7 Reasons Meditation is Good for Healthy Relationships

Did you know that meditation can help you have happy and healthy relationships?

According to Dr. Marsha Lucas PhD, there are seven acquirable skills that help us develop healthy relationships.

1) Management of your body’s reactions
2) Regulation of your response to fear
3) Emotional Resilience
4) Response flexibility
5) Insight
6) Empathy
7) Perspective shift from me to we

These skills are all seen in people who practice meditation, and here is why.

Have you ever tried to have a relationship with your partner after a horrible day at the office, or while you are rushing to get dinner ready and the kids are screaming and yelling? If you’re like most of us, it probably didn’t go that well. That’s because your body is in stress mode , otherwise known as ‘fight flight response.’

Thousands of years ago, if we were being chased by a saber-tooth tiger, we would need to get away without thinking about it. Our amygdala, the ancient part of our brain responsible for our safety and fear response, would be activated. This would trigger a whole host of reactions including elevated heart rate and blood pressure, perspiring, as well as a release of cortisol and adrenalin. This automatic or knee jerk reaction gets triggered when we think we are in danger. The problem is, it often can’t tell if we are actually in danger or if we are just in a fight with our husband.

What to do:

Meditation is the antidote to stress.

When we meditate we slow down our heart rate. Our blood pressure is normalized and we release feel-good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin. We are also able to observe our patterns of behavior and notice when we are actually in real physical danger or simply worrying about something that has already happened or may happen later. By practicing noticing our emotions without being hijacked by the drama we are able to make more conscious decisions.