Health

A Newbie's Guide to Meditation

Reduce stress and improve your health anytime, anywhere with these simple steps

by Marissa DeSantis | 2 COMMENTS

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The Beatles made it popular in the '60s and celebs like Oprah and Gwyneth Paltrow do it on the regular, but practicing meditation has some serious physical, emotional and spiritual benefits in addition to upping your hipster cred. Luckily, you don't have to travel to India or have your own television network to practice meditation.

According to psychologist Dr. Joe Taravella, M.D., meditation can keep your brain from shrinking! "As we age, the frontal-cortex part of our brain begins to thin, and meditation slows the thinning of our brain tissue," Taravella says. "[This] helps ward off signs of mental aging in attention, working memory and cognitive and emotional processing."

To take the confusion out of the practice and break down the three easiest ways to get started, we've enlisted the help of Gabrielle Bernstein, author of The New York Times bestseller "Miracles Now." So, as the Beatles sang, "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream," to more relaxed and healthy living.

SEE NEXT PAGE: The Omm-mazing Benefits

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