Can meditation help physical ailments as well?

Happy Wednesday to you all and I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

I wanted to do a quick post about meditation and physical ailments.  Most of us, if we think of meditation at all, might assume it helps mental health more than physical.  We've all heard, and possibly experienced, the benefits of meditation on stress, anxiety, depression and so on.  Which obviously is fantastic stuff, but what about our physical ailments?

If you know me, follow me on Facebook/Instagram, or have read the front page of my website, you'll know that I suffer from fibromyalgia.  Now, fibro can be a complicated illness as it affects different people in different ways.  It's also a chronic (meaning long-lasting/forever) condition and can have around 200 symptoms associated with it.  Personally, I get horrible IBS type symptoms with it - bloating, cramps, etc. - as well as joint pain, muscles spasms, painful scalp, brain fog, pain points which make it painful when someone or something touches me, skin irritation, headaches and a whole rake more.

At this point, you are possibly wondering why I'm telling you this, and I don't blame you!  After all, this isn't a medical blog :) The reason I'm sharing this is because I've noticed that while meditation definitely helps my mental wellbeing, it also seems to help some of my physical symptoms.  Obviously people who have a chronic illness can find they are stressed by symptoms, depressed or anxious about the future so even if you think meditation can't help the physical - at least try it for the mental.

I meditate several times a week.  I would honestly love to meditate every day and probably have no excuse if I'm brutally honest with myself but I average around 5 days a week.  Since I started meditation in earnest I have noticed huge improvements in my IBS symptoms and headaches.  I do believe that the stress of my condition and life in general makes these symptoms worse, so obviously dealing with my stress levels will have an impact on my physical health.
How many of us out there have physical issues that are exacerbated by stress?  Or potentially caused by stress?  Whether it's pain, tummy issues, chest issues, or anything - if stress makes it worse it stands to reason that reducing stress can help.

I am not saying that reducing stress will 'cure' the problem or work miracles - nothing annoys me more when I say I have fibro and someone tells me their granny's dog's sister's cousin was 'cured' taking/doing xyz!  I know fellow suffers who find yoga helps, including me, and others who are in so much pain it doesn't.  I know people who find taking apple cider vinegar solved their skin condition and others who might as well have taken smarties.  No one thing works for every person.

What I am saying is that...what can you lose by giving meditation a try!  It has been scientifically proven to help people deal with stress and anxiety, and that stress can negatively affect your health in a myriad of different ways.  So give yourself a head start and try some meditation!

You can download one of my meditation tracks (https://www.serenityyogabelfast.com/store/c4/MeditationDownloads#/) or sign up to my newsletter through the popup on my website for a free track.  You can use an app - I recommend buddhify personally - or you can find something on YouTube.  The important this is to make a start and try whichever one works best for you.

Until next time....Namaste and happy meditating!