Introduction
By now, I am sure that most people have heard of the benefits of meditation, especially for seniors. According to Dr. Stephanie Chang of the University of California, San Francisco, these benefits include:
-Lowering blood pressure, inflammation and heart disease risk.
-Reducing depression, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome.
-Easing chronic pain, headaches and PTSD symptoms.
-Stress relief, which in turn leads to clearer perception and improved focus.
Preserving or improving cognitive function is another important benefit of meditation for seniors. Studies have shown that seniors who meditate maintain or improve attention, memory, executive function and processing speed when compared to those who did not. Also, meditation for seniors who care for those who are struggling with cognitive decline reduces stress levels and improves overall mental health in general. For more tips on how to maintain cognitive function, read How to Maintain Brain Health for Seniors: 4 Science-Based Tools.
According to Dr. Chang, seniors who meditate experience greater well-being, increased peace and quality of life. “One thing I see commonly is people noticing the blessings and abundance in their lives. It increases gratitude for what they have,” she says (US News & World Report).
And if you need even more convincing about the benefits of meditation for seniors, check out the article Meditation for Seniors from the website RetireGuide. It gives a great overview of how meditation can benefit you as you get older and how to get started.
A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind
An interesting study from the journal Science called A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind tracked over 5,000 people between the ages of 18 and 88 to study the importance of focusing on the present moment (something that meditation teaches) on their happiness. Using an app on their iPhones, subjects were asked three questions at random times during the day: 1) How happy were they at the
present moment; 2) What they were doing; 3) Were they were thinking about something other than what they were doing, and if they were, was pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. The results of the study were very enlightening:
–Peoples’ minds wandered nearly half of the time. Not surprisingly, it wandered the most while working and least when making love or when praying or meditating.
-People reported being the least happy when their minds wandered. It didn’t matter what they were doing or what they were thinking about. Pleasant thoughts didn’t make them any happier than neutral or negative thoughts when the mind wandered.
-The researchers concluded that what (or rather how) people thought was a better predictor of happiness than what they were doing. People were most happy when they were focused on what they were doing and least happy when their minds wandered. So, a regular mindfulness meditation practice, which trains the mind to focus on the present moment, also trains you to be a happier person even when you’re not meditating!
Meditation for Seniors: How to Begin
So how do you begin? I was introduced to meditation nearly forty years ago when I read two classic books, Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Jon Kabot-Zinn and The Three Minute Meditator, by David Harp. Both are great introductions to meditation (and the closely-related practice of mindfulness) and are easy to understand and follow. There are several forms of meditation, such as Transcendental Meditation, Zen and Yoga-Nidra meditation, but you can get the same benefits from a much simpler practice. Later in this article, I will list three of my favorite apps or websites that can guide you to start your practice right now without any prior knowledge or experience.
And the best place to start is where you are right now. For most people, meditation seems hard or even impossible when they first start out. Focusing your thoughts on only your breathing without other thoughts coming into your head seems like a daunting task, even if it is just for three minutes. “Am I doing this right?” “What am I making for dinner?” “What was that noise I just heard?” “I can’t do this.” Buddhists call this the “Monkey Mind” – it feels like there are drunken monkeys
in your head creating endless chatter, distraction and mental chaos. The purpose of meditation is to simply observe these thoughts without judgement and bring your attention back to your breath. When you first start your practice, you are constantly going back and forth between focusing, losing focus and re-focusing, and that is actually a good thing.
Like any type of exercise or training, the more you practice, the better you become. By focusing and then having to re-focus, you are rewiring your brain to learn how to focus in a process called neuroplasticity. The more times that you have to re-focus, the more practice you get and the better you will become at it. But meditation isn’t like physical training such as running, where you have to run farther and farther as you get better, or weight training, where you have to lift heavier and heavier weight if you want to continue to get stronger. Meditation is the opposite. As you get better at focusing and re-focusing, you get faster and more efficient, so you will be able to get more benefit from a shorter practice. Three or even one minute meditations can be beneficial.
Meditation for Seniors: Three Great Free Resources
Insight Timer
Insight Timer is an excellent free app for both the beginning and experienced meditator. There are thousands of free guided meditations, courses and lectures to choose from on topics as diverse as beginning meditation to better sleep to manifesting your dreams. There is a paid version that is $60 per year that allows you to track your progress, rewind or fast forward meditations and gain access to additional meditations and courses. But to be honest, I don’t think that the paid version is worth the cost because there is so much good free content.
A good place to start on Insight Timer is a free course called Learn to Meditate in Seven Days. It is designed for those completely new to meditation and has been taken by over one million people. As you become more experienced in meditation, you will probably want to experiment with different types, but this is a great place to start.
For the more ambitious, there is a forty day course called Mindfulness Daily taught by two of my favorite teachers, Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Although both are trained in Buddhist teaching, they also hold PhDs in clinical psychology and stress mindfulness and awareness over any spiritual or religious practice. Each session is around twelve minutes per day and is designed to integrate mindfulness into your everyday life so it becomes ingrained as a habit. In my
opinion, I think that this is one of best free courses available for both the beginning and experienced meditator. Both Jack and Tara also teach meditations individually on Insight Timer, and I recommend those as well.
The app also has music for relaxation, lectures on mindfulness, guided meditations and visualizations, courses in personal development and even meditations for children. If you don’t need to track your progress to keep yourself motivated, then the free version has just about everything that you need to learn to meditate, whether you are a senior, child, or somewhere in between.
Mindfulness Coach
If you find that tracking your progress is important to your practice, Mindfulness Coach might be a good fit for you. It was created for the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs (the VA) to help veterans with PTSD, but it is helpful for all veterans, service members, or anyone else who wants to learn how to practice mindfulness. It is completely free, does not take any personal information and there are no paid or premium versions. If you prefer or need a more structured practice, then this app is excellent. There is a log where you can record your progress and write down notes and comments about your sessions. There are also goals that you can set for yourself such as being more present, being a better listener or practicing mindfulness every day.
As of now there are twelve audio-guided meditations; I sampled three of them. The Loving-Kindness Meditation teaches compassion for yourself and others. Mindfulness for Emotional Discomfort helps ease stress, anxiety and depression. Mindful Eating, Listening and Looking helps you become more present and focused on the now. There are also well-written explanations of each practice and all are
downloadable. Unless you are interested in doing a deeper dive into other forms of meditation, Mindfulness Coach is a very good and easy app that has enough content to satisfy most people without getting too overwhelming or confusing.
Silver Sneakers
Silver Sneakers is a health and fitness program for adults 65 and older. Although I’m not a big fan of the name, it offers some great free benefits. If you qualify and participate in Medicare Part C (also know as Medicare Advantage), this benefit may be free as part of the plan. It’s worth checking with your insurance company or the Social Security Administration to see if you qualify. As part of the Silver Sneakers program, you can join one (or more) of over 13,000 gyms or fitness centers across the country at no cost. There is also an app that offers free live online classes, an in-person community and on-demand videos.
While the emphasis of Silver Sneakers is physical exercises such as yoga, tai chi and cardio, there are a few meditations for seniors such as gratitude practice and a five minute moving meditation. The advantage of this platform is that there are live online meditation classes with optional group chats (but no cameras, so you won’t be seen) and possible in-person classes if they are available in your area. While Silver Sneakers may not be the best option to learn or practice
meditation available to seniors, I mention it here because it offers so many other benefits and is worth checking out.
Conclusion
The great thing about meditation for seniors is that you can begin from where ever you are. If you aren’t able to sit on the floor in the typical cross-legged position, you can sit on a chair or even lie down. If you want to incorporate physical movement, you can do yoga, tai chi or a walking meditation. If you need guidance in your practice, you can listen to one of the apps that I mentioned; this works well for those with cognitive impairment because they offer simple instructions.
If you are able to sit, stand or lie and focus on your breath, that’s all that you need to do. And remember that a beginning meditator who struggles to keep the mind from
wandering is getting the biggest benefit. It is this process of focusing, losing focus and re-focusing that rewires the brain and creates the profound positive effects that meditation offers. So, as long as you are consistent and dedicated, there is no right or wrong way to meditate. It’s that simple but not always easy. Be kind and gentle to yourself.
In a paper published in the journal Brain and Cognition, research from over thirty studies using brain imaging scans showed that only eight weeks of consistent meditation is enough to rewire the brain so that you will begin to see positive benefits. So, if you begin now, in about two months you will be more focused, less stressed and happier in general. What are you waiting for? Why not start today?