decrease emotional challenges or the sense of being overwhelmed. Those outcomes are important, as the changes that come with aging can be difficult.
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