What are increasingly becoming part of regular doctors’ advice are the benefits of meditation. Relaxing and tuning your inner spirit can be an excellent part of your natural health. Over the years, meditation has been tied to a long list of health benefits. A new study proves that those who meditate tend not to have to see the doctor.
The study is published in the “American Journal of Health Promotion.” It found that people with consistently high healthcare costs experienced a 28% decline in physician fees after an average of five years of transcendental meditation. These were people who were visiting the doctor often, illustrating that meditation can actually change your life.
Generally, a small number of people account for the majority of healthcare costs. In the U.S., the highest-spending 10% in the population incurred 60% to 70% of total medical expenditures annually. The highest spending 25% of older adults accounted for 85% of total expenses in Medicare. A large number of these people have consistently high medical bills over many years.
Now to the main point: chronic stress is the No. 1 factor contributing to high medical expenses. If you reduce stress, you reduce the need to seek medical help. Guess what reduces stress?
The new study compared the changes in physician costs for 284 consistent high-cost patients. Half practiced meditation and half did not. In the year before the study, there were no significant differences between the groups regarding frequency of doctor visits.
Over five years, the meditation group had a significant decline in medical payments. The non-meditation group had no change. After the first year, the meditation group decreased 11%, and after five years, the total reduction was 28%.
Past studies have found that meditation reduced medical expenses between five percent and 13%. But for people over the age of 65, meditation’s impact rose to an incredible 70%. An 11-year study in Iowa also found that people over 45 who practiced meditation had 88% fewer hospital days than non-meditation controls. They also spent 60% less than the average person.
Meditation, which has roots in ancient medicine, improves physical and mental health while helping people get over smoking addictions and other unhealthy habits that lead to disease and costly treatments.
It seems that the older you are, the better meditation will work for you. It is never too late to start, and it is now commonplace in society. See what it can do for you.