Practicing meditation might help you save hundreds of dollars each year.
According to WebMD, stress is a major contributing cause of a variety of conditions including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, asthma, and accelerated aging.
Stress is a leading cause of senior visits to the doctor, and its effects in some way reach almost every aspect of our nation’s health care system. It goes without saying, then, that any practice or treatment that can alleviate stress can only be of benefit to our nation’s health. It can also make a big difference in individual lives—especially the lives of seniors, who become more vulnerable to stress-related conditions as they age.
Meditation appears to be making inroads as a method of reducing stress.
According to a Canadian study, the subjects, all 65 years of age and over, who learned Transcendental Meditation cut their costs to physicians by 70 percent over a five-year period.
The same subjects had seen a steady rise in their doctor costs during the nine years before they began learning meditation techniques.
Whether or not you’re open to learning specific meditation techniques, there is widespread evidence suggesting that even informal relaxation and meditation techniques can pay big dividends. But not every method of seeking relaxation is equally effective, according to the nonprofit HELPGUIDE.org, which suggests that crashing in front of the TV and hoping stress simply melts away isn’t likely to provide much benefit. Recommended instead are such techniques as deep breathing, rhythmic exercise, and various relaxation techniques designed to alleviate certain stress responses.
Meditation alone isn’t likely to get you fit, but in combination with regular senior workouts and a sensible, low-fat, low-sugar senior diet, it may be just what you need to stay away from the doctor except during your annual checkups.
Along with senior cardio training and a strong and steady senior fitness program, meditation may help you shed negative, debilitating stress and allow you to reap the full benefits of working out and living sensibly.
It can also help keep you sharp and help lessen the likelihood of suffering from depression and other mental health conditions.
It’s important to keep an open mind, and the evidence certainly seems to indicate that meditation techniques can lead to stress relief and a big reduction in senior health care costs. Along with your Medicare supplement or Medicare Advantage coverage and a good overall senior fitness program, meditation may be a great investment for your health and future.
How do you beat stress? Please leave a comment below!
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Senior Fitness – Meditation © 2012 MedicareMall.com