It is well known that meditation can help with weight loss. However, mindfulness can also help you to pack on some pounds if you need to.
Weird, right?
Well, it’s all to do with your metabolic rate.
The metabolic rate is the amount of energy that you expend over time. Heightening this rate will help with weight loss. Lowering it will help with weight gain.
You can influence your metabolism in many ways. Mayo Clinic says, “You can control how many calories you burn through your level of physical activity. The more active you are, the more calories you burn… Some people with fast metabolism are probably just more active, and maybe fidget more.”
Research has shown that meditating can both increase and decrease metabolic rate. It all depends on the type of meditation that you do.
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Research
When we meditate, we can either increase or decrease our metabolic rate.
Speaking to WebMD, Herbert Benson, MD [1] said that because meditative exercises stimulate the relaxation response, they “help decrease metabolism, lower blood pressure, and improve heart rate, breathing, and brain waves.”
Meditation decreases metabolism, leading to weight gain
MRI brain scans show that meditation influences activity in areas of the brain that affect metabolism and heart rate.
This research was based on Buddhist meditation techniques, the majority of which involve sitting still.
Generally, when we relax, the metabolic rate goes down, especially if we are inactive at the same time. This is how meditation can help with weight gain.
When we meditate we induce the relaxation response, which decreases metabolism, so we put on weight (assuming the rest of our lifestyle remains the same).
Amazingly, this is also true of some of the more active types of meditation too.
Research published by the National Institute of Health shows that the deep meditation techniques used in yoga can lead to increased relaxation, reduced oxygen consumption, and reduced metabolic rate [1].
Plus, a study published by the National Institute of Yoga shows that “long-term practice of yoga [and yogic meditations] leads to lower metabolic rates and probably greater metabolic efficiency mainly due to reduced sympathetic activity and / or stabilized nervous system.”
This means that the majority of meditation techniques, and even active yoga, can help with putting on weight.
And meditation also helps with eating disorders. Practices such as mindful eating make us more conscious of our dietary habits, and this can help whether we intend to lose weight or gain it.
Meditation For Weight Gain
The best meditations for weight gain are ones that lead to long-lasting relaxation. Why? Because relaxation decreases the metabolic rate. In turn, calories are burnt slower, and less weight is lost during the day.
Any relaxing method will help you gain weight. Try the following.
But you might also like to do a method that helps you to control your diet (whether you need to at more or less).
Some meditations also improve dietary habits
We don’t meditate to influence metabolism. We meditate to gain control of the mind and, thereby, of our actions. So, while you can lower your metabolism with meditation and gain weight, it is better to focus on the other aspects of meditation.
Meditation increases our conscious awareness, so we are more able to act in healthy ways. That’s true whether you’re trying to gain weight or lose it.
Meditation empowers us to take control of our life by changing our thoughts and feelings.
In a study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, Margarita Sala et. al. revealed that mindfulness helps with eating disorders because it reduces the impact of harmful thinking habits around food.
This study did not focus on weight gain. However, the truths it highlighted are highly related.
Both weight loss and weight gain are often based on our thoughts. For instance, consider anorexia.
HealthDirect.Gov says, “People with anorexia nervosa have an irrational fear of gaining weight.” It is the fear (the emotion and thoughts) that cause the problem. Meditation gives us the power to control those thoughts and feelings, and thereby to overcome the psychological problem that causes abnormal weight.
Summary
As you can see, there are two ways in which meditation helps with weight gain.
Firstly, it can help to reduce metabolic rate, which will naturally increase weight gain. Secondly, it helps us to control the thoughts and feelings that cause eating disorders.
The best meditations for gaining weight, therefore, are ones that are highly relaxing and thereby stimulate the relaxation response to decrease metabolism. And also, ones that increase awareness of thoughts and feelings.
I recommend you try Anapanasati, Zazen, and Samatha. You can find guides to all these methods via our main menu.
Do you want to gain weight? Would you like to learn to meditate properly? Book an online meditation lesson with me today.
Paul Harrison BSc is a qualified meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in teaching meditation and mindfulness both to individuals and to corporations and is the author of four books on meditation. He has been featured in Psychology Today, Breathe Magazine, Healthline, Psych Central and Lion’s Roar.
Paul studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
Paul’s biggest inspirations include Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat Zinn, and Jack Kornfield.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison