Hello, I’m Claudio Padovani from
We often talk about meditation, but what is it? How can it improve your life? And how do you practice it?
We begin to understand the benefits of meditation in general and in particular in the elderly.
If you want to find out how to meditate, what meditation is and the benefits of meditation in general and especially in old age, you can watch this video (in Italian) or read the transcript below:
Meditation brings many benefits to your body. Modern science is studying them more and more and medicine applies them. I have seen that even in Italy it is applied to facilitate the treatment of pain in such a way as to take a little less pills.
It is also very powerful to prevent: it prevents stress, therefore all cardiovascular diseases.
According to a research conducted by YALE and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, those who meditate live longer. They also saw that mortality from cardiovascular disease is reduced by 33%. It certainly helps to reduce the level of stress which affects the health of the cardiovascular system, therefore difficulty in digestion, difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in staying focused.
Obviously these problems expose us to all diseases, because stress affects the immune system.
So: meditation, helping to prevent stress, definitely helps to stay healthier. This is a general, generic benefit in addition to all the mental benefits.
Preventing everything helps a lot, obviously at all ages.
I’m also starting to convey it to children, obviously in a more playful way.
As you can understand meditation can also be great help for the elderly, especially because it helps them to stabilize the mood.
In general, they tend to be a little wiser, but in any case having an instrument that helps to stabilize this wisdom can be a further help.
When I think of old people, I do not think only of the elderly, but also of those who are going through a rather special period. Those who think more than before to ourself instead of focusing only on work. People who ask themselves more questions. This does not mean that they stop working, but maybe they just ask more questions.
I think of my mother, who was going to a university for seniors and she was still quite young.
For example, menopause makes women experience moments of emotional instability.
Meditation helps them cross that phase a little more steadily. I do not say that it stabilizes everything but for sure it helps to stay a little quieter, more stable, to have fewer moments up and down.
As you can see there are also physiological elements to consider. Among the various neurotransmitters that meditation helps to develop there is also the GABA, an element that helps to stabilize all the other neurotransmitters and to rebalance them. And this is already a benefit for menopause.
As you understand in people no longer young preventing states that expose us to cardiovascular disease is very useful.
Returning to the benefit I was exposing you before, wisdom, being able to be calmer, to look at life rather than doing is certainly useful.
I confess to you one thing: I started meditating when I saw my mother die.
First I saw my father die, stressed out of work. He regretted that his life was over and he had not lived it fully. This unfortunately is something that happens very often.
There is a nurse who has collected the testimonies of those who were dying and has made a top five of those that are the main reasons for regret. Many people regret not having lived their lives in full. First regrets was “I did not live the life I wanted, but what others expected from me”.
With meditation, and also with age-related wisdom, you begin to move a little more, to look at the essence of life and to enjoy more the affections, the things that matter. Instead of stay passive without ever putting the commitment to remembering to be present.
You’ll see how to do it is “easier” than to say ..
To start is even easier if you have an audio guide, it may be the best way to start, you can find one for free right on my site at this address:
http://www.comemeditare.it/meditazione
Download it and try it yourself, you’ll see that over time you’ll discover a new life, it’s like finding out who you really are. I started late (I saw my mother meditating for so many years before I started), but I keep telling myself it’s never too late to savor the profound sense of why I came into the world.
I hope that you too can find in meditation an instrument to be more present, happier and to find that peace that does not change.
