Although meditation is a very old practice, it has never stood still and naturally changed over time. While relying on today’s meditation techniques and practices, it is important to remember that the change and development meditation has undergone to this date is the result of thousands of years of insight and experience. Meditation, which is the art of bringing the mind together with tranquility, finding clarity, and connecting with a deeper and higher state of consciousness, continues to change in parallel with the spirit of time, even though the purpose remains the same.
When we look at the spirit of the time, we see that in the modern world we live in, we constantly face with factors that create stress. Because stress is our body’s response to external stimuli, stress has become something we all face, whether it’s certain situations in our life or a busy day at work. But it’s also up to us to be in control of the impact it will have on our health and our lives!
What is stress?
Stress has become a widely used concept today. In particular, the increase in stress-related diseases reveals the seriousness of the situation. But stress is actually not something that is all bad! Stress is the body’s emotional and physical response to a challenging or disturbing situation that tends to disrupt our internal-external balance.
The body's response to stress
Alarm
- Cortisol, the stress hormone, is secreted in the body.
- Heart rate increases and blood pressure rises.
- Sweating, trembling and tension in the muscles are experienced.
- A contraction is felt in the stomach.
Resistance
- When the body enters the resistance phase, the hormone adrenaline increases.
- Blood is drawn from the digestive system and digestive problems arise due to intense acid production.
- Immunity weakens.
- Headache
- Shortness of breath.
Exhaustion
- As a result of prolonged stress, the person feels exhausted because the body has exhausted its energy resources to fight with the stress.
- The person becomes psychologically depressed.
Why is it important to measure and regularly monitor the stress level?
When the body first encounters stress, there is a state of alarm in the body, but the real threat is to leave the body under constant stress. Studies show that short-term and properly managed stress can increase cognitive performance, especially in school and work life. So the real problem isn’t about stress, it’s about our reaction during stress. That’s why it’s important to control one’s stress. In this way, people actually have the power to protect themselves from stress. Everyone has the power to produce this endurance within themselves, from their own resources.
The practice of meditation teaches us exactly this: Stress Management. Breathing exercises, meditation and mindfulness are practices recommended by doctors and scientists to cope with stress, as well as psychological help. Thanks to biofeedback technology, everyone can witness the effect of meditation in the moment. How, you ask?
Innovative Technologies to Enhance the Meditation Experience: Biofeedback
Smart watches with biofeedback technology or any wearable technology product monitors the stress level by measuring heart rate.
Heart rate variability, or HRV, is the measurement of the time interval between heartbeats. Unlike heart rate measurement, which is the average number of beats per minute, heart rate variability measurements focus more on small fluctuations of the heart, making it a powerful stress indicator. Identifying the factors that cause these fluctuations will be useful for understanding our own body and its reactions.
If your heart rate variability is high, don’t panic. This is actually considered a good thing, and conversely, a low HRV reading is more associated with stress. Coming back to the effect of stress on our body, as we mentioned before, our body encounters and reacts to stress, so there is fluctuation in heart rate. We find that people who meditate regularly recover faster and have higher changes in heart rate when faced with stress.
Take Your Meditation to the Next Level with InnerJoy!
In InnerJoy, you can take advantage of biofeedback technology by integrating your smartwatch with the app. When you feel your heart rate changing and stress increasing, you can turn to InnerJoy to see how your heart rate changes during meditation.
