CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Meditation is something that is overlooked when it comes to mental and physical health, but many people in the Coastal Bend don't know how beneficial it can be.
Omar Davis has been a meditation instructor for the last eight years. He said meditation is all about balance.
"Meditation is specially a focus. So, anything you focus on at a specific amount of time is a meditation," Davis said.
Davis said that meditation is a natural way to tap into feelings.
"There's a style and there is more to know about why that is important, but on the basics of meditation, it's really fundamentally about understanding yourself, your reactions. How am I feeling right now? Am I stressed out or am I feeling good right now?"
Meditation is a practice that involves clearing the mind.
Coastal Bend resident Clifton Pope is a person who participated in meditation. He said its something that he does every day.
"The first time that I mediated, it was back in 2017 and that's when I was studying to become a pharmacy technician,” Pope said. “I remember being nervous and stressed out like anybody would the day of the test.”
After tapping into this technique, Pope said he has never felt better mentally and physically.
"Something told me to try mediating for about 20 minutes or so,” he said. “I was the most relaxed that I have been in a while for a few years and then before you know it, I went into the actually place where I took the test, and I passed it.”
Meditation not only benefits your mental health but, in some cases, experts said it could help your physical health.
According to the CDC, tens of millions of American adults have hypertension, or high blood pressure. KRIS 6 News spoke with Dr. Ernesto Guido to see if meditation helps decrease the chances of developing it.
"When you do your breathing exercises and mediation, you activate your vagus nerve that release acetylcholine, and it slows down your heart rate and decreases your blood pressure,” Guido, a practicing neurologist based out of Corpus Christi said.
Dr. Guido said meditation could help lower your risk for potential health problems, including heart disease and stroke.
Davis said he recommends that people meditate for no less than five minutes daily.
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