How Meditation Improves Your Performance by Gen Zen Meditation

How Meditation Transforms Your Mind and Body

“Take a deep breath…”, that's generally the advice given to athletes or anyone who's been given a moment to prepare for a crucial action. Penalty kick takers, surgeons, snipers … all take a deep breath. And with good reason. Why? Composure. Focus. Clarity. Calmness. Performance.

Traditionally, breath-work (or pranayama as it is known) is a method used to prepare the body for meditation, just like warming up before a 10k. Breath-work can regulate your bodily systems (cardiovascular, nervous, digestive…) and meditation takes that rejuvenation even further. It's no wonder top athletes like Simone Byles and LeBron James openly praise their meditation practice for helping not only their mental health, but their competitive edge. Even if they continually gain 0.1%, they are constantly gaining. 

Here, Dan and Sarah from Gen Zen Meditation breakdown some of the scientifically approved performance benefits that a consistent meditation practice will give you.

Less Physical Stress

Meditation allows our body to rest REALLY deeply. This reduces the number of stress chemicals in our circulation such as cortisol and glucocorticoids. This means our hormone levels rebalance - which directly results in healthier bones, organs and functional systems - which enables us to physically perform at a higher level.

Less Mental Stress

Meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce mental stress, anxiety and depression. By balancing your nervous system, meditation combats stress related conditions by enabling your mind and body to enter a resting state up to five times deeper than during your deepest point of sleep (yes, really!). This floods your body with ‘bliss chemicals’ such as anandamide, dopamine and serotonin.

Better Sleep

We all know a key component of high performance is the ability to rest. Meditation is scientifically proven to help us sleep better. In fact, our founder, Dan, didn’t sleep properly for 6 years until meditation solved his sleep issue within 48 hours of learning the technique. He hasn’t had a sleep issue since!

More Energy

Studies have shown that regular meditators have a strong prefrontal cortex and a high functioning amygdala. This helps us to handle micro-stresses and situations with ease - conserving vital energy. Think of meditation like putting your smartphone on permanent aeroplane mode, while still running your apps/texts/calls as usual. This means your battery (level of energy) never gets below 80%, no matter how stressful your day.

Improved Cardiovascular and Heart Health

A five-year study asked 201 patients with coronary heart disease to meditate (using the same technique we teach - where you sit in a comfortable position with your eyes closed and silently repeat a mantra) for 20 minutes twice a day. What did they find? Meditation reduced the risk of death, heart attack, and stroke by 48 per cent. These changes were associated with lower blood pressure and lower stress levels.

Brain Function

Meditation has an incredible effect on our brain health - it can physically change our neurons, blood flow and brain muscle groups for the better. Studies have linked meditation to better focus and clarity, decision making, improved learning ability, and better short and long-term memory. Think of your brain like a muscle. Train it!

The Benefits Of Meditation

With all the above benefits of meditation, it’s easy to see how they can all come together to improve our physical performance and ability. Meditation can also give us the confidence to believe in our abilities. We can see our performances improve. We feel more able to overcome mental and physical challenges. We recover quicker. We can detach from the negative thoughts that can be a barrier to us achieving our goals.

About The Author: Gen Zen Meditation

So, have you thought about learning to meditate? Be the best you can be. What’s stopping you?

Dan and Sarah formed Gen Zen Meditation in 2024 and are certified to teach by international wellness guru Deepak Chopra’s ‘Chopra Foundation’. They are on a mission to teach people to become self-sufficient meditators. No more need for apps or YouTube! Their carefully designed Learn to Meditate course will teach you the ancient art of Vedic mantra meditation - a silent eyes closed practice with life-changing benefits.

Plus they offer FREE lifetime support for everyone who learns with them. This is their commitment to building a community of meditators and to spread the amazing benefits and positivity that Vedic mantra meditation can provide to individuals and wider society.

To find out why hundreds of thousands of people around the world practice this technique to help improve stress, anxiety, sleep, energy, focus, clarity, creativity & more check out www.genzenmeditation.com and follow them on Instagram @genzenmeditationuk

Study sources: Chopra Foundation research papers https://choprafoundation.org/ the David Lynch Foundation research papers https://davidlynchfoundation.org.uk/ and the EOC Institute https://eocinstitute.org/meditation/

The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. V3 Apparel and Gen Zen Meditation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and should not be liable for any damages or losses resulting from the use of the information provided. The use of any information provided is solely at your own risk.