Meditation is a practice that has been used to create awareness and relaxation in your body and mind. It has also been shown to reduce stress levels and manage chronic pain, two symptoms of type 2 diabetes. If you suffer from diabetes and are looking for ways to manage stress and chronic pain, consider taking up meditation.
Are you ready to ease your mind?
Why meditation works
Meditation uses focus and controlled breathing to relax the mind. This, in turn, also relaxes your physical body. Research on meditation and diabetes shows that a regular meditation practice can help someone with type 2 diabetes regulate their blood sugar levels.
Meditation requires nothing more than a willingness to sit peacefully and intentionally. You
don’t have to worry about going to a gym, lifting weights, or being around other people. Meditation lets you create an environment that you find peaceful, and to set aside time 
during your day just for you. Meditation practitioners recommend starting off sitting or lying down for about 10 minutes at a time, and gradually work up to about 20 minutes a day.
Meditation eases anxiety and reduces the levels of stress hormones you have in your body. As a result, you will notice a decrease in blood sugar levels (note: stress hormones can inflate blood sugar levels in your body). Meditation lowers blood pressure and allows you to be more present as well.
Mindfulness for diabetics
Studies on diabetes presented at the American Diabetes Association Conference showed that meditation practices based on the idea of mindfulness were the most effective for people with diabetes. Mindfulness meditation emphasizes controlled breathing, bringing your body and mind into the present moment, and setting aside worries about the past and future.
Being mindful can also reduce anxiety and depression, which can add to the long-list of symptoms of type 2 diabetes. By regulating your hormone levels, meditation can help increase your resistance to hormones that cause weight gain and insulin resistance. This, in turn, can help lower your blood pressure and keep you from developing heart problems.
Creating a meditation practice
10 minutes a day is all you need to help improve your diabetes symptoms—and you don’t even have to do it every day. In combination with yoga or another form of exercise, these practices can improve your overall health and well-being.
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Diabetes Self Management, Accessed March 16, 2017.
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