Sitting down to clear your mind for just 10 minutes is enough to overcome stress and anxiety, a study claims.
New research revealed that a short stint of meditation will help block out the internal thoughts of restless people and allow them to concentrate.
The report from the University of Waterloo in Canada is the latest to demonstrate the benefits of meditation. Past studies have found self-reflection and deep thinking can even slow aging and help to fight off disease.
According to Mengran Xu, a researcher and PhD candidate at the university, taking a few minutes a day to meditate will allow for more concentration.
He said: 'Mind wandering accounts for nearly half of any person's daily stream of consciousness. For people with anxiety, repetitive off-task thoughts can negatively affect their ability to learn, to complete tasks, or even function safely.'
The study asked 82 people who describe themselves as anxious to perform a task on a computer with random interruptions throughout the assignment.
Those who had a short meditation beforehand outperformed the other half who didn't.
Xu added: 'We also found that meditation practice appears to help anxious people to shift their attention from their own internal worries to the present-moment external world, which enables better focus on a task at hand.'
Meditation has been linked with beneficiary health results in the past, including fighting off diseases, and reducing stress and depression.
The popular exercise instructs people to focus on their present emotions and current sensations.
Women experienced significant improvements in their emotional state, compared to men who had much lower results.
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